May 2021 – The KGP Chronicle

IIT Kharagpur students have participated in a leadership talk- Second MIC Driven Activity

MoE’s Innovation Cell (MIC) has conducted a leadership talk (Second MIC Driven Activity of Quarters 3 and 4) with Dr. Anand Deshpande, the founder Chairman and Managing Director of Persistent Systems, where the postgraduate students and research scholars of IIT Kharagpur have participated enthusiastically with effective learning outcome. The discussion has been on the topic “From Ph.D. / Master’s Thesis to a Start- Up”, where Dr. Anand Deshpande has laid emphasis on promoting innovation and entrepreneurial concepts in students.

“Nearly about 1 million students graduate every year. Among them, 6% are into Masters and among these 6% students, few venture into Research. A very few students have that huge passion for research and converting their research problem into an entrepreneurial venture”, said Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Professor of Mechanical Department at IIT Guwahati, also the present Chairman of AICTE.

This session has been conducted mainly to motivate, encourage, inspire and nurture the students who have come out of Masters and Ph.D. program, make them to think about the entrepreneurship as well as to support them to work on new ideas & innovations and promote them to create startup.

“Ph.D. training is the best for being an entrepreneur. All of you should become job creators rather than job seekers”, said Dr. Deshpande. “To become an entrepreneur, you need to think about three things: build an idea and validate it, team building and how to manage cash”.

It is true to quite an extent that students join academia (as University Professor or R&D Lab Professionals) after their Master’s and Ph.D. degree. In this regard, Dr Anand Deshpande’s inspirational lecture has made an impact on the listeners enabling them to consider entrepreneurship as their alternative career option.

The Ph.D. graduates have demonstrated their innovation skills, could go deep to analyze and solve complex problems as well as could tackle all situations with calmness. They have gained all the necessary skills and the same traits are required to become entrepreneur. A startup is a storehouse of innovation, creativity and imagination. So, the students could easily convert their research problems into an entrepreneurial venture, where they could use their knowledge based skills to design new products.

The participants from our institute have said, “In India, research scholars keep worrying about their future opportunities. In this regard, this talk has been unique in its own way to give ideas for future scope to research scholars. Overall, it has been a wonderful, mind-blowing, interactive and informative session at YouTube Channel of MIC. We have got a noble opportunity to gain vast amount of knowledge and to learn a lot from Dr. Deshpande’s effective experience and his guidance. We aspire for becoming AATMANIRBHAR by transfiguring our research work into a startup and also refrain ourselves for traversing foreign soil for further reserach”.

According to our students, this talk has given them a new perspective about research. This session has rightly motivated them to think and work with a positive mindset to design the workflow in a beneficial way and help to add on to the line of innovation.

(Inputs from Rituparna Chakraborty, Branding Executive)

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant

Email: media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282004

Alumni have done a Good Samaritan Act

IIT Kharagpur Foundation, USA has bestowed twenty oxygen concentrators of 5 LPM capacity (by Philips Respironics Company) to IIT Kharagpur.

The oxygen concentrators have been delivered to B C Roy Technology Hospital with the hope of dealing successfully with the immense oxygen crisis for Covid-19 affected patients.

“I will never be able to thank Ron Gupta and all our alumni enough for such a generous venture. Not many people have the privilege to associate with someone as caring and understanding as them. Their sincere effort in resolving the crisis of oxygen is much appreciated. We hope to make the best out of it and also to hear more from them in near future”, mentioned Professor Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director of IIT Kharagpur.

With the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc in India, there is huge demand oxygen concentrator, as they are considered to be life-saving for patients with breathing difficulties. Oxygen concentrators can help Covid-19 patients to get the required oxygen when the oxygen levels drop and cylinders’ supply is scarce.

“Our sincere gratitude to those people who have been Good Samaritan in these tough times. Words cannot describe how truly thankful we are to the IIT Kharagpur Foundation, USA and all our alumni who are associated with this noble initiative for standing with the institute and the community during this unprecedented time. Their help and support in dealing with this pandemic would be and shall be an inspiration for others”, said Prof Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, Dean Outreach of IIT Kharagpur.

(Inputs from Rituparna Chakraborty, Branding Executive)

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant

Email: media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282004

IIT Kharagpur Professor Abhijit Mukherjee has been inducted as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America

“Proud moment for IIT Kharagpur, Prof Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor of the Department of Geology & Geophysics and School of Environmental Science and Engineering, has been inducted as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in the year 2021. I must mention that Prof Mukherjee is the first Indian who has got elected to the Fellowship of the prestigious GSA”, said Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, the Director of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. “On behalf of the entire institute, I heartily congratulate Prof Mukherjee on his well-deserved achievements. Best wishes to bring more and more laurels for him and his profession. I look forward to many such recognitions and achievements from our faculty.”

