August 2019 – The KGP Chronicle

India’s Own AI Resource Platform

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IIT Kharagpur today announced that it will collaborate with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, to develop a National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal (NAIRP) platform powered by Amazon SageMaker to promote learning and development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for all AI learners, practitioners, and researchers in India, and to make the search for AI learning resources simpler and more accessible.

IIT Kharagpur will use AWS Promotional Credits and Amazon SageMaker services to facilitate AI learning. In March 2019, IIT Kharagpur adopted the AWS Educate program to help students gain in-demand cloud computing skills, including hands-on AI experience on AWS Cloud.

NAIRP will provide access to computing facilities to users for AI learning and experimentation. Novice machine learning practitioners will be able to quickly search and get access to myriads of learning resources, and prototype the learned concepts into hands-on running modules without being held back by the lack of resources. In addition to this, the opportunity for joint research will facilitate the participation of students and researchers in contributing to open-source educational resources and workbook development for AI-related tasks.

“The contributions from AWS will enable us to provide cloud computing to all learners and reduce the high barrier to make training in AI more available,” said Professor Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, who conceptualized the development of NAIRP.

“There is already a great demand for professionals skilled in AI as well as resources, and this need will only increase in our society. The development of this platform will help boost the AI community in India,” said Professor Sudeshna Sarkar, Head, Centre for Artificial Intelligence at IIT Kharagpur.

Bratin Saha, Vice President AWS Machine Learning & Engines said, “AWS is delighted to work with IIT Kharagpur in developing the NAIRP platform powered by Amazon SageMaker, and we are excited about the opportunity to help make machine learning skills available to every developer. With more than 200 significant machine learning capabilities launched in the last two years, AWS has the broadest and deepest set of machine learning and AI services focused on solving some of the toughest challenges facing developers. We welcome the opportunity to work with IIT Kharagpur on some of those challenges.”

NAIRP was launched with initial funding from the Ministry of Human Resources Development, as part of the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) platform. NAIRP builds upon and expands NDLI to AI by indexing a wide variety of AI-specific resources such as learning materials, courses, workbooks, datasets, codes, tools and platforms. The resources will be classified by a comprehensive AI classification ontology and metadata standard which IIT Kharagpur is developing. AI resources from AWS as well as a variety of other sources such as Kaggle, GitHub, and National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) will also be indexed.

The National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal will provide search, browse, learning and computation services. The support for learning will be in the form of several structured learning modules with instructional materials and workbooks, as well as through indexing of available courses and materials from NPTEL and other sources. Hands-on AI training will be facilitated through workbooks and the cloud. The system will start off using AWS Cloud, and will also be connected in the future with the in-house cloud developed at IIT Kharagpur.

Remembering Indramohan Asthana

“My buildings will be my legacy…they will speak for me long after I’m gone,” Julia Morgan, world famous architect, had said after a long and prolific career. Her sentiment would have been echoed by Indramohan Asthana, a much admired alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and a renowned architect. We are deeply saddened by his demise on the night of August 29, 2019.

Asthana graduated from the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning with 1st Class Honours in 1959 and started his professional career as an architect the same year. And what an outstanding innings it turned out to be! His firm gave Kolkata a few of its landmarks – the Auxilium Parish Church and the Kala Mandir Auditorium. In its repertory were also some of the city’s schools with their distinctive architecture – Our Lady Queen of the Missions school, the Hariyana Vidya Mandir School and the Salt Lake Shiksha Sadan School. His firm also constructed the Terry Waite Vocational Center at Ranaghat for Y Care Foundation UK, and the Government of UK.

Asthana’s field of operations stretched way beyond the borders of the country. He operated an architectural practice in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, and designed buildings for the Ministry of Housing and Ministry of Education, the Corporate Building for Khaleej Times. He also operated from an office in Fort Lauderdale, USA and designed huge warehouses for Walmart, hospital in Arizona, residential complex in California and many other projects in foreign lands.

For his expertise and contribution to his field, he received special Invitation to meet Lord Mayor of Swansea, Wales in 1988, and to receive Scroll of Excellence from Lord Mayor on behalf of Overseas Development Agency, Government of UK. He was also a recipient of Certificate of Appreciation from the Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) in 1994, for his life-long contribution to architecture. An acknowledged leader of the domain, he was a jury member for ‘Architect of The Year Award’ in both 1996 and 1998. He was also recipient of Shelter Award by the Shelter Promotion Council of India in 1999. From 2005-09, he was Executive Council member, Indian Society of Lighting Engineers.

At the ground-breaking ceremony of the Clock Tower, 2019

However, all this frenetic activity throughout the world could not keep Asthana separated from his alma mater, where he left his distinctive stamp over the eyars. He became the point of reference for many of the Institute’s architectural ventures as also its outreach efforts. He is credited with the articulate design of the IIT Kharagpur’s Central Library Building, the interiors of the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT Kharagpur, and the IIT Kharagpur Extension Center at Salt Lake.

