Newsdigest for the IITD Alumni Association

1. Musical Evening on 17.11.2007 in Dogra Hall, IIT Delhi

IIT Delhi Alumni Association is organising a grand musical evening on 17.11.2007 in Dogra Hall, IIT Delhi.
The Music Club of IITDAA is looking for new talent to perform on stage.

The alumnii, their spouses and kids are welcome to participates. Those who were interested are requested to send their names with details of their song / ghazal / other musical entries to IITDAA office (telephone nos.26868523, 26597178, 26596953 Email: office@iitdalumni.com) or to Mr. Ashok Gaur (9810256063) immediately.

The first reharesals are planned in the music room on 30.09.2007 at 4.30 p.m. onwards.
So, please hurry and send your entries right away.

Ashok Gaur
Convener, Sub-Committee on Sports & Cultural Events
IIT Delhi Alumni Association
Nalanda House, IIT Delhi
Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016
Tel: 2686 8523/2659 7178/2659 6953
Fax: 2651 4177
E-mail:iitdaa@gmail.com or office@iitdalumni.com
Website:http://www.iitdalumni.com
PS: You may signup for email address yourname@iitdalumni.com from http://iitdalumni.in/signup.cfm

2. IIT Alumni Japan Conference.

India-Japan Partnership - New Global and Strategic Perspectives.

Tokyo, Nov. 15th-17th 2007.

Come discover Japan with friends and family and explore the land of the bullet trains, Pokemon and geisha.

Take the early lead to connect with the huge and fast unfolding potential in India-Japan business, cultural and academic relations.

Discover why it is being hailed as the most important bilateral relationship in the world by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

India-Japan relations have taken an unprecedented new momentum across a wide spectrum of field such as Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Energy, Academics, Geo- Politics, Knowledge Economy and Financial Services. 2007 is celebrated as India-Japan Friendship Year.

Bringing together strategic partners on this historical revival of relationship, IIT Alumni Association Japan brings to you the first IIT conference in Japan. In support from and partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry, IBEF, Japan India Partnership Forum, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Japan India Business Cooperation Committee, JETRO, Indian Embassy, Indo-Japan Association and Keio University, the conference offers excellent opportunity to connect with leaders, partners and friends.

We invite you to join this phenomenal convergence under the beautiful autumn sky of Tokyo this November.

Visit: http://www.IITJapan.org

Please feel free to forward to other interested friends, alumni and other guests alike, who may benefit or enjoy this occasion.

Sanjeev Sinha,

President, IIT Alumni Association Japan.

3. Class of 1983 Reunion

Dear Friends,

A Silver Jubilee Reunion comes once in a lifetime, and for the batch of '83, this is the year when we will come together again. This will be the opportunity to relive the five years of our youth - our formative years - our glorious past. We will not get another chance to meet so many of our batch-mates who were once an indivisible part of our lives. We hope to meet again the many friends of yesteryears and hope to recognize them after 25 years have gone by.

As communicated earlier, the Silver Jubilee Event is being held from the 22-25 December this year, 2007. All 1983 graduates, PGs (BTech, MS, MTech, PhDs, etc) are invited along with their families.

Families are an integral part of this event - they have to see what we have been talking to them about - with their own eyes. You can get your children and spouse to walk the corridors of your hostel and meet with the profs - specially the ones from whom you once kept a long distance. You can take time out to explore the examination halls where you once spent time looking at the ceiling or sideways since the answers to confounding questions were almost always found on other people's scribble sheets. You can do almost whatever you want back at IITD

Please pull in all those with whom you are in touch, help them make up their minds. We need to make the best of this opportunity. The earlier batches enjoyed every bit of their bash and wanted more. Come and let's make this the best bash of our lives.

Most of the details have already been worked out and the program is already sent to you. However, suggestions/ ideas are welcome for any minor changes in the schedule/ events.

For more details contact to:

Shashi Munjal
Symphony International
T 4/3 DLF Phase III
Gurgaon-122002
INDIA
Tel +91-124-4060699
Fax +91-124-4060799
Mobile +91-9818679079
Email1 shashi@symphony-international.com
Email2 symphonyinternational@airtelbroadbnd.in

1. Lecture by Shiv Khera held on 3^rd July 2007.

IIT Delhi Alumni Association in association with Association of British Scholars &
University of Birmingham Alumni Association (India Chapter) organized a lecture by Shiv Khera, Management Consultant, on "HOW TO MAKE INDIA MORE LIVABLE IN 365 DAYS?" on July 3, 2007 at Seminar Hall, IIT Delhi.

2. PanIIT 2007

Participation of IITDAA in the Pan IIT meet at Santa Clara from 6^th to 8^th July 2007, IIT Delhi faculty –Industry Meet at Santa Clara and IITD & Alumni meet at New York.

