Tag: Department of Education

“India is a land of IITs, especially IIT Kharagpur which is the mother of all IITs,” said Mahamohopadhyay Bhadreshdas Swami in the 73rd Foundation of the institute

The Foundation of a Family, that’s where it all began for IIT Kharagpur in 1951. The history of the IIT system dates back to 1946 when a committee was set up by Hon’ble Sir Jogendra Singh, Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, Department of Education, Health and Agriculture to consider the setting up of Higher Technical Institutions for post war industrial development in India. The 22 member committee headed by Sri N.R. Sarkar recommended the establishment of four Higher Technical Institutions on the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. With the above recommendations the first Indian Institute of Technology was born in May 1950 in Hijli, Kharagpur, in the eastern part of India. The present name ‘Indian Institute of Technology’ was adopted before the formal inauguration of the Institute on August 18, 1951 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. IIT Kharagpur started its journey in the old Hijli Detention Camp where some of our great freedom fighters toiled and sacrificed their lives for the independence of our country in the revolutionary struggle against the British Raj.

As the country enters its 77th year of Independence, IIT Kharagpur also enters its 73rd year of foundation on 18th August 2023 which was adorned by eminent personalities. Mahamohopadhyay Bhadreshdas Swami, Head, BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Dr. P Arun, Director, Tata Medical Center also graced the occasion as the Guests of Honour. The invocation started by hoisting the national flag and institute flag at the main building. Conferment of Chair Professor Awards, Gitindra Saran Sanyal Faculty Excellence Awards, Young Alumni Achievers Awards, Staff Excellence Awards, and the institute employees who completed 25 years of service were felicitated.

Mahamohopadhyay Bhadreshdas Swami, Head, BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute, the Chief Guest of the 72nd Foundation Day of IIT Kharagpur said, “This day embarks the foundation of IIT Kharagpur along with a Bhavya Bharat – The extraordinary India. If you want to understand the glory of any culture or any country or civilization, observe its education, research, literature and spirituality. India is a land of education system, a natural education system and a systematic and organised education. I can proudly say that India will be the answer to Artificial Intelligence, it will create a balance to endure and sustain it. India is a land of spirituality. The moto of this institution is ‘Yoga Karmashu Koushalam’ from the Bhagwat Gita. When we attach our self to a purpose, its ‘Yog’ and with ‘Yudyog’ we have to travel in forward direction to succeed and then comes ‘Proyudhyog’ which highlights the focused and sincere approach. India is a Land of Education, Land of Research with art Music, Science, technology and philosophy, the land of new innovations, the land of Literature, legacy and scripture, the land of spirituality, land of living idols, because we celebrate diversity equality, and inclusion. Most importantly India is glorious because it is the land of IITs, especially IIT Kharagpur.”

The foundations of IIT Kharagpur rests on the eternal motto of ‘Yoga Karmashu Koushalam’ from the Gita. It means that the individual interests behind any action which is either driven by material success or failure must be transformed to a higher and universal process of Yoga i.e., a communion between the self of an individual with the web of self in all, the Cosmos itself. As the Mother of all IIT system, and as the pioneering pace setter of science and technology, IIT Kharagpur was initiated as a mansion of learning on the bedrock of sacrifice by our martyrs seeking national independence.

The Institute started with 42 teachers and 224 students in 1951 on the lines of MIT. We have grown enormously since then with almost 17000 students currently and I would like to thank all the previous directors and chairman for nurturing this institution. We need to have a critical mass where the goals of the Institute should not only be administration driven but where a particular system must continue irrespective of other things and need to focus on our strengths identifying the respective parameters. Today major organizations, institutions, administration and governance are operational under the leadership of IITians. The talent we have in this country should be tapped than losing them to MITs. The items in NEP 2020 has been implemented in the Higher Education system at IIT Kharagpur. We have implemented the entry exit policy with exposure of the students to industries with semester away programs. We have Centre for Classical & Folk Art, Indian Knowledge System, Academy of Leadership which are first of their kind in the country, remarked Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur.

The Young Alumni Achiever Award was given to 26 young alumni of IIT Kharagpur honouring their excellence in innovations, technological developments, research, community welfare, leadership, entrepreneurship, social impact, nation building, national interest and professional accomplishments.

