Category: Events

The Home called Alma Mater – The Class of KGPian Millennials

Homecoming 2022 of the 10th, 15th & 20th Graduates of IIT KGP

Every happiness of yesterday is a memory for tomorrow. Sometimes you never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. This feeling was revived by our class of KGPian Millennials who revisited the home that nourished and shaped them…to make them what they are today. From 17th to 20th August 2022, along the lines of IIT Kharagpur’s 72nd Foundation Day, the institute welcomed the classes of 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010 & 2012 batches who held nothing but gratitude and affection for their Alma Mater. Their eyes sparkled with joy, that they shared with the Campus, the Professors, the Staffs and the entire IIT KGP community that welcomed them with the plethora of belongingness they had bid farewell to. With lots of transitions that encountered them at their first glace to the institute, the essence of the institute with the starry night and the dancing trees stood ecstatic.

IIT Kharagpur’s Homecoming is an annual quest of memorabilia that happens every year. Since 2018, batches who have completed 20, 15 and 10 years of association with the Institute from the date of joining the institute, assemble to rejoice the coming together of Alums celebrating the institute’s birthday on 18 August with their overwhelming presence in the campus. The air inside the campus breathes differently when its Homecoming, a Celebration of the Wishful Bonds, together with students, faculty members and campus residents. This year, the campus honoured the Young Alumni Achievers for the year 2022 for their technological developments, innovative researches, service towards the community, service towards the nation, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, governance and administration, social impact and social welfare, contributions towards nation building and other professional accomplishments. IIT Kharagpur is proud to recognize its outstanding, notable and accomplished young alumni, who have made distinguished and outstanding contributions in their respective domains and areas.

Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Associate Dean, Alumni Affairs & Branding announced the names of the awardees who were conferred the Alumni Endowed Student Scholarship. He stated that, “These awards are instituted by none other than the Alumni themselves. Under the eligibility of certain criterion and depending on the number of applicants, the winners have been recognized. I congratulate all the awardees and thank all the Alums who connected with us in this Homecoming 2022.”

So much has changed since the last time I came herein 2010, I literally was unable to locate Cheddi while entering IIT KGP says Mr. Swapnil Tembe [2009/B.Tech/ME/RP]. The Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills District in Meghalaya left Deloitte in 2011 to become an IAS officer reminisces his long journey. Upon asking how he would like to get connected with his Alma Mater he said, “On the grounds of social entrepreneurship, policy reforms, with the new disciplines coming in the amalgamation of technology and public policy, how technology can assist public services, how we can collaborate with technology to brush up public services etc. He further suggested in identifying the problems, with a proforma of questions on the respective fields where things can be executed and the solutions or comprehending researches can give the solutions accordingly. He added , ” The IIT KGP is a huge community out there, even in my state there are officers from IIT Kharagpur, therefore the local meet-ups is necessary that will keep the continuity and strengthen associations with the Alma Mater. Many of the batch mates are spread across different regions, so if we could have regional conclaves for North-East zone and other zones as well, to get more participation and collaborations eventually. He stressed on Career Counselling saying that you should do things that you love otherwise it is just a job. It feels really great to be recognized by your own Alma Mater.”

Walked past those memory lanes Mr. Abhishek Kumar Yadav [2006/B.Tech/CH/AZ] Founder Chairman & Academic Director at Griffins International School remarked, “Even after getting so many awards from all over the world, there is nothing like getting recognized by your Alma Mater. I think all the IITians love the atmosphere here. After working for a period of time, I thought of starting something of my own but Entrepreneurship was something that excited me, so I came back  to India and set a factory in Kharagpur. Interestingly IIT Kharagpur did not use the Green Technology up until then so I met the professors and convinced them that we should go for Green Technology because now the competition is not among states or countries, it is at a global level.

A wave of emotions filled up as he made his way to visit his classrooms, Mr. Saroj Kumar Thakur [2006/DD/EC/AZ], District Superintendent of Police, Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu (IPS) said, “It is a totally different feeling to receive the Young Alumni Achieve’s Award. I have been here 5 years from 2001 to 2006, so all those things are coming back to me. The campus is much more greener and beautiful than it was before and the Azad Hall where I was, has also changed quite a lot which is a very pleasant surprise for me. I believe in the fact that if an IITian of Kharagpur cannot do something, nobody in the world can do it, not even god (laughs). He advised everyone to take up civil services says,”Everybody should prepare for UPSC because while studying for UPSC, I came to know the entire history, geography and the whole constitution of India. These studies help you to understand your country better, from inside out. Frankly speaking, I have not given back anything to my Alma Mater till now but I am ready to oblige to any of the requests that my Institution asks from me. He smirks and adds that now its upon my Alma Mater, anything that I can contribute personally, any help that is needed from my department as well I will happily comply. With immense pride I say this sitting here that whatever I am today is because of my Alma Mater.”

Walking along the green stretches of the campus, Mr. Abhinav Kumar [2008/B.Tech/CH/LLR], Divisional Forest Officer, Hapoli Forest Division, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh (IFS) remarked, ” It is good to be back after 8 years. Interestingly, while I was here, I did not get any medals but I must really add that getting into IIT Kharagpur is an achievement itself and something to be proud of yourself as well as for your family. It feels ecstatic when your Alma mater calls you up to honour you with an award, it is an happiness that cannot be defined in words. In the outside world, IIT Kharagpur is a brand and I feel this huge gratitude, it is really a great honour. Today we need good people in the government services as you have to be the change you want to see in the world around you. I think with the young generation coming in the civil services, we can indulge in a greater vision for the country. I would love to indulge people in providing meaningful direction and my Alma Mater is the best place to start with it.”

Ankit Jain [2013/B.Tech/MT/PH], Co-Founder, GDi Partners says, ” The institute has produced many Alumni to do wonderful things in life making us confident to seek ambition and do great things which was very evident when I started working after college. I would like to apologize to the institute for not being connected to the Institute from the last few years. After sharing our thoughts with Directors and other professors I would like to be associated more with the Institute with the immediate support that is required.”

Prof. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, Dean Outreach & Alumni Affairs said, “From the corporate world to sports to entrepreneurs to civil servants, we find KGPians in every sphere of our society. All of our Alums are striving for excellence in their respective fields bearing proud signature of IIT Kharagpur every year. With my short association with the Alumni Affairs as Dean, I had innumerable happy interactions with our Alums who are so very passionate towards their Alma Mater. Literally, IIT KGP Fraternity is the epitome of age old mantra of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. During the last two and a half years of the pandemic, we received tremendous help and support in various forms, from our Alumni not only for our faculty, staff and students but also, to reaching out to our greater community whom we consider inseparable in our ecosystem. We would be celebrating Platinum Jubilee function of IIT Kharagpur which would mark 75 years of the Institute’s foundation, from 18 August 2025 to 17 August 2026, and have various programmes to be celebrated year long, not only here but in different cities and places where our Alums have a strong presence. We look forward to your active and passionate participation in the celebration.”

86 years old Mr. Saripalle Satyamurthy, an Alumnus from the second batch of IIT Kharagpur after its formation in 1951 inspired everybody with his presence & was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020, unable to collect due to the pandemic. He said, ” Its after 66 years that I actually came to my campus. Embarking on a poignant memory again, he added, “All of my contemporaries are gone now, I wanted to visit the campus with them. It was thrilling and exciting when Prime Minister announce my name for the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020, all my family and friends were really excited. With my Alma Mater, I wanted to be connected with the new things that they are developing especially for the rural community in regard to Rural Development Organization, any machinery or technology that will be beneficial to them and that should be made efficient using modern technology. Consideration should be made for the people for whom the technology is being made. With the reasonable income that I have, I wanted to contribute something to the hostels for renovations and I want to participate in the redevelopment of rooms.”

