Dr. Ramachandran Thekkedath, an accomplished scientist and technology expert, is the current/12th Vice-Chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology. Having extensive research and development experience in physics, lasers, medical devices and bio-instrumentation, Dr. Ramachandran is the first alumnus of CUSAT to become the Vice-Chancellor of this prestigious university in Kerala.
A native of Pattambi in Palakkad district of Kerala, Dr.Ramachandran had his M.Sc and Ph.D at the Department of Physics of Cochin University of Science and Technology.
Before taking up the position of Vice-Chancellor of CUSAT in Jan 2010, Dr. Ramachandran Thekkedath was working in USA for the past 13 years, where research, development and commercialization of devices and technologies related to health care was his main focus. He worked with several companies in these areas and made notable contributions in the field of hematological products and artificial hearts. A novel point of care platelet function analyzer, which gives test results in less than 10 minutes with a few drops of blood, is one of the devices he developed. He was also instrumental in the development of a non centrifugal based, point of care, platelet concentrator and separator with several potential applications in accelerated wound healing and tissue regeneration.
Previously Dr. Ramachandran was working at the Bioengineering Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA with the world renowned Artificial Heart Programme as a key investigator for several research projects, funded by National Institutes of Health. He has contributed extensively to the development of a mechanical heart pump with a magnetically suspended impellor.
Before going to USA, Dr.Ramachandran worked as a Senior Scientist at Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram. At SCTIMST, he developed several new technologies based on lasers for clinical applications. His group was one of the first few original research groups in the world to develop clinical applications of lasers in angioplasty.
Dr. Ramachandran was one of the key figures in several international collaborative programmes of DST, India, particularly with Russia and China. He was a member of the Committee for Indo-China co-operation in Science and Technology (Medical lasers) during 1994-95.
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