He was the driving force behind the formation of the Technology Alumni Association of IIT Kharagpur with the blessings of past professors like Prof. R. Mishra, Prof. Keshav Murthy, Prof. Pandya and others. He received the Scroll of Appreciation in 2008 for founding the first Alumni Association of IIT Kharagpur and was elected as Chairman Emeritus for his relentless activity to further the goals of TAA.

The movement Asthana initiated gained momentum and several chapters in various cities came up one by one in India and abroad, the crowning moment being the birth of Alumni Association in Silicone Valley, USA. His efforts culminated in the hosting of the PAN IIT meet in Kolkata in 2012, under the joint leadership of senior alumni such as Sandipan Chakraborty, Anirudha Roy and Pronob Guha. On numerous occasions during his career, Asthana was Visiting Professor at IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Architecture and Regional Planning. In recognition of his long and distinguished service to his alma mater, Asthana was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in 2016-17.

He was the happiest when one of the projects he held dear came to fruition recently – the Clock Tower on the IIT Kharagpur campus. From 2016, when the idea was floated by Vinod Gupta and gradually gained ground among the alumni, many of them associated with the IIT KGP Foundation of USA, Asthana drove the design and its construction. The Clock Tower, now standing tall at about 7 metres in height, with its four faces opening out to the four arterial roads that run through the campus, bears a direct imprint of an alumnus who loved his alma mater.

Indramohan Asthana will be sorely missed by the present and future generations of all those linked with the life of the Institute.

East’s 1st Research Park

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The 65th Convocation of IIT Kharagpur was marked by the launch of the Institute’s first ever Research Park. This is the first of its kind in eastern India which will provide a platform to create a self-sustained, healthy, vibrant, innovative ecosystem based on the spirit of collaborative research and consultancy between Industry and academia. The Research Park was inaugurated digitally by Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India in the presence of Shri Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governor and Chairman, RP – Sanjiv Goenka Group, Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya, Director of IIT Kharagpur on 27 August 2019.

Spread over 10 acres of land at Rajarhat area of Kolkata and costing close to ₹100 crore, the G+9 Research Park seeks to develop and impart skills on product development, technology transfer, technology commercialization and patenting. It is equipped with a state-of-the-art incubation and research centre with over 70,000 square feet (1 acre <) of space dedicated to research and development, incubation and National Mission Labs.

“As a long-standing bastion of innovation through Research, with an entrepreneurship unit that bred industry leaders and entrepreneurs even before the birth of these disruptive changes, including the Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park since 1986 and the Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship from 2010, the IIT Kharagpur Research Park has been dedicated to the nation to amplify the effect of research in society, and solve real and relevant problems for both the industry and the individual alike,” remarked Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya, Director (Officiating), IIT Kharagpur.

The incubatees and R&D partners will have access to several facilities both shared and on hire basis including the data centre, e-library, conference room and access to labs as required. The Park boasts of world-class infrastructure as well as collaborative, scalable research spaces to aid stakeholders across the industry as well as academia. With the advantages of an institution like IIT Kharagpur, the Park also aims to conduct advanced academic programs jointly with industry experts.

“There is a huge opportunity for joint endorsement of R&D with IIT Kharagpur while availing access to highest quality talent from IIT Kharagpur faculty, students and alumni, state-of-the-art laboratories, centres of excellence and knowledge sharing with trans-disciplinary National Mission Projects. And all of these in an affordable, attractive, scalable spaces customized to the needs of both industry as well as an entrepreneur in the proximity to the airport in the city of Kolkata, Eastern-India’s largest metropolitan,” noted Prof. Partha Pratim Das, Professor in-Charge of the Research Park.

Facilities:

Research:

Industrial R&D Lab
Incubation Hub
National Mission and Academic Lab
Shell space with flooring, power, air-conditioning, network, telephone (Future Ready)
Faculty and Scholar Offices

Services:

State-of-the-art Electronic Library, Data Centre, Conference Rooms
VC-enabled Class Rooms, Studio
Guest House with Pantry, Kitchen, Dining, Laundry and Gymnasium
ATM, Travel Services, Café, Food court, and Roof-top Cafeteria
Basement and Roadside Car Parking
500+ seater Auditorium

Support:

Centrally air-conditioned, 100% power backup, EPABX, Internet, Passenger and Service Lift
Reception and Waiting Hall
Fire Safety, Security, CCTV Surveillance, and Biometric Access integrated with BMS
Health Centre
LAN, BMS, CCTV, UPS, IPBX and Access Control and full power back up with DG

Modern Infrastructure Design:

The building has been designed to achieve a 4 Star rating from GRIHA with salient features such as use of Fly ash brick, PPC Cement, Low VOC paint, Double Glazing Unit (DGU), AC with VRF system, Occupancy Sensor, LED Lighting, dual flushing System, recycling of wastewater with STP, Solar power Generation also in accordance to have eco-friendly, energy efficiency and sustainability parameters.