 “As an Alumnus of IIT Kanpur, I can say that IIT education is different from other education as it develops the holistic character of the students for not only the respective industries, they need to address the concerns of the society as well. I was amazed to find out that IIT Kharagpur has law school and medical school as well.” After speaking on Amrit Kal, Atmanirbhar Bharat and Developed India he continued to say that it gives him immense pleasure to see so many young entrepreneurs here who provide technology solutions to the remotest of the country. He shared his insights on Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators for India that would bring in new technology, new skills, new developments to fulfil the construction requirements of the people of this country. We make a new Chicago every year in this country based on sq feet measures. Today we can join in the transformation process of the country having the 3rd largest start-up ecsystem and more than 100 unicorns producing for the world. IITs can provide collaborative platforms for research and innovation and need to work on distance skilling,” shared Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, IAS, Chief Secretary Uttar Pradesh candidly.

The institute honoured five professors including Prof. Niloy Ganguly, Department of Computer Science and Engineering; Prof. Subhasish Basu Majumder, Materials Science Centre; Prof. Dilip Kumar Pratihar, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Prof. Peeyush Soni, Department of Agricultural & Food Engineering and Prof. Chirodeep Bakli, School of Energy Science and Engineering with the Faculty Excellence Award 2023. The Institute Chair Professor Award 2023 was bestowed to Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur. along with 32 Staff Excellence Awards 2023. A total of 25 people were recognized for their uninterrupted 25 years of service to the Institution. “Premise that EVs reduce carbon footprint is a myth,” was the topic for Foundation Day Debate which was conducted by Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, Department of Mechanical Engineering engrossing the participation of Faculties, Students and Staffs in Netaji Auditorium followed by a cultural programme. Prof. Dipa Dube, Dean, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law handed over the prizes to the all the participants.

Dr. P Arun, Director, Tata Medical Centre explained the need of low-cost and sustainable healthcare products. He said, “Today learning cannot be just multidisciplinary, it has to be interdisciplinary. For IIT Kharagpur, a joint training program where strengths could be shared, the strength of a doctor could be shared with that of an engineer and that public knowledge could be used for public good. The progress of technology is relentless and you have to be prepared for it. With the invasion of AI, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary cooperation is going to be imperative in the years to come. We need to develop indigenous technology, our own technology, our own infrastructure and that is what is impressive about IIT Kharagpur which has done do much on affordable healthcare and technology. “

On March, 1952, Pandit Nehru laid the foundation stone of the new building. The first Board of Governors was constituted with Dr. B.C. Roy, as the chairman of the Institute. On Sept. 15, 1956, the Parliament of India passed an act known as the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Act declaring this Institute as an Institution of National Importance. IIT Kharagpur is the oldest IIT established in India in 1951 and has been awarded the status of Institution of Eminence by the Government of India in 2019.

“We hope to be in the top 10 in the world by 2030 and identified niche areas in precision agriculture, Industry 4.0, affordable healthcare, Advance Transportation and Infrastructure. We are the first one to have AI Innovation Hub in Machine Learning. We will also have a Centre of Excellence on Futuristic Technologies with DRDO. The Government of India also gave us the responsibility of instituting a Department of Education from this year itself to train quality teachers. We are also working in the areas of medical sciences and technology for many years and have signed MoUs with AIIMs Kalyani and AIIIMs Delhi on the same lines. We believe in taking the technology to the last man standing of the society. We are also developing sustainable technologies in the rural sectors and have helped more than 20,000 farmers in West Bengal with prominent works that have been done in Bioenergy and Food Technology. Now we have more than 80,000 Alumni. We want our faculties and staff to think in a positive frame of mind so that they can reform, perform and transform – a clarion call by our Hon’ble Prime Minister,” added Prof. Tewari.

Today the institute as the largest of all IITs, comprises of 19 departments,12 schools, 18 centres (including five Centres of Excellence) and 2 academies, 21 halls of residence, 810+ Faculty Members, 880 Staffs, 15,7200+ Students with vast tree-laden campus spreading over 2100 acres has a self-contained township of over 15,000 inhabitants excluding students. Apart from engineering & technical studies, IIT KGP has multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary academic capabilities that commensurate with the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) from day one. Along with incorporating India’s culture and knowledge tradition in NEP 2020, the way it has opened ways to sustainable innovations, smart solutions and modernization, has created a whole new dimension of productive inclusion. The Institute will also set its course for a new age of becoming the, “Vishwaguru and Vishwamitra – Sarvajan Hitaya: Sarvajan Sukhaya.”