Campus tour, engagement programmes, department visit and strategic meetings, the Office of Alumni Affairs welcomed the Homecomers of 2022 in a pursuit of endearing fondness and helped them to revisit their Alma Mater in a more profound way. Discussions, meetings, brainstorming, cultural inhibitions, concrete ideations and entertaining all the fads of the Alumni, their endeavors has helped the institution to raise many endowments for institutional development. Ms. Swagata Nimaiyar(2002/BTech/AG/SN/IG) has pledged for an endowment of three lakh rupees during Homecoming 2022. IIT Kharagpur is grateful to the Alumni fraternity for their continuous support and guidance.

Inputs from : Office of the Alumni, IIT Kharagpur
Email : anamika.das@adm.iitkgp.ac.in

Interviewed by : Rituparna Chakraborty, Office of the Alumni, IIT Kharagpur
Email : rituani07@gmail.com

Edited by : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

Follow us: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur;  Twitter – @IITKgp;  Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
For news visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/

Sanskrit….The Language of Indian Sanskriti `वसुधैव-कुटुम्बकम्`

Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge Systems (CoE-IKS) of IIT Kharagpur celebrated the ‘Sanskrit Week’

 

सुखार्थिनः कुतो विद्या नास्ति विद्यार्थिनः सुखम्।
सुखार्थी वा त्यजेद्विद्यां विद्यार्थी वा त्यजेत्सुखम्॥

 

There is no knowledge for the seekers of comfort, and no comfort for the seekers of knowledge.
A seeker of comfort should give up knowledge, and a seeker of knowledge should give up comfort.​

 

Swami Vivekananda said, “Because the very sound of  Sanskrit words gives a prestige and a power and a strength to the race.”

Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge Systems (CoE-IKS) of IIT Kharagpur celebrated Sanskrit Week from 9th August to 15th August 2022 with an array of programs. The CoE-IKS took this initiative to create an awareness about the vast knowledge tradition that the language of Sanskrit beholds for the Modern India. On the first day Prof. V. R. Desai, Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, inaugurated the series of programs  and spoke about the relevance of Sanskrit in present times, its importance in developing ourselves socioeconomically, scientifically, and technologically in every field while preserving the great heritage. Prof. Khanindra Pathak, Dean of Infrastructure, graced the occasion and suggested some future steps in order to know the tradition of Vaada and Samvada, a method of finding the truth through dialogues. Shri Rajeev Rawat, Senior Officer, Rajabhasha Vibhag also emphasized identifying the root cause of problems and taking firm steps to solve them. Mr. Krishna Kumar, a Research Scholar of IKS brought divinity to the program by reciting stotras. Kumari Pranamya Bhat and Kumari Hridya added a mystical charm to the occasion by singing Sanskrit songs.

The second day saw a programme which was organized in the Brahmagupta Hall (V3) in Vikramashila building of IITKGP. More than 80 students  participated in this awareness program where Dr. Dipesh Katira, Assistant Professor of the Centre of IKS, explained the purpose and importance of the Sanskrit week.  As we know, Krishna Tirtha is credited with the discovery of 16 mathematical formulae that were part of the Parishishta which is an appendix of the Atharva Veda. Tirtha’s simple formulae make intricate mathematical calculations possible. Dr. Mahesh K, Assistant Professor of the Centre of IKS, gave a glimpse of Mathematical study in Sanskrit.

Prof. Joy Sen, the Chairperson of IKS addressed the students on the topic of Sanskrit and Indian Culture on the third day. He laid a special emphasis on civilizational ethos which is the democratic spirit, including respect for rule of law and pluralistic ethos that is ingrained in Indians and also carried by the Indian diaspora who contribute to the economic well-being and social harmony of their country. More than 400 students were in the awe of exploring a different level of dimension through the lenses of this forgotten language, held in Aryabhata Hall (V1), Vikramashila building. The programm communed with an introduction by Dr. Mahesh on the importance of Sanskrit as a vehicle of Sanatana Culture.

On the fourth day, two programs were held. In the morning session which was held in Brahmagupta Hall (V1),  Dr. Dipesh introduced digital tools for learning Sanskrit to the students. Dr. Jayashri was the convener of the program. The students enthusiastically participated in the discussion. In the evening, Prof. Shankh Pratim Bhattacharya, Associate Professor in Dept. of Architecture and Regional Planning spoke about Sanskrit and Nirman Vidya, where he explained how Indian architects were capable of dealing with intricacies in the building with various artistic structures. Students from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Shreyas and Arunabha Manna and others from the KGP fraternity participated and presented Gita Shlokas. Shri S C Das and Shri Haripad, Sanskrit Teachers from Kendriya Vidyalaya graced the programme with their presence.  Sri S C Das spoke about the eternal values that can be imbibed by learning Sanskrit.  Krishna Kumar, Research Scholar, CoEIKS was the host for the program.

On the fifth day, Dr. Jayashri spoke about the comprehension theories of language, as discussed by Indian grammarians. Prof. V. R. Desai spoke about ‘Vrksha Nakshatra’ which was held in Prof. S N Bose Auditorium of the institute.

Prof. Somesh Kumar, Department of Mathematics spoke on Samskrita and Ganita on the sixth day. He presented the contributions of Indian mathematicians such as Aryabhata, the first great astronomers of the classical age of India who discovered the astronomical and mathematical theories written in 499 AD and Bhaskaracarya, the leading mathematician of the 12th century, who wrote the first work with full and systematic use of the decimal number system etc., which mesmerized the audience. Mr. Shreyas from Kendriya Vidyalaya presented a Subhashita on the importance of Vidya and explained its meaning. Dr. Richa Chopra, Assistant Professor, CoEIKS spoke about the role of Sanskrit in keeping good mental health and boosting morale. The program commenced in the presence of  Prof. V. R. Desai and Prof. B N Singh, Professor, Aeronautical Engineering.

The seventh and the concluding day of the Sanskrit Week was celebrated with a wonderful cultural evening with Sanskrit and Music which was held in Prof. S. N. Bose auditorium in the presence of the IIT KGP fraternity comprising of authorities, professors, students of the institute, school children and campus residents. Prof. V. R. Desai presented the Nirvana Shatkam of Adi Shankaracharya with its holistic approach in the modern contemporary while the participants discussed about the future course of action in preserving the language and culture. Students of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sreyas, Gauri Shukla, Rudra, Arunabha Manna and Pranamya Bhat captivated the audience by exhibiting their talents in Sanskrit. Prof. Joy Sen created a divine atmosphere by presenting beautiful Bhajans. The closing ceremony was overwhelmed by the presence of Prof. B N Singh, Prof. Somesh Kumar, Dr.Rajeev Rawat, Shri S C Das and Shri Haripad.

On the closing ceremony of the Sanskrit Week, Prof Joy Sen, Chairman, CoE-IKS remarked ,”Sanskrit, the most ‘perfected’ of language system, the Mother of all languages in the world, and a network of language syntax at the highest apex of the Indo-European language systems, awaits full revival and complete repositioning for complete recovery of Indian Knowledge Systems as it is certified as the most advanced language code with over 48 vowels-consonants, 8 cases and being most perfected in Natural Language Processing (NLP) system of computational sciences.”

