IIT Madras celebrates 63rd institute day; confers awards to students, faculty, alumni

CHENNAI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) celebrated its 63rd Institute Day on April 26, 2022. N Lakshmi Narayanan, former vice chairman, Cognizant Technologies, was the chief guest.

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IIT Madras has achieved many milestones in the past six decades and has contributed immensely to the technological, economical, and societal development of the nation.

Addressing the Institute Day celebrations, Lakshmi Narayanan said, “IIT Madras has created innovative platforms like NPTEL that are benefiting the community. The Institute has also pioneered upskilling of virtual education and has introduced a virtual BSc degree programme on Programming and Data Science. The IIT Madras Research Park is also doing exceptional work in fostering an innovative ecosystem. So, it is a great pride to be part of the Institution Day Celebrations of IIT Madras.”

Further, Lakshmi Narayanan, said, “Collaborative Research between industry and academia which can result in phenomenal outcomes is the need of the hour.”

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IIT Madras confers awards to faculty, alumni

He also bestowed ‘Institute Research and Development Awards’ to junior-level and mid-career faculty members. He presented the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ to Bhaskar Ramamurthi, former Director, and professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras.

It was during Bhaskar Ramamurthi’s tenure as the IIT Madras director that the institution topped in several national-level rankings. Under his leadership, IIT Madras was also selected as an ‘Institution of Eminence’ in 2019.

Bhaskar Ramamurthi oversaw a rapid expansion of Campus infrastructure including the launching of a Rs 1,000-crore satellite campus called ‘Discovery Campus’ to accommodate the increase in research requirements. “Furthermore, he has been instrumental in the development of indigenous 5G standards for India,” the institute said.

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During the occasion, the IIT Madras also recognized the achievements of students and faculty members who have excelled in their endeavors. The names of 22 alumni, who were selected for Distinguished Alumnus Awards (DAAs) for 2020 and 2021, were also announced.

‘Extra Mural Lecture (EML)’ Yearbook, a book containing activities of the previous year along with the personalised messages of speakers, was also released by the dignitaries.

IIT Madras said, “Most remarkably, IIT Madras once again swept the top honours in National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF), Ministry of Education, Government of India. It is the number 1 institute in both ‘Overall’ category for three consecutive years and number 1 in ‘Engineering’ Category for six consecutive years from 2016 to 2021 in the said Rankings. In the recently-added category of 'Research Institutions' in 2021, IIT Madras was ranked Number 2 in the country.”

Moreover, the Institute was adjudged the 'Top Innovative Institution ' in the country in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovative Achievements (ARIIA) in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

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Delivering the presidential address, IIT Madras director V Kamakoti said, “I am very happy to announce that the pandemic did not stop IIT Madras from its growth - be it the number of research, consultancy and Corporate Social Responsibility projects that were executed; the placements and internships, as well as the number of patents that have been filed. The IIT Madras Alumni have supported the Institute tremendously- including the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Research Centre funded by Kris Gopalakrishnan and Sudha Gopalakrishnan; Prof Sastri Vedula chair setup by Shri Yashpal Sodhi; Rohini and Nandan Nilekani Centre for Indian Languages; MPhasis Centre for Quantum Computing; Kotak-IITM Save Energy Mission; Aquamap Centre for Water Management; and socially relevant project funded by CapGemini, and Powergrid Corporation of India who are providing sponsorship for students from economically weaker section, among others. I thank everyone who has been responsible for this growth.”