The secret of the respectable and commendable success of IIT Kanpur lies in the devotion and fervor with which the various departments of Engineering, Sciences, Humanities, Management and Inter-disciplinary fields have pursued excellence in research and teaching. On the occasion of the Institute’s 50th anniversary, each department organized a department day to which ex-faculty and staff members were invited with their families. The good old days were relived and the old bonds of friendship were renewed.

Department of Aerospace Engineering
February 26 - 27, 2010

The Aerospace Engineering Department was the first to celebrate its Department Day. Several lectures, seminars, workshops and competitions were organised. The Chief Guest for the event was Air Marshal B. N. Gokhale who saw active service during the 1971 Indo-Pak hostilities. Currently, he is a consultant to the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and is also the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. He is also a member of the National Security Council.

The event was held in the Outreach Auditorium and began with the traditional ceremony of lighting the lamp by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IITK, Prof. Sudhir Kamle, HOD, Aerospace Department, and Air Marshal B. N. Gokhale. This was followed by the Chief Guest’s lecture titled 'Combat Aerospace Power - Challenges and Opportunities'. The Director was later presented with a scale model of an Air Force fighter aircraft.

The lecture was followed by an Aeromodel R/C Airshow where a hobbyist from Lucknow, Mr. Ravi Gupta, showcased his flying skills for an hour with different models such as a J3 Piper Cub, a Sailplane, a Helicopter, etc. In another lecture in the evening Mr. Prasiddha Nath Dwivedi, a recipient of the DRDO Young Scientist Award (2009) and an alumnus of the Department, spoke about 'Ballistic Missile Defense Programme and Future Challenges'.

Dinner was a big affair held in the SAC grounds for all the participants, students, faculty members, staff and their families. The ex-faculty members, Prof. N. L. Arora, Prof. N. G. R. Iyengar, Prof. C. V. R. Murthy, Prof. V. K. Gupta, Prof. Vijay Gupta and Prof. Krishna Kumar were invited on stage to share some of their memories with the audience.

The next day’s activities included a Boomerang Making workshop conducted by the Students Gymkhana Aero-modeling Club, and Model and Poster Presentation Competitions where 50 students from colleges across India participated. Twelve teams put up their posters in the Outreach Hall of Fame and 16 teams participated in the Model Competition in the Outreach Grounds. The judges included faculty members of the Department and invited guests, Mr. Jamil Parmeswaran and Mr. S. N. Mukherjee. Students from the Department conducted a rolling presentation in the Outreach lobby on all the research activities conducted here.

Another interesting day-long workshop was organized by Mr. Pratham Ambla, India’s only participant and a jury member in International Competitions for Model Rockets. It focused on making a single stage model rocket. In the afternoon, a Boomerang competition was held where the participants competed to achieve the best possible trajectory of their boomerang made during the morning workshop. Later, the main stadium was the launching pad for more than 30 rocket launches where Mr. Pratham Ambla helped the participants to achieve up to 150m altitude with their rockets. Apart from students, Prof. Kamle and Mr. S. N. Mukherjee also took part in the show. During the celebrations, free joy rides on the Motor Glider and the Saratoga 4-seater aircraft were provided to all the participants.

The final lecture was delivered by Mr. Jamil Parmeswaran, an inventor, who spoke on the theme ‘Flight Power simplified - A common man's dream’. He recounted his experiences in designing and building an aircraft completely from his own workshop. He is the only person in India to have achieved the feat and his designs are radically different from any others in the world. His craft is capable of carrying two persons.

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Department of Electrical Engineering
March 13, 2010

The day began with the M. A. Pai distinguished lecture given by Prof. S. S. Prabhu who used his vast experience to paint a broad picture of the impact of revolution in Computing and Communication on Modern Power Systems. This was followed by a lecture by Prof. P. R. K. Rao who is well known not only for his knowledge of electrical engineering but also for his grasp of intricate philosophical concepts. His talk was titled ‘Two cultures and three traditions: Pedagogy, Scholarship and Visibility’. This opportunity was used to showcase the current research scenario within the Department through a poster exhibition by graduate students and a series of eleven presentations by the new faculty members of the Department.

Besides the current faculty members and students, the event was attended by fifteen retired faculty members and a few of them had come with their wives. It provided an excellent opportunity for the young faculty members to interact with their senior colleagues who had helped in laying the foundations of this Institute. The highlight of the day was a fascinating and inspiring account of the formative years of IIT Kanpur and the Department of Electrical Engineering by Prof. K. R. Sarma.