Inputs from : Dr. Dipesh Vinod Katira, Assistant Professor, CoE-IKS, IIT Kharagpur
Email : dipesh@iks.iitkgp.ac.in

Edited by:- Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

Follow us: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp;  Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
For news visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/ 

IIT Kharagpur celebrates its 72nd Foundation Day under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

 

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur welcomes
Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister,
Govt. of India.

As the country enters its 76th year of Independence, IIT Kharagpur also enters its 72nd year of foundation on 18th August 2022 which was adorned eminent personalities. Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister & Former Secretary, Higher Education, Ministry of Education graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Dr. B N Gangadhar, President, NMC, MA&RB (Former Director of NIMHANS) & Mr. Ranjit Rath, an Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur & CMD, Oil India Limited also graced the occasion as the Guest of Honour. The invocation started by hoisting the national flag and institute flag at the main building. Conferment of Chair Professor Awards, Faculty Excellence Awards, Young Alumni Achievers Awards, Staff Excellence Awards & Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award were presented. Institute employees were felicitated on completion of 25 years of uninterrupted service to the Institute

Felicitation of  Young Alumni Achiever Awards 2022

The Young Alumni Achiever Award was awarded to 25 young alumni of IIT Kharagpur including Arka Majumdar, Rakesh Kumar, Jayasree Chakraborty, Asish Modi, Abhinav Kumar, Swapnil Tembe, Saroj Kumar Thakur, Shashwat Singh, Arnab, Debayan Saha, Madhav Datt, Prateek Chakravarty, Dodda Raviteja, Sachin Jaiswal, Kintal Shiva Prasad, Amandeep Singh Kochar, Joy Deep Nath, Mayank Jain, Umang Jain, Abheepsa Mishra, Tejasvi Singh Kushwah, Tushar Kanti Behera, Abhishek Kumar Yadav, H R Sampreet, Kshitij Dixit and Ankit Jain for excellence in innovations, technological developments, research, community welfare, leadership, entrepreneurship, social impact, nation building, national interest and professional accomplishments.

Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award 2022 presented
to 8 inventors from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

This year a team of inventors led by Dr. Sandeep K C, Shri Sachin Kamath, Shri Saikat Saha, Shri Ashok Kumar M, Shri R M Rakate, Shri S P S Somvanshi, Shri A K Chatterjee, and Shri C K Warghat from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has bagged the most prestigious Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award 2022 for their breakthrough technical innovation in Indigenous Development of Compact Alkaline Water Electrolyzer Technology for Simultaneous Production of High Purity Hydrogen and Oxygen from Laboratory to Industrial Scale. This award has been instituted jointly by IIT Kharagpur and Dr. Akhil Sahai, an alumnus of the institute and the husband of late Dr. Nina Saxena, to commemorate the spirit and memory of its illustrious alumna Dr. Nina Saxena, who personified technical excellence to encourage young minds for innovative research in the frontier technology.

Felicitation of Institute Chair Professor Awards 2022 &
Faculty Excellence Awards 2022

A total of 10 Institute Chair Professor Awards and 25 Faculty Excellence Awards were awarded to  Prof. Debdeep Mukhopadhyay, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Samit Kumar Ray, Physics; Prof. Jyotsna Dutta Majumdar, Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Prof. Dilip Kumar Pratihar, Mech Engg; Prof. Chandan Chakraborty, Electrical Engg; Prof. Tarun Kanti Bhattacharyya, Electronics & Electrical Comm Engg; Prof. Madan Kumar Jha, Agricultural & Food Engg; Prof. Kinsuk Naskar, RTC; Prof. Sudipta Mukhopadhyay, Electronics & Electrical Comm Engg; Prof. Somnath Bhattacharyya, Mathematics; Prof. Sudip Misra, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Santanu Dhara, SMST; Prof. Nikhil Kumar Singha, RTC; Prof. Bhim Charan Meikap, Chemical Engg; Prof. Rudra Prakash Pradhan, VGSoM; Prof. Narayan Chandra Das, RTC; Prof. Mukunda Dev Behera,CORAL; Prof. Brajesh Kumar Dubey, Civil Engg; Dr. Sumantra Mandal, Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Architecture & Regional Planning; Prof. Shyamal Kumar Das Mandal, ATDC; Prof. Santanu Kapat, Electrical Engg; Prof. Arnab Atta, Chemical Engg; Prof. Pawan Goyal, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Chandra Sekhar Tiwary, Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Prof. Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath, CORAL; Prof. Arkopal Kishore Goswami, Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design & Management; Prof.Trilok Singh, School of Energy Sci & Engg; Prof. Bharath Haridas Aithal, Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management; Prof. Arindam Mondal, School of Bio Science; Prof. Dipankar Debnath, Electrical Engg; Prof. Aditya Bandopadhyay, Mech Engg; Prof. Sreeraj Puravankara, School of Energy Sci & Engg; Prof. Sunil Manohar Dash, Aerospace Engg; Prof. Sourav Mondal, Chemical Engg; Prof. Sudeshna Sarkar, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Saptarshi Ghosh, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Mahitosh Mandal, SMST; Prof. Jhareswar Maiti, Industrial & Systems Engg; Prof. Sunando Dasgupta, Chemical Engg and Prof. Ashok Kumar Gupta, Civil Engg.

                             Prof. Rintu Banerjee, AgFE  honoured with
Technology Development & Deployment Excellence Award

     Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Mech Engg honoured with
Technology Development & Deployment Excellence Award

Felicitation of Staff Excellence Awards 2022

This year the Staff Excellence Award 2022 were conferred to Ms. Juliet Karmakar Mondol, Counsellor,Counselling Centre; Dr. B Hemalatha, Dy Chief System Manager; Administrative Computer Service Support Centre; Dr. Rajeev Kumar Rawat, Senior Hindi Officer Grade-II, Rajbhasha Vibhag; Mr. M Manivannan, Assistant Librarian, Central Library; Mr. Gyan Singh Patel, System Engineer, Computer & Informatics Centre; Mr. Sanjib Halder, Technical Superintendent, Dept. of AgFE; Mr. Sankar Das Roy, Senior Technical Superintendent, Dept. of Mech Engg; Mr. Nar Singh Devra, Senior Technical Superintendent, Dept. of Electronics & Electrical Comm Engg; Mr. Prasenjit Das Gupta, Technical Officer, Dept. of Comp Sci and Engg; Mr. Rajib Bose, Asst Engineer/Asst Architect, Water Works Section; Mr. Tarun Kumar Ghuku, Senior Asst Engineer, Sanitary Section; Mr. Swapan Kumar Manna, Senior Asst Engineer, Civil Construction & Maintenance; Mr. Ajit Kumar Pal, Junior Technical Superintendent, Central Research Facility; Mr. Nandagopal Pal, Senior Executive, Dept. of AgFE; Mr. Purna Chandra Sethi, Executive, Director’s Office; Mr. B Sai Krishna, Junior Executive, Institute Information Cell; Mr. Tapan Kumar Debgoswami, Senior Executive, Deputy Director’s Office; Ms. Runu Dey, Senior Executive, Stores & Purchase Section; Mr. Prasanta Das, Senior Laboratory Assistant, Dept. of Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Mr. Tanmoy Kumar Baram, Senior Technician/Senior Laboratory Assistant, Dept. of Mech Engg; Mr. A V Rao, Senior Multi-Tasking Staff Grade-II, CWISS; Mr. Asit Kumar Kulsi, Junior Technician, Estate (Mech. & Elect.); Mr. Jagannath Dhar, Attendant, Dept. of Comp Sci & Engg; Mr. Shankar Prasad, Senior Multi Tasking Staff Grade-I, Dept. of Chemical Engg; Mr. Sisir Kumar Pal, Senior Assistant, ADTC; Mr. Mrinal Dasmahapatra, Senior Assistant Establishment & Personnel Section and Mr. Kailash Chandra Samantaray, Senior Security Inspector, Security Section were presented with Staff Excellence Awards 2022.

