Computer Science – The KGP Chronicle

IIT Kharagpur calls for 100 Patents in 100 days

Aligning with India’s Semiconductor Mission and with an aim to strengthen the semiconductor facilities in India and to celebrate India’s Techade Vision and Viksit Bharat @2047, IIT Kharagpur conducted an In-house programme on the India’s Semiconductor Mission in the Netaji Auditorium of the institute that involved 650 participants including students, faculty members, and staff members.

Lighting of the Lamp

The programme began with the lighting of the lamp by Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur in the presence of Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director; Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean, R&D; Prof. Krishna Kumar, Dean, FoS; Prof. T K Bhattacharya, HoD, E&ECE; Prof. A K Singh, President, TSG; Captain Amit Jain (Retd.), Registrar of IIT Kharagpur.

Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean R&D addresses the gathering

A brief introduction of the India’s Semi-conductor Mission was addressed by Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean R&D, IIT Kharagpur that gave a vivid idea about how semi-conductors are evolving to be the basic ingredient for all our operating and manufacturing devices. Prof. Banerjee highlighted the need of a streamlined applications of ISM that is necessary for Quantum Computing and Quantum Mission. She added that IIT Kharagpur has to take the lead role in ISM and has the adequate resources to support this mission with IP protection and infrastructure development. She also encouraged the war cry for “100 Patents in 100 Days and further towards 100 Patents in 100 Hours.”

Students, Faculty and Staff Members gathered in the Netaji Auditorium

A special drive of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy Cell of IIT Kharagpur, has successfully filed an increase in about 2.5 folds enhanced patent filing in the year 2023 compared to previous year 2022. Similarly, a 4-fold increase in the number of granted patents has been achieved by the Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy Cell with the Special initiative taken. A record number of 106 patents have been filed and 71 got granted in 2023 which is more than 4 times compared to 2022. The patents are from different fields viz Aerospace, Agricultural and Food Processing, Chemical, Electrical, Civil, Computer Science, AI and IoT, Cryogenics, Robotics, Rubber Technology, 6G & beyond telecommunication, Energy Science, Industrial and Systems, Metallurgical and Materials, Mining, Nanoscience and Technology, Medical Science and Technology.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur addressing the gathering

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “I congratulate all the faculty members, scholars and students for their initiatives and innovations with special thanks to the Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy Cell. ‘100 days 100 patents’ drive has a special promotional effect on the entire patent prosecution process. We have also taken special initiative for International patent filings. IIT Kharagpur have produced the national as well as global leaders that dominate the AI and Semi-conductor industry today and the institute has already engaged 10,000 students for AI in Cyber Physical Systems aiming to incubate 20,000 students in the next cohort. The institute is working towards infrastructure development for Assembling and Testing Facility to create the ecosystem to implement ISM successfully and critical mass education at the B.Tech, M.Tech & PhD level along with 35,000 specialized technicians along with global university collaborations for industry-academia participation.”

Live Telecast of Prime Minister’s Address

India’s Semiconductor Mission has been setup by the Government of India to create an end-to-end semiconductor ecosystem to enable the nation to become a significant player in the global semiconductor industry. Therefore, to celebrate India’s Techade Vision, India’s Semi-Conductor Mission and how Viksit Bharat @2047 can be achieved through research and innovation, IIT Kharagpur conducted an In-house programme in the Netaji Auditorium of the institute that involved the participation of the students, faculty members, and staff members. The institute also conducted a Panel Discussion on the Scope & Opportunities of IIT Kharagpur in Indian Semiconductor Mission with the senior faculties of the institute.

Prof. T K Bhattacharya, HoD, Electronics & Electrical Communication Engineering giving his presentation on ISM

Prof. T K Bhattacharya, HoD, Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering gave a presentation on India Semiconductor Research Centre (ISRC) Vision to drive an innovation roadmap in advanced semiconductor and packaging technologies, coordinate university research and accelerate manufacturing capability across India and the world that includes Academic Research & Development; Industry Research & Development; Volume Manufacturing; India University Innovation Pipeline and Research Collaboration. He amplified the need for foundational research pillars for ISRC that comprises of Advanced Logic; Packaging R&D; Compound/Power Semiconductor and Chop Design & EDA and gave a detailed ideation on mapping R&D Investments. He also emphasized on the need for Academic R&D; Educated Workforce; ISRC Structure and Governance; ISRC indigenously developed agenda for global impact etc.

Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering giving a presentation on ISM Packaging

His presentation was followed by Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur who presented the need for Design Semiconductor Packaging and Systems (DSPS). He defined Electronic and Integrated System Packaging that are essential commodities required for ISM.

Panel Discussion on Scope & Opportunities of IIT Kharagpur in Indian Semiconductor Mission

After the address of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, a panel discussion was organized on the topic, “Scope & Opportunities of IIT Kharagpur in the Indian Semiconductor Mission,“ with Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director; Prof. T K Bhattacharya, HoD, E&ECE; Prof. D K Goswami, Physics; Prof. S. Basu Majumdar, HOC, (MSC); Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, ME; Prof. Mrinal Kanti Mandal, E&ECE; Prof. Samit K Ray, Physics; Prof. S S Das, GSSST and Prof. S K Varshney, E&ECE. The entire programme was hosted by Dr. Rajeev Rawat, Hindi Officer, IIT Kharagpur. The programme concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Captain Amit Jain (Retd.), Registrar, IIT Kharagpur.

Media Coverage:

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Amader Bharat	The Bengal Post
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Career 360

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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 developed ‘Matri Seva’ Software for Ramakrishna Mission Home of Services

IIT Kharagpur has developed ‘Matri Seva’ – a database software, free of cost that works on patient’s particulars and database for Vivek Sanjivani, an initiative for Healthcare and Education of Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service, Luxa, Varanasi. The software has been hosted in the Microsoft Cloud-based server to provide easy access to all the centres. It is used for primary healthcare, mental healthcare, follow-up visits, management of chronic-disease conditions, medications management, health education and other clinical services.

Vivek Sanjivani Telemedicine Service is a real-time telemedicine solution which offers a virtual alternative to the in-person doctor’s visit. It expands access to quality patient care, especially to regions with underserved populations. It provides a way to cut down on healthcare spending and keep connected patients throughout the year. iMediX, the telemedicine system that was launched by the Computer and Science Department of IIT Kharagpur on 02 October, 2020 provided emergency healthcare services for the IIT KGP students, campus residents and employees which was further expanded to MSMEs for commercialization. Its open-source version is named iMediXcare. The telemedicine system iMedix offers special telemedicine services through Vivek Sanjivani includes psychiatrist, ENT, Medicine, Oncologist and Community Medicine at the door step of the rural people.

Speaking on Matri Seva, Prof. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, the Lead Researcher of the open source telemedicine software iMediXcare, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “Matri Seva is an extension of services of the existing Telemedicine system iMedixcare dedicated to the service of the community that Vivek Sanjivani initiated for the underprivileged. We are still living in the pandemic which showed us where we stand as a nation when it comes to a proper Healthcare System. iMedix has served the IIT Kharagpur community providing emergency consultancy services through remote consultation by physicians. I am hopeful that this technology will be further incorporated and adopted in other community health services as well.”

Vivek Sanjivani, an initiative for Healthcare and Education of Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service, Luxa, Varanasi offers Telemedicine services through Twelve Centres in which six Stationary Telemedicine Units (STUs) are fixed at a place and six Mobile Telemedicine Units (MTUs) are roaming. It provides Mother-Child, Primary Healthcare, Adolescence Healthcare, Community Mental Healthcare, Eye Check-up, General Movement Assessment in neonates and infants and distribution of Nutritional Food Supplements in three districts including one aspirational district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and one aspirational district of Uttarakhand. During 2022-23, Vivek Sanjivani served 27,875 patients through Stationary Telemedicine Units and Mobile Telemedicine Units and conducted Non-Communicable Disease Screening for 18,878 patients. The telemedicine programs of Vivek Sanjivani are backed with a 195 bedded referral hospital of the Ashrama in Varanasi.

According to Swami Divyasukhananda, Coordinator, Vivek Sanjivani, this Telemedicine Service directly provides improved access, cost efficiency and quality healthcare services to patients from marginalised group within the reach of their homes in three Districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh including one Aspirational District and One Aspirational district of Uttarakhand. Mobile Telemedicine Units of Vivek Sanjivani offer flexible and viable options to offer healthcare facilities to the vulnerable groups in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh.

