Timothy A. Gonsalves
Founding Director of IIT Mandi
In office
15 January 2010 – 30 June 2020
Personal details
Born (1954-06-20) June 20, 1954
Ooty, Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, India
SpousePriscilla Tapley Gonsalves
Children2, including Kartiki
Residence(s)Siddhartha Nagar, Mysore, Karnataka, India
Alma materStanford University
Rice University
IIT Madras
ProfessionProfessor, Administrator
Websitewww.ptag.in

Timothy Aloysius Gonsalves (born 20 June 1954) is an Indian computer scientist and professor. During his academic career, he has been founder/co-founder of several institutions and companies. These include founder of Nilgiri Networks (P) Ltd, co-founder of NMSWorks Software (P) Ltd, co-founder of the TeNeT Group[1] and RTBI at IIT Madras, and IIT Mandi Catalyst. Most notably, he was the founding Director of IIT Mandi in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh from Jan. 2010 to Jun. 2020. He is currently Professor Emeritus (Honorary) at IIT Mandi.[2] His academic interests include education for engineers of the future, computer networks, distributed systems, telecom software and performance evaluation among others.

Early life and education

Gonsalves, was born into a Mangalorean Catholic family on 20 June 1954, in Ooty, Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. He graduated from Breeks Memorial School, Ooty in 1969. He completed B.Tech. (Electronics), IIT Madras, 1976. He went to the US for graduate studies, receiving an M.S. (Electrical Engineering) from Rice University, Houston in 1979 and Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1986.

Early career

After receiving his PhD, Gonsalves served as an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at WPI, Massachusetts from July 1986 to December 1988. He returned to India and joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras as Assistant Professor in January 1989.

During his PhD, Gonsalves had done early research on the then novel idea of transmitting voice over Ethernet.[3] Besides simulation studies, he conducted measurements on an early Ethernet LAN at Xerox PARC that established the capability of this data network to also transmit voice.[P 1][P 2] In the first decade of his academic career, he broadened his research on LANs [P 3] to include the transport layer [P 4] and operating systems.[P 5][P 6]

Technology for society

In the early 1990s, Gonsalves with two colleagues Ashok Jhunjhunwala and Bhaskar Ramamurthi decided to focus their research on technology for mass use in India. They founded the TeNeT Group with its motto “World-class technology at an affordable price”.[4] Gonsalves worked on the software design of a number of telecom products. These include the corDECT Wireless in Local Loop system, a product of Midas Comm,[P 7][P 8] the DIAS Direct Internet Access System, a product of Banyan Networks, with its patented soft-switching design [P 9][5] among others.

To deliver useful applications based on the Internet, he was a co-founder of n-Logue Communications and the IIT-M RTBI. In 1998-2000, on leave from IIT Madras, he founded Nilgiri Networks (P) Ltd. In the small town of Ooty. He trained local talent to develop telecom software for the TeNeT Group. This included Minnow, a Linux-based server for small ISPs,[P 10] and BlueBill, a low-cost telecom billing package.[P 11] Based on many years of research in network management systems he co-founded NMSWorks Software (P) Ltd and designed its flagship product, CygNet.[P 12][P 13][P 14][P 15][P 16][P 17] Working with several companies incubated by RTBI on Internet-based products for rural India, his research interests further broadened to include distributed systems.[P 18][P 19][P 20][P 21]

From about 2006 onwards, he worked on financial systems as a consultant to SBI and SEBI. He led the development of the first standards for mobile payments in India as a member of the Mobile Payment Forum India (MPFI).[P 22]

During the decade following 2010, he started to apply machine learning and data science to diverse fields such as computer networks[P 23] [P 24] [P 25] and agriculture. [P 26] He developed an interest in data-driven speculations on the future.[P 27]

Institution Building: Founding Director, IIT Mandi

Prof. Gonsalves took charge as the first full-time Director of IIT Mandi in January 2010. Under his leadership, IIT Mandi grew from an Institute with only 97 students in 2009 to one with 1655 students (2019–20) and has graduated over 1500 alumni. It has a vibrant research culture, with 125 faculty. As of 2020 they had brought in external research funding to the tune of Rs. 110 Cr.[6][7] among others.

