Leadership

With a distinguished academic and administrative journey spanning 26+ years, Dr. Santosh Sonavane brings exceptional expertise in institutional building, academic transformation, and operational excellence. He has led initiatives in setting up greenfield technical campuses, transforming brownfield institutions, and driving strategic reforms in higher education. Over the last 16 years, he has held various senior leadership roles such as COO, Founding Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Dean, Campus Director, and Principal across prestigious institutions including Amity University, Vijaybhoomi University, Symbiosis Skills & Professional University, Ajeenkya DY Patil University, Dr. DY Patil Technical Campus, and MIT Academy of Engineering, Pune.

Prior to joining MIT-WPU, Dr. Sonavane served as COO of Modern Education Society, Pune, and previously as Dean – Academics at Amity University, Noida, where he led the academic governance of 400+ programs and managed NAAC, QAA, WASC, and IET accreditations. He also played a key role in implementing NEP 2020 and establishing Centres of Excellence in collaboration with industry, contributing significantly to quality enhancement, curriculum innovation, and internationalization strategies.

Dr. Sonavane holds a Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from IIT (ISM), Dhanbad, with his research focused on low-cost wireless sensor networks. He also earned his M.E. in Electronics from Dr. BAMU, Aurangabad, and B.E. in Electronics from Pune University. He has published over 104 national and international papers, authored 3 international books, and supervised 3 Ph.D. scholars, with several more at the submission stage.

He is a patent holder with five Indian patents (one granted in 2024), and his research impact includes 800+ citations, an h-index of 15, and 23 i10-index papers in areas such as IoT, cybersecurity, and biomedical engineering. His commitment to educational excellence earned him the “Education Changemaker Award 2024”, conferred by the Hon’ble IT Minister of Tamil Nadu.