Newsdigest for the IITD Alumni Association

1. Dr Sanjay Puri (IITD batch 1982) has been awarded Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award.

Dr Sanjay Puri (MS Physics 1982-Silver Medal) has been awarded the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award for Physics. In an impressive ceremony held in Vigyan Bhawan on 26.9.2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented Dr Puri with a Golden Plaque, a citation, and a cheque for Rupees Two Lakhs. This award is regarded as the Indian equivalent of the "Nobel"prize as stated during the ceremony by Dr Mashelkr, Director General, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research. Dr. Puri completed his M.S. in Physics from IIT Delhi in 1982. He obtained his doctorate from University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign in 1987. He has authored a number of papers and textbooks. His major work is in the field of Kinetics of Phase Transformations. Dr Puri has also won a number of other awards in the past including Homi Bhabha Fellowship, BM Birla Science Award, Young Scientist Medal etc. Earlier this year, he was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He is currently Professor & Dean, School of Physical Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

2. Prof. Arogyaswami Paulraj, Ph.D. (Electrical Engg.) 1973, IITD, recipient of Distinguished Alumni Award for the year 1998.

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/2006/pr-naenew-021506.html

Prof. Arogyaswami Paulraj, Dept. of Elect. Engg., Stanford University was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, USA. Election to the NAE is one of the highest professional distinctions that can be accorded an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education and to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology.

The NAE cited Paulraj’s pioneering contributions to MIMO wireless technology.

3. Dr. S. S. Kapdi, Ph.D, 2006 IITD has been selected for Innovative Sutdent Projects Award - 2006

Dr. S. S. Kapdi, thesis on “Development of Biogas Enrichment and Compression System for Rural Energy Applications” has been selected for Innovative Student Projects Award - 2006 by Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), New Delhi. For this, he will be facilitated by a certificate and a medal by the INAE on 08/12/2006 during annual meeting of the academy at Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi110 002.

Dr. S. S. Kapdi is presently serving as Associate Professor & Head, Department of Bio-Energy, P.G. Institute of Food Processing Technology & Bio-Energy, Anand Agricultural University, Anand.

4. IIT Delhi Alumni Association " Alumni Award for academic Improvement for the Session 2005-06".

Mr. Rajan Arora, Entry No.2004CE10269, IITD, has been awarded for Alumni Award for Academic Improvement for the Session 2005-06 for the best Academic Improvement amongst the II,III,IV & V year students of the Undergradute Programmes. The Award consist of cash prize of Rs.10,000/- along with a certificate.

5. IIT among world's 100 best universities

The credit goes to the IITs, its faculty students and alumni who have made aglobal impact.Congratulations everyone...Yogesh Andlay, President, IITDAA

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2095237.cms

IIT among world's 100 best universities

AGENCIES [ THURSDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2006 12:30:39 PM]


LONDON: The Indian Institute of Technology has joined the premier league of best universities in the world. According to the rankings compiled by the Times Higher Education Supplement , published on Thursday, India’s premier science and technology education centre is ranked No.57 in the global list.

American and British universities comprised nearly half of the top 100 universities in the world.

United States led the way with 33 universities in the top 100, while Britain ranked second with 15. Australia and the Netherlands were next with seven each, while Switzerland and France followed with five. Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and Germany each had three to their credit.

China and India, the world's two most populous countries, had two apiece, along with Singapore, New Zealand and Belgium. Denmark, South Korea, Mexico, Ireland, Austria and Russia all had one university in the top 100.

Harvard University in Massachusetts topped the poll, with Cambridge and Oxford in England coming second and third. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University tied for fourth, with Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology ranking sixth and seventh.

The University of California at Berkeley was eighth, Imperial College London was ninth, and Princeton University completed the top 10. The highest-ranking Asian university was Beijing University, coming in at 15th -- also the highest rank for a non-US or British institution.

Australian National University was Australia's best at 16th, while France's Ecole Normale Superieure was continental Europe's best at 18th. The rankings were compiled by asking 3,703 academics worldwide to name the 30 best universities for research in their field of expertise, along with responses from 736 graduate employers globally, along with the ratio of faculty to students, and the university's ability to draw foreign students and world-renowned academics.

The results were then weighted and transformed into a scale giving the top university a score of 100, with all subsequent institutions scoring a proportion of that score.