From a green-field project initiated in 2009, IIT Mandi has 1.4 lakh sq. mt. constructed space with residential, academic and recreational facilities at par with the best higher education institutions in India.[8][9][10]

In the National Framework Institute Ranking of the Government of India (2019), IIT Mandi was ranked 20th among engineering colleges in India, and best Institute among all categories in Himachal Pradesh.[11] In the ARIIA 2020[12] it was ranked 7th in a nationwide survey.  Within a decade of its establishment, IIT Mandi earned praise, including from the Indian Vice-President, and the Governor and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, for establishing its unique identity in the education map of the country.[13]

Prof. Gonsalves was instrumental in setting up IIT Mandi Catalyst, the first technology business incubator in Himachal Pradesh, in 2016. He served as the Chairman of its Board of Governors. Catalyst has helped over 370 startups since 2017, and is changing both the industry profile and entrepreneurial mindset in Himachal Pradesh.[14]  As of June 2020, Catalyst had secured external funding of Rs. 24 Cr from various funding agencies.[15][16]

In 2019, IIT Mandi became the first IIT to introduce a B. Tech. programme in Data Science.[17][18][19]  Prof. Gonsalves has mentored other educational institutes in Himachal Pradesh by serving on their board. He has served as the Vice-Chairman of the State Higher Education Council, Himachal Pradesh (2014 – 2017), and as the Chairman, Board of Governors, Jawaharlal Nehru Government Engineering College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh (2012 – 2017).

Prof. Gonsalves was appointed the National Project Coordinator for FarmerZone, a project that harnesses artificial intelligence for crop management advisories to small and medium farmers, initially helping over 1000 potato farmers in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. This prestigious project was funded to the tune of Rs. 9.7 cr (2018-2021) by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.[20]  Another example of IIT Mandi achieving national leadership during his tenure: in 2018 IIT Mandi was nominated as the nodal institution for Germany in the nationwide SPARC (international researchers’ mobility) programme of Ministry of Human Resource Development.[21][22]

In keeping with IIT Mandi’s vision to bridge the gap between academia and the local community, Prof. Gonsalves initiated ‘Prayas’, a citizen’s forum with residents and administrators in Mandi town, and served as its Chairman.[23]

Initiative to increase female enrollment in the Indian Institutes of Technology

In 2017 he chaired the Joint Admissions Board (JAB) sub-committee for increasing female enrollment in B.Tech. in IITs.[24][25] The committee recommended increase in female enrollment in IITs from 8% in 2016 to 14% in 2018-19, 17% in 2019-20 and 20% in 2020-21 by creating supernumerary seats.[26][27][28] As a result of this effort, and additional efforts at IIT Mandi including scholarships for female students and the setting up of a help-desk, IIT Mandi admitted 20.22 percent female students to its B. Tech programme for the Academic Year 2019-20. That is, there were 53 female students among a total of 262 BTech students admitted that year. This is the highest proportion of female students in a BTech programme in any of the 23 IITs.[29] This effort has been a national success as well: Female enrollment in BTech in all IITs more than doubled from 8% in 2016 to 18% in 2019.[30][31]

Five Week Induction Programme for BTech Students

Since 2016, under Prof. Gonsalves' leadership, IIT Mandi had organized a unique, fully faculty-mentored induction or orientation programme for its new BTech students. The aim of this five-week programme was to provide training to the new students and help them in the transition from school to college, to improve their respective skills and proficiency, and to help them to appreciate the significance of engineering’s societal connect.[32][33]

Retirement from IIT Mandi

After over 10 years of his contribution as founding Director of IIT Mandi, he stepped down on 30 June 2020, leaving IIT Mandi with a strong foundation.  Thereafter, Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi, Director of IIT Roorkee, took additional charge as Director of IIT Mandi temporarily.[34] Prof. Gonsalves continues his association with IIT Mandi as Professor Emeritus (Honorary) since 1 July 2020. In February 2021, IIT Mandi published a book Scaling the Heights: IIT Mandi's First Decade chronicling the growth of the institution from inception until 2019 under his leadership.[35]

Career after retirement

After his retirement as Director, IIT Mandi in June 2020, Prof. Gonsalves has been active in improving education in engineering colleges in India. He founded the LEAP (Learning Engineering by Activity with Products) programme in 2021. LEAP brings project-based learning to students in the first and second year of their BTech programme.[36][37]

He is a founding member of the Steering Committee of the CSEDU programme aimed at improving the effectiveness of teaching of computer science subjects in colleges. He leads the team on Effective Teaching of Computer Networks.[38]

In 2022, Prof. Gonsalves was named AICTE Distinguished Chair Professor. In this capacity, he visits engineering colleges in different parts of India to deliver expert lectures and to mentor faculty and students. His first visit, in November 2022, was to the G. Narayanamma Institute of Technology and Science (for women), Hyderabad. [39]

Personal life

Priscilla and Timothy Gonsalves, August 2019

Gonsalves is married to Priscilla Tapley Gonsalves and has two daughters, Danica Gonsalves and Kartiki Gonsalves.[40] The documentary The Elephant Whisperers directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and story written by Priscilla Gonsalves, has won the Academy Award 2022 for Best Documentary Short Film.[41]

Kartiki Gonsalves (daughter, left) and Priscilla Tapley Gonsalves (wife, right) at the 95th Academy Awards, 2023.

