Award – The KGP Chronicle

IIT Kharagpur honours Shri Sundar Pichai with DSc Honoris Causa & Mrs. Anjali Pichai with Distinguished Alumnus Award

Excellence embodies the relentless pursuit of the highest standards, driven by an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement and innovation. It transcends conventional measures of success, focusing instead on achieving exceptional quality and performance through dedication, expertise, and a passionate commitment to one’s craft. Those who embody excellence are not satisfied with merely meeting expectations; they aim to exceed them, setting new benchmarks and inspiring others to reach their fullest potential. This pursuit involves a cycle of persistent learning, thoughtful reflection, and tireless effort, reflecting a deep dedication to personal and professional growth. In essence, excellence is a journey rather than a destination, characterized by the drive to push boundaries and redefine what is possible, both for oneself and for those around them. This attribute has been embodied by our most illustrious Alum Shri Sundarajan Pichai and his wife Mrs. Anjali Pichai.

In a momentous occasion of pride, IIT Kharagpur honoured Shri Sundar Pichai with the Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) Award and Mrs. Anjali Pichai with Distinguished Alumnus Award in San Francisco. Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur in the presence of Sundar Pichai’s parents and their daughter Ms. Kavya Pichai bestowed the award to the Google Scion.

(L-R) Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur; Shri Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google; Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur & Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Dean, Alumni Affairs, IIT Kharagpur

The award ceremony was attended by renowned alumni of IIT Kharagpur including Vinod Gupta & Ranbir Gupta along with Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Deputy Director and Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Dean Alumni Affairs of the institute.

“Last week I was grateful to receive an honorary doctorate from my alma mater IIT Kharagpur. My parents always hoped I would get my doctorate, I think an honorary one still counts (smiley). The access to education and technology at IIT put me on a path to Google and helping more people access technology. IIT’s role in technology will only grow in importance with the AI revolution, and I will always be thankful for my time there,” cited Mr. Sundar Pichai, Illustrious Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur & CEO of Google [https://www.instagram.com/p/C938BlwxKGB/?img_index=1]

A B.Tech (Hons) in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, Shri Sundararajan Pichai is recognized by the third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. He stands as a quintessence of inspiration to the millions of Indians who aspire to dream big. Shri Pichai is the CEO of Alphabet Inc. and Google who led a technological revolution as the Senior Vice President and Product Chief at Google launching popular products like iGoogle, Google Toolbar, Desktop Search and Gadgets, Google Pack, and Gears. With more than 15 years of experience developing high-tech consumer and enterprise products, he is the pride of every Indian. Building technologies that improves the lives of people around the world, he has shaped the global economy by strengthening partnerships between governments, businesses and communities over two transformative decades.

(L-R) Kavya Pichai, Daughter of Mr. Pichai; Mr. Regunatha Pichai, Father of Mr. Pichai; Mrs. Lakshmi Pichai, Mother of Mr. Pichai; Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur; Mrs. Anjali Pichai (Haryani), Alumnus & Wife of Mr. Pichai; Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur; Shri Sundar Pichai, Alumnus & CEO of Google; Shri Vinod Gupta, Alumnus & CEO and Chairman of infoGROUP; Shri Ranbir Gupta, Alumnus & President of Gupta Associates Inc., and Chairman of SIGMA7 and Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Dean, Alumni Affairs, IIT Kharagpur.

In recognition of his remarkable contribution towards digital transformation, affordable technology and path breaking innovations, the Hon’ble President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, Visitor of the Institute, bestowed the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in absentia at the 69th Convocation of IIT Kharagpur held on December 18, 2023.

Shri Sundar Pichai receiving the DSc Honoris Causa from Prof. V K Tewari

On receiving the Doctor of Science Award from his Alma Mater, Shri Sundar Pichai remarked, “This is indeed a great honour that IIT Kharagpur has bestowed on me. I am truly blessed and humbled to receive this award from Prof. Tewari in presence of my family and friends. Standing with this award in my hands reminds me of the young boy that I was who dreamed to be in the world that I am trying to create with my inventions. IIT Kharagpur holds a special place in my heart as this was the place where I first met my beloved wife, Anjali and had beautiful memories of my second home that I grew up in. The ambience, the people, the environment, the culture imparts a diaspora of knowledge learnings that one can implement in shaping up their practical wisdom. I am grateful to my institute for rewarding me with this award and there is nothing in the world that can compare to this emotional euphoria that I feel right now. I look forward to connect with IIT KGP manifesting greater technological solutions in partnership with Google. KGP ka tempo high hai! ,” added Shri Sundar Pichai.

