Illustrious alumni recognized as IIT Kanpur hosts 62nd Foundation Day in hybrid mode

Kanpur: On the occasion of its 62nd Foundation Day, IIT Kanpur recognized its illustrious alumni and fellows for their outstanding achievements and contributions in various fields. Held in a hybrid mode in view of the pandemic restrictions, the Foundation Day function was presided over by Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of ISRO and presently, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur. The occasion saw 20 awards presented, 16 to esteemed alumni and four to fellows of IITK. The awardees included eminent scientists, industry experts, politician, administrators, and technocrats, most of them pioneers in their respective fields.
Among others, the Distinguished Alumnus Award was conferred to Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw; Mr. Hemant Jalan, MD of IndiGo Paints, Ms. Vartika Shukla, Chairperson and Managing Director, Engineers India Ltd., the first woman executive in the Indian Oil and Gas industry to be bestowed with PETROFED Woman Executive Award; Mr. Mukesh Bansal, CEO and co-founder of CureFit.
This year’s prestigious Satyendra K Dubey Memorial Award was awarded to Mr. Karnal Singh, former Chief of Enforcement Directorate, for his stellar contributions and exemplary service to the nation with integrity in upholding human values while in the IPS.
Other Distinguished Alumnus Awardees included Mr. Rakesh Bhargava, Former Chairman, Fresenius Kabi Oncology Ltd.; Mr. Saurabh Chandra, Director and Chairman, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd.; Mr. Rahul Garg, Founder and CEO, Moglix; Prof. Rajesh Kumar Gupta, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, USA; Prof. Vijay Vittal, Regents Professor, Arizona State University, USA; Prof. Abhay Lalit Deshpande, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, USA; Dr. Dev Joneja, Chief Risk Officer, Exodus Point Capital Management, USA.
Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur said, “The pandemic saw the IITK fraternity coming together to support India and the world in the battle against the novel coronavirus. The IITK family rose to the occasion, providing solutions and services to overcome the challenges. As the world enters a ‘new normal’, we felt it appropriate to celebrate the Foundation Day of our ‘alma mater’ through the hybrid mode. Our alumni have contributed immensely at the national ,and global level. We are proud of their achievements, and this is a moment to celebrate their accomplishments. This occasion is an opportunity for each of us to rededicate ourselves to the ethos of IIT Kanpur.”
The Distinguished Services awards were presented to Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, COO & Co-founder, Glad Minds, for his stellar contribution in facilitating alumni connect and major fundraising efforts of IIT Kanpur. Along with him, the award was also conferred to Mr. Kushal Sacheti, Founder & CEO, Galaxy USA Inc., for his contribution to IIT Kanpur as a goodwill ambassador. The Young Alumnus Award was given to Dr. Prateek Jain, Senior Research Staff, Google AI, Bengaluru; and Mr. Varun Khaitan, COO and Co-founder, Urban Company.
Mr. Jagjeet Singh Bindra, Member of the Board of Directors, LyondellBasell Industries N.V. & HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd.; Prof. Gautam Biswas, Emeritus Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur; Prof. Santosh K. Gupta, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Petroleum and Engineering Studies (UPES), Dehradun; and Prof. Alak Kumar Majumdar, Former Professor, Department of Physics, IIT Kanpur, were the Institute Fellows awardees for this year.
On this special occasion, IIT Kanpur also formally launched two major centres of research and learning – ‘Shivani Centre for the Nurture and Re-Integration of Hindi and Other Indian Languages’ at IIT Kanpur and ‘Chandrakanta Kesavan Centre for Energy Policy and Climate Solutions’.
The Shivani Centre is an ambitious initiative set up with the generous donation from the distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur Mr. Muktesh “Mickey” Pant, Founder, Micky and Vinita Charitable Foundation, to gradually integrate students from Hindi and other Indian Language backgrounds with socio-academic milieu of the institute. The Centre will also facilitate the creation of academic resources (STEM content, textbooks, references, digital tools) in languages other than English and will enable dissemination of technological tools to increase the ease-of-use for Hindi and other Indian Languages (OILs) on digital platforms.
The ‘Chandrakanta Kesavan Centre for Energy Policy and Climate Solutions’ set up with the generous contribution from the distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur Mr. Sudhakar Kesavan, former Chairman and CEO of ICF International Inc., will help India in developing, adapting, and implementing technologies to reduce emissions and grow sustainably, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.