The building facades have been treated with all the modern components elements, and new materials to be at par with the contemporary building design trends and to make it visually pleasing to the users as well.

The building has been designed for differently-abled people following accessible India guidelines with ramps at every entrance, accessible lifts and toilets at every floor.

The landscaping of the surrounding open spaces of the building has been done with local tropical plants, other green components, and lush green lawns to make it environmentally sustainable and rejuvenating for the users.

An evening to remember

You would have mistaken him for a student. Dark cropped hair, back-pack in place, an incredibly young-looking Debendra Das Sharma approached me for his interview at the Technology Guest House on the evening before the 65^th Convocation. He was returning to the campus after more than two decades and was incredibly happy to be back.

As Principal Engineer in Intel Corporation, Sharma has been leading the development of PCI Express since its inception two decades back through six generations of evolution of the technology. He has played a key role in evolving PCI Express as a ubiquitous I/O interconnect in the industry, spanning the entire compute continuum. More recently, he has led the development of Compute Express Link, an interconnect technology to harness the power of the heterogeneous processing elements. He drives the evolution of this technology with a consortium of 75 companies.

Yet he feels “humbled” to be a recipient of the DAA. “Looking at the calibre of the people receiving the award, you always feel, am I good enough?…It is such an illustrious group of people,” he told me that evening, shaking his head, as if still unable to believe his good fortune.

Sharma appeared to be slightly uneasy at not having been an “active alumnus”. “I just got busy”, he said apologetically. His eyes sparkled as we got talking about his time at IIT KGP. He recalled a professor whose homework the entire class had decided to give a miss. “If you don’t do the work, my salary remains the same, but you don’t gain anything,” the professor had said. And those words had profoundly affected Sharma, making him conscious of the value of time and real learning.

“My foundation got laid here,” Sharma explained. “Most of us came away from home and lived our life in hostels. And that was an invaluable experience for you learnt not only the hard skills but also the soft skills here – how do you interact with people, how do you collaborate, how do you relate to people…all of those at an impressionable age when you are absorbing a lot That sets you up for life.”

Across the rooms on the same floor of TGH, G.C. Mitra, among the seniormost awardees, told me something similar. Prof. Sean Mackay, his teacher and a major influence in his life, had told him that IIT stood for something. “The first ‘I’ is for interest in all that you see, the second ‘I’ for integrity in all that you do and the ‘T’ is for truthfulness in all your transactions,” said Mitra, who had interrupted his puja to talk to me. All through his life, Mitra has tried his best to live up to that ideal. He has also tried to live by the advice the IIT Kharagpur Director had given him on the day of graduation in 1958. Try not to follow, instead become a pioneer, he had said.

Pampering me with a steady supply of tea and biscuits during the conversation, Mitra talked to me about his life and work, with which IIT Kharagpur has remained seamlessly entwined. His idea to become a member of the Institution of Structural Engineers, UK, had been prompted by Prof. Mackay. “I passed the third paper after several attempts, ” Mitra told me candidly. “You know, Indians are good with theory, not practice,” he said, tongue in cheek.

But what I got to hear from him was entirely a theory of life in practice, a theory he had learnt at IIT Kharagpur. As Engineer-in-Chief in the service of the Government of Odisha, Mitra became a pioneering figure in relief and rehabilitation work as part of the Odisha government, winning the Padma Shri in 2003 in recognition of his services. The cyclone shelters constructed in the state along its coastal belt under his watch from the Prime Minister’s support fund have saved the lives of millions of people in the state, even during the time of recent Cyclone Fani.

“You know,” he told me, “the backward in our country go back ten steps every time there is a natural disaster. SCs and STs constitute 36 per cent in Odisha. They are regarded as deprived category, but even 50 per cent of those who are not regarded as deprived are extremely poor.”

A man who has been closely associated with the lives of the downtrodden is also acutely aware of their pride, their self-esteem. For years, despite their suffering, he said, the people of the Ganjam district, one of the most prosperous rice-producing regions of Odisha, had not asked the government for help. But 1990 had been different, he recalled. Even the fool proof traditional method of storing paddy had failed to secure the grain from the ravages of the water.

The impetus led to a series of cyclone, flood or storm surge shelters being built in existing high school and primary schools. “We built around 1255,” Mitra said. But that is not all he built. During his time in the Odisha administration, Mitra facilitated the construction of bridges across Mahanadi that have gone a long way in bringing the north and south Odisha together. Mitra has also been associated with the conservation of the Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri and the Sun Temple at Konark and executed national and international projects.

Despite his busy career, Mitra has taught at IIT Kharagpur on short stints. He also helped the Institute get land for the building of the IIT Kharagpur extension centre at Bhubaneswar, where he was Professor-in-charge and contributed immensely to the development of the centre.