The PAN IIT meet was held at Santa Clara from 6^th to 8^th July 2007. There were a number of distinguished panelists at the various sessions. The Keynote speakers included Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jeff Immelt, CEO,GE, Arun Sarin, CEO, Vodafone, Robert C. Dynes, President, University of California, Rajat Gupta, senior Partner, McKinsey & Company. The IITD – Industrial meet was also held at Santa Clara on 9^th July 2007. The Director’s Dinner was hosted by Ash Gupta of American Express in New York on 10^th July 2007.

From IITDAA, Vijay Parasher with family, Ravi Kapoor, Somnath Bharti and I were present at the PAN IIT meet at Santa Clara. RK Gupta could not attend as he had moved over to New Jersey.

There was a Board meeting of the Pan IIT Global Board on 5th July evening chaired by Rajat Gupta. The Directors of the IITs and other Board members attended the same. The Constitution of Pan IIT Global Board and also that of the Pan IIT India Board were discussed at length. The minutes would be issued separately. I t was a very fruitful meeting.

A booth was allocated to IIT Delhi, IITDEF and IITDAA. We jointly displayed our exhibition material. We had carried with us the banner of IITDAA and enlarged photos of our activities for display. We had also taken with us 200 copies of the latest Newsletter which were distributed at the stall. The IITDAA members participated in all the panel discussions and seminars spread over three days. The schedule and the subject of the various discussions and the participants are being circulated separately.

8th July was devoted exclusively for each of the seven IITs to interact by themselves. The IIT Delhi event commenced with the presentation of IITDAA. It was well received by the audience. About sixty participants were there including the Director IIT and the faculty members. The IIT Delhi alumni from the Bay area showed keen interest in the activities of IITDAA and wished to be closely associated with the same. We have collected the contact details of the Alumni and will update the same in our Data Base.

On the 9th July was the Industrial meet organized by Satwant Kaur.

On 10th July, Ash Gupta of American Express hosted a dinner to the IITD faculty and the Alumni at New York. From IITDAA, Ravi Kapoor, Vijay Parasher and I attended. There were about 40 participants. The meet was held in the Board Room of American Express. During the deliberations, IITDAA was given due prominence and there were fruitful interactions among the participants. Director IITD handed over the DAA award to Ash Gupta who could not collect it in person last year.

Advantages of participation

IITDAA was given a prominent place in the presentation on 8^th July 2007, at the Industrial – IITD meet on the 9^th July 2007 and the meeting of the IITD alumni in New York on 10^th July 2007.

The presentation of IITDAA president was well received by the alumni present at the meet.

IITDAA President was able to participate in the PAN IIT Global Board Meeting on 5^th July 2007. There was no teleconferencing facility-hence it would not have been possible to participate from India. It was also clarified in the meeting that the IITDAA President was the primary member of the Board and the IITDEF President is the alternate member.

Satwant Kaur, CTO, Emerging Technologies Group, TIBC welcomed the elite group of 25 that consisted of IIT Delhi faculty, and heads of engineering/ founding members from various organizations including: IIT Delhi, IBM, TIBCO Software, Juniper Networks, Nokia-Siemens Research Center, Business Objects, Yahoo Research, Autodesk, Lawrence Livermore National Lab INGRES, EMC, Cadence and Stanford University Satwant expressed her deep gratitude to IIT Delhi faculty from her student days as B.Tech (EE) and her colleagues during her research faculty tenure at IITD CS department. She also expressed her deep appreciation for her PhD supervisor from Nokia Research Center and her colleagues, peers, boss, ex-bosses and competitors from industry.

Everyone introduced themselves around the (square) table. From the very beginning, the enthusiasm was very high. The tone was set by active participants including Murat Somnez, member of founding team, TIBCO Software, Sal Visca, CTO, Business Objects, Louis Scheffer, fellow at Cadence and Prof Paulraj, Professor, Stanford University Pradeep Sindhu, founder of Juniper Networks led most of the anel discussions showing us his unique and brilliant perspective on every aspect of the conversation.

Prof Surendra Prasad, Director of IIT Delhi, gave the IITD keynote on "The IITs : Knowledge Ecosystems". During and after the keynote he graciously answered questions in his most honest and open manner. Some highlights of the Director's keynote were:

(1) First batch of B.Tech. students graduated in 1956 from IIT Kharagpur

(2) Alumni among the most prominent executives, managers, entrepreneurs and inventors in the world

(3) Few UG institutions can claim such staggering success for their graduates

(4) 10% of start-ups in Silicon Valley (1995 to 98) by IITians (5) Produced more millionaires per capita than any other undergraduate academic institution in the world

Prof Prasad cited the reasons for success as being:

- Enlightened and generous support of the Government of India,

- Academic freedom and merit as the sole criterion for entry,

- Talented students,

- Faculty commitment to teaching and research,

- Nurturing of core values: Integrity, Academic freedom, Merit, Excellence and Open-mindedness.

For a long time, Prof Prasad addressed every thought-provoking question that was addressed to him. This sparked a lot of lively discussions. My favorites were the digs Murat (TIBCO) and Anant (IBM) had at each other.