Media Coverage :

Times of India	UNI	Deccan Herald	Indian Express
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Times of India Colfield Mirror

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 ranked 1st in Agriculture & Civil Engineering in India in the 13th QS World University Ranking by Subject 2023

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT KGP) ranked 1^st in Agriculture Forestry and Civil & Structural Engineering in India, according to the latest edition of the world’s highest QS World University Ranking by Subject for the year 2023. The Institution’s strongest field Engineering & Technology ranked at 82^nd with an overall score of 76.7 among all the universities globally and 4^th in India, as per the 13^th QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2023 announced on 23^rd March 2023.

In India, IIT KGP ranked 1^st in Agriculture & Forestry along with Civil & Structural Engineering. Domestically, the Institute overall ranked 2^nd in Architecture & Built Environment, Material Science, Environmental Sciences, Accounting & Finance, Economics & Ergonomics. Core areas of the premier institute including Computer Science & Information Systems, Mineral & Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical & Electronics, Earth & Marine Science and Statistical & Operational Research held 3^rd position in all over India.

Globally, the institute ranked 74^th in 2023 compared to 80^th rank in 2022 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering; 94^th in 2023 compared to 109^th in 2022 in Computer Science & Information Systems & 106^thrank in 2023, improving its rank from 118^th in 2022 in Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering.

Speaking on the QS Rankings by Subject 2023, Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “IIT Kharagpur stands out from other IITs with its multi-modal curriculum nurturing creativity, capacity building, affordable healthcare and rapid technological amalgamation. As an Institute of Eminence, we have to acquire the opportunity in digital economy space fostering skill development and encouraging entrepreneurship. The Institute is gearing up to establish bridges with ISRO and futuristic technologies with DRDO in unmanned & robotic technologies, cognitive technologies and secure systems, directed energy technologies, sensor systems and software, life support engineering and baseline technologies in materials. We are also planning to steer ahead in areas like precision agriculture, energy storage systems, hardware security, hydrogen storage, quantum communication, additive manufacturing, 3D printing & composite manufacturing.”

The institute also ranked #1 in Architecture & Regional Planning (ARP) in Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF) 2022.

Media Coverage:

Times of India	Telegraph	Economic Times
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Bartaman (Hindi) Dainik Jagran Anandabazar Patrika

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

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The Unforgettable Soul – Markose Thomas Memorial Award

‘Be in love with your life. Every minute of it’ – Markose Thomas

The loss of a life is always mournful. The pain of losing someone is a shared emotion that we as humans endure with the silent grief of remembrance. No one can heal the heart that lost its purpose of existence, the least we can do is have empathy towards the departed soul. The physical presence may have perished but the aura of their beautiful soul shall remain forever. When we recollect to remember their attributes, we think of the ways they have contributed in our respective lives, the way they were with us be it the first encounter or the last goodbye. We say goodbye to people everyday with the hope to meet them tomorrow but with unsaid goodbyes, we actually feel to miss their everyday presence to remember them again. In remembrance of the Unforgettable Soul of Mr. Markose Thomas, Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Mr. Mathew Thomas (brother of Late Markose Thomas) along with Dr. Daibashish Gangopadhay (Markose’s friend) wanted to keep his memory and legacy alive by instituting the Markose Thomas Memorial Award for the best Research Paper from the Department of Computer Science & Engineering of IIT Kharagpur, in the honor of Late Markose Thomas.

In an unfortunate incident that took place on 6^th July 2018, Mr. Markose Thomas left for the heavenly abode. Mr. Markose Thomas along with his friends went on a camping trip where he died after tragically drowning in a lake. His shocking and sudden death left his family and friends in a great distress.

MARKOSE THOMAS (23^rd August, 1983 – 6^th July, 2018)

Mr. Markose Thomas, is one of the illustrious alumnus of IIT Kharagpur who was born to Thomas Markose and Sara Thomas in Thiruvalla, Kerala. He was brought up in Bangalore & Kanpur. Mr. Thomas completed his B.Tech and M.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering in 2006 from IIT Kharagpur. A remarkable student of his batch, he took part in numerous well-known coding competitions like ACM and many more. He began his career as a Software Engineer at Google and worked there for 7 years. He was also one of the essential part of the team that started Coheisty in San Francisco. Apart from his work, Markose was really passionate about his interests and made sure he participated in all of them enthusiastically. He kept it real and was grounded. He was a great admirer of the quote “Be in love with your life. Every minute of it.” May the God almighty give enough strength to his family to bear this irreplaceable loss. We pray for eternal peace of his departed soul. He will always be remembered in our thoughts, prayers and action.

