Prof. (Mrs.) Mini Shaji Thomas: Dean, Faculty of Engineering &   Technology, & Former Director (NIT Trichy)

 Brief Profile: Dr. (Mrs) Mini Shaji Thomas nee Mini Paul T is currently Dean, Faculty of Engineering & Technology and  Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, JMI, and was the Director of National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (NIT, Trichy) from 2016-2021.  As the Dean of Engineering, she has  revamped the curriculum of UG and PG as per NEP 2020, with minors and Honors, and started 3 new B Tech  and 2 M Tech programs in Emerging Areas in 2024.

Dr. Thomas was the founder Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), and was the Central Public Information officer (CPIO) of JMI from 2008- 2014 and the Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 2005-2008.                              Dr. Thomas was a faculty member at Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi (now DTU), and at the REC (now NIT), Calicut, Kerala before joining Jamia. She graduated from University of Kerala (Gold Medalist), completed her M. Tech from IIT Madras (Gold Medalist, Siemen’s prize) & PhD from IIT Delhi, India, all in Electrical Engineering.   Dr. Thomas received the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award (DAA) 2022 of IIT Madras.

At NIT Trichy, Dr. Thomas and her team, with the inputs from all stakeholders, developed the Strategic Plan for the Institute, which propelled the Institute among the top Technical Institutes in the world.  The position of the Institute improved to 9^th from 12^th in ‘Engineering’, and to 24^th from 34^th in ‘overall’ position, in the NIRF India rankings over the last 3 years.  With her keen interest, able guidance and leadership, NIT Trichy has set up the first of its kind Centre for Excellence (COE) in manufacturing in 2018, at an investment of Rs. 190 Crores, in collaboration with Siemens Industry Software, for Research and Training and Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Machines and many other notable achievements.

Dr. Thomas has done extensive research work in the area of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Substation & Distribution Automation and Smart Grid. She has published over 150 research papers in International Journals and Conferences of repute, supervised 17 Ph. Ds, has successfully completed many research projects. She has set up the first of its kind SCADA laboratory and Substation Automation (SA) Laboratory at JMI, with Industry involvement ad started the first M Tech Program of the Faculty.

Dr. Thomas is currently on the Board of Directors of the IUSSTF- Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and was the President of Shastri-Indo Canadian Institute (SICI) 2020-21,    She is a 'Distinguished Lecturer' of IEEE Power & Energy Society. Dr. Thomas is very active in Professional societies with over a decade of experience on the international boards and committees. Dr. Thomas has traveled extensively around the globe, delivered lectures in prestigious universities and has interacted with technical experts from all over the world.

Wiki Page:         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_Shaji_Thomas                                 

Homepage: https://www.jmi.ac.in/electrical/faculty-members/Dr_Mini_Shaji_Thomas-1954