Prof. Umamaheshwar Rao Karanam graduated in Mining Engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad, in 1983. After working in various mining industries for around three years, he joined the Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) for a Masters in the engineering program. He acquired his M-Tech in Mining Engineering in 1987.

Prof. Rao started his teaching career as a Lecturer in Mining Engineering at the then Regional Engineering College, Surathkal, Karnataka, during 1987-89. Later in 1989, he joined the Department of Mining Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, as a Lecturer. He obtained his Ph.D. in the field of Rock Mechanics from IIT Kharagpur. With steady growth as a lecturer, he became a full Professor in 2004. As a Professor, Dr. Rao has served IIT Kharagpur in various administrative positions. Some important portfolios were the Chairman Estate and vice-chairman Joint Entrance Exam (JEE). Prof. Rao was the Head of the Mining Engineering Department during 2006-08 and 2010-14.

Prof. Rao worked as a post-doc at the Korea Institute of Geo-Scieces and Mineral Resources in 2003-04. Later, he was awarded an Erudite fellowship from KIGAM (South Korea) in 2005 and appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Chonnam National University (CNU), Gwangju, South Korea, in the year 2008. He was a Professor in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at CNU during 2008-09. During his association with South Korea until 2012, he was invited on various occasions to deliver lectures at Seoul National University (SNU), Chonnam National University, and Kangwon National University. He was also invited by the University of Adelaide, Australia, to deliver lectures in mining engineering. Later in the year 2015, he was appointed as a Visiting Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Okanagan campus by the school of Mechanical engineering, appointed as an independent Director on 24th June 2016 for 3 years term for Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. of the Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India. In 2017, he was appointed as Director of NIT Surathkal, Karnataka. After serving there for almost five years, he got his second term as Director, NIT Rourkela and joined national institute of importance in February 2022. He is the Chairman of Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) for the year 2022 and 2023.