Dr. Rajini Makam received her B.Tech degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the BNM Institute of Technology, Bangalore, and her M.Tech degree in Digital Electronics and Communication Systems from PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, both under Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum. She earned her Ph.D. in Electronics and Communication Engineering, specializing in stability and performance of Networked Adaptive Systems, from PESIT Research Center, affiliated with Visvesvaraya Technological University.  She held the posts of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at PES University between 2012 and 2022. 

She has mentored numerous students, and delivered invited lectures. Her accolades include securing 2nd rank in M.Tech and 9th rank in B.Tech at VTU, receiving the GATE MHRD Scholarship, and being awarded Best Outgoing Student during B.Tech and M.tech. Dr. Makam has published 3 journal articles, 20 conference papers, and a book chapter till now.

She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, in the Aerospace Engineering Department under the supervision of Prof. Suresh Sundaram. She is working on navigation, control, and perception systems for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). Her research interests include control systems, machine learning, deep learning, navigation for autonomous systems, and underwater robotics.