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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 on: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp;  Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
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Face to Face with Alumni

“We require transformation and transition to meet future goals in terms of Alma Connect”, said Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur who indulged in a face to face virtual meet with the Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur from India & overseas on 27 December 2022. He focused on some key areas where alumni support is needed to provide exposure to students and to initiate infrastructure development for IIT Kharagpur. The meet started with the recitation of Sararswati Vandhana which revitalized the spirits in a cold December morning.

The opening remarks were presented by Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur, who gave us a broader perspective on  self sustenance of the institute and pointed out the three C’s that includes Connect, Communicate and Contribute to communicate well with our Alumni. He added that apart from providing statistical data to them, we may encourage our Alumni to engage in meaningful dialogue. Once an active communication channel is established the process of contribution will happen naturally as our Alumni have always been very generous to their Alma Mater. Not only through monetary contribution, their knowledge, mentorship, guidance and participation will be helpful in various institute activities.

Shri Peter Chan, Distinguished Alumni and Chief Guest of the 68th Convocation of IIT Kharagpur addressed the Alumni and shared his experience of visiting his alma mater after 58 long years. He commented that, “So much energy is concentrated on the technical side of the institution but the wellness of the whole campus still lags behind for the staff and support staff including the cooks and malis. You all are one big family, unless you have the family feeling around the campus you cannot move forward in any organization. Being a part of the team is very important.” He concluded that he would give some ideas of implementation and suggestions for improvement. The Alumni can come forward and contribute their valuable feedback because at times you need outside perspective for a better scope of performance.

Shri Arjun Malhotra, Distinguished Alumnus read out the welcome address of Shri Ashoke Deysarkar, President US Foundation. He stated that, “We are at cross roads, past is when government paid for everything and future is where IIT Kharagpur has to pay a part of it. I think that this is a positive step towards building a capitalistic society. We have the talent, energy, vision and together we can build a better, bigger and more prosperous IIT Kharagpur. As an individual, Prof. Tewari cannot do it alone, we all need to walk with him like Gandhi in his Salt March. Together we will overcome the challenges and achieve all the goals that we laid down today.

Prof V K Tewari, while addressing Face to Face with Alumni said that, “IIT Kharagpur always uphold the nation’s pride, creates standards of globalization with domestic innovations, finest quality of research and affordable technologies, which is ultimately going to create and contribute towards the Self-Reliance of this country, India. In 2019, IIT Kharagpur was declared Institute of Eminence and from that time the Institute has aligned its activities towards the nation building, high class education with best in class students over the years, we have hone their skills in various domains along with a sense of entrepreneurship, innovation and sense of nationalism. The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) has been very popular among the globe and from the time of its inception we have been able to modify our course curriculum at the under graduate level and at the post graduate level which we have completed this year. We have also changed our MSc. Courses which were of 5 years in Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Geology, Geophysics and have been changed into 4 years BS Degree and MS Degree. We have given lot of flexibility to students in terms of the entry/exit policy along with variation in multidisciplinary education. We have initiated the high end technologies to be provided and implemented in various disciplines. Artificial Intelligence (AI) out today has a lot to contribute, in 2020 it was decided that any student who joins the institute at UG, PG or at Research level have to undergo a course on AI & ML (Machine Learning), so that in his/her domain knowledge they would be able to apply them and leverage the befit of these technologies in IoT, Blockchain technologies etc. Our students are being prepared for the industry and in the new curriculum, we have given 6-8 months of industry experience to our students which is going to start from 2023 summer. The Alumni can help us to connect to these areas of exposure for the students to explore. Now the students can go to the other universities and have a one semester course there. We also have provisions for people coming from other institutes at this place and have the same course here.

The Career Development Centre of IIT Kharagpur is leading with 1600 plus placements among all other IITs and have about 45 international offers with 12 offers ranging from 1 – 2.6 cr which is also the highest among all other IITs. In every department and centre we are trying to inculcate entrepreneurship through product development. Out of the compendium of 75 innovations, top 25 innovations have been chosen for funding so that they can be developed into products among which some of them have already been industrialized and commercialized into products. The Alumni can help us and guide us so that these products are available commercially in 2-3 years of time. We are marching towards the Platinum Jubilee where we need the valuable guidance and initiatives of Alumni in mentoring and supporting us on the celebration of this grand accomplishment and to show the world what IIT Kharagpur was meant for in 1951 when it was established on the lines of MIT with the faculty to student ratio being 5:1, having 224 students and 42 teachers. Now we have more than 15000 students and 800 staffs. We are at par with other universities when it comes to faculty to faculty research basis and have the resources and infrastructure among the best of the world. To encourage our staff and faculty, this year we have given 35 awards to our faculties at the Associate and Assistant level in the form of Chair Professorships and Faculty Excellence Awards which would motivate them to work hard along with 32 Staff Excellence Awards (non-teaching).