Felicitation of Faculty & Staff Members for
25 years of incessant service to the Institution

22 Faculty and Staff members were recognized for their incessant 25 years of service to the Institution including Prof. Anindya Sundar Dhar, E & ECE; Prof. Bani Bhattacharya, HSS; Prof. Srabani Taraphder, Chemistry; Prof. Arghya Taraphder, Physics; Dr. Bablu Sutradhar, Library; Prof. Lingadahally S Ramachandra, Civil Engg; Prof. Gour Gopal Roy, Metallurgical and Materials Engg; Prof. Kailash Bihari Lal Srivastava, HSS; Prof. Dipanwita Roy Chowdhury, Comp Sci and Engg; Mr. Tapas Singha Ray, Sr. Technician/ Sr. Lab. Asst., Electrical Engg; Prof. Siddhartha Das, Metallurgical and Materials Engg; Prof. Debapriya Das, Electrical Engg; Prof. Sirshendu De, Chemical Engg; Dr. Alok Kumar Nandy, Asst. Workshop Superintendent, Mechanical Engg; Prof. Narendra Singh Raghuwanshi, AgFE; Prof. Debjani Chakraborty, Mathematics; Prof. Probal Sengupta, Geology and Geophysics; Mr. Sudipta Das, Sr. System Engineer, CIC; Prof. Priyadarshi Patnaik, HSS; Mr. Amitava Nandi, Sr. Technical Superintendent, CET; Dr. Ramapati Samanta, Technical Officer, Biotechnology and Mr. Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Senior Technical Superintendent, Electrical Engg.

Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister addressing the 72nd Foundation Day of IIT Kharagpur

Shri Amit Khare, Advisor to Prime Minister & Former Secretary Higher Education, Ministry of Education addressed the 72nd Foundation Day of IIT Kharagpur. He remarked, “The idea of Gurukul which we had 1000 years ago is the same Gurukul with a modern outlook and new technologies that exists in IIT Kharagpur where you have all the faculty, staff, alumni and students working as a team to innovate and create, trying to bring something new everyday. We are in the Amrit Kaal and as Team India we have to work together and encourage institutions like IIT Kharagpur working in the direction of Prime Minister’s vision for the country. The institute withstands at the Hijli Detention camp, faced many challenges as well as many achievements from Faculties & Alumni hailing from various backgrounds and receiving highest civilian accolades like Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri & Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards. From IAS officials to Young Technocrats, District Magistrates, Collectors, Superintendent of Police, Forest Officials to CEOs of top companies in the world, IIT Kharagpur’s Alumni are renowned in every field. Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five visions for making India a developed nation, he said that overall development of the youth will be an important focus area with NEP 2020 which is designed to ensure that every child is able to achieve whatever potential he/she might have. It is not necessary that everyone possess the same potential in the field of science and technology, it could be music, sports, literature, administration, emerging technologies, delivery of services, social reforms etc. The main pillars of this policy is enhancement of capacity compared to other developing countries, and so far we have done well. We have almost 100% enrollment at the school level and 27.5% enrollment in Higher Education but we should not be satisfied with these figures. We should not only go for accessibility and figures but also the quality, accountability and regulation, working as a team. The focus should be more and more on research and innovation. In the context of NEP,  seven major areas have been identified where IIT Kharagpur plays an important role.

First and foremost is the Innovation & Research – Quoting Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan and Jay Anusandhan, he said though we are an IT Superpower, we need to be a superpower in Intellectual Property (IP) because knowledge is power. We cannot borrow technologies and indigenize it, we need institutions like Nalanda and Vikramshila. We have to be the creator of that knowledge. IIT Kharagpur did a good job by collaborating with the industry and establishing Research Parks to bring practical solutions.

Second will be the Multidisciplinary Approach which is essential as knowledge is created at the intersection of different disciplines. New frontiers of knowledge with Biomedical Research and interface between Bioscience and engineering along with devices that are used to detect large data so as to help formulate policies be it social sector or in the area of health welfare, should be adopted.

Third is linking our Past Knowledge with the Future – we are 100 years old civilization, we have a past of knowledge and can develop it to test it empirically with the help of institutions like IITs. The tribal & village communities had the knowledge of Haldi for 100 of years, it is surprising that we are only aware of it after it becomes turmeric in the western countries. The Indian knowledge System of IIT Kharagpur has taken a good lead in that area. We are not forcing to blindly follow what old presumptions and myths were but the IITs are the places where we can empirically test them and then use them for the future. Being a global citizen, there are exchanges in the form of goods, migration of people, internationalization but even though only those societies develop who remain connected to their ground. You cannot become rootless.

Fourth is the Social Responsibilities that is attached to every institution, to collaborate with local institutions and help them by fostering local development and technical assistance.

Fifth is bringing back Internationalization in education by having a peer group learning interaction between faculty members and students from different countries and genres.

Sixth is the Alumni Connect which not only encompasses donations for development purposes but should also indulge in  mentoring students and educating them with what kind of research should be undertaken along with favorable industry experiences should be exchanged. IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay has the best Alumni connections among other IITs.

Seventh is connecting the institution and the society with each other. Inquisitive mind of the society needs to be developed. Equal awareness among industry and society is required. The Trinity of Academia with Industry and Society is a must.

Lastly, he concluded that, “I hope IIT Kharagpur improves its rankings and the institute develops niche areas of specialization to excel and be among the top 10 universities in the world.”

Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister & Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur
felicitates Mr. Saripalle Satyamurthy with Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020

86 year old Saripalle Satyamurthy, an Alumnus from the second batch of IIT Kharagpur after its formation in 1951, inspired everybody with his presence and was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020.

Prof Virendra K Tewari, director IIT Kharagpur remarked, “IIT Kharagpur supported the nation to excel the standards of globalization with domestic innovations, finest scientific research and affordable technologies that contribute for a Self-reliant India. The initiatives of IIT Kharagpur towards Indian Knowledge System and NEP 2020 shaped the higher education system and set its course for a new age of becoming the Vishwaguru and boost the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. Seven niche areas comprising of Advanced Manufacturing Systems for Industry 4.0, Safety Engineering & Analytics, Quality and Reliability, Healthcare, Precision Agriculture & Food Nutrition, Smart Infrastructure and Advanced Transportation have been identified by the Institute that will drive its growth trajectory to become one of the top 10 universities in the world. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he said – Education is the manifestation of perfection already existing in a man. I urge you to take a pledge and start working towards this goal, with our collective efforts we shall bring glory to the nation and ourselves.”