The Markose Thomas Memorial Award 2021-22 for the best paper in Computer Science and Engineering was awarded to researchers, Prof. Rajat Subhra Chakraborty, Computer Science & Engineering and Mr. Aniket Roy, M.Tech Student of Computer Science & Engineering of IIT Kharagpur for their paper titled, “ Towards Optimal Prediction Error Expansion based reversible image watermarking,” IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol. 30(8): 2377-2390 (2020).

Mr. Aniket Roy
M.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Mr. Aniket Roy and Prof. Rajat Subhra Chakraborty were elated to receive the award and expressed their gratitude for the same. Mr. Aniket remarked, M. Tech in Computer Science & Engineering remarked, ” Happy & Honoured. It was a privilege to be under the tutelage of Prof. Chakraborty and learn computer vision from Prof. Mukhopadhayay. Thank you will never be enough, I am happy I am sharing the award with you Sir..! A lot of dedication, hard work and determination was required to celebrate this award. I’m grateful to the Institution and the Donor for coming up with this award and encouraging the students for their efforts.”

Prof. Rajat Subhra Chakraborty
Computer Science & Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

While Prof. Rajat Subhra Chakraborty, Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Kharagpur added,” Thank you for the intimation. I am extremely happy & grateful to receive this recognition.”

Inputs by: Ms. Namrata Sharma, Office of Outreach & Alumni Affairs, IIT Kharagpur
Email: namrata.iit02@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

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IIT Kharagpur ranked 5th in India in QS Asia University Rankings 2023

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT KGP) ranked 5^th in India as per the QS Asia University Rankings 2023. The premier institute overall ranked 61^st in Southern Asia among its other peers. IIT Kharagpur is the national leader and Asia’s third-highest among the Universities with the indicator of maximum staff having PhD and featured among the top 8% in the QS Asia University Ranking 2023 with a total of 760 institutions.

The institute has also been named as one of the world’s top 100 universities for the study of 19 subjects, according to the world’s highest QS University Rankings. IIT KGP ranked 37^th in 2022 compared to 44^th in 2021 in Mineral & Mining Engineering & 80^thrank in 2022, improving its rank from 90^th in 2021 in Electrical & Electronic Engineering. In Engineering & Technology, it ranked 101^st in the world and 3rd in India, as per the 12th QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2022. The Institute of Eminence featured in the top three in India for Agriculture & Forestry (1^st rank), Statistics & Operational Research (1^st rank), Mineral & Mining Engineering (2^nd rank), Environmental Sciences (2^nd rank), Economics & Econometrics (2^nd rank), Engineering & Technology (3^rd rank), Computer Science & Information Systems (3^rd rank), Chemical Engineering (3^rd rank) and Accounting & Finance (3^rd rank). Overall, the institute leaped up to 10 places to secure 270^th rank in the QS World University Ranking 2023 and improved its 2022 performance by 10 places and seen significant rise in academic and employer reputation. The Citations per Faculty has also seen a variable rise being the strongest indicator for the institute and fared among the top 19% in the QS World University Rankings.

Speaking on the QS Asia Rankings 2023, Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “We are glad to see the consistent rise in our global ranking over the last decade. Being fundamentally a technology oriented institution we have the scope to make a major impact to the economy of the country. We are soon going to add medical education to our repertoire which would put us head-to-head with the world leaders like MIT & Stanford.”

Branching out to the avenues of Medical Engineering and Bio-medical Studies with an amalgamation of technological advancements and nano technology, importance is given to medical education including biomedical sensing research, an interdisciplinary R&D work at School of Medical Science and Technology (SMST), at IIT Kharagpur has been initiated to promote MEMS and Biosensor activity that encompasses design, fabrication and engineering of biomedical & microfluidic devices for its electro-physiological characterization. For the evaluation of electrical and physical properties of biomolecules and cells using suitable micro-fluidic devices, appropriate fabrication of polymeric coated bio-MEMS are being investigated and its utility are evaluated under different microscopic and electrical impedance study. The School has collaborated with some of the best medical research institutes and medical industries from all over the world and introduced an interdisciplinary 3 years Masters Program in Medical Science and Technology (MMST) – the first of its kind in the country. The school also offers a 4 semester M.Tech program in Medical Imaging & Informatics along with PhD programs. Prestigious awards and fellowships like Nehru-Fulbright, Khorana, DAAD scholarships etc. were bestowed on several students.