Selected universities in the top 25:

1) Harvard University (United States)
2) University of Cambridge (Britain)
3) University of Oxford (Britain)
4) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)
4) Yale University (United States)
6) Stanford University (United States)
7) California Institute of Technology (United States)
8) University of California at Berkeley (United States)
9) Imperial College London (Britain)
10) Princeton University (United States)
11) University of Chicago (United States)
12) Columbia University (United States)
13) Duke University (United States)
14) Beijing University (China)
15) Cornell University (United States)
16) Australian National University (Australia)
17) London School of Economics (Britain)
18) Ecole Normale Superieure (France)
19) National University of Singapore (Singapore)
19) University of Tokyo (Japan)
21) McGill University (Canada)
22) University of Melbourne (Australia)
23) Johns Hopkins University (United States)
24) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland)
25) University College London (United Kingdom)

Selected universities in the top 100:

33) University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
46) University of Auckland (New Zealand)
54) University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
57) Indian Institute of Technology (India)
58) Universitaet Heidelberg (Germany)
63) Seoul National University (South Korea)
67) Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands)
74) University Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico)
76) Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium)
78) Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
87) University of Vienna (Austria)
93) Moscow State University (Russia)

6. Nominations invited for Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award

Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award was instituted by IIT Kanpur in the memory of Mr. Satyendra K. Dubey (BT/CE/1994/IITK) and his exemplary life and supreme sacrifice. The details of the award are appended below.Any alumnus / alumna / faculty member / staff member of any IIT can nominate any alumnus of any IIT for the award. The award will be given to one who has distinguished himself / herself by displaying highest professional integrity for upholding human values. Alumni Association (AA) invites nominations for the Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award. You are requested to nominate a person / s who, in your opinion, deserve this award. Nominations should reach AA by post or email at the addresses mentioned below on or before November 20, 2006. It is requested that nominations be accompanied by as much relevant material (in form of bio-data, Newspaper articles/profiles, information on other awards and commendations etc.) as is possible for the nominator to supply.
SATYENDRA K. DUBEY MEMORIAL AWARDINTRODUCTION: This award has been instituted by IIT Kanpur in the memory of its alumnus Satyendra K. Dubey (BT/CE/94) who sacrificed his life to uphold the integrity and dignity of his profession. The award is conferred every year along with the Distinguished Alumnus Awards.ELIGIBILITY: Any alumnus of any IIT who has distinguished himself by displaying the highest professional integrity in upholding human values.NOMINATIONS: Nominations can be sent by any alumnus / alumna / faculty / staff of any IIT addressed to theSecretary,Alumni Association,210 SAC Building,IIT Kanpur, Kanpur - 208 016by post or by filling the form to reach on or before November 20, 2006.
Biographical note on Mr. Satyendra K. DubeyFormer Deputy General Manager / Project Director, Koderma Project Implementation Unit, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI): Born in a small village in Sewan (Bihar), Mr. Satyendra Kumar Dubey studied in a village school before successfully competing in the IIT Joint Entrance Examination. He graduated from IIT Kanpur with a B. Tech. degree in Civil Engineering in 1994 with second position in his class. Fuelled by his desire to contribute to public welfare, Mr. Dubey chose to join the Indian Engineering Services as opposed to pursuing a glittering corporate career or greener pastures abroad. In July 2002, he was posted as an Assistant Project Manager at the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Honest and dedicated, Mr. Dubey made his mark on the Rs. 450 crore highway stretch.He used to ride his bicycle to the quarry to inspect the quality of stone and other equipment to enforce commitment to contracts. He never compromised on quality and once forced a contractor to reconstruct a 6 km stretch of highway after discovering inferior work. Mr. Dubey invariably visited work sites several times a week, instead of the usual practice of once in some months. While posted at Gaya on a project, he once got three engineers suspended for mishandling of funds.Mr. Dubey was selected as the Deputy General Manager / Project Director of the Koderma Project Implementation Unit to handle the 5,200 km stretch in the Golden Quadrilateral Corridor Project. A dreadful fate however awaited the courageous and upright young man. While traveling by rickshaw to his house from the railway station on the morning of November 27, 2003, Mr. Dubey was murdered and was found lying near A P colony in Gaya, shot dead through a highly sophisticated weapon. It appears that some people who found it inconvenient to have Mr. Dubey as the Project Director eliminated him.Mr. Dubey did what he did despite of personal consequences, obstacles, dangers and pressures. In recognition of his honesty, integrity, dedicated service and upright behavior in public life, the Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award has been instituted by IIT Kanpur.

First recipient of the Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award for the year 2005:

Mr. Arvind Kejriwal (BT/ME/89/IITKGP; Founder Member of Parivartan) received the award for his crusade against corruption in bureaucracy and his compaign for getting the Right to Information bill passed for the benefit of society at large. He has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for the year 2006 for emergent leadership.