Dr. M. Premkumar has been firmly associated with Paavai Engineering College since June 2001, contributing profoundly to its academic and administrative growth. He joined as a faculty member and served as Head of the department of Mechanical Engineering. Beginning his journey as Head of the Department, Vice Principal, and as the Principal he is leading the institution with visionary, academic and administrative leadership since 2013.
Dr. M. Premkumar got his Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering, and his Master degree in Engineering with a specialization in Computer Aided Design CAD. Demonstrating a deep commitment to research, he earned his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Sathyabama University, Chennai, in 2013 with his doctoral thesis titled ‘Heat Transfer Studies on Solar Thermal Storage System’. Dr. M. Premkumar is sustaining a distinguished academic career over 24 years. Under his dynamic leadership, the institution has achieved significant academic milestones, including NAAC ‘A’ Grade recognition, Autonomous approvals and multiple NBA accreditations, reflecting his commitment to quality in education and governance. He is an AICTE expert for evaluation of NEAT course from November 2020.
As dedicated researcher and an innovator, Dr. M. Premkumar has secured over ₹1.75 Crores in research funding, spearheading projects of national and international relevance. He has successfully secured several significant research grants from prestigious national and international agencies. In 2025, he received a grant of ₹21.76 lakhs from IIT Tirupati under the Navavishkar Innovation Development Hub for the project focused on Dynamic Topographic Mapping using UAV-LiDAR Technology for a period of 18 months from April 2025 (Co-PI). A substantial grant of ₹30 lakhs was awarded by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO, for a five-year project (2022–2027) on measuring atmospheric vertical profiles using GPS-aided Radiosonde systems. He was also the recipient of two ₹50 lakh grant under the Indo-UK Newton Bhabha Higher Education Partnership Programme-one for advanced training in computational mechanics, and another ₹50 lakh for enhancing employability through engineering analysis and industry-integrated certification programmes. Furthermore, he secured ₹23 lakhs from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) / NSTMIS for the project on ‘Impact Assessment of Smart India Hackathon and Innovation Mission on Startup Models in Science and Technology Domains’.
In addition, Dr.M. Premkumar has designed and developed a ‘Buoyancy Driven Solar Engine’ guided by Dr. Allan Williams, Global Warming Solutions, U.K. He is associated with two projects titled ‘Development of Pressure drop devices for LMFBR Subassemblies’ and ‘Investigation of flow distribution in main vessel cooling system’ sponsored by Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre, Kalpakkam. He has completed a project titled ‘Design and Development of a PICO Satellite Structure’ sponsored by The Institution of Engineers (India), Kolkata. He always motivates and impresses the students with learning and research motive. He encourages the students to involve in innovative projects as the outcome of learning. He has promoted many students’ projects into sponsored projects from various funding agencies.
An educator at heart, Dr. M. Premkumar believes in shaping the students well-rounded individuals. He fosters the student research and innovation through funded projects. He has lead international collaborations with 10 renowned Taiwan universities for student exchange, internships and MS Programmmes. He serves as Academic Advisor to the National Cyber Safety and Security Standards from 2018. Hence, his expertise got renowned on the international stage when he was invited as a guest speaker at the 8th Annual World Congress on Advanced Materials held in Osaka, Japan, in 2019.
Dr. M. Premkumar’s outstanding contributions to education and research have earned him several esteemed accolades. In 2018, he was honoured with ‘The Proud Award of Researcher’ by Allinnov R&D Pvt. Ltd., and the prestigious “NAFEMS Award of Excellence for pioneering efforts in best practices and popularizing CAE’ at NAFEMS India Regional Conference, Bangalore. Recognizing his exemplary leadership, he was presented with the ‘Best Principal Award’ in 2019 by the ‘Institute of Scholars’ as well as the ‘Research Peace Award’ 2019 by the World Research Council. His visionary role in education further earned him the Top 30 Iconic Principal Award from DYNERGIC Business Solution and the title of Top 20 Revolutionary Education Leader 2021 from ULEKTZ. Dr.Premkumar has been an ambitious contributor in the field of Science and Technology by being a life member in Indian Society for Technical Education and in Institute of Engineers.
Dr. M. Premkumar has published many International and National journals and also presented myriad of papers on varied topics. He was the Chief Editor for the IEEE Explorer Conference Proceedings of the International Conference on ‘Frontiers in Automobile and Mechanical Engineering held in the year 2010’. He has actively contributed to the academic community by serving as a reviewer for several reputed journals. His reviewing responsibilities have been included in ‘Materials Today’ published by Elsevier, ‘International Journal of Ambient Energy’ by Taylor and Francis, and ‘Thermal Science – International Scientific Journal’. He has also reviewed scholarly articles for the ‘Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Science’ and ‘Journal of the Institute of Scholars’ demonstrating his commitment to maintaining the quality and integrity of scientific research.
Dr. M. Premkumar is not just an academician but a compassionate leader known for his humility, visionary mindset, and unwavering dedication to the holistic development of the students and the institution. He is interested in developing personality skills among the students by encouraging a number of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities like NSS, NCC, NSO, YRC and Rotaract Club and motivates all the students to organise innovative programmes. His career is a remarkable blend of teaching, research, administration, innovation and above all, a genuine passion for education.
