Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian | IIT Madras

IIT Madras · Engineering Design

Prof VenkateshBalasubramanian, PhD

Professor, Department of Engineering Design
Head – RBG Labs & Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS)
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai

vb[at]rbg[dot]iitm[dot]ac[dot]in

ED 315, Dept. of Engineering Design, IIT Madras

RBG Labs, Founded 2002

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Head, RBG Labs & CoERS · IIT Madras

About

Think & Do Tank
for a Safer India

Dr. Venkatesh Balasubramanian is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Design and heads RBG Labs, and the Centre of Excellence on Road Safety (CoERS) at Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

He works on addressing societal problems through a data-driven systems approach that has resulted in various disruptive innovations in product and process. As a pioneer in design thinking, he has successfully developed and implemented innovations across government, industry and academia — supporting manufacturing, healthcare, and road safety across India.

Roads carry millions across India every day - toward livelihoods, education, opportunity.
Yet every day, 435 lives are lost with over 1.5 lakh deaths annually.

"Going to zero road deaths should be our aim. Talking about Road Safety alone is not enough — we all have a role to play. Our request to the general public is to step up and actively work towards reducing road crashes and fatalities."

— Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian

Positions & Roles

Professor – IIT Madras

Department of Engineering Design

Head – RBG Labs

Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Founded 2002

Head – CoERS

Centre of Excellence for Road Safety, MoRTH, GoI

Independent Director – MPRDC, TNRDC & ITEL

MP & TN Road Development Corporations; IT Expressway Ltd

Member – TAC, C-DAC, MeITY, GoI

Technical Advisory Committee

Member – Expert Advisory Group, MoRTH

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, GoI

Research Impact

Research by the Numbers

PhD Students Guided

Master's Dissertations

198⁺

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Patents Filed · 6 Granted · 5 Commercialized

56⁺

Research & Consultancy Projects

₹2.67B

Value of Projects Managed

States & UTs — iRAD Coverage

Commercialized Technologies

He has managed over 56 research, consultancy, training, and technology transfer projects in both public and private sectors with a cumulative value of over INR 2.67 billion. He has guided 16 PhD and 64 Master's level students, with over 198 peer-reviewed publications and 11 patents filed, of which 6 have been granted and 5 commercialized.

Design Thinking & Disruptive Innovation

Key Innovations

Pioneering innovations across Government, Industry and academia — from national databases to life-saving medical devices.

Suzhal Management System (SMS) & RBG Innovation Paradigm (RIP)

Demonstrative methodology for bringing about systemic changes and disruptive innovation across various industries. Key process innovations have brought about substantive improvement in productivity and technological upgrading in labour-intensive sectors.

Integrated Road Accident Database — iRAD / eDAR

Developed an integrated road accident database, initially as TARA in Tamil Nadu, subsequently adopted by MoRTH, GoI as iRAD (renamed eDAR). National database deployed across all Districts of all 36 States and UTs — aligning police, health, transport and road-owning agencies for data-driven Governance.

Tamil Nadu A&E Care Initiative (TAEI) & MAEI Rajasthan

Conceptualized and implemented a comprehensive trauma care system in Tamil Nadu based on lean operations methods. Successfully replicated in Rajasthan as MAEI. Includes an innovative financing model assuring 48 hours of critical care for any trauma patient — variants deployed across India.

Intelliseat™ — Smart Driver Monitoring

Developed and commercialized India's first IoT-based, non-vision-based driver behavior, performance and fatigue monitoring device. Won the Auto Component of the Year Award in 2018.

Auto Component of the Year 2018

India's First Bioprosthetic Scaffold — SynkroScaff

Developed and commercialized India's first bioprosthetic scaffold material for use in various cardiac and plastic surgeries. Commercially sold as SynkroScaff through a start-up spun out of IIT Madras.

IIT Madras Spin-out

Shira Clamp — Microvascular Surgery Innovation

Developed and commercialized a microvascular clamp that reduces the skill required to perform micro-vascular and plastic surgeries. Commercially sold as Shira Clamp by a start-up, revolutionizing anastomosis procedures.

Commercialized Technology

Leadership & Programs

Leadership
Development

Dr. Balasubramanian has pursued a passion in leadership development. He helped develop and was Co-Chairman of the PGPEX — Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing (VLFM) program.

Flagship Program

PGPEX — Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing (VLFM)

The first program to award a joint diploma by three premier Institutes. Adopted as the skill and leadership development initiative of the "Make-in-India" vision of the Government of India.

IIM CalcuttaIIT KanpurIIT MadrasMake in India

He has also developed programs for building leadership in manufacturing excellence for various large and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

He also served as Member of the Court of Haryana Vishwakarma Skill University and as Independent Director of the Tamil Nadu Ex-servicemen Corporation (TEXCO).

Board & Advisory Positions

Independent Director – MPRDC

Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation Ltd.

Independent Director – TNRDC

Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation Ltd.

Independent Director – IT Expressway Ltd (ITEL)

Government Infrastructure Company

Member – TAC, C-DAC, MeITY, GoI

Technical Advisory Committee, Ministry of Electronics & IT

Member – Expert Advisory Group, MoRTH

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, GoI

Advisor – Dept. of Transport & Road Safety, Rajasthan