Dr. Deepa Prasad Venkatraman is an Hotel Management alumnus from IHMCT – Mumbai. A seasoned Hospitality Professional and Educator for the last 25 years. Her core expertise is in Food and Beverage Services and Management. She is a Doctorate in Management, and her thesis was on Wine Consumption Patterns.
She started her career with the Taj Mahal, Mumbai and was associated with the various hotels of the Taj Group as Manager in Food and Beverage Department.
Specialisation in Food and Beverage, with strong focus on beverage practices and services encouraged and inspired her to do her doctorate in topic related to Wines and is actively involved in Wine and Spirits knowledge, appreciation and practices in the hospitality industry.
An academician in IHMCT Institute for more than a decade, she brings forth her rich and myriad experience in hospitality sector and education. Innovation and research in her expertise and domain area has led her to be associated and be part of International panel discussion in Hospitality and Tourism conferences, publish papers in journals and is a research guide at S.P.P.U. She has authored a book "Food and Beverage Service: Principles and Practices" for hospitality professionals and students.
Currently, a Coordinator for a pioneering course BBA (Hospitality and facilities management) introduced under the aegis of Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA) at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Her proficiency for Total Quality Management, and its application in Institutes has led to being involved in Curriculum revision and formulation for BHMCT (2008 & 2016), B.Sc. (HS) (2017) and BBA (HFM) (2018) course. She is a member of the Board of Studies at SPPU for Hospitality Studies.
She has a close association and wide reach with the hospitality sector, wine industry and educational institutes, and has offered consultancy services in restaurant planning and design, menu matrix and management for educational institutes, universities and hospitality sector.
Dr. Sameer Koranne is a Professor and HoD at Sinhgad Institute of HMCT, Lonavala; has Ph.D. in Hotel Management from RTM Nagpur University. He has acquired degrees of BHMCT, MTM and M.Sc., HTM. He has an extensive experience of about eighteen years in industry and academics.
He is keenly involved in hospitality research and has publications in reputed journals. He has presented research papers in national, international conferences and has completed funded research projects. Service Quality Management is his area of research and Food and Beverage Service and Management is his area of expertise. He is proficient in policy formulation, project management and has offered consultation in restaurant planning, design of facilities and menu management.
His passion for academics led him into teaching; has served in institutes under Mumbai University and Savitribai Phule Pune University. He has extended his expertise in designing curriculum of UG & PG courses for SPPU & ADYPU.
He is closely connected with Industry Associations, Finest Sommeliers and Bartenders, professionals in quality management and experts in research methodology. He is a life member of Indian Hospitality and Tourism Congress.