Media Coverage : 

Coverage in Bartaman newspaper

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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

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IIT Kharagpur conducts Bharata Tirtha II – an International Conference on Indian Knowledge System

Under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge Systems (CoE-IKS), IIT Kharagpur organized an international conference on Indian Knowledge Systems – The Bharata Tirtha II from 14th to 18th June, 2022 in association with department of Physics, IIT Kharagpur and key knowledge partners including Indian History Awareness and Research (IHAR) Houston, USA, IHAR India, DHARA, Ode to Indian Knowledge System, the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education, Government of India. The conference which is a continuation of the programme Bharata Tirtha – I organized in November 2020 in association with Ministry of Education, was conducted in a hybrid mode in Gargi-Maitreyi Auditorium Complex of the Institute. The invocation ceremony witnessed the footfall of eminent speakers and experts including Mrs. Priyanka Chandra, Director, Ministry of Culture, Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur; and Prof Amit Patra, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur.

The following session conducted a debate on content and chronology of Indian history and a talk on Ayurveda – Revisiting traditional medical system in the light of modern science and technology on 15 July, 2022.  Dr. Subroto Gangopadhyay, IHAR, Houstan, USA, Dr. Vedveer Arya, DRDO & IHAR, Dr. Mradu Gupta and many other renowned connoisseurs shared their insights on Indian Knowledge Systems. A special team from Vishva-Bharati, Santiniketan encapsulated the audience with a session on Tagore. A video show on water resource planning in Indian context, globalization and urbanization with built and semi-built architecture along with Bangabhumite Ramayana –  Indology through South-East Asian perspective was hosted the next day. On 17th July, a special session regarding the history of civilization identity was led by Sri Sanjeev Sanyal, former Principal Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance; Prof Joy Sen, Chairman, IKS, IIT Kharagpur and Prof. Somesh Kumar, Mathematics, IIT Kharagpur. Sanskrit – A tool to access Bharatiya Jyan Parampara and the Holism of Yoga were also included for panel discussions. A sarod recital on Indian Music & Physics by Shri. Siddhartha Bhose, a Physicist & a renowned Sarodist was organized by EZCC, Ministry of Culture. The event concluded with a Khagol Vigyan session in association of Ministry of Culture, Government of India along with panel discussions on Raman Effect, Quantum Physics, pioneering Indian contributions on Black Hole and Prof Thanu Padmanabhan’s contributions in Astrophysics and Cosmology.

Prof V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur stated, ‘Bharata Tirtha II has forwarded the narratives, the folklore and deep ecosystems that embed our heritage systems, heritage tourism as a deep pilgrimage and the assimilation of cultures beyond races and genetics dethroning both racial biostatistics and eugenics that so far guarded the erroneous Aryan Invasion Myth. IIT Kharagpur in association with Ministry of Culture will soon plan a series of programs under DHARA – the flow for Indian Knowledge Systems to take the relevance of ancient Indian wisdom to various colleges and school children in the country.’

“India is the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of European languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the village community of self-government and democracy,” said American historian Will Durant in his book, ‘The Case for India, 1931’. With Bharata Tirtha II, IIT Kharagpur has proclaimed that Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) is not a nostalgia of the past but seeks the relevance of the primitive cultures of traditional knowledge systems & ancient wisdom in contemporary times. IKS synergize modern scientific knowledge with Indian art, architecture, sociology, culture and language as envisaged by National Educational Policy 2020. It should not be just a value additive process, but a main stream pedagogy for the future generations.

In the closing and valedictory program that was embellished by the presence of Mrs. Shreyanka Basu, Director, Museum, Ministry of Culture, Prof. Joy Sen, the Convener of the conference and the Chairman of the chairperson of the Centre of Indian Knowledge system, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “The emphasis on creative economy based on the eternal principles of Indian community ethos of ‘small is beautiful’, ‘restraint based on less in more’ based on farm and cottage stead economies, is a solution to the looming economic crisis in the modern age. The current advances in Quantum Sciences, Quantum biology and Astrophysics begin to match the ancient wisdom of Indian Sages based on the principles of involution and evolution, Krishna and Sukla (black and white) lineages of Cosmology and the evolution of consciousness in it.’

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

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Creation, Innovation & Inclusion

IIT Kharagpur organizes Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2022

Entrepreneurship Cell under the aegis of Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship of IIT Kharagpur, conducted their annual flagship event the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2022, on the theme ‘Innovation for Inclusion’ from 10th to 13th March 2022 in an online mode. The event was inaugurated by Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Hon’ble Director, IIT Kharagpur. Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Government of India graced the event with his presence. Mr. Beerud Sheth, Co-Founder and CEO, Gupshup, and Mr. Saugata Gupta, Managing Director & CEO, Marico Ltd were the guest speakers at the opening ceremony.

The summit had a plethora of events over the four days, including competitions in various segments with titles like GES Pitchers, Intern Carnival, Co-Founder’s meet, PhonePe’s PayHack, Business Game, Gaming Night and HP Innov-Ethos. There were many workshops including ‘Evolution of FinTech in India’ conducted by Mr. Srijon Biswas, Head of Engineering, PhonePe and ‘Technology and Innovation: How it’s important for entrepreneurship’ by Mr. Vipul Mittal, Transformation Leader at Ernst and Young Global Delivery Services. GES had a global outreach with international panellists from countries like USA, Brazil, Germany, Australia and Finland besides others. With over 100 renowned investors, 300+ entrepreneurs and over 1500 college students from across the country as well as faculty members from numerous universities, the level of engagement was remarkably high. Various startups participated in the Intern Carnival, where they offered internship positions in diverse fields from Business Development to Computer Vision, to students across the country. Co-Founder’s Meet is an event where budding entrepreneurs meet like-minded people to discuss their ideas and explore possibilities of partnering in a venture like ‘Connecting the Dots,’ is an initiative at GES that helps in idea cross-pollination among the Entrepreneurship Cells of the colleges and universities across the country for symbiotic prosperity. Another large-scale participation is witnessed in the Business Model Competition, ‘Empresario’ organised annually by the ECell and the finale is merged in GES, where the current edition saw the participation of more than 1500 teams from which after mentoring and quality screening 28 teams could be vying for the top honours as finalists.

Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, appreciated the contribution of the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Kharagpur fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth of India with the support to set up business, training, incubation, patents and funding congratulating the Institute on incubating over 200 startups. Upholding the theme ‘Innovation for Inclusion’, he said that, “This would be the approach of India along with the knowledge and application of Science, Technology, Research and Entrepreneurship which will be benefitting India to become Aatmanirbhar”. He delineated the importance of such summits in promoting the culture of entrepreneurship and understand as to how small idea grows into big businesses. He talked about the emerging sectors, working towards sustainability, such as electric vehicles, battery swapping, green hydrogen and ammonia and solar panels alongside windmills. He urged that the priorities of the stakeholders need to be aligned with the country’s commitment to net-zero carbon emission in the future and called upon entrepreneurs to work with innovative ideas for generating energy from waste material making India more self-reliant and clean besides exploring opportunities for import substitution and export.

Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, stressed on the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship reflecting the enormous possibilities in solving the problems and socio-economic issues involving healthcare, water and environment.

Mr. Beerud Sheth, Co-Founder and CEO, Gupshup, remarked that “Entrepreneurship is about can-do attitude, it is not about IQ, rather it is about EQ, to hone the ability to sell and be creative in approach.” Mr. Saugata Gupta, Managing Director & CEO, Marico Ltd explained why innovation is important for startups.

