IIT Bombay celebrates 63rd foundation day, honours faculty members, alumni

Mumbai: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay celebrated its 63rd Foundation Day today, March 10, 2022, by honouring the contributions of its faculty members as well as alumni who have contributed eminently and made their mark in their chosen fields of profession. The Foundation Day ceremony started with a welcome address by the Director of IIT Bombay Subhasis Chaudhuri.

In his welcome address, Chaudhuri highlighted the key milestones achieved by the Institute in the past 63 years. Chaudhuri said, “The path to glory of an Institute is through the hardwork and dedication of its faculty, staff and students, but the signs of glory are the achievements of its alumni. We are delighted at the success of our alumni”.

The Institute honoured its select alumni for their achievements in diverse fields ranging from academics, research and entrepreneurship.

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The 'Prof. S.C. Bhattacharya Award for Excellence in Research in Pure Sciences' was conferred on Jugal K Verma, Department of Mathematics, for his research in investigating the algebraic structures attached to points of algebraic varieties such as curves and surfaces defined by polynomials. These investigations are useful to understand their geometric properties.

The 'Prof. H.H. Mathur Award for Excellence in Research in Applied Sciences’ was conferred on Jayesh Bellare, Department of Chemical Engineering, for developing cryoelectron microscopy techniques and novel nanostructured materials for biomedical devices, including resorbable implants for regenerative medicine, and establishing their utility by first-in-human clinical trials.

The chief guest of the function Anil Kakodkar, chancellor, Homi Bhabha National Institute, and Chairman, Rajeev Gandhi Science and Technology Commission, and Member, Atomic Energy Commission, in his address said, "...in context with the current scenario in the country about the education and its role in national development, Institutions like IIT Bombay and Higher learning institutions at the apex level must be a kind of mini environment that represents the best that you want to see in the country”.

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“We also need to focus on bridging the gap between India and most advanced countries as well as bridging the gap between the divides in the country, because while the country's economy is growing, the disparity is also growing equally fast. I think it is reaching alarming levels. So while we talk about technology at its highest level, we also should also talk about leveraging knowledge and technology to bridge the divides that exist within the country-- rich-poor, urban-rural, and bridging that gap is equally important”, he added.

IIT Bombay Foundation Day: List of awardees

The Institute recognised select alumni of IIT Bombay, who have excelled in their field of work and made the Institute proud with the Distinguished Alumnus Awards (DAA). The awardees this year include.

• Hari Mohan Bangur
• Chandrasekhar Narayanaswami
• Harmit Singh Malik
• Vasant Vasant Limaye
• Sharada Srinivasan
• Keshab Panda
• Rammohan Varadarajan
• Rajeev Rastogi
• Munish Moudgil
• Vijay Iyengar
• Navakanta Bhat
• Suhas Narayan Mehta
• Premnath Venugopalan

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“The Institute also conferred the Young Alumni Achiever Awards (YAAA), which are intended to recognize the contributions of the alumni who have made outstanding achievements in their chosen field of work and are below 40 years of age,” IIT Bombay said.