IIT Madras Celebrates 60th Institute Day

By India Education Diary Bureau Admin Last updated Apr 28, 2020

Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) celebrated its’ 60th Institute Day today (22nd April 2019). In the last six decades, the Institute has achieved many milestones and contributed immensely to the technological, societal, and economic development of the country and imparted a major boost to the entrepreneurial aspirations of the youngsters through its IIT Madras Incubation Cell.

The most significant achievement in the Diamond Jubilee Year is that the Institute bagged top honours in National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) 2019 and the very first edition of Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA), announced on 8th April 2019, by the Hon’ble President of India Shri. Ram Nath Kovind.

IIT Madras was ranked as the ‘Best Educational Institution’ in the country in Overall category and was declared No.1 in Engineering Institutions category for the fourth consecutive year. The Institute also emerged as the ‘Top innovative Institution’ in the category of Govt. institutions, in the maiden edition of ARIIA, launched by the Innovation Cell of MHRD in 2018.

Addressing the event, the Chief Guest Mr. V. Shankar, Founder, CAMS Pvt Ltd, and a Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Madras, said, “Let me say the three things that I believe each of you should remember and concentrate on as you start to build your professional careers. First, in any professional capacity, be the change that you want to see. Do not settle for a status quo that you disagree with simply because it is challenging to take a contrary view. You have had the best of training in both academics and values and it would only be right to put them to good use.”

Continuing, Mr. Shankar said, “Second, actively build your personal brand to be in sync with your own core values and ethicality. Use every opportunity you get to talk about these values and how they are helping you build yourself. Let the world know you as a person with character and a mission. Lastly, whether as a passion or as a lifestyle, whether on your own or within the umbrella of a larger institution, at any stage in life, do experiment with entrepreneurship. There is nothing more exciting or transformative, and I would hate for people of your background and capability to not give it a shot.”

Further, Mr. Shankar said, “I would like to close by saying that each one of us – students, faculty, staff, alumni – are the reason that IIT Madras has built the brand that it has. I would request – indeed urge – all stakeholders to work towards elevating the brand of IITM so that we start figuring not only in National rankings but also in global rankings.”

The Institute Day is an occasion to recognize the achievements of students, faculty and staff who have excelled in their endeavours and who are at the core of the accolades earned by the Institute. The day is crowned by the recognition bestowed on a select few of the illustrious alumni.

These Distinguished Alumni, again numbering twelve this year, have carved out a name for themselves in Academia and Industry with their commendable contributions, made their mark as entrepreneurs or developed key technologies for the welfare of the masses.

Delivering the Presidential address, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The accolades showered on the Institute are the direct result of meticulous implementation of our decadal Strategic Plan, which clearly lays out our targets in teaching, research, industry collaboration, international linkages, incubation, infrastructure, student welfare and alumni engagement”

The Institute Research and Development Awards (IRDA) for faculty members to encourage excellence in research were given on the occasion under two categories. The Early Career Research and Development Awards, carrying a research grant of Rs 25 lakh, were presented to four young faculty members while the Mid-Career Research and Development Awards, carrying a grant of Rs. 40 lakh, were presented to two young professors. The Srimathi Marti Annapurna Gurunath Award honoured a faculty member for excellence in teaching. Six staff members of the Institute were also recognised for their outstanding contributions.

The ‘Extra Mural Lecture’ (EML) Yearbook, a book containing activities of previous year along with the personalized messages of distinguished speakers who were invited as part of EML (a student managed group organizing lectures on various topics) was also released by the dignitaries.

The Institute Day function was attended by students, staff and faculty members of IIT Madras as well as a large number of alumni both from India and abroad. The event moreover, included presentation on students’ activities and accomplishments, introduction of new Executive Wing, presentation of credentials to the outgoing wing, presentation of Institute Blues, and giving away of mementos to the outgoing Institute officials, among other activities. The entire event was live webcast, this year. The function was followed by a Graduands Dinner to bid farewell to the outgoing students and scholars of the Institute

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARDEES 2019

S.No

S/Sri

Name

Batch

Designation

Puttige Ramadas

1970/M.Tech/ME

Managing Director
Ace Manufacturing Systems Limited

Harcharan Singh

1970/B.Tech/MT

President and CEO
Glopec International Inc

Cherukuri Murali Krishna

1984/Ph.D/Phy

Head, Biophysics Section
Radiation Biology Branch

Kanniks Kannikeswaran

1984/B.Tech/MT

Founder
American School of Indian Art (ASIA)

Prof

Srinivas Devadas

1985/B.Tech/EE

Edwin Sibley Webster Professor,
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, USA

Vivek Sankaran

1985/B.Tech/ME

President & COO
Frito-Lay North America, PepsiCo, Inc.

Prof

Kaushik Bhattacharya

1986/B.Tech/ME

Howell N. Tyson Sr. Professor of Mechanics and
Professor of Materials Science,
and Vice Provost( Research)
California Institute of Technology

Swaminathan Sivakumar

1987/B.Tech/EE

Intel Senior Fellow, Technology and Manufacturing Group Director of Lithography, Portland Technology Development
Intel Corporation

G. Ayyappan

1988/M.Tech/ME

Programme Director (Space Transportation Systems),
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

Prof

Srinivas Peeta

1988/B.Tech/CE

Frederick R. Dickerson Chair and Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Ashish Dikshit

1990/B.Tech/EE

Managing Director
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited

Parthasarathy Ranganathan

1994/B.Tech/EE

Google Distinguished Engineer