Dear Alumnus/ Alumna, 

This is Nagarajan (BTCH-81), Dean, International & alumni Relations at IIT Madras, and this is the 5th in my sequence of weekly messages. I trust you find these interesting. Do drop a line & let me know.

I’m happy to announce the launch of a mobile app to keep our alumni engaged with one another & with the alma mater. The mobile app is available for download in Google Playstore and App Store on iTunes. Please register yourself here http://www.iitmaa.org/index.php?option=com_newregister. Android link to download the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.iitm.alumni
Apple Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iitm/id633128159?mt=8

I’m also happy to announce the launch of an I&AR Quarterly Magazine to highlight the role our alumni play, and to view their contributions as seen through the eyes of our campus residents and students. We had announced a competition and asked our students to write about the impact of alumni-sponsored projects. Everyu quarter, we will present one as “A Winning Story”. This first edition is about the “IITM Satellite Project”, and the article was contributed by Anup Pydah, Murali Krishna Karnam, and William K. Moses Jr.:
http://acr.iitm.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Quarterly_Newsletter.swf

Non-academic Staff have always been a key, though under-appreciated, ingredient in the IITM ecosystem. To encourage excellent service rendered to the Institute by them, an “Outstanding Service Award” has been introduced from this year. The following employees are the winners of the Awards in 2014: Shri. S. Gopalan (Office of Dean- Academic Research), Smt. M.R. Nirmala (Office of the Registrar), Shri. T. Veldhas (Security Section), Dr. C. Baby (Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility), C. Rajendran (EE) and R. Murali ((CE). The awards will be given on the 55th Institute Day function to be held on 17th April 2014 (Thursday) at 4.00 pm in the SAC auditorium.

IIT-Madras has a focus on research into sustainable solutions in areas of energy, land use, water and waste management. As part of this, IITM’s Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS) entered into a partnership on Friday, April 11, with German firm Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) to work out a solution for sustainable power engineering. Another important industrial visitor to campus was Technip, with our alum, K Shanker leading the way. Technip is keen on a broad-based engagement with IITM on several research fronts.

The week saw two outstanding lectures on campus. Monishi Sanyal, BTME-70, gave a talk in his inimitable style on “Life after IITM” to a packed audience on Tuesday. The screening of the 10-year old “60 Minutes” segment on IITs, which led to the birth of the IIT brand in North America, was well-received, coming as a revelation to the present generation of students who take global recognition of the IIT brand for granted. On Friday, Padma Shri Dr. Mukesh Batra gave a talk on the transformation of homeopathy into an alternative system of medicine. Even the sceptics in the audience appreciated his emphasis on leadership traits in building an enterprise.

During the week, I conducted our 1st Quarterly review of activities & results in International Relations, Alumni Relations and Fund-Raising. While all are in good health, several opportunities for operational improvements were identified, and will be implemented in 2Q14. The week concluded with “Willkommen!”, a function organized by IITMAAA to welcome new graduands in to the Alumni Association.