Mahesh Neelakanta, B.S, M.S.

Mahesh has over 25 years of experience in Information Technology in corporate and academic environments and 10+ years in Cloud Computing, and Medical Electronic Health Records. He is a goal-oriented individual who is focused on bringing people, technology, and services together to solve problems and grow organizations.  

Mahesh is currently the Director of IT at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) where he has held various roles in technology in higher education. In his current role, he guides the technology initiatives at the University Libraries. During the COVID pandemic, he was part of the leadership group to guide the Libraries and their services throughout the entire period. Some major achievements include coordinating remote access to databases, journals, and e-resources, building a real-time occupancy tracking system to limit total number of patrons in the library, and building a real-time video-based support system to help patrons in person and virtual. Recognizing a need for economically disadvantaged as well as first-generation students, he coordinated a program to provide laptops and hotspots to students who did not have access to technology.  In addition to his technology role, Mahesh also serves as part of the Senior Leadership Team where he helps with day-to-day operations, budgets, and logistics of running a multi-campus library system.  

Prior to his role at the Libraries, Mahesh was the Director of IT at the College of Engineering where he was instrumental in the design and deployment of a desktop cloud that allowed engineering students access to technical software over the Internet without needing to be on campus. 

Currently, Mahesh is a member of the Advisory Board for the non-profit organization, Sunflower Creative Arts. He holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Computer Science from Florida Atlantic University. He maintains his cloud certifications in Amazon Web Services.  Mahesh actively mentors students on design projects, academic and career goals, and professional development every semester.  

Mahesh spent his childhood years in Asia and Southeast Asia before moving and settling in the United States. During his years working at IFX (a Latin American Internet Service Provider), he traveled and worked extensively in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica.

• 1998 – M.S Computer Science
• 1993 - B.S. Computer Science

• Artificial Intelligence 
• Cloud Computing 
• Internet of Things