Pinnacle Knowledge Group

Mr. Abdalla Mohamed Sharif is a board member of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) since 1997. He is an accomplished strategist and an outstanding Chief Executive Officer heading a conglomerate with excellent portfolio charting different business sectors including Construction, shipping, offshore oil services, contracting, education, trading, cement He has a proven track record of managing several businesses and coordinates and orchestrates a total business in excess of USD 1 billion and a total staff more than a thousand personnel. Mr. Abdalla Mohamed Sharif is a graduate from San Diego University, USA.

Mr. Othman Sharif is a board and executive member in the Sharjah Islamic Bank and also board member in the Sharjah Insurance Company. Mr Othman Sharif is invested in various sectors of business and the economy including the field of education through the Australian International School (Australian Syllabus and a Franchisee Education Queensland from state of Queenland Australia) with 700 students and Leaders Private School (Indian Syllabus) with 1000 students. He is also Council Member of Sharjah Municipal Council and Company Board Member of Sharjah Cement Industry. Mr. Othman Sharif is a graduate of Industrial Engineering from University of Arizona, Tucson.

Mr. G. Ramakrishnan is an expert in banking and finance having held various senior positions in management with more than 35 years of rich and varied experience in all fields of banking (last six years in Islamic banking). Mr. Ramakrishnan is one of the core Senior Management Team members responsible for conversion of the National Bank of Sharjah, a conventional bank, into a 100% Islamic Bank, SIB six years ago. He is a prolific speaker on Banking and Finance including “Islamic Banking for Senior Managers and Bankers” and also a visiting professor at Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies for courses including Islamic Banking for more than 20 years now. He is an Advisory Board Member of British University in Dubai for Finance and Banking since 2006. He is also the member of coveted Chartered Management Institute, United Kingdom since 1988. He has delivered lectures on Islamic banking throughout the globe and was the panelist in many of the seminars for education of professionals on Banking and Finance in Middle East.

Sushma Ramakrishnan, Executive Director

Sushma Ramakrishnan is a Chemical Engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay). She is one of the members who effectively conceptualized bringing High-end Technology Programs to global participants through the Pinnacle Knowledge Group. She has also been instrumental in identifying patented Green Technologies and mobilizing its implementation. She has a strong background in Risk Management and attended a short term program in Derivatives and Risk Management at Harvard. She is also visiting faculty at the Emirates Institute of Banking and Financial Studies which conducts programs for senior banking and finance professionals.

Prof. A.S. Moharir
Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay
Professor-in-Charge, Continuing Education and Quality Improvement Programmes,
IIT Bombay

Prof. Arun S Moharir is our principal consultant from IIT. His research interest areas are Mathematical Modelling, Simulation, Optimization and Control of Chemical Processes, Flowsheet Simulation, Reactor Modelling, Adsorptive Separation Processes, Computer Aided Design and Engineering, Process Plant Engineering, Piping Engineering, IT-based knowledge management in manufacturing sector, Model based design of integrated and complex systems. He is a consultant to companies including Reliance Industries Limited, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation, UOP, USA, Engineers India Limited, India, Amines & Plasticizers, India.

His course on Piping Engineering is the flagship program of CEP and has completed 49 editions enriching more than 4600 engineers in India and UAE. It is currently available for engineers all over the world at www.cepglobe.com in collaboration with the Pinnacle Knowledge Group.

Prof. Ashok Misra
Chairman, Intellectual Ventures, Asia
Director, IIT Bombay 2000-2008

Prof. Misra obtained his B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1968, M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University in 1969 and Ph.D. in Polymer Science & Engineering from University of Massachusetts in 1974. He attended the Executive Development Programme, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University in 1999.

Prof. Misra was a member of the Scientific Advisory committee to the Cabinet, Govt. of India; is a member of the International Academic Advisory Panel, Govt. of Singapore; International Advisory Board of College of Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA and the Independent Scientific Advisory Board for the African Institute of Sci. & Tech. of the World Bank. He is or has been on the Governing / Advisory Boards of several national institutes, which include Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Indian Institute of Space Technology, National Brain Research Centre, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Tech., Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Whistling Woods International. He also serves as Member Expert or Advisor in several national committees for research and development programmes in India.

He has received several awards which include S.S. Bhatnagar Memorial Award at the 94th Indian Science Congress in 2007; IIT Kanpur Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008; University of Massachusetts 2008 Distinguished Alumnus Award; Chemtech CEW Awards (Education) in 2007; National Systems Gold Medal of the Systems Society of India in 2006; Tufts University Engineering Award in 2005; Qimpro Platinum Standard Award (Education) in 2005; Materials Research Society of India Medal in 2002.

He has co-authored a book, has 6 patents and has over 100 international publications to his credit. He is on the editorial board of 2 international and 2 national journals.

Dr. Sunil Kumar Khandelwal
Head of Risk Management Middle East
IRIS Unified Risk Management, Zurich

Dr. Sunil is currently Head of Risk Management Middle East for IRIS Integrated Risk Management AG, Switzerland. He is responsible for brand building, consultancy, projects, and overall operations of IRIS in the Middle East region. IRIS is the leading provider of know-how on Financial Risk Management and has over 230 clients in more than 23 countries covering wide variety of institutions. Before joining IRIS, Dr. Sunil was the Senior Faculty and Head of International Certifications responsible for strategic directions of the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies, UAE. He has specialized in risk management, Basel II, Islamic Banking and IT security in Banking. He has also been providing consultancy for RSA secured ID token to one of the banks in UAE. He has served on the IT PAC of Higher College of Technology during 2004-2005. He has served as Chief Strategist and Architect for the e-Services of the Ministry of Health, UAE and has been honoured for his excellent contribution.