Helping contribute to the conversations about IIT Delhi was the IIT Faculty: Prof S S Yadav, Head of Management Studies, Prof A K Srivasatva, Head of Biotech, Prof S M Ishtiaque, Head of Textile, Prof Viresh Dutta, Center of Energy Studies. Dr V Sethuraman, President, IITD Alumni Association provided an Alumni perspective.

Dr Anant Jhingran, CTO - Information Management, IBM gave the Industry keynote. He shared with us an IBM perspective on Academia R&D partnership. Anant stressed that now is the time for more open collaborative research models. In such partnerships, IBM's strategy focused on IBM Research to be world class, to collaborate openly across IBM Research's worldwide labs, to collaborate openly with universities on strategically defined topics, and to use emerging open source communities as a source of headlights. The key is to be global, act local.

Paul Maglio, Senior Manager, IBM Almaden Research Center conveyed excellent messages in the IBM slides. Prof Manoj Datta, Dean - Alumni Association & International Programs, IIT Delhi, walked us through various International Collaborations that IIT Delhi is involved in. That led to a great discussion around how to leverage such collaborations.

Prof M Balakrishnan, Dean - Post Graduate Studies and Research, IIT Delhi gave a talk on Synergizing Academic Research with Industry Needs. He also led lots of discussions around research in Computer Science.

Charlie Perkins, Senior Fellow, Nokia- Siemens Research Center gave a talk on "Industry- Academia R&D partnership - Ad Hoc and Mesh Networking Research Areas". Charlie's talk highlighted the promise, the impact, and the bottlenecks in adoption of such technologies.

Ed Moses, Associate Director, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, delivered a talk on International Co-operations in Laser Fusion Energy. He talked about the National Ignition Facility, their areas of research in laser technologies, and addressed questions about whether NIF is a precursor to an inertial fusion energy plan? He also provided a glimpse into the possible future that other found to be a very desirable future.

Bill Maimone, Senior Vice President, Ingres, carried on a great discussion on Open Source and the Academic Community. And had us walk through the memory lane starting from the beginning of Ingres.

It was an honor to have Prabhakar Raghavan, Head of Yahoo Research who made it in spite of short notice and other pressing engagements.

Amar Hanspal, Senior Vice President (SVP), Autodesk was a consistent voice throughout providing a Sense of balance between different perspectives.

The two young IBM engineers, Anjali Behal and Amit Behal were the most attentive amongst the audience, and helped keep the summit going by taking over the registration, the photo shoots, and the projector operations.

Shawn Douglas, Director, EMC, moderated the Round Table Discussions and summed up the summit with his Closing Comments. Only Shawn could have carried out so admirable the challenging task of moderating the discussions that were going on at such a level of enthusiasm, so that we exceed the two-hour summit by only two hours, and yet covered so much ground.

With his great humility, Prof Surendra Prasad, Director of IITD presented Satwant a gift from IIT Delhi. Satwant emotionally expressed that the gift of education she received form IIT Delhi will remain with her until her last breath.

The discussions were great fun! Thanks for making it so.

Pictures from the event can be viewed at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/satwant/sets/72157600756354909/show/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/satwant/sets/72157600756354909/show/>

It was possible to collect the contact details of the IITD alumni who are staying in the Bay Area. They have shown keen interest in the activities of IITDAA.

IITDAA was able to display their exhibits at the stall along with IITD and IITDEF. This would not have been possible if IITDAA members were not physically present at the meet.

Further steps to be taken

IITDAA needs to be pro active in participating in the activities of PAN IIT Global Board to increase its visibility.

IITDAA needs to enhance its global presence. Initiative in this regard has already been taken by electing and Global Co-opted members. This should be taken further to increase IITDAA activities at all places and with appropriate communication to all.

The Data base of IITDAA needs to be updated constantly to bring within its fold all alumni who can contribute to its activities.

The IITDAA Web need to be kept updated constantly so that it becomes attractive to the alumni who seek information about IITD and the activities of IITDAA.

3. Felicitation Function for IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Award for the year 2007

IITDAA Distinguished Alumni felicitation function was held on 10^th August 2007 at Vishwakarma Bhawan, IIT Delhi for felicitating the awardees of the Distinguished Alumni Awards & the Distinguished Alumni Service Awards for the year 2007. Prof. V. S. Ramamurthy, Chairman, BOG, IITD & Patron, IITDAA and Prof. Surendra Prasad, Director, IITD & Chairman, IITDAA felicitated the awardees. The event was a grand success and was well attended. Messages of appreciations were also received from the awardees.

IITDAA recognizes the outstanding contributions made by an alumnus of IIT Delhi through their achievements and brought glory to the name of the Institute.

IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Awardees for the year 2007:

1. Mr. Sanjay Khosla, ( B.Tech., Elect - 1973)

Executive Vice President & President, International Kraft Foods, USA

2. Prof. Mohit Randeria, (B.Tech, Elect- 1980)

Physics Department, Ohio State University, USA

3. Dr. Rajiv Laroia, (B. Tech, Elect - 1985)

Technology Chief, Qualcomm Flarion Technologies Route, USA

IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Service Awardees for the year 2007:

1. Mr. Lalit Mohan Mehra, (B. Tech., Mech - 1966)

CEO, Widramal Sales Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

2. Mr. Sandeep Tyagi, (B.Tech. CS&E,. -1990)

Founder & MD, Inductis, USA

Mr. Sanjay Khosla

Mr. Sanjay Khosla received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1973. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University in 1998.

Mr. Sanjay Khosla is presently President, Kraft International of Kraft Foods, Inc., based in Chicago, USA.

Shortly after graduation, Khosla started his career in sales with Philips India, paving his way to a successful track record in running global businesses and building brands. Mr. Khosla joined Kraft from a successful career at Fonterra Co-operative Group, one of the world’s largest diary companies and New Zealand’s largest multinational company. At Fonterra, Khosla was Managing Director and led the company’s USD 3 billion consumer and foodservice business where, in 3 years, he orchestrated a business turnaround. Prior to Kraft and Fonterra, Khosla enjoyed a successful international career with Unilever for 27 years. There, he served in positions of increasing responsibility culminating in his role as Senior Vice President, Global Beverages and Chairman of Unilever’s USD 4 billion beverages category based in Holland. He orchestrated the excellent growth of Liption worldwide through the “Paint the World Yellow with Lipton” business program.

Described as a visionary, a change agent, an institution builder and a global professional, Mr. Khosla has taught courses at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland and Columbia University in New York on managing international brands and business. In 1998, he was named “Marketing Superstart” by the prominent US marketing industry publication advertising age. He serves on the Board of Directors of NIIT, India’s leader in IT enabled education.

Prof. Mohit Randeria

Prof. Mohit Randeria received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1980. He obtained M.S. Degree from the California Institute of Technology, USA in 1982 and Ph.D. Degree from Cornell University, USA in 1987.

Prof. Mohit Randeria is presently Professor of Physics at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

Prof. Randeria started his academic career as an Assistant Professor of Physics at SUNY Stony Brook in 1989, after a few years of post-doctoral work at Cornell and Illinois. He then joined the Argonne National Lab in Illinois as a Staff Scientist in the Materials Science Division, and after four years there, resumed his academic career at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (FIFT), Mumbai in 1995. He spent nine years in the Theoretical Physics Department at TIFR as Reader, Associate Professor, and Professor. Since 2004, he has been a Professor of Physics at Ohio State.

Prof. Randeria is an acknowledged expert in the area of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics. His research interests are focused, at present, on high temperature superconductivity, strongly correlated systems, and ultra-cold atomic gases. Prof. Randeria is the author of over hundred research papers in Condensed Matter Physics. He is the recipient of a prize in Condensed Matter Physics, awarded in honour of Nobel Laureate Phillip Anderson by the International Center of Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy in 2002. He ahs also been awarded the Swarnajayanti Fellowship in 1998, the B.M. Birla Science prize in 1999, the S.S. Bhatnagar Award in 2002, and the George A. Miller Visiting Professorship at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2002-2003.

Dr. Rajiv Laroia

Dr. Rajiv Laroia received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1985. He obtained Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Maryland, College Park in 1992.

Dr. Laroia is presently Senior Vice President of Technology at Qualcomm, USA.

Dr. Laroia joined Siemens Research Labs in Munich, Germany after graduating from IIT Delhi. In 1992, he joined AT&T Bell Labs after obtaining his Ph.D. in 2000, Dr. Laroia founded Flarion Technologies, a venture backed company to develop and commercialize a novel all-IP mobile wireless broadband technology. He served as the CTO of Flarion and in that role provided the vision and led the development of technology and products for the company. In 2006 Flarion was acquired by the wireless technology giant Qualcomm, where he currently serves as Senior Vice Present (Technology).

Dr. Laroia is one of the world’s leading researchers and innovators in the field of communication. He holds more than 50 patents and has more than 100 others pending. His early research focused on wire-line communication. He has significant technology contributions to V.34 and V.90 International Standards for sending data over telephone lines. The technology he invented is used in virtually all dial-up modems in the world.

Since 1997, Dr. Laroia has been working in the filed of mobile wireless communication. The technology he and his team developed at Flarion is now incorporated in all three major next generation international wireless standards UMTS LTE, UMB and Wimax. Dr. Laroia has won numerous industry awards. In 2006 he was inducted to the to the Innovation hall of Fame at the University of Maryland. He is a fellow of the IEEE.

Mr. Lalit Mehra

Mr. Lalit Mehra received his Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1966 with a Gold Medal as the best all rounder student and a Silver Medal for having stood first in the Mechanical Engineering Department

Mr. Mehra is presently CEO, Widramal Sales Pvt, Ltd. In New Delhi.