Elated at receiving the DAA, Mitra told me, “I have no regrets at all in my 82 years of life.” His advice to IIT Kharagpur’s students? I asked. “Follow what Prof. Mackay and the Director had to say. I followed them,” he signed off.

The magic touch

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At its 65^th Convocation, IIT Kharagpur gave away PhD degrees to 372 scholars. The numbers showed a sharp rise from the earlier figure of 295 from last year. Taking the 5 years’ figure the increase is close to 85% taking 2014 as base. The numbers happily live up to the goals set for higher education centres by the Government of India. They, in fact, reflect sustained efforts taken by the Institute over the past few years to intensify the focus on research.

Prof. P.K. Das, Dean, Post-graduate Studies, IIT Kharagur, explained the reason for the rise in the number of PhD students, “Due to high academic standards, we are able to attract more number of research students. Also remember that apart from the conventional departments, we have number of schools and centres and interdisciplinary programs where you can do PhD. In some academic units, we do not have UG programs, but we offer Post-graduate studies and PhD. Take the Advanced Technology Development Centre, which has a PG program with 5 students, but has more than 200 research scholars.”

Like ATDC, there are a number of centres, such as bioscience, nanotechnology, energy, semiconductors, manufacturing, bioengineering, and computational sciences that offers multi-disciplinary studies.

IIT Kharagpur has launched new academic programs spanning the realms of biology, medicine and engineering. Several joint MSc-PhD programmes in Medical Physics, Molecular Medical Micro-Biology, Nuclear Medicine, etc. have been initiated with the Tata Medical Centre.

The Institute has also initiated a new program – the Certificate of Excellence in Research – to recognize state-of-the-art collaborative research with industries and the academia. This program is open to bright professionals with doctoral degrees in India and abroad, working in industry or research institutions, with a desire to pursue impactful research in collaboration with the Institute and be recognized globally. There is also provision for ‘Doctoral Degree for Working Professionals’ with minimum contact period in the campus for very meritorious and motivated professionals working in the industry or research laboratories.

The other major development that is changing the research ecosphere of IIT Kharagpur’s international programs. Take the Dual Doctoral Programs with the Australian universities such as Melbourne, Curtin and Wollongong. A doctoral student enrolled under the DDP scheme, is supervised by a supervisor from IIT Kharagpur and a co-supervisor from the partner Australian University. The student is required to stay for one year in the partner university and receives a PhD degree jointly awarded by IIT Kharagpur and the partner university.

Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dean, International Relations, says, “IIT Kharagpur strongly supports international exposure for its students.” The second batch of PhD students have already applied for the DDP programs in both Melbourne and Curtin. Joydip Mondal, a DDDP scholar at Melbourne, says, “This (DDDP program) welcomes technical exposure at other competing laboratories and paves interaction with world-class Professors. The consequent exchange of ideas is an assured take-away.”

IIT Kharagpur also offers joint projects and workshops with universities and laboratories around the world, has a vibrant visiting international faculty program and provides assistance for its students to attend conferences and competitions abroad. Besides, the Institute has an extremely competitive scheme under which seed infrastructure grants are provided to individual faculty members, departments as well as collaborative research groups. Among them are competitive challenge grants for individual research and Institute Scheme for Innovative Research and Development (ISIRD).

Prof. Pallab Dasgupta, former Dean, SRIC (Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy), said, “The diversity of in-house expertise at IIT Kharagpur has catalyzed the development of a healthy ecosystem for large scale industrial collaborations in multi-disciplinary areas, such as automotive control, railways research, steel technology, petroleum and biofuels research, industrial robotics, agricultural automation and many more.”

Unique schemes, collaboration with industry and academic institutions, both in India and abroad, and a supportive infrastructure are helping IIT Kharagpur attract an increasingly greater number of research scholars.

Photo credit: Click KGP

A moment to cherish for a lifetime

It was their day. A time they had been waiting to celebrate with their families and friends. Some of them brought over the family’s oldest, perhaps a grandparent who could still walk. And some the youngest, even if only a few months old. But for those who received their degrees at the 65^th Convocation of the Institute, the joy was simply so great that it could not be contained. It had to be shared – as generously as possible, as widely as possible, as loudly as possible. You would get the sense if you had happened to mingle among the lot, throwing their scarves into the sky in uproarious merriment as the day drew to a close.

What did the day mean to her? I asked Aliya Jabbar, breaking her solitude. She had been sitting all alone with her eyes closed in the Raman auditorium on the morning of the Convocation. “End of a journey, I think,” she said.

Having completed her Dual Degree in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, she had returned to the campus two days ago. “We’ve literally grown up here,” she said, closing her eyes often, perhaps to beat back the flood of memories that came descending. Arriving ahead of the Convocation, she had walked around, met friends who are still on campus, taken pictures and sent them off to her classmates who could not attend. “It’s been the happiest run and a memorable one too,” said Alaya, who will soon return to her job in Bengaluru as a research assistant.

