Dr. Ashwin Mahalingam joined the faculty in the Building Technology and Construction Management division of the Civil engineering department at IIT-Madras in 2006. Ashwin received his B.Tech in Civil engineering from IIT-Madras and then proceeded to Stanford University for a Masters in Construction Engineering and Management. He then helped start up an internet based company in the USA called All Star Fleet, aimed at providing asset management services for construction companies. Following this he returned to Stanford University to pursue a PhD in the area of Infrastructure Project Management. His doctoral thesis work was on understanding and mitigating unintended costs due to cultural differences in the design and construction phases of infrastructure projects that involve international participation. Ashwin's current research interests are in the areas of Public Private Partnerships in Infrastructure planning and management, visualization and automation of construction processes, and sustainable development; he also does some work in the areas of cross-cultural issues and social entrepreneurship.

He advises Solaron on relevant products for the market and provides guidance to the analyst team.