After retirement as IIT Mandi Director, he has been leading the IIT Mandi Wikimedians, a group of Wiki editors/contributors from IIT Mandi. They contribute photos and articles on Himachal to Commons and Wikipedia.[42] He is an avid photographer and several of his images have been featured on Wikimedia Commons,[43] and selected as Picture of the Day on Commons and Bengali Wikipedia.[44]

Selected research publications (P)

  1. ↑ T. A. Gonsalves; F.A. Tobagi (1989). "Comparative Performance of Voice/Data Local Area Networks". IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. IEEE. 7 (5): 657–669. doi:10.1109/49.32329. ISSN 0733-8716.
  2. ↑ T. A. Gonsalves; F.A. Tobagi (1988). "On the Performance Effects of Station Locations and Access Protocol Parameters in Ethernet Networks". IEEE Transactions on Communications. IEEE. 36 (4): 441–449. doi:10.1109/26.2768. ISSN 0090-6778.
  3. ↑ A. Jhunjhunwala; M. Archana Rao; B. Murugesh; T. A. Gonsalves; B. Ramamurthi (1993). "A Reliable Fibre-Optic Ring Network for Process Control". International Journal of Optoelectronics. 8: 477–491.
  4. ↑ T. A. Gonsalves (1993). "High-Speed Transport Protocols: Design and Implementation Issues". IETE Journal of Research. IETE. 39 (2): 99–109. doi:10.1080/03772063.1993.11437103.
  5. ↑ S. Mahesh; C. Sivaram Murthy; T. A. Gonsalves; C. Pandurangan (1995). "Modeling and Simulation of Dynamic Job Scheduling in Multiprocessor Systems". International Journal of Computer Mathematics. Taylor & Francis. 58 (3–4): 221–247. doi:10.1080/00207169508804445.
  6. ↑ B. Sain; T. A. Gonsalves (1997). "KeRTESy: A Real-Time Event-driven Microkernel". Dr. Dobb's Journal. UBM Technology Group: 48–58.
  7. ↑ A. Jhunjhunwala; B. Ramamurthi; T. A. Gonsalves (1998). "The Role of Technology in Telecom Expansion in India". IEEE Communications Magazine. IEEE. 36 (11): 88–94. doi:10.1109/35.733480. ISSN 0163-6804.
  8. ↑ A. Balaji; T. A. Gonsalves; R. Kumar (1998). "The Performance of the corDECT Voice/Data Wireless Local Loop". IETE Journal of Research. Taylor and Francis. 46 (6): 489–503. doi:10.1080/03772063.2000.11416193. S2CID 14872134.
  9. ↑ E. Elwin Stelzer; T.A. Gonsalves (1999). "Embedding RMON in Large LAN Switches". IEEE Network. 13 (1): 63–72. doi:10.1109/65.750451. ISSN 0890-8044.
  10. ↑ Manoj, K.K; Gonsalves, T.A (July 2006). "Linux/Open Source Drives Internet Penetration in Rural India". CSI Communications. 30 (4): 43–47.
  11. ↑ Gonsalves, T.A. (March 2006). "Web Services for Rural India". CSI Communications. 29 (9): 21–23.
  12. ↑ T. A. Gonsalves; A. Jhunjhunwala; H. A. Murthy (2000). CygNet: An Integrated Management for Modern Telecom Networks. National Conference on Communications. New Delhi, India. pp. 103–106.
  13. ↑ D. M. Divakaran; H. A. Murthy; T. A. Gonsalves (2006). Traffic Modeling and Classification Using Packet Train Length and Packet Train Size. International Workshop on IP Operations and Management. Dublin, Ireland: IEEE. doi:10.1007/11908852_1. (Best Paper Award)
  14. ↑ C. Jagdish; V. Jammula; T. A. Gonsalves (2008). "Low-cost DCN for rural telecom network management". International Journal of Network Management. Wiley. 18: 15–26. doi:10.1002/nem.645. S2CID 1257744.
