Dr. Balakrishnan Shankar is the Dean, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences at Amrita University. He also serves as the Associate Dean for the School of Engineering at Amritapuri Campus and the Chairperson at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri. His research interest includes Materials Science. Dr. Balakrishnan Shankar received his Ph.D. from University of Texas at Austin, USA.