Professionally he specialised in the sale of equipment and material and know-how for the wire and cable industry through his own company. He was associated with the Alumni Association and Senate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and also served on a panel of the PHD Chamber of Commerce

Lalit is Chairman of the Tara Vati Ram Gopal Mehra Foundation, which provides medical assistance and scholarships to the needy; operates two Homeopathic Dispensaries in New Delhi and runs a fully equipped out patient Medical Centre in East Delhi. The Medical Centre and the Mobile clinic attached to the Centre serve about 250 patients every day. He is Secretary of the Nirmal Shiksha Kendra, which, fully funded by the Tara Vati Ram Gopal Mehra Foundation, runs a school in New Delhi with a strength of about 350 Children, from the underprivileged sections of society, who pay no fees. The same establishment also offered vocational training courses to help increase the income generating capability of participants till the time L&DO felt this was a misuse of the premises. While he was Director of the Shanker Lal Memorial Education Foundation he was involved in establishing the Alwar Public School at Alwar in North India.

Having joined the Rotary Club of Delhi South in 1969-70 he served his Club and District in various capacities and led the Group Study Exchange team to District 676 in Tennessee, U.S.A. before serving as Governor of District 3010 in 1984-85. During 1984-85 he was the Chairman of the Rotary News Trust, which publishes Rotary’s regional magazines. He has the distinction of having trained incoming District governors of Rotary. As Chairman of THE POLIOPLUS CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE for India, Sri Lanka and Nepal during 1986-90 and, later, Vice-Chairman of the NATIONAL POLIOPLUS IMMUNISATION COMMITTEE, he spearheaded the movement to eradicate Polio. He set up Rotary Foundation (India) and was its Founder Secretary.

Mr. Lalit Mehra has taken keen interest in the growth of his Alma Mater. He established the Tara Vati Ram Gopal Mehra Foundation Scholarship for a needy deserving student at IIT Delhi in 1967 immediately after his graduation. He has been instrumental in setting up the Mehra Chair Professorship in Design & Manufacturing Technologies. He has also contributed towards improvement in hostel infrastructure as well as to the setting up of the Pearl Award (Batches 1965 to 1969). He has also instituted the Dr. P.L. Kapur Memorial Award in the Department of Physics. He played a significant role in the formation of the IITD Alumni Association and especially the concept of automatic membership of every graduating student through the IIT fee structure.

While at the IIT, he played a leading role in the establishment of several Extra Curricular Activities – notably the student publications; the Film club; the free discussion group etc. – and was the first General Secretary of the ECA – the forerunner of today’s student organizations

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi received his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from IIT, Delhi in 1990. He completed his MBA from Columbia Business School, New York, NY in 1994.

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi is presently Vice President and Head of Transformation Services, EXL Service. He is also the Founder and Managing Principal of Management Consulting and Outsourcing firm –Inductis, which is now a part of EXL Service. He has been responsible for setting the firm’s direction, sustaining a winning culture and developing new business opportunities since the year 2000. Inductis, since then, with its unique mix of world-class business consulting and state-of-the-science analytical capabilities & infrastructure has been helping diversified financial services companies in the areas of marketing optimization and risk management.

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi has been advising Fortune 100 clients and executives at leading companies about high-end analytics, outsourcing, marketing strategy and technology for more than a decade. Prior to founding Inductis, he was partner at the Mitchell Madison Group (MMG), an eminent global strategy consulting firm. He was the leader of MMG’s Pricing and Product Design Practice and co-leader of the eCommerce Practice.

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi is Charter Member of TiE, an organization focused on nurturing entrepreneurship and a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). Mr. Tyagi has been named a 2006 Forty Under 40 Award recipient in New Jersey.

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi is an active member of IIT Delhi alumni. He has served as a Vice Chairman and Board Member of IIT Delhi Excellence Foundation—an organization that works to support the development of IIT Delhi into a world-class institution.

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi is based in New Delhi, where he lives with his wife, Anupama, and two children Anand and Khushi.

4. Convocation 2007

Convocation 2007

The 38th Annual Convocation of the Institute was held on Saturday, the August 11, 2007 at 9.00 A.M. in the Dogra Hall. Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, was the Chief Guest and he delivered the Convocation Address. Prof. V.S. Ramamurthy, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Delhi presided over the function. A report on the Institute's major activities and achievements

made since last convocation, was presented by the Director, Prof. Surendra Prasad.

At this convocation 1380 students were awarded Ph.D., M.Tech., MBA, DIIT, M.Sc., M.Des., M.S.(Res.) and B.Tech. Degrees. Of these 911 students received post-graduate and 469 undergraduate degrees as per following details:

Degrees Awarded

B.Tech. 357

M.Sc. 70

D.I.I.T. 18

5-year Integrated M.Tech. in Maths.& Computing 26

5-year Dual Deg. Prog. (M.Tech. & B.Tech.) 86

M.Tech. 603

M.Des. 20

M.S. (Research) 5

M.B.A. 55

Ph.D. 140

Total 1380

In addition, 84 of the graduating students received the Awards/Medals/Cash Prizes for their special achievements.

