Dear Alumnus/ Alumna,
2014 is a special year for IITM—our first Golden Reunion of graduands! The ’64 & ’65 batches both graduated 50 years ago, and are planning to celebrate together. In the spirit of the occasion, this year’s “Alumni Day”, on July 19th (day after Convocation), is themed “Kal, AajaurKal”, and celebrates the Institute’s growth & future. Mark your calendars, and plan to attend the program on the day, at IC & SR Auditorium on campus.
Campus history will be celebrated via a film screening and presentations by Prof. AjitKolar (faculty-in-charge of the Heritage Center) and KumaranSathasivan, alum & co-author of the IITM Coffee Table book, “CampasChimes”. The present, with its focus on transformative research, will be showcased through faculty presentations—on topics ranging from MOOCs to Assistive Technologies, from Nano-technology to Preservation of Heritage Structures. The future will become evident as the Director and Deans engage in a panel discussion on “IITM Strategic Plan 2020”. Interspersed will be short talks by Dean, I & AR; President, IITMAA; Student secretary, I & AR; and reps from the 2014 graduating Class. One of this year’s Distinguished Alumnus awardees,Anil Ananthaswamy (BTEE-85), Science Writer &Consultant, “New Scientist” Magazine, Author of “The Edge of Physics”, will be on hand to receive his Award as well. We will serve a sumptuous lunch to all alumni attendees, of course….
Here are some interesting tidbits re IITM & alumni:
Ather Energy is a start-up based in Chennai with a vision to design premium electric two-wheelers for the Indian market. Housed at IIT Madras Research Park, Ather’s young owners, Tarun Mehta &Swapnil Jain, alumni of IITM, want to offer a bike that brings out all the positives of an electric vehicle and matches the performance of gasoline scooters, needs zero maintenance and is topped with premium features not yet available in any Indian scooter.
The Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CSIE @ IITM), sponosred by alumni, recently conducted a five-day Summer Camp on ‘Social Innovation through Technology’ in association with TVS Srinivasan Services Trust, Chennai, at the college campus. The program was designed to promote awareness about the role of technology and entrepreneurship to solve socially relevant issues among students from public schools that have relatively lesser access to technological knowledge. A batch of about 40 students from the government schools of Veppampattu, Melakondiar and Ayathur villages of Thiruvallur District (all in Tamil Nadu) attended the camp.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/edex/Campus-Talk/2014/06/02/article2254518.ece
IIT-Madras graduates have developed technology to automate the overhead electric line inspection system of Railways, an area where the Railways still depends on manual labor, which not only involves a large workforce but is also time-consuming. This development involves an infrared-based depth sensor technology to automate the overhead electric line inspection system with minimal human intervention.
KedarKulkarni, the leader of the group, says the technology involves a camera installed in front of the pantograph and linked to a computer in the inspection car that would process the data of the overhead electric line. The processed data would be stored on the cloud and could be instantly accessed by the concerned officials.
The alma mater and her alumni continue to do the nation proud. Stay tuned for more….