Hydrogeoscience expert Prof Abhijit Mukherjee has directed a recent research work which was intended on groundwater insights. Prof Mukherjee has been awarded the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the field of Earth Atmosphere Ocean and Planetary Sciences. Also he has been inducted as the Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK. He has been selected by the Department of Science and Technology as one of the top fifty Indian scientists below fifty years age. In fact, he has been conferred the National Geoscience Award by the President of India. His book “Global Groundwater: Source, Scarcity, Sustainability, Security and Solutions” has been published by Elsevier.

Prof Mukherjee said, “I am humbled and honored to have been elected as a Fellow to the Geological Society of America (GSA). GSA, estd. in 1888, is regarded as one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious International geoscience societies across the world. I further feel honored to be one of the first person from any Indian institute to be elected for this prestigious Fellowship. GSA has defined Fellowship as an honor that is bestowed on the best of our profession. GSA members are elected to Fellowship in recognition of a sustained record of distinguished contributions to geosciences (www. geosociety.org). So, being recognized by my peers, internationally, is certainly a dream coming true.”

Before joining IIT Kharagpur as an Assistant Professor, he served as the Physical Hydrogeologist at Albert Geological Survey in Canada. Prior to that, he completed postdoctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Early to it he served as the Research Assistant in Geology at University of Kentucky, USA and Instructor and Teaching Assistant in Geology at University of Kentucky in USA.

He earned his Master of Science (M. Sc) and Bachelor of Science (B. Sc) in Geology from University of Calcutta. Also, he pursued Master of Science (M.S) from University of Kentucky, USA. He then achieved the prestigious degree of Doctor of Philosophy from University of Kentucky, USA.

The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a global professional society with a membership of more than 20,000 individuals in more than 100 countries. GSA provides access to elements that are essential to the professional growth of earth scientists at all levels of expertise and from all sectors: academic, government, business, and industry. The Society unites thousands of earth scientists from every corner of the globe in a common purpose to study the mysteries of our planet (and beyond) and share scientific findings.

(Inputs from Rituparna Chakraborty, Branding Executive)

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant

Email: media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282004

IIT Kharagpur Alumnus Prof. Thirumalai Venkatesan has become FRS

“On behalf of the entire institute, I heartily congratulate to our distinguished alumnus, Prof Thirumalai Venkatesan (1969/B.Sc/PH) on his well-deserved success. It has been a great honor for getting elected as the Fellow of The Royal Society. His outstanding work as a physicist and an educator, for long years has finally paid up.We are so pleased to see him accomplishing great things. Best wishes to bring more and more laurels for him and his profession. In the year 2017, he visited IIT Kharagpur his Alma mater to receive the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award”, said Prof Virendra Kumar Tewari, the Director of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.

Recently, Prof Venkatesan catalyzed the development of nanoscience in Signapore, where he served as the Director of the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute (NUSNNI) as well as the Provost Chair Professor of ECE, Physics, MSE and NGS. He was also the founding director of the surface modification lab at Rutgers University. Currently, he is the Director of the Center for Quantum Research and Technology at University of Oklahoma.

Prof Venkatesan pioneered the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) process in its application to thin films of complex oxides and related multi component materials, which has transformed research on films/ hetero structures globally. As the inventor of the PLD process, he has published more than 800 papers, holds 35 patents and was ranked 66 in term of his citations among the top 100 physicists globally.

For about 17 years, he spent at Bell Labs and Bell core as a scientist and research manager, before becoming the Professor at University of Maryland for another 17 years. Prof Venkatesan is the winner of the George Pake Prize of the American Physical Society, IPS President’s gold medal, Bellcore Award of Excellence, University of Maryland Graduate Board award. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, World Innovation Forum, an honorary guest professor at Tsinghua University (Beijing) and academician of Asia-Pacific academy of materials.

Prof Venkatesan had graduated from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur as B. Sc (Physics). Prof. Thirumalai Venkatesan obtained his M.Sc. degree in Physics at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He then received a Ph.D. from the University of New York. He is also responsible for several startup companies, Neocera, Neocera Magma, Blue Wave Semiconductors, Breathonix, Cellivate and Azometrix.

The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. Over sixty outstanding scientists from all over the globe have joined the Royal Society as Fellows and Foreign Members in the year 2021.

Media Contact: media@iitkgp.ac.in