This year's President's Gold Medal and Director's Gold Medal were awarded to Rahul Garg and Shashwat Sehgal, both from Computer Science & Engineering, respectively.

At this convocation, the Institute also conferred the Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) on Prof. U.R. Rao, Chairman of the Governing Council of Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad and an internationally renowned space scientist who has made original contributions to the development of space technology and its extensive application to communications and remote sensing of natural resources.

This year's Distinguished Alumni Awards were conferred on Mr. Sanjay Khosla - a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering 1973 batch student and presently President, Kraft International of Kraft Foods, Inc., Chicago; Prof. Mohit Randeria - a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering, 1980 batch student and presently, Professor of Physics, Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; and Dr. Rajiv Laroia - a B.Tech. Electrical Engineering 1985 batch student and presently, Senior Vice President of Technology at Qualcomm, USA in recognition of their outstanding contributions made by them in their respective areas/fields.

The Institute also conferred the Distinguished Alumni Service Award on Mr. Lalit Mehra - a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering 1966 batch student and presently, Chairman of Tara Vati Ram Gopal Mehra Foundation and Mr. Sandeep Tyagi - a B.Tech. in Computer Science 1990 batch student and presently, Vice-President, and Head of Transformation Services, EXL Service. In recognition of their significant efforts and contributions made by them for the development and progress of the Institute.

Delivering the convocation address, Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia stated that this institution has built an Indian brand name which is recognised around the world. The IITs stand out as outstanding examples of institutions providing top quality engineering education at the undergraduate level, not only in India but around the world figuring regularly in global lists of the top 200 universities. Shri Ahluwalia added that you are fortunate to be entering your working life at a time when India seems well on the way to occupying her rightful place in the world. This transformation, which has now begun, will play itself out over the next two or three decades. Your generation will benefit from it enormously. I have no doubt you will see much more rapid

change than our generation did, and you will find it both exciting and challenging. The first is pace of growth, the second pace of technology change, and the third globalisation. The three are closely interrelated and mutually reinforcing. As far as pace of growth is concerned, the economy is growing at about 9% and with the right economic policies we can maintain that growth rate, and perhaps even improve upon it, over the next twenty years. With population growing more slowly at 1.5% and also decelerating, it means our per capita income will grow at 7.5% or a little more. At that rate, per capita income will double in 9 years, he said. The second reason for rapid change is that technology is changing much faster. That is certainly true in the area of information and communication technology. The IT and communications revolution has changed the way people organise their lives and their businesses. It has created new businesses which could

not exist earlier. And yet, it is remarkable how recently and rapidly this has happened.

In his address, he also mentioned that the Indian educational system is at cross roads. I look at it as the age-old conflict of quantity versus quality. With a billion plus population with more than one fifth of them in an age group to be educated, quantity is a social responsibility. On the other hand, in the globalized world of today on the threshold of a knowledge era, quality education is a necessity. The challenge is on reconciling quantity with quality. The challenge is not only to the educators but to all- the government, the ducationists and the community as a whole.

Welcoming the Chief Guest, Prof. Ramamurthy stated that Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and a well known economist of international standing, has been intimately connected with the Indian economy for nearly three decades. Resurgent India will

remember him as the midwife of the Indian economic reforms of the nineties that laid the foundation stone for what we are seeing in the marketplace today.

On this occation, Prof. Surendra Prasad, Director, presented a brief report and highlighted the activities, achievements and future plans of the Institute. Prof. Prasad informed that in a recent survey conducted by the INDIA TODAY, IIT Delhi was ranked at No. 2 among the top engineering colleges in India. He stated that IIT Delhi is committed to provide excellent human resource to meet national needs and global expectations. It is a unique institution and a dream destination for those who wish to be leaders in the technology areas and management. IIT Delhi is internationally recognised for delivering excellent education at UG level. It is our constant endeavour to do well in carrying out innovative research & development activities as well.

Appreciating the efforts and contributions made by its alumni, he stated that our alumni have extended significant support to the Institute for its academic and research programmes by way of instituting chairs in various fields at the Institute. As on date, 30 Chairs are in operation at the Institute. The Institute has been actively involved in collaborative programmes with national and international organizations/ universities to remain at the forefront in scientific and technological development and to share the knowledge for mutual benefits. IIT Delhi has currently 49 MoUs/Agreements with Foreign Institutions/Organizations and 37 MoUs/ Agreements with Indian Institutions/Organizations. The main objectives of collaboration include exchange of students and faculty, joint research, and fellowships for training and research at doctoral and post-doctoral levels, he said. Recognising the efforts and contributions made by the faculty