  15. ↑ C. Jagdish; T. A. Gonsalves (2009). "Distributed Control of Performance Management Traffic with Accuracy Objectives". International Journal of Network Management. Wiley. 19 (6): 465–478. doi:10.1002/nem.722. S2CID 34580224.
  16. ↑ C. Jagdish; T. A. Gonsalves (2009). "Distributed control of event floods in a large telecom network". International Journal of Network Management. Wiley. 20 (2): 57–70. doi:10.1002/nem.728. S2CID 40314475.
  17. ↑ R. Madanagopal; N. Usha Rani; T. A. Gonsalves (2010). "Path Computation Algorithms for Dynamic Service Provisioning with Protection and Inverse Multiplexing in SDH/SONET Networks". IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking. ACM. 18 (5): 1492–1504. doi:10.1109/TNET.2010.2043538. S2CID 16751158.
  18. ↑ D. Venkatesulu; T. A. Gonsalves (1999). "Efficient Fault-tolerant Reliable Broadcast in a Multi-switch Extended LAN". Computer Communications. Elsevier BV. 22 (3): 266–278. doi:10.1016/s0140-3664(98)00256-4. ISSN 0140-3664.
  19. ↑ D. Venkatesulu; T. A. Gonsalves (2000). "On the Performance of Distributed Objects". Journal of Systems Architecture. Elsevier BV. 46 (5): 411–428. doi:10.1016/s1383-7621(99)00023-5.
  20. ↑ A. Jhunjhunwala; B. Ramamurthi; T. A. Gonsalves (1998). "The Role of Technology in Telecom Expansion in India". IEEE Communications Magazine. IEEE. 36 (11): 88–94. doi:10.1109/35.733480. ISSN 0163-6804.
  21. ↑ R. Singh; T. A. Gonsalves (2018). "Using Ontologies to Share Access Control Information in Rural Business Process Outsourcing". IETE Journal of Research. Taylor and Francis. 67: 1–10. doi:10.1080/03772063.2018.1527259. S2CID 125579997.
  22. ↑ Deepti Kumar; T. A. Gonsalves; A. Jhunjhunwala; G. Raina (2010). Mobile Payment Architectures for India. National Conference On Communications. Chennai: IEEE. pp. 410–415. doi:10.1109/NCC.2010.5430160.
  23. ↑ S. Gupta; A.D. Dileep; T. A. Gonsalves (2018). "A Joint Multivariate Feature Selection Framework for Resource Workload Prediction in Cloud using Stability and Prediction Performance". The Journal of Supercomputing. Springer. 74 (11): 6033–6068. doi:10.1007/s40012-020-00268-6. S2CID 216111599.
  24. ↑ M. Sundar; Sriram K.; T.A. Gonsalves (2020). Benchmarking Distributed Stream Processing Frameworks for Real Time Classical Machine Learning Applications. 11th International Conference On Computing, Communication and Networking Technologies(ICCCNT). IIT Kharagpur: IEEE.
  25. ↑ Gupta, S; Dileep, A.D.; Gonsalves, T.A. (2020). "Online Sparse BLSTM Models for Resource Usage Prediction in Cloud Datacentres". IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management. 17 (4): 2335–2349. doi:10.1109/TNSM.2020.3013922. S2CID 225416177.
  26. ↑ Snehal Shete; Srikant Srinivasan; Timothy A. Gonsalves (2020). "TasselGAN: An Application of the Generative Adversarial Model for Creating Field-Based Maize Tassel Data". Plant Phenomics. 2020: 657–669. doi:10.34133/2020/8309605. PMC 7706316. PMID 33313564.
  27. ↑ T. A. Gonsalves (2020). "Musings on change: driver for SDN". CSI Transactions on ICT. Springer. 2020: 657–669. doi:10.1007/s40012-020-00268-6. S2CID 216111599.

