Dr. Swapnali Makdey is an accomplished Professor, academic leader, VLSI researcher, and technology educator with approximately 25 years of experience in teaching and research. She currently serves as Head of the Department of Electronics and Computer Science at Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering, Mumbai. She completed her Ph.D. in VLSI from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, following her M.E. in Electronics Engineering from Fr. CRCE, Mumbai, and B.E. in Electronics Engineering from Shivaji University, Kolhapur.

Her academic expertise encompasses Digital VLSI, Analog VLSI, Verilog, VHDL, SystemVerilog, semiconductor technologies, physical design, embedded systems, and machine learning applications in VLSI.

Teaching & Academic Leadership

Dr. Makdey has made significant contributions to engineering education through classroom and online teaching, project supervision, curriculum development, examination activities, and faculty development. For approximately 15 years, she has contributed to setting examination papers for Analog VLSI Design at the B.E. level and Mixed VLSI Design at the M.E. level for Mumbai University.

She has also served in several institutional leadership roles, including Academic Council membership, Technical In-charge, Placement Coordinator, and department-level academic responsibilities. Her leadership reflects a strong commitment to strengthening technical education and student development.

Research & Technical Expertise

Her research interests and technical competencies span VLSI circuit design, analog and digital IC design, two-dimensional materials, magnetic tunnel junctions, FinFETs, semiconductor devices, machine learning, deep learning, and AI applications.

She is proficient in EDA and semiconductor design environments, including Cadence Virtuoso, Genus, Innovus, SPICE, and EDA-Playground, with exposure to the complete RTL-to-GDSII design flow. Her research demonstrates an interdisciplinary integration of semiconductor engineering with emerging AI and computational techniques.

Research Publications

Dr. Makdey has contributed to numerous journal and conference publications, including research published in SCI and Scopus-indexed venues. Her publications address topics such as:

• Deep learning applications in semiconductor and VLSI technologies
• Graphene and molybdenum disulfide-based magnetic tunnel junctions
• Spin-diodes and two-dimensional materials
• FinFET-based VLSI circuit performance
• Subthreshold characteristics of submicron MOSFETs
• Machine-learning-based behavior prediction of semiconductor devices
• AI and multimodal approaches to hate-speech detection
• Semiconductor and advanced electronic-system design

Her research reflects sustained engagement with both fundamental semiconductor technologies and emerging computational approaches.

Innovation & Project Mentorship

Dr. Makdey has actively promoted innovation through student project mentoring and technology competitions. She received Second Prize at DIPEX 2018 for the project “Rpi-scope: An Effective Tool for Farmers” and subsequently mentored the project at the regional finals of the e-Yantra Idea Competition (eYIC-2019).

She has also been involved in projects combining electronics, embedded systems, AI, and practical societal applications, demonstrating her emphasis on translating engineering knowledge into useful technological solutions.

Awards & Recognitions

Her professional achievements include several notable recognitions:

• Most Influential Professor Award, received in 2025.
• Best Paper in Track Prize for research on “Harmony Guard: A Multimodal Approach to Hate Speech Detection in Hindi Audio” in the Data Science, AI, ML and DL track.
• Second Prize at DIPEX 2018 for the Rpi-scope agricultural project.
• Recognition as Best IEEE Branch Counselor in the IEEE Bombay Section.
• IEEE Senior Member, recognizing professional and technical contributions.
• Recognition for IEEE-CRCE achievements, including awards at IEEE Region 10 and international levels.
• Consolation Prize at ELECTRAMA '99 for a PC-based greenhouse automation project.

IEEE Leadership & Professional Service

Dr. Makdey has demonstrated extensive leadership within IEEE Bombay Section and IEEE-CRCE. She has served as AP/ED Chair, IEEE-GOLD Chair, Women Chair, and Educational Activity Chair at the IEEE Bombay Section.

As IEEE-CRCE Branch Counselor, she played an important role in transforming the student branch from a relatively inactive unit into a vibrant technical organization, increasing membership and expanding activities to inter-collegiate and national levels. She helped organize technical workshops, seminars, competitions, paper presentations, hackathons, and major IEEE events.

She also contributed to international professional engagement by facilitating an IEEE Standards Association-USA workshop on Cloud Computing.

Invited Talks & Professional Engagement

Dr. Makdey is actively involved as a resource person, speaker, trainer, and academic expert. Her recent engagements include sessions on Machine Learning in VLSI Design, AI Tools for Research, semiconductor advancements, AI-driven teaching strategies, and semiconductor technology.

She has also participated in major semiconductor-focused events and professional programmes, facilitating interaction between academia, industry, and emerging technology communities.

Faculty Development & Continuous Learning

She has completed and participated in numerous ATAL, AICTE, UGC, MeitY, and industry-oriented faculty development programmes covering analog and mixed-signal IC design, semiconductor digital-system design and verification, AI techniques in VLSI, blockchain technologies, machine learning in micro-nano VLSI, Cadence-based VLSI design, advanced materials, and data science.

These activities demonstrate her commitment to keeping engineering education aligned with rapidly evolving semiconductor and AI technologies.

Professional Memberships

Dr. Makdey is associated with professional organizations including IEEE, ISTE, FSAI, VLSI Society of India, and the International Society of Automation (ISA), where she holds Senior Member status.

Contribution to Student Development

Beyond teaching and research, she has consistently contributed to student mentoring, technical skill development, professional society activities, project competitions, placement activities, and community-oriented initiatives. Her efforts have helped students gain exposure to research, innovation, technical competitions, and professional engineering practices.

Overall Academic & Research Impact

Dr. Swapnali Makdey has built a distinguished academic career combining long-term teaching experience, VLSI research, institutional leadership, professional-society service, innovation, student mentorship, and interdisciplinary research involving AI and machine learning. Her sustained contributions to engineering education and semiconductor research, coupled with her leadership in IEEE and professional academic activities, establish her as an experienced and influential academic in Electronics and Computer Science.

Eligibility for Distinguished Professor Award

Dr. Swapnali Makdey is eligible for the Distinguished Professor Award in Scientific Laurels. Her candidature is strongly supported by her 25 years of teaching and research experience, Ph.D. in VLSI from VNIT Nagpur, leadership as Head of Department, extensive research publications in SCI/Scopus-indexed journals, professional recognition, IEEE Senior Membership, academic examination and curriculum contributions, student mentorship, and extensive faculty-development and invited-speaker activities.

Her sustained contributions to VLSI and semiconductor research, AI and machine learning integration, engineering education, professional leadership, innovation, and student development demonstrate the breadth and longevity expected of a distinguished academic. Her leadership within IEEE, recognition as an influential professor, research achievements, and commitment to advancing technology-driven education further strengthen her suitability for the Distinguished Professor Award in Scientific Laurels.