Vikram Garaniya

Professor Vikram Garaniya is a Chemical Engineer with 15 years of experience in applied Environmental, Reliability, and Safety Engineering. He is a dedicated educational leader who has made excellent contributions to research and academic administration.

Currently, Professor Garaniya serves as the Head of the Department and Associate Dean of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the School of Engineering, one of Australia's largest and most distinguished engineering schools. This school boasts a vibrant community of over 350 dedicated staff members and 7,000 students, including 750 HDR international students. The Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering has developed outstanding research capabilities in critical areas such as clean energy, bioprocessing, sustainable waste transformation, water management, and environmental remediation. The department's commitment to excellence has enabled it to tackle significant challenges in humanitarian engineering, further enhancing its capacity for environmental processing and sustainability.

In his role as Head of the Department and Associate Dean, Professor Garaniya provides strategic and scholarly leadership across all departmental activities, including research, learning, and teaching. His mission is to inspire, manage, and develop academic staff while fostering an enriching environment that enhances their experiences and empowers their contributions.

Before joining RMIT, Professor Garaniya was the Director of the National Centre for Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics (NCMEH) at the University of Tasmania. During his 19-year tenure, he collaborated closely with key stakeholders at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) and the College of Sciences and Engineering (CoSE) to create a dynamic platform for transformation and progress. The Australian Maritime College at the University of Tasmania is the country’s national maritime education, training, and research institute. In his roles, he provided academic, strategic, and operational leadership across various areas, including learning and teaching, research, student experience, internationalisation, and community engagement. He played a crucial role in shaping and managing AMC's strategic priorities, ensuring alignment with the broader strategies of CoSE and the university. He also held several senior leadership positions, including Associate Head of Research, Lead Graduate Research Coordinator, Associate Head of Global Outreach, Academic Lead for Student Experience, and Course Coordinator.

He is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) and a Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust). Throughout his career, he has taught and co-taught a diverse array of subjects while actively engaging in multidisciplinary research, specialising in environmental risk analysis and reliability engineering. His work has gained a strong national and international reputation for excellence. He has published over 160 research articles in esteemed journals, contributed to books, and presented peer-reviewed conference papers at national and international forums. As a Chief Investigator, he has successfully secured numerous external grants in collaboration with industry partners and academic institutions. Additionally, he has effectively supervised 20 HDR (Doctoral/Masters) candidates to successful completion.