References

  1. ↑ "The Telecommunications and Computer Networking Group". Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "IIT Mandi". Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Tobagi, F.A.; Dalgic, I (1996). "Performance evaluation of 10Base-T and 100Base-T Ethernets carrying multimedia traffic". IEEE Jour. Selected Areas in Communications. 14 (7): 1437.
  4. ↑ "The Telecommunications and Computer Networking Group". Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. ↑ IN patent 208017, Indian Institute of Technology; Ashok Jhunjhunwala & Timothy A Gonsalves, "A Direct Internet Access System", published 2000-01-12
  6. ↑ "Efforts on to take IIT-Mandi on global map, says Director". The Tribune. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  7. ↑ "IIT Mandi Completes 10 Years". NDTV. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  8. ↑ Krishnan, Madhuvanti S. (25 June 2017). "Avant garde all the way". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Interdisciplinary research can be conducted in remote areas". Hindustan Times. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "IIT Mandi celebrates a successful decade of achievements in Academics, R&D and Innovation". India Today. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "MHRD, National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF)". www.nirfindia.org. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIS". Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "IIT Mandi's 7th convocation: 276 students including 22 PhD scholars graduate". Hindustan Times. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  14. ↑ "IIT Mandi increases funding for startups to Rs 50 lakh". Hindustan Times. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  15. ↑ Mathur, Nandita (18 September 2019). "IIT Mandi to disburse over ₹10 crore to startups over next five years". Livemint. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  16. ↑ "IIT Mandi to disburse Rs 10 crore to startups". www.timesnownews.com. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  17. ↑ "IIT-Mandi to launch B.Tech course in Data Science and Engineering". @businessline. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  18. ↑ "IIT Mandi launches BTech programme in Data Science" (PDF). Times of India. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  19. ↑ "New B Tech course at IIT Mandi". The Pioneer. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  20. ↑ Roy, Vijay C (20 November 2019). "IIT Mandi to help farmers boost potato production". The Tribune. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  21. ↑ Basu, Sreeradha (7 January 2019). "IIT Mandi and Leibniz Universitat Hannover sign MoU for academic collaboration". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  22. ↑ "IIT Mandi's proposals selected under SPARC initiative, to boost research". @businessline. 2019 [March 2019]. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  23. ↑ Kumar, Sanjeev (21 November 2019). "Mandi to get a facelift, IIT to help make it a model town". The Statesman. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  24. ↑ "Panel recommends reservation for girl students in IITs". The New Indian Express. 2017 [16 January 2017]. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  25. ↑ "Women in Science and Technology". SAGE Publications Inc. 21 March 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  26. ↑ "IITs to increase enrolment of female students". The Financial Express. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  27. ↑ "Highlights of the Recommendations of the JAB Sub-Committee for Increasing Female Enrolment in B.Tech. in IITs" (PDF). JAB Sub-Committee on Increasing Female Enrolment in BTech in IITs. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  28. ↑ "Female enrolment in IITs to be increased to 20% by 2020-21 by creating supernumerary seats". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  29. ↑ "53 girls out of 262 students enrolled in BTech programme at IIT Mandi". India Today. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  30. ↑ "Number Of Girls In IITs Grown To 18% For BTech Programmes: HRD Minister". NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  31. ↑ "Percentage of Girls in IITs on the Rise: HRD Minister". CollegeDekho.com. 2020 [March 2020]. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  32. ↑ "6 ways IIT Mandi is redefining engineering colleges". India Today. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  33. ↑ Gonsalves, Timothy; Sethi, Devika. "A Unique Pedagogical Experiment: The 5-Week Induction Programme (5WIP) at IIT Mandi" (PDF). IEEE India Info. 13: 44–46.
  34. ↑ "Tribune India, Chaturvedi to take charge of IIT-Mandi". Tribune India. 2020 [June 2020]. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  35. ↑ Sethi, Devika; Gonsalves, Priscilla; et al., eds. (2021). Scaling the Heights: IIT Mandi's First Decade. Kamand, Himachal Pradesh: Indian Institute of Technology Mandi. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021.
  36. ↑ "IIT STYLE Project based learning". LEAP. IIT Madras Incubation Cell. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  37. ↑ Express News Service (2022) [8 March 2022]. "IITs have become institutes of Indian technology". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  38. ↑ "Certificate Program for Faculty in Computer Science Education". Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  39. ↑ "Distinguished Chair Professor Lectures" (PDF). G. NARAYANAMMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE. 2022 [10 Nov 2022]. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  40. ↑ "Priscilla and Timothy Gonsalves". Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  41. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (24 January 2023). "Oscars: Full List of Nominations". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  42. ↑ Lohumi, Bhanu (17 July 2021). "IITians step in to improve state's presence on Wikipedia". The Tribune. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  43. ↑ "Featured Pictures by Timothy A Gonsalves". Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  44. ↑ "Picture of the Day by Tagooty, Bengali Wikipedia". Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
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