Mr. Santhanam has extensive experience in the Glass product development and manufacturing industry having worked with the leading glass manufacturing and products firm Saint Gobain for more than 15 years. He is B. Tech (Civil) from IIT Madras, a “Distinguished Aumunus” of IITM, and a Postgraduate from IIM Ahmedabad.

He was Chairman CII Southern Region between 2013-2014 and is a elected member of National Council - Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)- 2006-Present. He was appointed to the Anna University Syndicate by Govt Of TN representing Industry-2013-2016. He has held several positions of eminence in various organizations including, Chairman of the CII National Committee - HR, Skills 2006-10, Chairman of the Southern Regional Committee on Water, Environment, Energy & Climate Change at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), President of Employers' Federation of India (EFI)-2009-10, One of the Founder Directors of IIT Madras Research Park and Chairman PAN IIT 2008 Event.

Winner of several accolades and awards including “Champion of Humanity Award” by Hindustan Chamber of Commerce (2015) and V.C. Padmanaban Memorial Award” in the category of “Business Excellence leading to Development of Society at large” by Manappuram Finance Limited, he is deeply associated with developmental and humanitarian causes. Santhanam is very active in advocating diversity in work force and has been a champion of the newly created “Indian Women Network” (IWN) as part of the diversity agenda of CII. Currently, he is working as President and Managing Director of Flat Glass – South Asia, Malaysia & Egypt besides being a passionate guiding member of the Governing Body of CUBE. His areas of expertise include greenfield start up, business strategy, competitive analysis, HR, government relationships, macro-economic and social policies.