Mr. Muhammad Yunus, Hon’ble Noble Laureate, remarked that, “Humans are born to be entrepreneurs and not just run after degrees and jobs. We need to be job creators rather than job seekers”. The Nobel laureate emphasised on the importance of social entrepreneurship as a better alternative to charities as the money used in charities can be used only once.

GES 2022 gained the support of many corporate sponsors and was presented by Reliance Industries Limited, co-sponsored by PhonePe and powered by Acer. The entire event was conducted under the able guidance of Prof. Pranab Kumar Dan, Associate Professor, Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship

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

“Here’s to strong women, may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them” – Women’s Day 2022

“She is imperfect but she tries
She is messy but she is kind
She is good but sometimes she lies
She is hard on herself but won’t ask for help
She is alone in her thoughts and
Mixed in a beautiful recipe of life”

It was a three day gala celebration for the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT KGP) on the International Women’s Day under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from 6th to 8th March 2022. This year the theme was #breakthebias to show solidarity with gender parity, a world free of gender bias, stereotypes and discrimination, a world which is diverse, equitable and inclusive of both men and women setting the standards for being individuals where differences are valued and celebrated together as a team.

IIT Kharagpur flagged off the celebration on 6th March 2022 with the opening ceremony involving fun and games for everyone and indulged in activities like Sack Race, Musical Chair, Tic Tac Toe, Blind Fold etc. All the participants did a photoshoot and posed together to form this year’s theme #breakthebias.

A panel discussion was held on 7th March 2022 on “Women’s Adolescent Health”. Dr. Chaitali Dutta Ray, an eminent gynaecologist, Professor & Head, Dept. of Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Raigunj Government Medical College & Hospital, was the Chief Guest for the occasion.  The discussion was moderated by Dr. Parmeshwar Satpathy, Assistant Professor, Dr. B. C. Roy Multispecialty Medical Research Centre, IIT Kharagpur and Dr. Tanisha Das, a Ph.D student of IIT Kharagpur. The other panel members, Professor Manas K Mandal, an eminent Neuropsychologist and Distinguished Visiting Professor at IIT Kharagpur and Dr. Sumana Samanta, Assistant Professor, Dr. B. C. Roy Multispecialty Medical Research Centre, IIT Kharagpur discussed about stress, depression, public health, problem of adolescent anaemia and the long term hazards of this common health problem for women. Ms. Devaki Nandana Varalakshmi Vardhineedi, Vice President of Technology Students Gymkhana (TSG) spoke about her experiences as the First Lady Vice President of TSG IIT KGP.

 

The Department of Geology & Geophysics of IIT Kharagpur have also felicitated their Women Professor Colleagues, Prof Sanghamitra Ray, Prof Chandrani Singh and Prof Sudha Agrahari. In-depth discussions and motivational speech by the participants towards the empowerment of women in Earth Sciences was also conducted on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022 as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

The closing ceremony commenced on 8th March 2022 with on-the-spot competition that included Rangoli, Alpana and Face Painting for all the campus residents, spreading the message #breakthebias. Later in the evening, the event began with lighting up the lamp followed by addresses from Prof V K Tewari, Director, Prof Amit Patra, Deputy Director and Registrar Shri Tamal Nath of IIT Kharagpur on breaking the gender bias. Prof V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked that, “When you educate a man, you educate only a man but when you educate a women, you educate an entire generation, a society at large”. Ms. Bhanu Kumar, Director (Commercial) of MSTC, India was the Chief Guest of the occasion and addressed the gathering by sharing her experiences of gender inequality and thoughts on women empowerment. The last day of the event concluded with a cultural program by faculties, campus women, children and students comprising of a series of cultural events including songs, dance and drama. The winners of the various activities and events were recognised with a token of appreciation.

An organizing committee was setup comprising of Prof Koel Chowdhury, Chairperson, Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Treasurer, Prof Debjani Chakroborty, Treasurer, Ms Devaki Nandana, Co-Chairperson, Sunita Mishra, Mining Engineering, Prof Gayatri Mukherjee, School of Medical Science & Technology, Prof Debashree Guha Adhya, School of Medical Science & Technology and Ms Priyanka Singh, Sports Officer to undertake the activities of Women’s Day Celebration 2022 in our Institution.

 

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

IIT Kharagpur celebrates its 67th Convocation in the august presence of Minister of Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan

Creating a historic benchmark by crossing 1600 plus offers in the Phase I of placement season 2021, IIT Kharagpur celebrated its 67th Convocation on December 18, 2021. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Honourable Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Shri Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kharagpur honoured us with his virtual presence. With prolific advancements towards engaging new advents in technological pursuits and branching out to diverse fields of medical, law, management and entrepreneurship, for the first time IIT Kharagpur is proud to bestow a Lifetime Achievement Award to Prof. M A Ramlu who served as the founder Head of the Department of Mining Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and retired as an Officiating Director of IIT Kharagpur. Along with Prof Ramlu, five awardees including Prof. Sadhan Kumar De, Prof. Biswa Nath Chatterji, Puran Chand Dang, Shri Gopal Rajgarhia and Dr. Asoke Kumar Deysarkar were conferred the Life Fellow Awards of IIT Kharagpur 2021. 5 pioneers comprising of Prof. Suresh Chandra Mishra, Commander VK Jaitly, Dr. Mohan Rao, Krishan Mohan Khanna and Dr. Mukund Padmanabhan were also honoured with the Distinguished Alumnus Awards. This year IIT Kharagpur conferred the Doctor of Sciences (Honoris Causa) to 3 eminent personalities namely Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, Dr. Tessy Thomas and Professor Harish Chandra Verma.

Today we are felicitating 1573 UG, 1253 PG, 34 MS, 333 Research Scholars along with 333 Ph.D (i.e., 302 Ph.D + 1 Joint MS- Ph.D + 12 Joint M. Tech/MCP- Ph.D + 18 Joint M.Sc- Ph. D), 34 MS, 918 M. Tech, 47 MCP, 120 MBA, 28 EMBA, 3 MMST, 20 MHRM, 17 LLM, 39 LLB, 61 PGDBA (a tri-institute programme with IIM Kolkata and ISI Kolkata), 557 Dual Degree, 450 B.Tech (Hons), 38 B.Arch (Hons), 4 six-year integrated M.Sc and M.Tech, 217 five-year integrated M.Sc, 7 three-year M.Sc and 300 two-year M.Sc degrees.

This year the President of India Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the outgoing B. Tech. (Hons.) and B. Arch. (Hons.) students was awarded to Mr. Gurjot Singh Suri, Department of Computer Science and Engineering who hails from Assam. A district topper in high school, he was awarded scholarship by the Government of Assam on being selected for IIT Kharagpur. He is currently working as a Software Engineer in Uber India. ThePresident of India Gold Medalfor the best all-round performance among the B. Tech. (Hons.) and B. Arch. (Hons.) outgoing students is awarded to Mr. Manthan Patel, Department of Mechanical Engineering. An avid robotics enthusiast from Ahmedabad, he represented the institute multiple times at various International and Inter-IIT Tech competitions. He is a recipient of the DAAD-WISE Research Scholarship (Completed at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany) as well as the OP Jindal Engineering and Management Scholarship. He is currently pursuing M Sc in robotics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. The Prime Minster of India Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the Dual Degree and Integrated M Sc. Outgoing students is awarded to Mr. Omar Eqbal, Department of Computer Science and Engineering. A topper, a NTSE scholar, selected for KVPY fellowship from Patna, Omar Eqbal is currently working as a software engineer at Nutanix.

