Dr. R. Venkata Rao is currently working as Professor (Higher Administrative Grade) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, S.V. National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat, India. He has more than 30 years of teaching and research experience, having completed his B.Tech. in 1988, M.Tech. in 1991, Ph.D. in 2002, and D.Sc. in 2017. His research interests include advanced optimization algorithms and their applications to design, thermal and manufacturing engineering. He has more than 350 research papers to his credit, published in national and international journals and conference proceedings, and has received national and international awards for his research efforts. He is on the editorial boards of several international journals. Apart from conducting a number of short-term training programs for faculty members and professionals on advanced engineering optimization techniques, he has handled numerous research projects including the bi-lateral projects with Austria, Russia, and Slovenia. He
