Dear Alumnus/ Alumna,

(TAKE THE IITM ALUMNI SURVEY 2015: http://tinyurl.com/IITM2015AS)

There were five Events on campus on Friday and Saturday, April 17-18, that were of great significance to alumni.

On Friday, during our 56th “Institute Day”, 8 Distinguished Alumni Awards were conferred—to: (1) Dr. Prakash Keshaviah [1967/BT-ME), (2) Shri Lalit Mahajan [1968/BT-CH] (3) Dr. Krishna Chivukula [1970/MT-AE], (4) Dr. S. Ramakrishnan [1972/MT-AE], (5) Shri Sekhar Vasan [1975/BT-MT], (6) Shri Ajita Rajendra [1976/BT-CH], (7) Dr. Arumugam Manthiram [1981/Ph.D.-CHY), and (8) Dr. Krishna Bharat [1991/BT-CS]. Dr. Periannan Kuppusamy [1985/Ph.D.-CHY) had received his DA Award earlier in the year, and Dr. R. Srikant [1985/BT-EE] will likely be receiving his in July on “Alumni Day”. Here are some photos from the function: http://acr.iitm.ac.in/gallery/photo-gallery/?album=1&gallery=55

Also at the function, the “Excellence-in-Teaching” award sponsored by our alum, Prof. Marti Subrahmanyam, was conferred on Dr. David Koilpillai [1985/BT-EE], Professor in EE. Previous recipients of this Award are: Profs. Krishnaiah (CH), C Balaji (ME) and Devdas Menon (CE), all very popular & effective teachers indeed.

On Saturday at noon, the “NR Narayana Murthy Distinguished Chair in Computational Brain Research” was launched in the presence of the sponsor, Kris Gopalakrishnan, and Shri Narayana Murthy. Special mention must be made of Shri Narayana Murthy’s commitment to attend the function despite running high fever the day before. Prof. Mriganka Sur (MIT) has been appointed as the first occupant of this Chair. You may recall that the “HN Mahabala Chair” was launched in late 2014, with Dr, Partha Mitra (CSHL) being the first occupant. Here are some photos from the occasion: http://acr.iitm.ac.in/gallery/photo-gallery/?album=1&gallery=53. The third Chair? Wait for it….

At 2 pm, the renovated eatery “QUARK” was launched, thanks to the generosity of the ’73 batch of alumni. The Director threw open the facility in the presence of many ’83 alums. The facility is superb, naturally ventilated and lighted, with wide open spaces on the Ground Floor and First Floor. All were impressed by the look & feel of “QUARK”, which is sure to be a popular meeting & eating place on campus. Take a look for yourself: http://acr.iitm.ac.in/gallery/photo-gallery/?album=1&gallery=51

The “IIT Madras Space Centre”, funded by our 2015 DA, Dr. Krishna Chivukula, was inaugurated at 3 pm in the Basement of CEC. Profs. David Koilpillai and Hari Ramachandran, the faculty mentors, and retired Prof. Santhakumar, Project Advisor, were present, along with the large team of students (& recent alumni) involved. A cleanroom has been built to assemble the components of the “IITM Satellite” which will carry a unique payload of “earthshaking” proportions. More at a suitable time….http://acr.iitm.ac.in/gallery/photo-gallery/?album=1&gallery=54

The day climaxed in our first-ever reception for India-based large donors. Attended by more than 25 donors, as well as DAs, alumni volunteers, Staff of our Office, and students active in alumni relations, Director, Deans, Registrar and a few IITM faculty, the dinner was a huge success. Mementos were handed to those who had given back to their alma mater, and the recognition appeared to please them no end. The acceptance speeches echoed the theme of kinship with the Institute, and camaraderie with one another. A memorable gathering indeed….http://acr.iitm.ac.in/gallery/photo-gallery/?album=1&gallery=52

These Events on campus reinforce the closeness that our alumni feel with their alma mater, and we will do everything within our power to enhance this very special relationship.