“This is one moment I have been waiting for for the past four years,” said Parth Bindroo, a BTech graduate in Industrial Engineering. “The best part for me was seeing the look in my parents’ eyes,” chipped in his friend from the same department, Manjeet Singh Yadav. The friends have parted – one is in Mumbai, the other in Jaipur. But seeing them talk animatedly and tease each other as they made their way together to the Netaji Auditorium to collect their degrees, you could not have guessed that they have been away for the past few months.

Formerly a part of the Students’ Alumni Cell, Parth knows how to keep in touch. “There are Alumni chapters through which you can remain connected with your peers as well as the Institute,” he said. Manjeet added, “Besides that, we can always mentor the students… Our seniors have helped us, and we want to do the same.” “Of course, there is the Student-Alumni Mentorship Program through which we can be connected,” offered Parth wisely, having seen SAMP take off hugely as part of the Students’ Alumni Cell.

Close to the flower rangoli in front of the Alumni Affairs Office in the main building, there was a pleasant sight awaiting me – a proud husband taking the picture of his just-graduated wife, in-laws, and tiny infant, who clearly was not interested in the rangoli. Handling her four month-old daughter deftly, Laxmi Shaw, who had come to receive her PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Rourkela, said, “Managing family and my work has been difficult, but if you achieve your goal, it is an awesome experience…This is a double PhD for me. I am now a mother and a doctorate.”

It was her husband who had got a degree, but Poulomi Ghosh was beside herself with joy. Hand in hand, the Ghoshes were on their way to the Electrical Engineering Department, where Jyotirmoy Ghosh had completed his PhD under the guidance of Prof. Amit Patra. “I have shown her the old building, our department, JCB – my Hall, CCD….,” said Jyotirmoy, who works with NXP Semiconductors in Bengaluru. He has already talked to the faculty in his Department and would follow up on his wish to mentor PhD students. Besides, given that his job was research-oriented, he is also keen to promote any research collaboration possible with IIT Kharagpur. “I will talk to my guide about how best I can connect…There are, in fact, many of my friends who are willing to connect,” he said.

As I walked back, I found a set of parents beside the rangoli this time – obviously a mother taking the picture of the father, trying her best to keep the rangoli in the background. Proud parents of Satyam Sevanya, BTech, Computer Science and Engineering, I learnt they had come down from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, to see their son receive his degree. “Accha mahol hai aur bahut accha mehesus kar raha hun (the ambience is wonderful and I am feeling great),” said Mr Sevanya. He is happy that Satyam got an immediate job placement – from Microsoft no less and with an enviable package. “I have a small hardware shop and didn’t have the money to send my child to Kota. But he was always a bright boy… He was keen to do Computer Science. I heard that there were only two IITs where Computer Science was the best, and IIT Kharagpur was one of them,” said Mr. Sevanya, pleased at how wonderfully things have turned out.

Satyam is posted in Hyderabad. While his parents tried their photography skills, he was with his friends, catching those last moments together. As I gazed beyond the Sevanyas, towards the patch of green in front of the main building, I could see a sea of happy, shining faces. Oblivious to the setting sun in the horizon, they were still soaking in the moment. Their moment. A moment they would cherish for a lifetime.

Inspiring Research for Social Development and Indian Scientific Heritage

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IIT Kharagpur organized its 65th Convocation on August 27, 2019. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Shri Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kharagpur and Chairman, R P Sanjiv Goenka Group was also present during the Convocation. The event was presided by Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya, Director (Officiating), IIT Kharagpur.

This year 2802 students were awarded degrees.

372 Ph. D. (i.e., 321 Ph. D. + 2 Joint MS – Ph. D. + 28 Joint M. Tech. /MCP – Ph. D. + 21 Joint M. Sc. – Ph. D.), 34 MS, 671 M. Tech., 35 MCP, 9 MMST, 16 MHRM, 123 MBA, 32 EMBA, 12 LLM, 30 LLB, 52 PGDBA (a tri-institute programme with IIM Kolkata and ISI Kolkata), 516 Dual Degree, 535 B. Tech. (Hons.), 39 B. Arch. (Hons.), 169 five – year integrated M. Sc. and 157 two-year M. Sc. degrees.

There has been an increase of close to 26% in doctoral degree recipients standing at 372 in comparison to last year’s figure of 295. This indicates a clear thrust on a research-based higher education programme in accordance with the goals set by the Govt. of India.

Speaking on these lines, Shri Sanjiv Goenka emphasized on problem-solving nature of higher education and motivated the students to contribute towards the sustained development of the country through the use of technology, knowledge and skills.