of the institute, he said, the quality of an academic institution largely depends on the faculty. Our Faculty is one of the finest in the country and is recognized internationally for their quality of research. They contribute a lot for the development of the nation by being associated with a large number of decisionmaking bodies in providing advice on policy matters and technical issues. Many of our faculty members serve on the editorial Boards of reputed journals, review papers for publications, serve on committees for recruitment of professionals, and are on the Boards of many institutions and organizations. Several faculty members have been bestowed with honours/awards and elected as fellows of several professional national/international bodies. Our academic programmes cover a wide range of science and engineering disciplines. In B.Tech. Programmes, for which the entry is through the Joint Entrance Examination, we have steadily increased our intake and during the year 2006-2007, 2265 UG students were on roll. The enrolment of postgraduate students during the year 2006-2007 was 2666. These figures

include 767 women students. There were 20 foreign students from 9 countries pursuing undergraduate/postgraduate education at the Institute. In order to make IIT Delhi more

international in character and to make better use of international intellectual resources, we are constantly working towards increasing the strength of international students and faculty in the campus, he said.

He informed the gathering that in order to motivate the students, the Institute has instituted a scheme for grant of partial financial assistance to Ph.D., M.Tech., M.Des., M.S. (R) and MBA students and post-doctoral fellows working in various projects for attending international conferences. Under this scheme, a grant of Rs.20,000/- is given to the selected student as partial financial assistance and during the year, a total of 46 students have been given this grant. It is proposed to increase this number to 80 during the current year. With regard to the sponsored research and consultancy activities of the Institute, he reported that the Institute accords importance to research and development projects sponsored by various agencies and industry. During the year 92 Sponsored Research Projects with a total funding of Rs. 38.82 crores were undertaken. Consultancy assignments worth Rs. 16.55 crores were undertaken at the Institute during the year. These include 816 Consultancy Jobs worth Rs. 12.71 crores undertaken by

IRD, 45 Technology Development Projects / Contract Research Projects worth Rs. 3.26 crores undertaken by FITT and 15 HRD Programmes with a value of Rs. 57.56 lacs organized by FITT. He further added that to remain in the forefront on the scientific and technology development and to share the experience and knowledge, the Institute is actively involved in colla-borative programmes with international organizations/universities. A large number of collaborative Research Projects are under operation with Institutes/Organisations of Belgium, European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and USA. Major research project activities have also been undertaken in the areas of national importance. Emphasising the need for practical training of students and later their placement, he said “Training & Placement is an important activity of the Institute. The T&P Unit is mainly

responsible for arranging practical training of the undergraduate students to meet their degree requirement and to provide world class job opportunities to undergraduate and postgraduate students after graduation for suitable jobs in the industry and various private and public sector organizations. During the year under report, the T&P Unit invited Senior Executives of major industries / organizations to give preplacement talks to the students at the Campus which helped them acquire better knowledge about various organizations prior to the commencement of campus interviews. During the report period, 275 campus / local interviews were organized as a result of which 873 students were placed.” One of the important tasks taken up by us at IIT Delhi in the last one year was to set up clear goals for taking the Institute to the next higher level in the next 5 years, together with a road-map to meet these goals. The entire Institute, and the Deans and Deputy Directors have collectively participated in this effort and we are determined that through these efforts, IIT Delhi will make a significant movement towards becoming a world-class Institution of higher education and research. As part of this process, some of the new initiatives taken include the setting up of a School of Biosciences, a facility for nano-fabrication and a facility for micro-engineering and manufacturing, he said.

1. Training Program on Hazardous waste

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to inform you that, FICCI with the support of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, is organizing a Training Program on Legislation on the Hazardous Waste Management during 24 -25 October 2007 at New Delhi.

This two-day program is designed to provide various techno-managerial aspects relating to the legislation on the Hazardous Waste Management, which includes Environmental Compliance and Legal Aspects, identification and segregation of hazardous waste, its handling and storage aspects, technological options for recycling and reuse, selection of appropriate treatment technologies (waste specific), opportunities for energy recovery, design and construction aspects of secured landfill facility, and measurement & analysis of pollutants from incineration of waste etc.

The technical sessions will be handled by the experts from Regulatory Authorities, Academia, Technology Providers, Consulting Organizations and Industries to share various aspects and experiences on incinerable wastes and incineration technologies.

The target groups are Decision Makers, Operational Heads, Process/ Environmental Managers/ Engineers and all Professionals/Executives dealing with waste management and environmental compliance.

For details click on the link below-http://ficci.com/events/events-ahead/oct07/oct24-Hazardous.htm

I request you to kindly send nominations from your organization to at the earliest. The last date for receiving nomination is 15th
October 2007.

Thanks and Warm Regards

Salil Dutt (IITD)
Deputy Director
Resource Conservation & Management
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)
Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi: 110001, INDIA
Tel : +91-11-23357394 (Direct), 23738760-70 ext 428
Mob : +91-9868485558
Fax : +91-11-23721504, 23320714
Email: salil.dutt@ficci.com / duttsalil@gmail.com

2. Chak De India..

Dear friends,

How about starting a film-club within our NCR East Chapter?

The club will arrange for periodic group viewing of movies for all the interested members.

Any one who would like to take the lead please respond?

We can go out together for 'Chak De India....'

