R. Sundaravadivelu was Emeritus Professor (Retd.) from the Department of Ocean Engineering at IIT Madras and currently serves as Director of Prof. R. Sundaravadivelu Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. He holds a B.E. in Civil Engineering from Annamalai University, an M. Tech in Structural Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Ocean Engineering from IIT Madras. With over four decades of experience, he has contributed extensively to the development of greenfield and brownfield ports in India and abroad, consulting on nearly 1,000 projects. His research spans marine structures, soil-structure-wave interaction, geotextile applications , sea water intake and outfalls, sea walls, Groyenes, deep-water ports, offshore platforms, shipyards Dredging and physical and numerical modeling of port and harbor structures. Sundaravadivelu has published around 200 papers in international journals and conferences and guided 23 Ph.D. scholars. He has held key positions at IIT Madras, including Professor & Head of the Department, Chair Professor, Member Board of IC and SR, Chairman of the Estate & Works Committee, and Member of the Board of Governors. His accolades include being a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and serving on numerous national committees such as the Indian Maritime University, Central Road Research Institute, Chilika Development Authority, and Chairperson CED47, Ports, Harbours and Offshore Installations, Bureau of Indian Standards, Government of India.

S. Sakthivel is the Managing Director and Principal Marine Consultant at Prof. R. Sundaravadivelu Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. With over two decades of experience in waterborne transport infrastructure, he has successfully led more than 500 projects involving Ports, Shipyards, Dredging, offshore, sea water intake and Coastal protection structures.He holds a B.E. in Civil Engineering from Madras University, an M. Tech in Ocean Engineering from IIT Madras, and a Postgraduate Certification in Strategic Port Management from IIM Ahmedabad. His expertise spans FEED engineering, contract documentation, analysis, design and detailed engineering, Techno-economic feasibility report (TEFR), Master planning, Detailed Project Reports (DPR) and Project Management Consultancy. Sakthivel is proficient in structural analysis software such as SACS and STAAD Pro, wave flume and basin model studies and is well-versed in applying Indian and international codes for design of marine structures. He is an active member of professional societies including ASME, ASCE, and The Indian Society of Hydraulics, and is an alumnus of IIT Madras.