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 Harsh Maheshwari from the Department of Electrical Engineering. Among the others are Chirag Arora 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, Arshdeep Singh of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering is awarded the Director’s Gold Medal for the best academic performance among the students completing M. Tech. and MCP courses and Jaskaran Singh of Reliability Engineering is awarded the Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal for the best all-round performance among the M. Tech. and MCP outgoing students. The Chairman, Board of Governor’s Gold Medal for PG category is awarded to Naveen Narasimhachar Joshi and for UG category to Buddhadeb Mondal.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Education Minister, Govt. of India in his address said that it is a privilege to enter into the ecosystem of IIT Kharagpur which was chosen as the first Centre of Excellence in the country after independence. He said that the Indian Knowledge system has been established on the grounds of Hijli Detention Camp which enriches the historic culture of IIT Kharagpur and is recognized as the post-independence temple of learning. He added that IIT Kharagpur will be the epicentre of change that traverses around the world in the coming years as it has a heritage and sacraments of sacrifice. He added that today we need new ideas to originate from India in the global scenario and India will be the fastest growing economy in the coming years.  He also said that achieving  successful 100 crore vaccinations was possible because of the IITs and NITs of this country. In the 21st century, the economy of the world will be run by those who have the market, the qualitative low cost workforce and the critical minds. He added that India can produce clean energy at one fourth of the cost compared to European countries which would be made possible by the IITians that is already proven in many verticals. He also added that India needs to build a low cost energy attracting manufacturing units of the world which will lead to economic empowerment of the country. He said that IIT Kharagpur should become the epicentre of major research initiatives that can make India a global power like America, and that IIT Kharagpur should innovate ways for incorporating MSMEs and implement alternate energy into a localized funded grid. He also informed about the leadership role IIT Kharagpur has taken in the area of VLSI chip design. He concluded saying that there should be “Purva Uday” (Rise of Eastern India) leading to investments in innovation for community welfare.

Prof V. K Tewari, Director IIT Kharagpur said that the institute hopes to bring life back to normal by calling back all students by next session notwithstanding the next variant OMICRON. He said that IIT KGP was successful in incorporating the provisions of NEP 2020 by revising its curriculum in UG/PG level be it credit bank or seamless movements of students in any discipline. He also said that the faculties as well as the students have dedicatedly designed and developed several equipment related to healthcare including COVIRAP, Painless needle, telemedicine, social distancing device etc. Expanding its horizons in Medical Sciences and Medical Engineering, the new Super-Speciality Hospital in the name of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee has started its OPD with 14 visiting specialist with 250 beds. He added that in the coming years, his mission is to take this institute to top 10 universities of the world for which seven niche areas comprising Advanced Manufacturing Systems for Industry 4.0, Safety Engineering & Analytics, Quality & Reliability, Healthcare, Precision Agriculture & Food Nutrition, Smart Infrastructure and Advanced Transportation are identified. He concluded that IIT KGP has made history by getting the highest placement offers among all IITs and aims to become the global benchmark in education.

Content Writer:- Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)

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

Dr. Virendra K Tewari, Director, IITKGP hounoured with Special Recognition of the Year Award 2021 by Agriculture Today Group

IIT KGP takes immense pride and honour in congratulating Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur for being conferred with the Special Recognition of the Year Award 2021 by Agriculture Today Group in the 3rd Apollo Farm Power Awards 2021. He was acknowledged for his exemplary contribution to the growth and development of agricultural mechanization in India. Prof. Tewari participated in the award ceremony through video conferencing. Agriculture Today conducted the 3rd APOLLO Farm Power Awards 2021 on Wednesday, 20th October at Crystal Ball Room, The Lalit, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Distinguished Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Dr Trilochan Mohapatra graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Agriculture Today Group has been in the forefront in bridging the gaps, influencing policies, creating business networks and recognizing achievers. To extend due recognition to the role models of farm mechanizations in India, they have taken this initiative to accolade the achievers.

Prof. Tewari’s core research areas comprises of Tractor System Design, Ergonomics and Industrial Safety, Design of Agricultural Machines, Precision Agriculture and Machinery System Management. Among his key research projects, special mention should be attributed to the Centre of Excellence for Digital Farming Solutions for Enhancing Productivity by Robots, Drones and AGV’s National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP). Several projects by the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture and Farming Welfare, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India, are thriving under his competent leadership.

His rich and varied exposure in the area of Ergonomics and Safety Engineering for systems safety in different manufacturing shops including different Mine projects in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur from 2003 to 2013 along with collaborative research with several Tractor Industries in Chennai, Mumbai and Pune augmented the scope of convergence for farm technologies. Other noteworthy acclaims include his contribution in the field of Tea Engineering with Tea Companies like Duncan’s Agro & Williams and Magor Pvt. Ltd. in the design and development of Tea Machinery.

Conferred with several awards and accolades by the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, the Indian Society for Technical Education, National Research Development Corporation,Jawaharlal Nehru Award, Jawaharlal Nehru Award for his exemplary contributions in the field of agricultural mechanization, Prof Tewari has always solicited technological advancement in agriculture modernization and its implementations in the Indian Agro Industry.

On receiving the award, Prof Tewari shared some of his insights on the subject matter pointing out that with new scientific break-throughs made in one field, new evidence of progress is certainly to be seen in the related fields. He said that the developing countries tend to design their own strategies in food security given the challenges they face in all aspects of their economy including feeding a growing population, reducing poverty, protecting the environment, managing the effects of climate change and fighting malnutrition. With the help of appropriate technologies, sustainable agricultural development with food security should be a primary concern considering the country’s specific climate as well as political and economic conditions to present development-oriented policies for achieving sustainable food security based on agricultural mechanization that may be adaptable.

He added that to achieve the objective of a self-sustaining agricultural mechanization strategy, a SWOT analysis technique should be used to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and help us provide a framework by which policies can be defined. He concluded saying that despite the impact of agricultural mechanization on the agricultural production process, due to the lack of comprehensive research on the extent of the effect of mechanization components on the production and its fields of application, there were always differences of opinion and doubts about the role of mechanization in the agricultural sector. This has prevented the stabilization and improvement in agricultural mechanization in the agricultural sector and even the other sectors of the industry and services in developing countries.

Content Writer:- Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant

IIT Kharagpur and University of Manchester Rolls out its first batch of Dual Doctoral Students

IIT Kharagpur and University of Manchester is proud to roll-out its first batch of Dual Ph.D students for autumn 2021. The news of this prestigious association was first announced in April, 2021 highlighting the unique character of the Programme. All facets of the programme including selection, admission, supervision and evaluation has been jointly administered with perfect synchronicity by competent authorities on both sides.

Owing to the pandemic disruptions in 2020-21 and because of the programme protocol that required selected students to spend their first year at IITKGP, in its first year the programme was open to only Indian students satisfying the eligibility criteria. The partners are optimistic that in the following years when travel restrictions are lifted and normalcy is restored world-wide, the programme will be made available to international applicants as well.

For IITKGP-UMan Dual Doctoral Programme, jointly supervised projects were chosen from across a number of thematic areas including computational chemistry, healthcare and medical technologies, environmental geochemistry, biomaterials and Industry 4.0.

