Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Governor of West Bengal dedicates Supercomputer PARAM Shakti to the Nation and Honours the Alumni
Technology by itself doesn’t make leaders, it only amplifies true leadership. This quote by Steve Jobs have rippled through the tech world creating global leaders who channelized technological convergence with affordability to suffice the need of the developing nations. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur have initiated a paradigm shift in technological pursuits through PARAM Shakti, a Petascale supercomputing facility accelerating the research and development activities in multidisciplinary domains of computational and data sciences as it provides large-scale computing power to the user community and neighbouring academic and R&D institutes. Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar dedicated to the nation, the supercomputer PARAM Shakti under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) – a joint initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) on 27 March 2022 at IIT Kharagpur. Dr. Sivaji Chadaram, Director, DST; Col A K Nath (Retd), Director General and Executive Director, Centre of Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC); Prof Amit Patra, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur; Shri Arvind Kumar, Group Coordinator, NSM- HPC Division, MeitY; Shri S A Kumar, Advisor NSM, MeitY; Dr. Rashmi Kamal, IAS, District Magistrate, Paschim Medinipur and Shri Dinesh Kumar, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Paschim Medinipur along with other senior faculties and officials of IIT Kharagpur, MeitY, DST and C-DAC were also present.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between IIT Kharagpur and Centre for Development in Advanced Computing (CDAC) in March 2019 to establish this state-of-the-art Supercomputing Facility with 17680 CPU cores along with 44 GPUs. This facility has pioneered in using RDHX based efficient cooling system to obtain a high power usage effectiveness. This system has been tested extensively by both IIT Kharagpur and CDAC for commercial, open-source and in-house software pertaining to diversified applications. One of the NSM nodal centres for training in HPC and AI working on development manpower required for the Supercomputing Research across the nation, the Institute has been organizing courses, workshops, bootcamps etc. in various domains pertaining to fundamentals of supercomputing and data sciences and their application to diversified fields including Agriculture, Astronomy, Biology, Mechanical Engineering, Material Sciences etc. Centre for Computational and Data Science with a mandate to train the researchers in Supercomputer accelerated R&D has also been established. The identified focus areas in which this supercomputing based research will be of great value addition are Computational Fluid Dynamics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Climate Change & Digital Earth, Computational Biology, Cryptography & Security, Smart Infrastructure & Sustainable Cities, Smart Materials etc. It is a major boost to the research and development initiatives in Indian academia and industries to embark on a global diaspora.
Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar felicitated the notable Alumni of IIT Kharagpur in the Institute Award Function, Mr. Vinod Gupta with Honoris Causa (Doctor of Science) 2020, Mr. Ashoke Deysarkar with Life Fellow Award 2021 and Prof Kalyan Chakravarti with Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020.
An entrepreneurial career spanning over 50 years, Vinod Gupta Managing Partner, Everest Venture Group has served as an ambassador of the USA, a philanthropist who upheaved education, health and welfare in grandeur pursuits of making a difference to the society. Despite a modest background from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, not only he reached the pinnacle of success but underwrote IITs academic diversity by inducing new dominion of skills, defining the path of success for others. He is the pioneer of management and law education in the IIT system.
Asoke Deysarkar, a researcher at University of Waterloo was born in India in a small mining town of Gua, Jharkhand. A Chemical Engineer from IIT Kharagpur, he joined Dresser Industries in Houston as Project Engineer and specialized in projects related to Hydraulic Fracturing, Acidizing and Fluid Rheology. After Pennzoil, he embarked on starting a company called “Products for People” in Houston and is a great inspiration to the young entrepreneurs of India.
Prof. Kalyan Chakravarti, former dean and Professor of the Vinod Gupta School of Management, was the head of the task force that was set up for Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law with resource constrained settings. He was the founder President of the Indian National Suggestion Scheme Association (INSAAN) and was the President of the IIT KGP Pune chapter, recognized in the Who’s Who of the Institution of Engineers, India. He was instrumental in framing the diverse and enriching curriculum for management education in IIT Kharagpur.
The Honourable Governor of West Bengal also felicitated the Institute Professors Prof Mrityunjoy Chakraborty (E & ECE) with Prithviraj & Swati Banerjee Chair Professorship; Prof Prabir Kumar Biswas (E & ECE) with VSNL Chair Professorship; Prof Goutam Saha, (E & ECE) with VSNL Chair Professorship; Prof Saibal Gupta (G & G) with Prof P K Bhattacharya Chair Professor and Prof Amar Nath Samanta (ChE) with Prof N K Roy Chair Professor.
His Excellency Shri Jagdeeep Dhankhar addressed the gathering stating, “Innovation and Research are alone determinants whether a nation will continue to be on incremental trajectory or not. It is time that we invest in quality education and make it available to those who do not possess the amenities. The strength, contribution of alumni determines the entire status of the Institute. It has been said in our civilization ethos, to give back to the society. We have people here who exemplify this sublime concept on ground. We just need to emulate them. It does not matter what is the quantum of the physical contribution, it is the intent and I am sure I carry the message from here. We should be proud of our young boys and girls, they will transform this country into Vishwaguru. But we should also be proud of our history. Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the 75th year is an opportunity to be availed by all of us, to know our real heroes. It is time for our youngsters in particular to be fully aware of our historic perspective.”
Prof Virendra K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked that, “In the 71st year of Institute’s foundation, IIT KGP plans to celebrate its platinum jubilee by being among the top 10 universities of the world in niche areas like Affordable Healthcare, Advance Manufacturing, Advance Infrastructure, Precision Agriculture and Food Nutrition, Safety, Quality & Reliability, AI, Cyber Physical Systems & Advance Transportation. I am grateful towards the Alumni of IIT Kharagpur for being upfront with the Institutional Development Programme, especially to Notable Alumni Shri Vinod Gupta ji who has committed to donate his earnings to charity for the society at large. I thank all the Deans, Faculty Colleagues, HODs, student friends, doctors, ward boys, wardens, security staff and safaiwalas who have kept the entire Institute campus in a good state amidst pandemic.
Content Writer:- Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer) Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007