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Department of Physics
March 19 - 20,2010

The Golden Jubilee reunion of the Department of Physics was organized from 19 to 20th of March at the Outreach Auditorium. Fifteen retired faculty members and nearly thirty-five retired staff members (with spouses) from and outside Kanpur visited the campus to participate in the event.

The event started with the welcome note by Prof. V. Ravishankar. Prof. R. K. Thareja, Deputy Director, IIT Kanpur, also extended a hearty welcome to all the distinguished guests. A minute of silence was observed in respectful remembrance of deceased colleague – Prof. S. D. Joglekar. Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur, emphasized the importance of collaborative interdisciplinary research in the future to make a mark in the global academic scenario. Prof. Y. N. Mohapatra highlighted the major changes the Department has seen over the last few decades and also the major challenges it will have to combat in the future.

Every research group of the Department also made a presentation of their research activity. Retired faculty members shared their experiences in teaching and research with the current faculty members. An open forum ‘Attracting talent in Physics’ was also held on 20th March.

The ex-faculty and staff members and other distinguished guests revisited their good old days at IIT Kanpur during the “reminiscence and recollection” session. Prof. V. N. Kulkarni gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the organizing committee.
Besides the committee members who were entrusted with the responsibility of planning and organizing the event, all the faculty and staff members and graduate students of the Department enthusiastically worked in tandem to make it a memorable occasion for the visitors.

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Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering
September 12, 2010

The BSBE Department is the youngest Engineering Department in IIT Kanpur, for it has been only nine years since it was established. As BSBE aspires to contribute to the biomedical needs of the country and the world at large, some very eminent people from this field were invited. These included Prof. D. Balasubramanian, one of the eminent biologists of the country who was also part of the group that envisioned the founding and character of the Department, Prof. Tej P. Singh and Prof. Balram Bhargava of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Prof. Somenath Biswas of CSE Department of IIT Kanpur who was one of the committee members to usher in the BSBE Department, and finally, Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director of IIT Kanpur, in whose tenure the Department was established. The event was attended by a large cross section of the campus community.

Prof. R. Sankararamakrishnan, the Head of the Department, presented the history of the establishment of the Department and highlighted the achievements of the last nine years. The faculty members - Prof. Jonaki Sen, Prof. Balaji Prakash, Prof. Ashok Kumar -summarized the various research activities of the Department.

Later there was a panel discussion moderated by Prof. Pradip Sinha, the founding head of the Department. The panelists stressed the need for the BSBE faculty to forge alliances with the medical community in order to develop solutions for the everyday medical needs of clinicians and patients alike. They were unanimous in their appreciation of what the faculty members had already achieved.

After the departure of the invited guests the annual awards function was held where students of the Department were felicitated for their achievements. In the evening there was an open house for the campus community where the various research activities of the Department were showcased. The visitors were also taken to different laboratories and central facilities of the Department and were eventually guided to the rooftop where a sumptuous tea was laid out!

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Department of Mechanical Engineering
September 18 – 19, 2010

The Mechanical Engineering department day was marked with joy, celebration, close interaction between the past faculty members and the present generation, staff interfacing, nostalgia, introspection and brain storming for chalking out the future directions for the department.

All the former faculty members and retired staff members of the department were invited. They came in large numbers. The day began with a splendid breakfast get-together, which marked the beginning of an emotional home-coming out-burst.

The official program commenced in the forenoon with the opening ceremony and a ‘Gup-Shup’ session. The opening ceremony was uniquely designed for it was presided over by four children sitting on the dais, as guests of honor in a symbolic welcome to the future. The Head, Prof. N. Vyas extended a warm welcome to everyone present and briefly outlined the history of the department. The opening ceremony was conducted by Prof. Bishakh Bhattacharya. Former colleagues and members of the staff reminisced about their experiences in the department, the history of the department, the ups and downs of the past, and wished the department a bright and productive academic future. The strong sense of belonging, the emotional attachment to the Institute and the continued commitment to excellence was very apparent in the eyes of the former colleagues.

A campus tour was organized and while all were impressed by the development and growth of the Institute, some had serious concerns about the environmental quality of the campus and stressed the need for creating more green zones. The tour ended with tree plantation in the green area at the Northern Laboratories.

An Open House was also organized as part of the day’s activities. It was coordinated by Prof. Nachiketa Tiwari. Approximately 300 school children from the city of Kanpur were invited and taken to the different facilities of the department.
The guests along with the campus community also enjoyed a cultural evening in the Outreach Auditorium which was coordinated by Prof. P. Venkitanarayanan and Prof. Sameer Khandekar.