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Regards

Yogesh Andlay

President, IITDAA NCR (E) Chapter

3. Help us updating the database for the Bangalore Chapter of IITDAA

Dear Alumnus,

Greetings from Executive Committee, IITD Alumni Association Bangalore Chapter.

Bangalore Chapter of IIT Delhi Alumni Association is one of most active chapters in India and it organizes regular alumni activities aimed at networking, fun, educating alumni on social and professional aspects like entrepreneurship, innovation etc.

Currently, there is a large number of alumni, who are based in bangalore but are not part of our database.

If you are based out of Bangalore (working or studying in Bangalore) and are not of IIT Delhi Bangalore chapter Yahoo group, please send the following information to naresh.agarwal@gmail.com

1) Name
2) Year of Passing Out
3) Branch
4) Hostel
5) Personal Emal Id
6) Company
7) Contact No. (Optional)

Thanks & Regards,
Naresh Agarwal
Executive Member,
IIT Delhi Alumni Association Bangalore Chapter
Ph. 9342545904

4. IIT Delhi alumnus receives a prestigious award

The ASME International Gas Turbine Institute honored Dr. Om P. Sharma, Ph.D., with the 2007 Aircraft Engine Technology Award in ASME Turbo Expo at Montreal, 14-17 May 2007. Sharma is the chief technology at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

The award is presented in recognition of sustained outstanding creative contributions to the development of improved gas turbine compressor and turbine design practice through

improved physical understanding and modeling of the aerodynamics, heat transfer, and 3-D unsteady-flow effects.

Dr. Sharma joined the P&W Turbo-machinery Technology Group in 1977. He played a key role in developing advanced design concepts and processes in the turbine aerodynamics and heat transfer disciplines, which were utilized in the designs of turbines for the PW2000, V2500, F100-229, PW4000, F119 and JSF engines and the turbo-pumps for the Space Shuttle main engine. His leadership to P& Ws fans and compressor group led to the development of very high efficiency compression system components through the use of 3-D design concepts developed by utilizing multistage CFD codes – components used in today’s PW4000, F119 and F135 engines.

Having been with United Technology Corporation since 1977, with a brief stint with the United Technologies Research Center in 1998, Dr. Sharma supported the development of the PW6000 engine and established the Center for Excellence in Aerodynamics.

Dr. Sharma is an ASME fellow and a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, where he received his Bachelor and Master’s of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. from Birmingham University (UK).

5. Nominations for Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award

Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award was instituted by IIT Kanpur in 2005 to honour the exemplary life and supreme sacrifice of Mr. Satyendra K. Dubey (BT/CE/1994/) an alumnus of IIT Kanpur.

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.

In view of foregoing, you are requested to publicize our request for nominations of this award, through Alumni Associations or other organizations of your esteemed Institution. The nominations should reach us on or before October 20, 2007. For more details please visit http://www.iitkalumni.org/sda/

With regards,

Vinayak Eswaran
Secretary Alumni Association and

Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur, 208016

Ph. No.0512 -259- 4403/4407

06. VIBGYOR - Modern Dance Workshop for Alumni

Dear Friends,

VIBGYOR is a start-up venture in Fine & Performing Arts by our alumnus Ashutosh Matela (B Tech 2005). He is into film making, music, dance etc. He recently conducted a Modern Dance workshop for the general Public on commercial basis & a mini-workshop for EC members to show his skills.

Now, here is an offer from him for a full-scale MODERN DANCE WORKSHOP for the Alumni & families at special discounted rates.

_______________

VIBGYOR , a vibrant burst of color has been delighting the people with the exciting hues of dance since 2005. Celebrating the colorful canvas of the dance, the organization nurtures performers of different ages.

VIBGYOR is dedicated to provide opportunities for complete personality development of the Alumni. To continue with its efforts, VIBGYOR has created a platform through which we as a group are looking at delivering world class services to the IITD Alumni, be it any recreation activity or a team building exercises.

The Dance Workshop HUM TUM will consist of :

Forms of Dances : SALSA & WALTZ.

Venue: ISC Room , Students' Activity Center (SAC), IIT Delhi

No. of People : Minimum 5 couples, Maximum 10 couples

Dates and Timings : to be decided as per mutual convenience. Tentative start 6th Oct

CHARGES : We have 2 options:

A. 8 Days Workshop (12 hrs): Further divided into: Two Days / Week and 1.5 Hrs per class.

Charges: 2, 000 per couple for the whole session.

B. 15 Days Workshop (22.5 hrs): Further Divided into: Three Days / Week and 1.5 Hr per class. Charges: 3,500 per couple for the whole session.

Registration is on but would be closed as soon as the first batch is complete - so you need to hurry.

Best Regards,

Deepti Mehra Chandra K Jain
Manager – Corporate Relations EC Member
VIBGYOR – Discover Ur Own Color. IITD Alumni Association

Mobile No. 98113 10135 93124 39464

For queries write at roosi.at.vibgyor@gmail.com