IIT KGP is also heading many national schemes like GIAN which is Global Initiative for Academic Networking along with SPARC which is Scheme for Promotion of Academic Research Collaboration across the globe. More than 1600 faculties have come here from foreign and more than 1700 subjects have been taught by the eminent faculties across the globe. More than 1 lakh students have been benefited across the NITs, IITs and other centrally funded universities and colleges. IIT Kharagpur has also successfully conducted JEE Advanced in 2021 and GATE 2022.

I would request the Alumni to connect us better with the other Alumni who are doing well elsewhere around the globe and recognize them. Along with them, we can create an expected corpus of 4000 crore. We have started a hospital under the name of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee where 260 beds were donated by the Alumni which has started its OPD from last year and is soon going to start the IPD. I request all my faculty friends and Alumni friends to run this hospital as venture capitalist of Section 8 companies. It will be a clinical hospital for our medical college students under the name of Dr. B. C Roy which will be established to impart MBBS education. I hope with your help, support, blessing and guidance, we will be in a position to have a Medical College with 100 students to start with. The government of West Bengal has supported us in various ways including the security of the campus and seen to it that this hospital comes up to serve the biggest district of Bengal, i.e Midnapur. I am confident that this hospital will be accessed by many as it will be a contribution to affordable healthcare in a place like Kharagpur.

Our illustrious Alumni Shri Vinod Gupta has recently inaugurated the A. C. Pandya Students Activity Centre in name of his Prof. A. C Pandya. Very soon we will be establishing the DRDO Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence with an investment of 200-300 crores and initiated the process of recruiting the Director for the same. We are working in close proximity with the government of India, our esteemed Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Shiksha Mantri, Government of India who has blessed, supported and motivated us to go ahead and given the responsibility to start the first campus this country abroad, IIT Malaysia scheduled to be operational from August 2023. We have received a very enthusiastic cooperation from the government of Malaysia to have IIT Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. With the 400-500 acres of campus, it will be huge boast to their economic development and establish the IIT brand in Malaysia while keeping the standards of IIT, JEE Advanced and others. The students will also spend a year at IIT Kharagpur for their respective curriculum. I am very much thankful to my Alumni Mr. Ron Gupta, Mr. Ashoke Dey Sarkar, Mr. Vinod Gupta and also met Mr. Sundar Pichai for their associations.

We have initiated and renewed our collaborations with different Universities in United States and United Kingdom including University of Warwick (WMG) and Manchester University in dual degree and PhD. We have recently signed an MoU with African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) which has 36 African countries from where we have 8 students in the Agricultural and Food Engineering department for MS degree. Till date we have 63 international students on campus and we need your help to have at least one foreign faculty/professor for each department, centre and schools and have also initiated to employ Professors of Practice in this regard. This year we have accommodated more than 2000 students and I am very thankful to their parents for their cooperation. Currently, we are struggling a bit with the construction of hostels and infrastructure development for which I need our Alumni to come forward and take the lead to make these available. We need to augment the facilities at Gymkhana and we are looking for the scope to revamp the facilities of lawn tennis, swimming pool, hockey ground and food court.

The Government of India has also asked us to initiate a Department of Education which was laid on the thought that if we want top quality students in IITs, they need to be taught by the top quality teachers in Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Economics and Computers in schools. The government have thought that by 2030, they should have at least 30,000 top quality teachers for which the IITs have been chosen with proper induction of exams at par with JEE accordingly. I would request my faculty friends and Deans to indulge in more autonomy when it comes to decision making. We need innovations in subjects and changes is required in domain knowledge transfer of disciplines along with initiating newer courses. The theory should be revamped and substituted with practical industry ideas and expertise with industry experts as well. We have things coming up with IBM on the same lines. Though I am not happy with my performance, but I hope to get more support from my faculty friends and Alumni to make this Institution among the top 10 in the world.

The virtual meet was convened by Cdr V K Jaitly, Distinguished Alumnus and was followed by question answer round from the Alumni. The closing remarks were given by Shri Varadarajan Seshamani, President of IIT KGP Foundation India.

Times of India (Kolkata)

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
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