The institute is also gearing up to expand its horizons in the field of medical science in the form Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Institute of Medical Science and Research Forum & by establishing a medical college the B. C Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre which is a major boost for setting the dawn of a new era in the IIT system in Medical Education & Research for community welfare. IIT Kharagpur is the first IIT in India to have expanded its horizon to providing medical education in both MBBS and Post-graduate programs and healthcare services. The new Super Speciality Hospital in the name of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee has started its OPD with initial 14-visiting specialists. Many of the Alumni of IIT KGP have also donated beds for the hospital.

Speaking on the QS Rankings by Subject 2022, Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “IIT Kharagpur stands out from other IITs with its multi-disciplinary mandate to transform its education curriculum to a knowledge economy along with the focus on skill development and entrepreneurship.”

Along with modern sciences, the genesis of traditional knowledge systems known as the Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge Systems (CoEIKS) entail in a knowledge transfer of indigenous knowledge systems offering a value proposition which can be naturally assimilated, making learning more engaging and delightful. The Indian Knowledge System that transfuses the relevance of traditional knowledge systems & ancient wisdom in contemporary times and their role to synergise modern scientific knowledge with Indian art, architecture, sociology, culture, language etc. has created a resource of connecting our basic knowledge with our existence. It has opened ways. The young talents of the post-pandemic world would be more in need of interdisciplinary and more integrated learning programs. Education in mother tongue follows the same line of thoughts to make learning more accessible by enabling students to grasp the knowledge in the same language as they speak. The diversity of the institute with Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge Systems, the Centre of Excellence for Classical and Folk Arts, Leadership, Science of Happiness, Law, Management, Safety Analytics etc. will generate multidisciplinary mandate implementation.

Being the oldest IIT in the country, the activities of IIT Kharagpur is aligned to serve national interest and seeks to provide broad-based education, helping students hone their professional skills and acquire the best-in-class capabilities in their respective disciplines, infusing a spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation and socialism among students. The institute has unique innovations like Deekshak e-classroom software, Ultra High Corrosion Resistant Stainless Steel for Indian Space, Painless Needle, Cell patterning, 2G Ethanol, AI based low-cost meteorological inspection system, Robotic systems to detect and treat plant disease, novel technique to trace ancient seasons and climate change etc. which thrust ahead the Institute among its global peers.

Associations with GIAN, SPARC, DST, C-DAC has been a complimentary asset to project IIT Kharagpur’s growth trajectory on a front foot with the nation where people are aware about its initiatives towards excellence in innovations, technological developments, research, community service, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, social impact, nation building, social welfare, and professional accomplishments. Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Paramshakti Supercomputing Mission for Param-Vidya, Safety in Engineering & Analytics along with Quality, Reliability, Availability, Maintainability & Safety (QRAMS) stands out with its inclusive efforts to become a global benchmark for education, training, consulting and research. As an Institute of Eminence, IIT Kharagpur has always been popular choice for Internationalization in Higher Studies with the neighbouring countries. Contributions to community welfare in the fields of Education and Outreach, Affordable healthcare, Clean drinking water, Food and Nutrition, Rural Development, Sustainable Livelihood, Environmental Sustainability and several other areas under the ambit of CSR has been developed to serve the neighbouring community.

Progressive change comes from progressive minds, that is the work the Institute fosters to implant as Policy Makers, as Academicians, as Societal Reforms and as one of the premier and oldest institute of the country.

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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India’s Own AI Resource Platform

Indian Express Outlook NDTV Careers360 Quint Gadgets Now The Week The Statesman NavBharat Times Business Standard Hindustan Times

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leading Cyber Security Education

Times of India The Week Business Standard

IIT Kharagpur has been adjudged the winner of the DSCI Excellence Award 2018 for Cyber Security Education by NASSCOM‘s Data Security Council of India (DSCI). The Institute, which has been making waves in the areas of cybersecurity, IoT security and associated areas in Artificial Intelligence, was awarded for its focused curricula and research work in cryptography, hardware security, cyber security, network security, that has helped create awareness among students.