The second day started with a research overview presentation by the Head of the Department, Prof. Vyas. Individual presentations highlighting the ongoing research at the department were then made by the stream conveners: Prof. Sivasambu Mahesh (Solid Mechanics and Design), Prof. Subrata Sarkar (Thermal-Fluid Sciences), Prof. N.V. Reddy (Manufacturing Science) and Prof. Ashish Dutta (Robotics), respectively. A presentation was also made showcasing the singular achievements and progress made by the students in the development of the nano-satellite ‘Jugnu’.

There was also a presentation of the six best BTech Projects. In a discussion on the importance of BTech projects most former faculty colleagues were of the opinion that this course should be retained in the present format as it is a most effective learning tool for BTech student. There was a poster session as well by the graduate students of the department. A main attraction of the day’s program was a panel discussion on ‘Engineering Education - Towards a Branch-less Paradigm’ which generated a great deal of argument and passion.

Two days, 48 hours, the mood was thoroughly nostalgic for some and full of expectations for others - Golden Moments, nevertheless, for one and all!

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Department of Civil Engineering
September 25 – 26, 2010

The Chief Guest of the inaugural function was Prof. M. P. Kapoor, former faculty member of the Department. Prof. Kapoor’s address was followed by the first panel discussion of the day, ‘Challenges, Promising Technologies and Roadmap in CE Research’ which was moderated by Prof. Saumyen Guha. The panelists were Profs. B. R. Marwah, Jyant Kumar, V. S. Murthy and Deepankar Choudhury. This was followed by a nostalgia session where former faculty members and alumni shared their memories. This session was coordinated by Prof. P. K. Basudhar. In the afternoon, there was another panel discussion: ‘Build a Sustainable World - Bridging the Gap between Industry and Academia’. The panelists were Mr. Rahul Thakkar, Prof. Umesh Dayal and Prof. Mukesh Sharma and Prof. Animesh Das was the moderator.

Civil Engineering undergraduate and graduate students also participated in various activities, such as poster and oral presentation sessions of the research activities carried out in the Department. In the evening there was a cultural program which was made memorable by the active participation of the faculty members, their families and students.

The next day students organized a presentation session titled: ‘Next Generation of Civil Engineers’ in which Students from the various groups of the Department talked about their research work, laboratory facilities and other activities carried out by them.

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Department of Chemical Engineering
September 27 - 28, 2010

The Chemical Engineering Department Day program was stretched over 1½ days. There were six sessions: the Inaugural session, the poster session, laboratory visits and a cultural program on the first day; and a panel discussion and reminiscences on the second day.

The inaugural session on 27th September started by observing a minute’s silence in memory of departed colleagues. The inaugural address was given by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, the Director, who spoke about the role played by the Department in its early years as well as its evolution over the years. Prof. Goutam Deo, the Head of the Department gave a power-point presentation detailing the history of the department and its achievements in research and teaching.

The poster session was a major attraction. Twenty posters showcasing the current research of the Department were displayed in the Outreach Building and were manned by students from each group. During the laboratory visits, the guests were taken to see the several laboratories in the Department, spread over three buildings, namely, Northern Lab-II (NL-II), Core Labs and Southern Labs. It was good to see the students taking full advantage of the opportunity to interact with the visitors.

There was a two-hour cultural program in the evening which was organized by the students. Mr. B. K. Shukla, an ex-staff colleague, sang a Ganesh Stuti which was followed by instrumental music, songs and dance performances by ChE students and faculty.

There was a panel discussion the next day on the ‘Changing Face of ChE@IITK’ where Profs. K. S. Gandhi and Raj Ganesh Pala spoke on ChE education and research; Profs. D. N. Saraf and Deepak Kunzru initiated the discussion on sponsored research while Prof. Siddhartha Panda dwelt on industrial experience. The emergence of highly science-based research in Chemical Engineering all over the world was a topic of discussion. There were views for and against this recent development.
The closing session was the proverbial icing on the cake. It was the session on Reminiscences which was attended by 15 ex-faculty members and 28 ex-staff members, along with their families. They narrated their experiences, particularly during the early years of the Institute. This was a delight for the younger faculty members, who got a glimpse of the fledgling days of the department, and how it evolved from being primarily a teaching department to a top-class research department. The pleasures and challenges of living with meager infrastructure were highlighted.

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Department of Chemistry
October 24, 2010

The Chemistry Department celebrated its Department Day on 24th October 2010 and although all retired faculty and staff members were invited to the function well in advance, only four former faculty members and 20 former staff members could make it to the event.

After Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IITK inaugurated the event, Prof. D. N. Dhar (the senior-most retired faculty member of the Department) bestowed blessings upon it. Prof. Manindra Agrawal, who represented the Golden Jubilee Committee, gave brief account of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Institute.

Subsequently, Prof. R. N. Mukherjee, the Head of the Department, made a slide-show presentation that showcased the Department’s evolution from its humble beginnings to its present place. The current research activities and profiles of faculty members of the Department were also presented by him. All undergraduate and post-graduate students actively participated in the event.

After lunch at the Visitors’ Hostel, the session reconvened with a presentation organized by Prof. R. N. Mukherjee and Prof. M. Ranganathan where some of the old photographs, collected from different sources, were shown. Former faculty and staff members reminisced about their stay in the Institute and Prof. Dhar displayed some of the caricatures that he had drawn while he was here.

In the evening, there was cultural program organized by the students and faculty members of the department. This was followed by dinner in the Community Centre.

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
October 22 - 23, 2010

The HSS Department Day was inaugurated on the bright and sunny morning of 22nd October, 2010 by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur. He was joined by Prof. Lilavati Krishnan, Head of the Department, and Prof. Prashant Bagad, the Event Coordinator, in welcoming the guests.

The main events included a symposium entitled ‘The Future of the Humanities and Social Sciences’, an autobiographical session and an interactive session between present and former PhD students and faculty members.

The symposium was coordinated by Prof. Achla M. Raina with the able assistance of research scholars, and with Mr. Niranjan Uppoor and Ms. Smriti Srivastava as the rapporteurs. A panel of six former faculty members presented their views on the envisaged future of Humanities and Social Sciences in the country. The symposium was chaired by Prof. Rajendra Prasad, the founder Head of the Department. The professors who shared their views in the symposium included Prof. Janak Pandey (Psychology), Prof. Kamta Prasad (Economics), Prof. D. N. Dhanagare (Sociology), Prof. P. N. Rastogi (Sociology), Prof. Vinod Jairath (Sociology), Prof. Prema Rajagopalan (Sociology), and Prof. Rajendra Prasad (Philosophy).

Following lunch, an Autobiographical session was held in which former faculty members spoke about their experiences during their stay at IIT Kanpur, and the work they were engaged in since they left the Institute. The session was coordinated by Dr. Praveen Kulshreshtha, with the assistance of Mr. Muneer Babu, a research scholar and was chaired by Prof. Mohini Mullick (Philosophy). What followed was a very interesting combination of nostalgic narratives and a presentation of academic contributions.

The former and the present research scholars shared their experiences in the interactive session,. There were frank comments from some research scholars on the difficulties faced in the PhD program, but also some encouraging words from former research scholars. One former research scholar, Dr. Premlata Varma, pointed out that she realized how much she had learned from the PhD program that had a very significant role to play in her present profession as a teacher. Essentially, it was pointed out that a PhD student might face many problems, but in the end, most students find that going through the program was a worthwhile experience.

The hectic two-day celebrations came to a close` with a short valedictory note in the afternoon of 23rd October 2010.

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Department of Industrial and Management Engineering
October 27, 2010

The morning session of the Department Day of the IME Department began with Prof. N. K. Sharma, Head of the Department, extending a warm welcome to the guests.

This was followed by an interesting presentation by Prof. Sadagopan (ex-faculty member of the IME department), Prof. Ashok K. Mittal and Prof. Kripa Shanker about the history and development of the department starting from an IDP to its present state. The speakers paid rich tributes to Prof. J. L. Batra, the first HOD of IME, who unfortunately passed away in a tragic accident a few years ago, under whose tutelage the IME department took it present shape.

Mr. Ishwar Hemrajini, Mr. Vishwas Deep and Mr. Madhav Negi, alumni of the Department who were present on the occasion, reminisced about their stay at IIT Kanpur and it was good to hear about the camaraderie that existed between the small group of students, the then faculty members and other members of the IME department.

The venue for the afternoon’s program was the newly constructed building of the IME Department. There was a photo session, and an interactive poster session the theme of which was ‘Business in the 21st Century’. There were more than 20 research posters and models displayed; there was also a nice display of old photographs.

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Department of Mathematics and Statistics
October 29 – 31, 2010

The Mathematics and Statistics Department Day celebration was spread over three days. Fifty five delegates attended and actively participated in the various programs associated with the event. The programs included a conference on Advances in Mathematical Sciences, a panel discussion on ‘Teaching and Research Challenges in Mathematical Sciences: An Indian Perspective’, an interaction session between students and the alumni, various cultural programs and other social interaction events.