Mrs Anjali Pichai (Haryani) receives the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Prof. Rintu Banerjee

Ms Anjali Pichai is a highly accomplished professional with a background in Chemical Engineering, earning her B.Tech honours degree from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in 1993. Commencing her career in the early 1990s, Anjali initially served as a Business Analyst at Accenture, contributing her expertise for a span of three years. Venturing into the United States, Anjali transitioned her career as a Business Analyst at Sun Microsystems. She held the position of Business Operation Manager at Intuit, a prominent software company. Anjali’s career trajectory reflects her dedication and proficiency in the technology and business sectors.

The Awardees with their family and friends

Prof. V K Tewari, Director of IIT Kharagpur, expressed his delight in honoring both Sundar and Anjali Pichai, stating, “Their achievements exemplify the spirit of innovation and excellence that IIT Kharagpur seeks to instill in its students. We are privileged to recognize their outstanding contributions to the global technology industry and wish more laurels and attributes are added to their stature.”

Shri Sundar Pichai meeting the Alumni of IIT Kharagpur including Rabir Gupta & Vinod Gupta

The awards ceremony underscores IIT Kharagpur’s commitment to celebrating the achievements of its alumni who have made significant contributions to society and industry worldwide.

By : 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 Students Startup InfinityBox Awarded Hult Prize Seed Funding

InfinityBox, an IIT Kharagpur students startup, has received the seed capital award of $100K by the Hult Prize Foundation.

It is the only Indian company that is the recipient of the seed capital award of USD 100,000 by the Hult Prize Foundation and alumni of Nexus Incubator by the US Embassy and Singapore Government-funded Young Social Entrepreneurs 2020.

InfinityBox is working towards reducing the use of less single-use plastics in the food delivery industry. The startup has partnered with two of India’s most prominent food delivery companies, Swiggy in the B2C domain, and HungerBox in the B2B domain, to support them towards sustainable operations.

The startup was also adjudged the national winners at the Innovate4SDG contest by UNDP (United Nation Development Program) Accelerator Labs India that included $5000 as a cash prize.

Founding Team:

Shashwat Gangwal (IIT KGP 2019)
Soham Chandorkar (IIT KGP 2020)
Keshav Godala (IIT KGP, 4th Year)
Shiv Kumar (BITS Pilani)

For more information visit https://www.infinityboxkgp.com/

Ozone and Ultra-filter based manufacturing tech to extend shelf life of packaged Sugarcane juice

Researchers at IIT Kharagpur have developed new process technology based on ozonization and ultra filtration for manufacturing shelf-stable sugarcane juice

Sugarcane juice is a refreshing drink with an enriched nutritional profile. The juice accommodates health components such as, phytonutrients, antioxidants, and vitamins (like Vitamins C&B) which offer quick relief from heatstroke, dehydration, constipation, jaundice, etc. by supplying instant energy. Owing to the absence of simple sugars and low glycemic index (30-40), its average intake by diabetic persons is also acceptable. However, the colour and flavour unique to the juice get deteriorated immediately after its extraction due to biological processes of browning and microbial fermentation. Its short shelf life limits its long term storage and marketing. Thermal treatments used to enhance the shelf life of sugarcane juice destroy its pleasant taste and aroma. Non-thermal methods hold promise in this regard.

Research scholar Chirasmita Panigrahi from the Dept. of Agricultural & Food Engineering, as part of her PhD research, has been pursuing a novel study on ozone assisted cold sterilization technology towards the shelf stabilization of sugarcane juice without heat or chemical.

The process technology involves ultra-filtering and ozonization of the freshly extracted microfiltered juice followed by packaging under an aseptic environment. The combined membrane filtration and ozone treatment technology resulted in 7 log reduction in bacteria, 5 log reduction in yeasts & moulds and 85% inactivation of enzyme polyphenol oxidase.

“This could minimize the juice fermentation and brown to a greater extent during storage. The combined technology treated juice could be successfully stored up to 12 weeks under refrigeration without any appreciable change in its bioactive and essential nutrients. The treated juice well retained its sensory characteristics especially the colour and flavour during storage,” confirmed Chirasmita.

Her PhD work which is being supervised by Professor H N Mishra of the Agricultural & Food Engineering Department and co-supervised Professor Sirshendu De of the Chemical Engineering Department has been selected for the NRDC National Meritorious Invention Awards 2020 by the National Research Development Corporation, Government of India, New Delhi recently.

For more information please contact Prof. H N Mishra at hnm@agfe.iitkgp.ac.in

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Honorary Awards for Exemplary Contributions to IIT and Society

With the onset of 2021, IIT Kharagpur is all set to welcome luminaries with exemplary contributions to the Institute and society as it announces the prestigious DSc Honoris Causa and Life Fellow awards.

The Institute will felicitate Shri Vinod Gupta, distinguished alumnus and philanthropist, US-based entrepreneur and former ambassador, Swami Atmapriyananda Maharaj, monk of the Ramakrishna Order and Former Vice-Chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and Dr. Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, former Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) popularly known as the “Metro Man” with Honoris Causa in acknowledgement of their contribution to public welfare, social upliftment and India’s overall development.

IIT Kharagpur recommends this award to honour luminaries who have excelled in areas of relevance to the Institute’s vision in categories related to the major stakeholders of the Institute viz. Academics and Research, Industry, Alumni and Public Welfare Services. The award is approved by the Hon’ble President of India and Visitor to the IITs.

The Institute will also confer its coveted Life Fellow award on Shri Ranbir Singh Gupta, renowned architect, distinguished alumnus, US-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, and Prof. Mahan Mj (Swami Vidyanathananda), monk of the Ramakrishna Order and eminent mathematician and Professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai in acknowledgement of their contribution to academics, social service and public welfare.

IIT Kharagpur recommends this award to honour luminaries from diverse fields of academics, industry, governance, art and culture, spirituality, social service, sports, defence etc. who through their expertise contribute or likely to contribute for the benefit of students and faculty of IIT Kharagpur and support the mission statement of IIT Kharagpur – dedicated to the service of the nation.

Both the awards will be presented on the occasion of the 66th Convocation of the Institute to be held later this month.

Congratulating the awardees Director, Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari said, “We are glad to confer these awards and hope to felicitate these luminaries in person on the occasion of the 66th Convocation of the Institute, to be held later this month, which will be live telecasted globally. They resonate with the mission statement of IIT Kharagpur, dedicated to the service of the nation, aimed to achieve a greater good for the country. Each of them is the personification of our motto YogaH Karmasu Kaushalam, which you can observe in their imprint as professionals and human self.”

Brief Bio of Honoris Causa Awardees:

Vinod Gupta – Vinod Gupta is the Managing Partner, Everest Venture Group. An entrepreneurial career spanning over 50 years, Vinod has served as an ambassador of USA. He is a philanthropist supporting causes related to education, health and welfare. Despite a modest background from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, not only he reached the pinnacle of success but gave the IIT education a new direction defining the path of success for others. He is the pioneer of management and law education in the IIT system. Read Full Bio

Swami Atmapriyananda – Swami Atmapriyananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and an Indian university administrator. He was the first Vice-Chancellor of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (erstwhile Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University). He has been in service to humanity in the spirit of worship of God in man and has been serving higher education institutions for nearly four decades. Read Full Bio

Dr. Randeep Guleria – Dr. Randeep Guleria is an Indian pulmonologist and the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He is regarded as one of India’s leading medical expert and is credited with the establishment of India’s first centre for pulmonary medicines and sleep disorders at AIIMS. He is the director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He is also part of India’s COVID-19 response effort. Read Full Bio

Dr. E. Sreedharan – Elattuvalapil Sreedharan is an Indian civil engineer and a retired IRSE officer popularly known as the “Metro Man”. He is credited for changing the face of public transport in India with his leadership in building the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro while he served as the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation DMRC between 1995 and 2012. Read Full Bio

Life Fellow

Ranbir Singh Gupta – Ranbir (Ron) Gupta has been President of Gupta Associates Inc., and Chairman of SIGMA7 design group, architectural, planning and infrastructure consulting firms. He has over 40 years of successful experience in the management, design and construction of facilities for various global financial services, mission-critical, high-technology, and institutional projects. He is also very passionate about public service. He has served on numerous regional and state-wide boards, national professional societies, and Indian Institutes of Technology alumni associations. Read Full Bio

Swami Vidyanathananda / Mahan Mj – Prof. Mahan Mj also known as Mahan Maharaj and Swami Vidyanathananda, is an Indian mathematician and monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He is currently a Professor of Mathematics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. He is best known for his work in hyperbolic geometry, geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology and complex geometry. Read Full Bio

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Higher Risk in Concentrated Business Control – VGSOM Researchers

Award-Winning Research from IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management Indicate Higher Risks with Family-controlled Firms

In an award-winning research study conducted by faculty and alumni at IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management, the researchers have found that family and family control ownership is negatively related to firms’ profitability due to lags in management.

The study is based on decadal data from 2007 to 2017 of 421 listed firms in emerging markets which have at least 5%-20% of the equity capital is owned by a family group including concert promoters. The results show that family-owned firms dominant with concentrated ownership pay lower dividends leading to lower valuation and higher idiosyncratic risk.

“While the firms undertake significant trading in the stock market, high-risk tendencies and lower dividend payouts are the outcomes of ineffectiveness in managerial decision-making and policies. Our study points to the concentration of ownership as the primary reason rather than to the information asymmetry,” explained Prof. Arun Kumar Misra.

The researchers used three measures of firm profitability, namely, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and earnings per share (EPS).

“The results on the relationship of firm profitability with ownership structure (family and non-family firms) are consistent across all three measures in the context of the list of Indian firms in our sample,” said Prof. Abhijeet Chandra.

“Our findings are in line with the uncertainty and signaling theory, suggesting that (a) dividend is preferred over uncertain capital gains by investors, and (b) higher dividends signal superior health (lower risk) of a firm. The payment of low dividends negatively influences the firm-specific risk,” he further added.

The study has been named for the ‘Emerald Literati Award 2020 for Highly Commended Paper’. The paper titled ‘Impact of ownership structure and dividend on firm performance and firm risk’, has been published in the international journal of Managerial Finance by Emerald Publishing Ltd. UK. The authors included Dr. Abhinav Kumar Rajverma, Former PhD Scholar, VGSoM (2015-2018), currently Faculty (IRMA, Anand, Guj.), Dr. Arun Kumar Misra, Associate Professor, VGSoM, Dr. Sabyasachi Mohapatra, Former PhD Scholar, VGSoM (2011-2015), currently Faculty (IIM Bodh Gaya) and Dr. Abhijeet Chandra, Assistant Professor, VGSoM. The editorial team said that it is one of the most exceptional pieces of work they saw throughout 2019.

Citation: Rajverma, A.K., Misra, A.K., Mohapatra, S. and Chandra, A. (2019), “Impact of ownership structure and dividend on firm performance and firm risk”, Managerial Finance, Vol. 45 No. 8, pp. 1041-1061. https://doi.org/10.1108/MF-09-2018-0443

Moment of Pride

It is a moment of pride for IIT Kharagpur with two back-to-back honours for the Institute’s faculty member and alumnus.

Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor at the Dept. of Geology and Geophysics and the School of Environmental Science and Engineering has been selected for the prestigious award ‘Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize’ for the year 2020 in Earth Atmosphere Ocean and Planetary Sciences.

It is a rare distinction conferred upon scientists who have demonstrated exceptional potential in science and technology. The award will be presented in the presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, who holds the chair of the President of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research.

Dr. Mukherjee’s work in the area of groundwater exploration for suitable and sustainable drinking water sources has been widely acknowledged, nationally and internationally. Recently his research group developed an AI prediction model for detecting Arsenic in groundwater in the Gangetic delta. The work finds mention in communications by the Jal Jeevan Mission. His research areas include

Arsenic and other contaminants fate and transport: global-scale to laboratory-scale; Interaction of groundwater with sea and river water; Groundwater recharge and estimation; Groundwater evolution (flow and chemistry) of large sedimentary basins; Groundwater exploration, management and remediation; Urban Geoscience. Faculty Profile

Adding to the celebrations is the star alumnus of IIT Kharagpur Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet. This ’93 batch Silver Medalist (Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering) has been named among the 100 most influential people of 2020 by the Time magazine.

He used his natural gifts and strong work ethic to rise through the ranks of Google (now Alphabet) by leading many of their most successful products, such as Drive, Gmail and Maps, cites Time magazine. Citation

James Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase writes about Pichai, “The challenges Sundar faces in his role are among the most important of our time—issues of innovation, privacy, regulation and competition. But his analytical, humble and inclusive leadership will position Google to meet the moment. These are traits the world could use a lot more of in these times.”

Full Story: https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888419/sundar-pichai/

INAE Honours

The Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) has honoured four faculty members from IIT Kharagpur for their contributions in various fields of Engineering.

Prof. M M Ghangrekar, Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Prof. Sudip Mishra, Professor, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering and Prof. Soumitra Paul, Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering have been elected as Fellows of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), by the Governing Council at its recent meeting. Further, Dr Pawan Goyal, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has been selected for the INAE Young Engineer Award 2020.

Prof. M M Ghangrekar

Prof. Ghangrekar who is heading the School of Environmental Science & Engineering and Head, P.K. Sinha Centre for Bioenergy and Renewables, is a stalwart in the areas of Water & Wastewater Treatment and Recycling, Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment, Bioelectrochemical processes, MFC, MDC, and Waste to Energy. His wastewater treatment plant is all set to start test operations and convert sewage water generated in the campus into reusable water typically for washing, cleaning, gardening, toilet use etc and even for potable use. Further, he has developed a bio-toilet which can run recycle wastewater and also convert waste into energy.

Prof. Sudip Misra

Swan is a regal creature but at IIT Kharagpur’s Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, it has found a new meaning – Smart Wireless Applications & Networking. SWAN is a group of researchers working with the research mentorship of Prof. Sudip Misra. The SWAN group focuses on research in smart systems enabling network technologies, especially, Ad-Hoc Networks, Sensor Networks, WiFi, WiMAX, Smart Grid Communications, Nano-communication Networks, Internet of Things, Software Defined Networks, and Big Data Networking. Some key products developed by Prof. Mishra and his research group include AgriSens: Sensor-Based Networking System for Improved Water Management of Irrigated Crops, AmbuSens: Ubiquitous Healthcare Monitoring for the Connected Era, Generic Wireless Sensor Network Kit v1.0, Physiological Wireless Sensor Network Kit, Agricultural Wireless Sensor Network Kit, Unmanned Aerial Platforms for Agriculture, Big-Sensor-Cloud Platform, Smartphone Apps for Physical Activity Sensing over Wireless Networks and many more. [Faculty Profile, Contact]

Prof. Soumitra Paul

Prof. Paul’s research interests are in the broad area of machining, grinding and cutting tool coating. He currently leads a group of students who are working on research problems as diverse as (i) finishability of oxide ceramic plasma sprayed coatings, (ii) development of diamond reinforced tribological thick coating and finishability of such coatings, (iii) high speed grinding of ceramics and carbon fibre reinforced ceramic matrix composites, (iv) environment friendly near dry micro-machining, (v) high speed grinding of aerospace metallic materials, etc. [Faculty Profile, Contact]

Prof. Pawan Goyal

In our information age, Prof. Goyal is dedicated to mining them from all across digital media. Some of the research problems include extracting and summarizing diverse opinions from online news and user-generated content, summarizing tweets in a disaster scenario for situational updates, and developing effective dialogue models. He is also actively working in the field of Sanskrit Computational Linguistics, where the focus is on developing a generic framework for solving a variety of NLP tasks such as word segmentation, morph analysis, dependency parsing, poetry to prose conversion, with a little task-specific annotated data. [Faculty Profile, Contact]

About INAE:

The Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), founded in 1987 comprises India’s most distinguished engineers, engineer-scientists and technologists covering the entire spectrum of engineering disciplines. INAE functions as an apex body and promotes the practice of engineering & technology and the related sciences for their application to solving problems of national importance. The Academy also provides a forum for futuristic planning for the country’s development requiring engineering and technological inputs and brings together specialists from such fields as may be necessary for comprehensive solutions to the needs of the country. INAE honours Indian and Foreign nationals who are elected by “peer” committees in recognition of their personal achievements in engineering which are of exceptional merit and distinctive eminence in new and developing fields of technology.

IIT KGP to e-Felicitate Young Alumni on 70th Foundation Day

IIT Kharagpur announced the Young Alumni Achiever Award 2020. The Institute recognizes its young alumni age 45 or younger who have excelled in life through their outstanding early-career contribution by conferring on them the Young Alumni Achiever Award (YAAA). The awards will be e-conferred on 18th August 2020, the auspicious 70th Foundation Day of the Institute. Congratulations to all the young awardees on joining the hallowed club of YAAAs. The Institute started conferring the YAA awards from 2018.

Like last year this year as well 19 alumni got this award.

The awardees include:

DR ANUPAM DATTA [2000/B Tech/CS/PH], Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
DR VEERABHADRAN BALADANDAYUTHAPANI [1998/B Sc/MA/LLR], Professor of Biostatistics; Director of Cancer Data Science, University of Michigan
DR SUMIT GOSWAMI [2009/MTech/CS/GH] [2017/PhD/CS/BCR], Associate Director DRDO HQ, New Delhi
MR AMIT JAIN [2003/B Tech/ME/PH], Senior Managing Director (Partner), Private Equity, The Blackstone Group, Mumbai
MS PARUL KULSHRESHTHA [2005/B Arch/AR/SN], Head- Business Development GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo
MR MOHAMMAD ATHAR [2009/MBA/BM/MMM], Partner, Economic Development & Infrastructure, PwC, Gurgaon
SUVRAT BAFNA [2009/DD/AG/AZ], Food Safety & Quality Assurance Officer, Food Safety & Quality Unit, WFP HQ, Rome, Italy
ANITA VENKITESWARAN [2006/B Tech/BT/SN/IG], Principal, Roivant Sciences, New York
SARSWATI R [2006/MBM/BM/SAM], Superintendent Of Police, SP (Anti Narcotics) Agartala, Tripura
ASHISH TIWARI [2007/DD/CS/RP], Senior Superintendent of Police, Ayodhya
MR MADHU YALAMARTHI [2012/B Tech/AE/MS], Lead for India Investments – GGV Capital, California
ASHISH MEHTA [2002/B Tech/EE/RP], Director, Genese Incubation Services Pvt Ltd. Mumbai
MS SIVAREENA LAKSHMI SARIKA [2015/DD/ME/SN], Co-Founder at PregBuddy (Google Launchpad), Bengaluru
MR RUTVIK DOSHI [1999/B Tech/IM/RK], Managing Director, Inventus India Bengaluru
MR ABHIMANYU ABROL [2015/BArch/AR/NH], Founder Director, Naya Living Architecture, Consultant Architect, PRC Group UK and Studio DRA London, Founder Director, Aravindam Foundation India
MR SOURABH BANSAL [2007/DD/IM/RK], Managing Director & Co-founder, Magicrete Building Solutions Pvt Ltd, Surat
ANSHUMAN K SINGH [1999/B Tech/EC/RK], Founder & President, ReTiSense Inc Bengaluru
MR RAJAT KUMAR BHUYAN [2003/MTech/CR/LLR], Scientist, Indian Space Research Organization & Deputy Project Director, Cryogenic Propulsion System, GSLV Project, Kerala
MR BISWA KALYAN RATH [2011/B Tech/BT/PH], Stand-up Comedian/Writer, Mumbai

GYTI Award for IIT Kharagpur’s Clean Energy Research

Graphics: Suman Sutradhar

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Researchers from IIT Kharagpur have been conferred the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Awards 2020 have been awarded for their work in the area of energy efficiency. Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Prof. Partha Saha and Dr. Aditya Bandopadhyay, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, have been awarded for their work “Electrical Power Generation from Wet Textile”. While Prof. Sunando Dasgupta and his team from the Department of Chemical Engineering, have been awarded for their work “Smart, Flexible, and Multi-Functional Thermal and Energy Management Systems for Next-Generation Electronic Devices.”

Congratulating the researchers, Director, Prof. Virendra Tewari said, “We still have sectors which need sourcing and efficient management of clean energy to meet our augmented power requirements be they in the remote areas or our automated way of life in the near future. It is essential that our researchers venture into avenues of generating clean energy in an unexampled way of sourcing and channelizing energy. The research works awarded have etched their mark in both frugal innovation and those expanding the technological edge in the area of energy management with direct community impact.”

The novelty of the first innovation, the nano-electricity generator, is in its frugal means instead of energy harvesting from complex resources. The device has been tested in a remote village across a surface area of 3000 sq. m. Around 50 cloth items were put up for drying by washermen in the village. These clothes were connected to a commercial supercapacitor which discharged electricity of around 10 Volt in almost 24 hours. This stored energy is enough to glow a white LED for more than 1 hour.

“The clothes we wear are made from cellulose-based textile which has a network of nano-channels. Ions in saline water can move through this interlace fibrous nano-scale network by capillary action inducing an electric potential in the process,” explained the researchers.

The economy of scale can be achieved by drying a set of regular wearable garments under the sun-light. This eventually culminates into a utilitarian paradigm of low-cost power harvesting in extreme rural settings. This innovation has already been patented by them and published in “Nano Letters”, a high-impact journal in the field.

The group led by Prof. Sunando Dasgupta has been working with Purdue University, USA to address the problem of energy conservation and thermal management in wearable and flexible electronic devices. They are achieving this by leveraging the unique properties of smart materials infused with graphene.

“The material harvests the biomechanical energy of the user while storing the same and converting it into thermal energy towards the power management of the devices. The initial prototypes have shown significant promise and are undergoing intense long-term testing,” said Prof. Dasgupta.

The team is working towards consolidated thermal and energy management strategies for several existing systems, as well as electronic devices of the future, confirmed the researchers.

Contacts:

Institute Related: Prof. B N Singh, registrar@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in;

Media Outreach: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in

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Republic Day Honours

Two alumni and a faculty member from IIT Kharagpur have been conferred top awards by the NRI Welfare Society of India.

Sundeep Mukherjee (B.Tech./MM/1998)

Alumnus Dr. Sundeep Mukherjee has been named the recipient of the Hind Rattan Award, one of the highest Indian diasporic awards granted to non-resident Indians by the NRI Welfare Society of India. He belongs to the 1998 batch and did B.Tech. degree in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering. At present he is an Associate Professor at the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas (UNT).

Mukherjee’s area of work involves Advanced Materials Development, Energy Conversion and Storage, Corrosion and Electrochemistry, Thin Films and Semiconductor Devices Nano-Materials, Bio-Materials, Metallic Glasses. He has over 50 journal and conference publications and delivered several keynote and invited talks.

As per a UNT report, Mukherjee has been collaborating with Indian academia to create Indo-U.S. Joint Center for Development of Durable Advanced Materials for Bioimplants.

The Award was announced on the eve of Republic Day, January 25, 2020 at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations.

Ajit Behera (Ph.D/MM/2016)

The day witnessed another alumnus, Dr. Ajit Behera receiving the Yuva Rattan Award at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Dr. Behera received PhD from IIT Kharagpur in 2016. His specialisation in the Dept. of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering dealt with Multi-layered NiTi thin film Shape Memory Alloy.

Behera is currently an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at NIT Rourkela. He is associated with the Process Metallurgy Group and Surface Engineering Group at the Institute and works in the areas Ni-Ti Smart materials, 4D Additive Manufacturing, Plasma Surface Engineering, Processing of smart materials and superalloys, Characterisation of Materials, Utilisation of Industrial Waste. He has over 30 research publications and is currently working on various industry projects.

Dr Anway Mukhopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences

Back home, Dr. Anway Mukhopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences has been conferred the Yuva Rattan Award for his contribution in the field of education. Dr. Mukhopadhyay is an expert in areas involving Indic Studies, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature, Translation, Folklore Studies etc.

The Yuva Rattan Award honours youth for their service towards the Nation and celebrates the spirit National Youth Day (January 12), the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.