“We are living in a rapidly changing world that provides new opportunities often of an inter-disciplinary nature. But, utilizing such opportunities requires critical thinking, knowledge of diverse domains and a deeper understanding of the needs and aspirations of the society. A balanced, friction-free and united society is the only means by which India can become an economic superpower in the world,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments the Union Minister said “I have no doubt that this educational system founded in our rich culture and values will help us unlock the hidden potentials of our citizens. We have urged educators, in the draft document on education policy, to underline “traditional Indian values such as service, non-violence, cleanliness, truth, selfless work, tolerance, honest hard work, respect for women, elders, and all people and their inherent capabilities regardless of background and concern for the environment”.

The Research Park at Kolkata was also inaugurated by the Minister digitally. While the Research Park, the first of its kind in eastern India, will foster entrepreneurship skills by bringing research, development and the industry under a single roof. Young entrepreneurs, typically using research and technology developed in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur, will be incubated in this facility.

Shri Pokhriyal also expressed delight on IIT Kharagpur being at the forefront of addressing the issues of national and high societal importance. He made a special mention of the upcoming superspecialty hospital which will not only enable technology-based medical science education but provide affordable medical care to the people from the surrounding rural area.

The Union Minister emphasized the need for research on Indian science and heritage. He also urged every student in India to plant one tree and care for it and also save one litre of water every day to counter environmental and water challenges.

Shri Pokhriyal presented the gold medals to the students. Among them were:

Kaustav Brahma from the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering – recipient of the President of India Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the outgoing B. Tech. (Hons.) and B. Arch. (Hons.) programme
Ms. Kosaraju Akhila from the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning – recipient of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Memorial Gold Medal for the best all-round performance among the B. Tech. (Hons.) and B. Arch. (Hons.) programme.
Shubham Jena from the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Rajarshi Saha from the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering – recipient of the Prime Minister of India Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the Dual Degree and Integrated M. Sc. Programmes.
Abin Devassia from the Department of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture – recipient of the Dr. Jnan Chandra Ghosh Memorial Gold Medal for the best all-round performance among the Dual Degree and Integrated M.Sc. programmes
Manish Gupta from the Department of Chemistry – recipient of the Professor Jagadish Chandra Bose Memorial Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the outgoing students of all 2-year M. Sc. courses in the Science disciplines.
Srikakulapu Kiranbabu from the Department of Metallurgical and Material Engineering – recipient of the Director’s Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the students completing M. Tech. and MCP courses
Sankalp Biswal from the Department of Metallurgical and Material Engineering – recipient of the Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal for the best all-round performance among the M. Tech. and MCP outgoing students.

The Director Prof. S K Bhattacharyya, urged these toppers as well as the 2500+ students who will be awarded degree on the coming Tuesday to take tender care of the fellow countrymen while they set their path to conquer the world.

“They have supported your education in the sincere hope that you will make their world better. Please try your best to ensure a smile in the face of fellow citizens through social justice, societal sustainability with due respect to the Indian-ness, which is our great culture,” he said.

Celebrating the 65th Convocation

IIT Kharagpur is organising its 65th Convocation on August 27, 2019. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest. Shri Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kharagpur and Chairman, R P Sanjiv Goenka Group will also be present. The event will be presided by Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya, Director (Officiating), IIT Kharagpur.

This year the Institute will confer 372 Ph. D. (i.e., 321 Ph. D. + 02 Joint MS – Ph. D. + 28 Joint M. Tech. /MCP – Ph. D. + 21 Joint M. Sc. – Ph. D.), 34 MS, 671 M. Tech., 35 MCP, 123 MBA, 32 EMBA, 9 MMST, 16 MHRM, 12 LLM, 30 LLB, 52 PGDBA (a tri-institute programme with IIM Kolkata and ISI Kolkata), 516 Dual Degree, 535 B. Tech. (Hons.), 39 B. Arch. (Hons.), 169 five – year integrated M. Sc. and 157 two-year M. Sc. degrees. The doctoral degree programme has witnessed a substantial increase from last year’s figure of 295.

This year the President of India Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the outgoing B. Tech. (Hons.) and B. Arch. (Hons.) students is being awarded to Kaustav Brahma. Hailing from Jamshedpur Kaustav joined the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering. He was awarded the IIT KGP Foundation USA international internship in 2018 for pursuing his 3rd year internship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also an active member of the students’ drama society at IIT Kharagpur.

The Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Memorial Gold Medal for the best all-round performance among the B. Tech. (Hons.) and B. Arch. (Hons.) outgoing students is being awarded to Kosaraju Akhila. The Guntur girl while maintaining her excellent CGPA at the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, played a key role in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit organized by the Entrepreneurship Cell, a student body at IIT Kharagpur. She also headed the design team of Spring Fest, one of the most vibrant college festivals in Asia.

Shubham Jena of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Rajarshi Saha of the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering have been jointly awarded The Prime Minister of India Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the Dual Degree and Integrated M. Sc. outgoing students. While Cuttack boy Shubham holds several feathers in his cap with being a student member of a Boeing project and also representing India at AUVSI’s with his work on autonomous underwater vehicle, public welfare work at villages through IIT Kharagpur’s NSS, Rajarshi Saha from Delhi carries an impressive resume with his internship experience at Carnegie Mellon, Texas Instruments and IISC and an offer of PhD from Stanford University. The Dr. Jnan Chandra Ghosh Memorial Gold Medal for the best all-round performance among the Dual Degree and Integrated M.Sc. outgoing students is being given to Abin Devassia from the Department of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture. Abin who is from Pulpally Kerala, is currently working with OYO.

Among the others are Manish Gupta of the Department of Chemistry, who is awarded the Professor Jagadish Chandra Bose Memorial Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the outgoing students of all 2-year M. Sc. courses in the Science disciplines, Srikakulapu Kiranbabu of the Department of Metallurgical and Material Engineering awarded The Director’s Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the students completing M. Tech. and MCP courses and Sankalp Biswal of the Department of Metallurgical and Material Engineering being awarded the Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal for the best all-round performance among the M. Tech. and MCP outgoing students.

The Director Prof. Bhattacharyya, urged these toppers as well as the 2500+ students who will be awarded degree on the coming Tuesday to take tender care of the fellow countrymen while they set their path to conquer the world. “They have supported your education in the sincere hope that you will make their world better. Please try your best to ensure a smile in the face of fellow citizens through social justice, societal sustainability with due respect to the indianness, which is our great culture,” he said.

For programme details click here: http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/65-convocation-2019

KGPian for Life, and proud to be one

Homecoming 2019 had a unique feature that will make it stand out in the history of IIT Kharagpur. This was the first time that the alumni of the Institute took a formal pledge of loyalty. On August 17, a day before the Foundation Day of the Institute, members of the 1999, 2004 and 2009 batches who came for the event thanked their alma mater for nurturing them, helping them “grow in knowledge and wisdom”, instilling in them “faith and integrity”, and promoting “intellectual freedom, dialogue and diversity”.

‘Homecoming’ is an annual event in IIT Kharagpur’s calendar. Since 2018, batches who have completed 20, 15 and 10 years have been congregating on campus to celebrate, together with students, faculty and campus residents, the birthday of the Institute on August 18. This year, more than a hundred alumni from batches of 1999, 2004 and 2009 came for Homecoming.

The assembled alumni pledged loyalty to their alma mater. They promised to “uphold the ideals and prestige” of the Institution and make use of every opportunity to speak on its behalf, give back their time, talent, and whatever else they could share, visit their alma mater and represent her with “passion and loyalty”. They also promised to enrich the world with whatever they had learnt at IIT Kharagpur.

“I am a KGPian for life. And proud to be one,” is how the pledge ended.

Sarika Singh, who graduated in 1999 in Mathematics, said, “The pledge is wonderfully worded and I liked it very much. I think it has been liked by all.” She thanked the Institute for hosting her for Homecoming, which she said, “is a really nice way to help us reconnect with the Institute and our batchmates.”

Singh’s batchmate, Chandra Shekhar Prasad from Computer Science and Engineering, said, “It felt nice to take the pledge, but I don’t think we really need it. We pledged our loyalty to this Institute 20 years back.” His friend from Aerospace Engineering, Alokesh Das, chipped in saying, “We’ll preserve this pledge and try our best to act on it.”

At the ‘KGP & You’ session on August 17, conducted by the Dean, Alumni Affairs, Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay, the 1999 batch, which had the strongest presence at Homecoming, pledged to be the next Founding Endowment Batch of the Institute by raising a collection of Rs 50 lakh or more.

Out of the donations made by the Founding Endowment batches, the Institute has recently launched the Undergraduate Research Program (UGRP) that will fund 20 research projects initiated by undergraduate students. The program will be implemented from the current academic session 2019-20.

Vikram Vippula, who graduated in Chemical Engineering in 1999, tried to build up the mood for his batch by saying, “When I think back, I realize that we had paid only Rs 1,000 per semester for our studies.” To his batchmates he said, “If you guys reflect back, please think how much subsidization you extracted and now how much you need to give back.” His plea was greeted by resounding appreciation at the Bhatnagar auditorium.

During the session, Prof. Chattopadhyay, Dean, Alumni Affairs, reminded the batches that it was not just financial donations, but there are many ways of ‘giving back’. He exhorted them to consider the newly launched ADEP or Alumni Department Engagement Programme, where alumni are encouraged to teach students as visiting faculty, or take lectures and workshops, or help in foreign and industry collaborations or in placements and internships for students.

What came through during the discussions was the concern about the hostels. “Are we thinking ahead?” asked an alumnus. Prof. Chattopadhyay reassured them. “We have prioritized where the Institute will need to intervene about bettering the hostel infrastructure and facilities and we are calling it the ‘minimum programme’ that will be executed by us,” he said.

Associate Dean, Alumni Affairs, Prof. Surjya Kanta Pal, pointed to the alumni-Institute engagement in the newly established DHI Centre of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing in the Institute and encouraged the alumni to come forward in research and training activities and in “knowledge sharing”.

The batches of Homecomers had several ideas to share with IIT Kharagpur. Many of them wanted students to go out and work on local problems and use technology to resolve issues. One idea – to have a service corps of students and faculty who would go out to cities/localities and resolve problems with frugal technology use, and have their stipends and expenses borne by the alumni – won appreciation from the Deans.

Before they came to the campus, the Office of Alumni Affairs had written to the Homecomers of 2019, “It helps to rekindle thoughts of service, give ideas concrete shape, and bring life to dormant wishes. The pledge will help you realize the thoughts you already treasure in your heart for your alma mater, and may even push you to bring them to fruition.”

The care with which the Homecomers held their copies of the ‘Pledge’ as they trooped out of Bhatnagar auditorium that day made it obvious that they would treasure it for the rest of their life. It was only a matter of time before they acted on it as well.

Photo credit: ChickenSnake Films

Raising awareness

On August 2, 2019, IIT Kharagpur won recognition as ‘IP Campus of the Year (Non Legal) 2019” at the Intellectual Property Fest, an event organized by IP Promotion Outreach Foundation. The award acknowledged a campus that had made outstanding contribution to spreading awareness in the field of Intellectual Property law, rights and practice in the last academic year.

IPPOF is a knowledge-sharing and training arm in Intellectual Property with two decades of expertise in this domain and has been working on networking and implementation, and increasing awareness through seminars and online guidance sessions. It believes that the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise sector needs to focus on commercialization of technology, promotion of innovative products through IPR protection, implementation, awareness and training.

IIT Kharagpur thinks similarly, although its focus does not devolve on any one sector. The Institute endeavours to promote and facilitate IP activities within the Institute and around the campus. It has taken several initiatives to build up community IP, raising awareness among IP creators and enforcement personnel. The Institute also connects inventors with industries and facilitates the transfer of technologies invented or created in the Institute. The Technology Transfer Group, a student run body, of IIT Kharagpur facilitates IP awareness activities.

Over the past year, there have been several workshops and interactive sessions held at IIT Kharapgur in order to give researchers and inventors a broad overview of patent laws in different countries, guide them on how to file patents and protect their IP. For example, an IPR workshop for students and researchers of the Departments of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, G.S. Sanyal School of Telecommunication, School of Medical Science and Technology and Centre for Educational Technology was conducted February 3, 2018, with distinguished patent advocate, Mr. Naren Thapetta, as the special guest speaker. In another session last August on “Roadmap for Patent Creation”, attended by more than a hundred researchers of the Institute, they were taught the fundamentals of patent creation and patent filing procedure in two sessions. There was a similar workshop on IP Management of Academic and Research Institute taken by faculty of Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law in March this year.

Workshop on IP Powerhouse: the fuel for startups (2nd March 2019) Dr.Malathi Lakshmi Kumaran, Executive Director, Lakshmisri Law Firm, New Delhi

Faculty of RGSOIPL have conducted short-term courses and workshops to disseminate information and train academicians and even personnel on IP rights and issues. For example, the short-term course on “Biotechnology and Intellectual Property Law” in February 2019 that taught participants from various institutes of national importance the importance of IP protection. Participants were encouraged to establish IPR Cell in their institute and file IPs in biotechnology. An IPR workshop for for Swami Vivekananda State Police Academy (SVSPA), Kolkata in January 2019 saw the participation of several police personnel, including Deputy Superintendent of Police, Police Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors. There was also a two day training workshop on IPR conducted for the National Defense Academy for Production, Nagpur to train junior and senior level officers in IP.

IIT Kharagpur has developed an online portal to facilitate the protection of Geographical Indication to build up community IP and emphasize IP creation that empowers the marginalized people. The Institute is pursuing several GI cases. Take the ongoing work on GoynaBori, a potential GI.

Part B registration for ‘Joynagar Moa’, a GI of West Bengal has also been initiated based on the visits to geographical location. Initial work on the registration of Kalkatti Jewellery, a potential GI has been started. Similarly, documentation work has been undertaken with respect to Axomiya Jewellery of Assam.

As many as 62 patents have been filed at the patent office of the Institute in 2018-19 in the key categories of agriculture, biotechnology, chemical, electronics, electrical and mechanical engineering and by the School of Medical Science and Technology. Every year, IIT Kharagpur celebrates the World IP Day on April 26 to raise IP awareness among student and researchers and felicitating the inventors whose patent has been granted.

Prof. C. Retna Raj, Professor-in-Charge of IPR & IR at the Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy wing of IIT Kharagpur said, “The IPPO award is a recognition for developing in-house IP ecosystem through awareness and promotional activities, the pioneering steps taken by IIT Kharagpur to build up community IP and sensitizing the surrounding social stratum and creating awareness among IP creators & enforcement personnel.”