“Our research and coursework in cyber security, network security and cryptography are targeted towards delivering the necessary technologies and also creating leaders in research, industry and governance who would bring forward such transformation in India which is undergoing the digital revolution right now as we talk,” said Prof. P P Chakrabarti, Director, IIT Kharagpur.

A number of research ventures led by Prof. Debdeep Mukhopadhyay at the Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur were primarily considered for this Award. These included DRDO funded projects on developing lightweight protocols for authenticating IoT nodes, IC reverse engineering and trojan detection, and the DST funded Swarnajayanti project on secure authentication protocols for smart grids. The Award committee specially cited the advanced infrastructure and lab equipment procured by the Institute for these projects, including a DRDO funded FIB station for IC imaging.

“At IIT Kharagpur we focus on online and offline security of data in the digital space since our experience at consumer and B2B levels tell us that without appropriate security measures, any data-centric solution would create a Mr. Hyde instead of a Dr. Jekyll,” opined Sikhar Patranabis who received the award at the NASSCOM-DSCI Annual Information Security Summit 2018 on December 5.

Sikhar, a B.Tech. topper in 2015 and currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur, is among the few buddying technologists in India pursuing research in the area of cryptographic security for the Internet of Things. “You might think of making your home smart by installing IoT gadgets and applications but what happens, for instance, when the access is overridden by unauthorized entities? By the time you reach home, the security of your house would be breached. So any smart application must be designed keeping the security requirements in mind,” he explained.

Data Security Council of India (DSCI), is a not-for-profit, industry body on data protection in India, set up by NASSCOM, committed to making the cyberspace safe, secure and trusted by establishing best practices, standards and initiatives in cybersecurity and privacy. To further its objectives, DSCI engages with governments and their agencies, regulators, industry sectors, industry associations and think tanks for policy advocacy, thought leadership, capacity building and outreach activities.

The purpose of the DSCI Excellence Award is to recognize, honour and reward organizations and individuals who have taken strategic, proactive and innovative security and privacy efforts to help the organization address real risks, build resilience, increase trustworthiness and create a conducive environment for doing business and thus enable the organization to harness data protection as a lever for business growth.

Inspiring win

Prof. Sudip Misra of the Computer Science and Engineering Department sets an inspiring example by winning the Careers360 Outstanding Faculty Award in Computer Science for 2018

“A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron,” said Horace Mann. And the best way to inspire anyone is by setting an example. Dr Sudip Misra, Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, has done just that by winning the Careers360 ‘Outstanding Faculty Award’ in Computer Science for the Year 2018.

Prof. Misra recently received the award from the Union minister for Human Resource Development, Mr Prakash Javadekar, at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti Bhavan, New Delhi. The citation says that after having examined 301 articles in the domain of Computer Science, Dr Misra was chosen as the winner. With 95 publications in 2015-17, a cumulative of 2237 citations and with a 24 h-index, Prof. Misra was adjudged the “most research proficient faculty of India” for 2018. As informed by Careers360 – a group specializing in the domain of education – the weights for output, citation and h-index set for evaluation were 33.5 per cent, 31.6 per cent and 34.9 per cent respectively.

The SWAN laboratory of IIT Kharagpur, where Prof. Misra works with his team, has seen the birth of several inventions and innovations. Prof. Misra and his research team recently developed an autonomous unmanned aerial drone. The completely indigenous BHIM drone, which has advanced features of aerial surveillance, is in keeping with the government of India’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, and could be used for para-dropping emergency supplies and post-disaster rescue operations.

The SWAN lab has also come up with a one-of-a-kind lifesaver technology that can be fitted in an ambulance to ensure remote monitoring of patient’s condition by doctors even before the patient reaches the hospital. This technology, named “AmbuSens”, is capable of wireless monitoring of various physiological parameters like ECG, heart-rate, temperature and blood-pressure.

Prof. Misra’s students at IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering also recently won the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation award this year for devising an IoT sensing device that can be used in agricultural fields and construction business.

At the award ceremony at New Delhi, the AICTE Chairman, Prof. Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, was the guest of honour. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a citation. Prof. Misra says, “I would like to thank IIT Kharagpur, my department, my students, colleagues, and friends who form the building blocks in different ways for getting these awards.”