The selection process involved a rigorous multiple level review and evaluation by the Joint Programme Board comprising of the Deans and Associate Deans of both the institutions. All 50 applicants had commendable credentials and it was a difficult task for the selection committee to select the five final awardees based on the understanding of their projects, a short verbal presentation on their proposed research and plans, and a concluding Question & Answer session.

Prof. G.P. Rajasekhar, Dean Faculty of Science and a member of the selection committee feels, “Selecting the 5 awardees was the most difficult decision we had to make because all of them were outstanding. The rigor of the selection process indeed made this a very prestigious programme for students across the country.”

Mr. Aniruddha Das and Mr. Sumanta Laha who have completed their Masters from IITKGP, will be associated with the Departments of Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering respectively. While Mr. Das will be working on, ‘Transition Metal Mediated Difunctionalization of Arynes’ under the joint supervision of Dr. Ganesh Venkataraman at IITKGP and Prof. Michael Greaney from Manchester; Mr Laha will be working on Hydrodynamics of Prosthetic Mechanical Heart Valves to investigate the hydrodynamics of a mechanical heart valve in an effort to develop an ideal design of the valve to enhance the life expectancy and improve the quality of the patient’s life style.

Sumanta believes, “I am not only happy but also lucky to receive such a prestigious scholarship from IIT Kharagpur and University of Manchester. Though the selection processes was rigorous, it was quite interesting. With this scholarship, it has become my responsibility to complete the project and contribute to the area of cardiovascular research which may help the doctors save lives around the globe.”

Mr. Shubhra K. Nandi another final awardee, who has completed his Masters from IIT Ropar, will be working on a project titled, ‘Development of novel metal/ceramic composites via laser-assisted additive manufacturing processing for advanced surface engineering applications’ at the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department of IITKGP. He will be supervised by Dr-Ing. Siddhartha Roy (IITKGP) and Prof. Philip Withers (UMan) as Principal Investigators, and Prof. Indranil Manna (IITKGP) and Prof. Allan Matthews (UMan) as Co-Principal Investigators. Nandi expresses an “ardent desire to contribute to the field of additive manufacturing and advanced materials” and feels that the project is very much aligned with his interests.

Ms. Juhi Srivastava from IIT Jodhpur and Ms. Anjali Srivastava from IIT Guwahati were among the other awardees of this prestigious scholarship. Ms. Srivastava, who would also be affiliated to the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department of IITKGP, will be working on, ‘Microstructural effects on environmentally assisted cracking in model 7xxx alloys.’ Juhi opined, “I really appreciate the assistance and financial aid and cannot express my gratitude enough. With this scholarship, I am able to set higher goals for myself and push myself harder.”

Ms. Anjali Jayakumar will be conducting her project work at the School of Nano Science and Technology IIT Kharagpur, followed by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, at University of Manchester. She will be working on the ‘Synthesis of graphene and graphene-based composites using agriculture waste for desalination’. Through her research, Anjali will attempt to tackle the global water scarcity phenomenon by employing advanced materials such as graphene to desalinate seawater and counter the rising demand of pure drinking water. Anjali feels delighted as she will be getting a unique opportunity to work with two different research teams of two different world class institutions during her doctoral research. Anjali feels, “I have always wanted to pursue my doctoral research on a topic with a great societal impact. I am excited as my project strives to tackle the world water crisis, one of the grandest challenges of recent times.”

The five awardees will spend their first and third year of study at IITKGP punctuated by year 2 at Manchester and year 4 at Manchester again. Upon successfully defending the thesis as per regulations at both the institutions, the Doctoral Degree will be jointly awarded by both the Institutions.

Dr. David Polya, Associate Dean for Internationalization, who has been the chief architect of this Joint Programme from University of Manchester strongly feels that, “The JDP between IIT Kharagpur and University of Manchester represents a mutually beneficial partnership for two institutions that are drawn together both by strong similarities and also highly complementary differences. Both institutions are driven by an ambition to achieve not only research excellence but also for their research and teaching to have a positive practical impact on the world. Both institutions take an immense pride in their graduates and have influential alumni networks spanning the globe.  And, of course, there are also differences – not just in the countries in which they are based, but also the way in which things are done. What has been very heart-warming about this JDP is the goodwill that has existed between those involved in sharing the design and implementation of the JDP – we have a lot to learn from each other and the widespread goodwill and flexibility has created conditions where we can readily swap best practice. Most importantly, as our first cohort of JDP PhD research students are recruited, we are confident that the JDP will soon be producing highly trained doctoral graduates of which both institutions will be immensely proud.”

On the other side of the aisle, Dr. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, Associate Dean, International Relations & Ranking, who was instrumental is driving this partnership and formulating the selection process at IITKGP is delighted with the launch of this programme. “We at IIT Kharagpur are delighted to launch this prestigious and unique programme with one of the top ranked universities in the world. I am deeply indebted to my predecessor, Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya who played a key role in the formative stages of this partnership. To be considered by Univ. of Manchester as an equal partner, is a matter of great pride for us and goes to show the high esteem that our students and faculty are held worldwide.”  

As an integral aspect of IITKGP’s concerted effort towards internationalization strategy, the start of this esteemed programme marks IITKGP’s entry into the United Kingdom after running successful initiatives with its preferred partners in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Both IITKGP and University of Manchester are optimistic that the start of the Dual Doctoral Programme will usher further opportunities of academic and research collaboration between the partners in areas of mutual interest and will go a long way in solving shared problems of an increasingly complex world.

Content Writer:- Koushiki Mukherjee, Office of International Relations.

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant

Prof. Debdeep Mukhopadhyay Awarded The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize For Science And Technology, 2021

Prof. Debdeep Mukhopadhyay of the Computer Science and Engineering Department was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize For Science And Technology 2021 in Engineering Sciences for notable and outstanding research in Cryptography, Information Security, System Security, CAD for VLSI & Embedded Systems, and Cyber-Physical Systems Security.

Prof. Mukhopadhyay completed his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur and continued with his Ph.D. at the Computer Science department. After a brief teaching stint at IIT Madras, he returned to Kharagpur and embarked on a stellar teaching career. His research involves implementing cryptographic engineering to identify and thwart attack surfaces and side-channel attacks and ensure end-to-end encryption in smartphones and laptops.

In his chat with The KGP Chronicle, he mentioned that he was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn and grow amongst brilliant minds and hardworking researchers during his formative years at the institute. Prof. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti found a special mention as an inspiring mentor who motivated his research endeavors.

Dedicating this award to his late father Mr. Niharendu Mukhopadhyay, Prof. Mukhopadhyay said that he was working in his lab when he got the news of the award. He thanked his family for their constant support. He also mentioned that the award resulted from a ‘baby-step-giant- step’ philosophy in conducting research; he accumulated simple, achievable research goals into a significant result.

He finds joy in breaking through research dead ends and is never shy of taking up new challenges. He is working on a problem considered the “holy grail of computing” in his latest research. In his Secure Embedded Architecture Lab, he develops techniques to ensure data encryption and simultaneously perform search and analytics functions.

As a message to students and young researchers, he asked them to keep faith in themselves and not always be swayed by market-based topics. He asked them to “never forget the fundamentals, concentrate on small, simple, doable goals, and accumulate them into great results.”

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant