K. Rama Varma obtained his engineering degree [B. Sc. (Engg.) degree in  Electronics and Communication Engineering] with Honours from University of Kerala in 1973, having completed the engineering course from College of Engineering, Trivandrum.

He has worked in the areas of production; testing; product development; installation, commissioning and maintenance of electronic equipment in a number of leading industrial establishments such as BPL India Ltd. (Palakkad/Bangalore, 1973-79), Hyderabad Electronic Instruments Ltd. (Hyderabad, 1979-84), Hyderabad Allwyn Ltd. (Hyderabad, 1984-88), HCL Ltd. (Chennai, 1988-93), Altos India Ltd. (New  Delhi, 1993-1998) and SFO Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Kochi, 1998-2008), before joining RSET as a member of the faculty in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering in September, 2008.

During his tenure in the industry lasting 34 years and 8 months, he has worked in different fields of electronics such as medical electronics, computer peripherals, fibre optic devices and cable assemblies for electronic systems.

The last position held by him before joining RSET was that of General Manager in SFO Technologies Pvt. Ltd.