After the welcome address by Prof. Debasis Kundu, Convenor, Organizing Committee GJDD, a presentation of the Department profile was made by Prof. Neeraj Misra, Head of the Department. This was followed by a presentation of the Research Profile of the Department by Profs. S. Dutta, M. Banerjee, S. Ghorai and S. Mitra. At the conference, fourteen invited speakers presented their research work and spoke about the research challenges in their respective areas.

On the second day of the event, a trip was organized to Bithoor. During the day, there was an interaction session between the present students of the Department and the alumni. A Pandavani performance by Shanti Bai Chelak was held in the evening.
The panel discussion was held on the last day and the panelists included former faculty members, alumni and present students of the Department. In recognition of and gratitude for the dedicated service of the past faculty members of the Department, a felicitation ceremony was organized. All the attending retired faculty members were felicitated with silver plaques. In recognition of their outstanding professional accomplishments, two alumni, Prof. Mihir Banerjee and Prof. Kapil Hari Paranjape were also felicitated. During this occasion, staff members who had retired from the Department were also presented with tokens of appreciation for their service to the Department.

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Department of Computer Science and Engineering
November 1– 2, 2010

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering organized a two-day event called ‘CSE at IIT Kanpur: Past, Present and Future’. All undergraduate and post-graduate alumni and ex-faculty members were invited. The event was inaugurated by Prof. R. K Thareja, Deputy Director of the Institute and the visitors were welcomed by Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Head of the Department. The Chairman of the Organizing Committee Prof. Somenath Biswas acquainted the participants with the programs to be held during the two-day event.

Prof. V. Rajaraman delivered the keynote address on ‘Impact of first two decades of CSE Education, IIT Kanpur on Information Technology in India’ and shared some of his memories and experiences of his days as a faculty member at IITK. During the post-lunch session Prof. Manindra Agrawal delivered a talk titled ‘PRIMES is in P’. The afternoon session of the first day concluded with a panel discussion on ‘The Changing Face of CSE: New Challenges and Expectations for CSE Departments’. The panelists were Prof. Gautam Barua, Director IIT Guwahati; Prof. Pankaj Jalote, Director, IIIT Delhi; Prof. Kesav Nori, Executive Vice President, TCS; and Prof. Rajeev Sangal, Director IIIT Hyderabad. Prof. V. Rajaraman was the moderator.

In the evening, a cultural program was held in the Outreach Auditorium. Students presented a dance performance and songs; Sri Devanand Pathak gave a violin recital; and Ms. Rachna Agrawal organized a Kathak dance performance by campus children. The program was followed by a banquet on the VH lawns.

A trip to Bithoor was organized for the participants during the early hours of the morning of the second day. The day’s formal program began with the address by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director of the Institute. This was followed by an interactive session between the participants and the current faculty members of the Department. The second half of the day comprised talks and presentations by younger faculty members of the Department namely, Profs. Arnab Bhattacharya, Krithika Venkataramani, Satyadev Nandkumar, Subhajit Roy and Amey Karkare who showcased their current work and future research plans. During the concluding session, the alumni shared their experiences and gave valuable suggestions on how the Department can further excel in the areas of research and teaching.

The former faculty members of the CSE Department and its predecessor, the Inter-disciplinary Program in Computer Science, who were present in the Meet were Profs. V. Rajaraman, H. N. Mahabala, R. Sankar, Kesav Nori, V. Vaishnavi, P.C.P. Bhatt, Gautam Barua, Pankaj Jalote and Deepak Gupta. The members of the Organizing Committee of the event were Profs. Somenath Biswas, Manindra Agrawal, Sanjeev K. Aggarwal and Amey Karkare. Ms. Dipanwita Banerjee was the event coordinator. Mr. Purushottam Kar maintained the event website and the event database. Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy took care of all the transport arrangements. Student volunteers of the Association of Computing Activities (ACA) helped in organizing the event and the cultural program.

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Golden Jubilee celebrations for Group ‘B’, ‘C’ & ‘D’ employees
December 3, 2010

Under the auspices of the Institute Services Consultative Committee (ISCC), a day-long function for Groups B, C & D employees was organized. The employees attended in large numbers and shared happy moments in the company of their colleagues. The main attractions were a talk by Shri Neeraj Srivastava, Education Officer, Ministry of Labor, on ‘Capacity Building’, a short film on IIT Kanpur, and a cultural evening.

The event was inaugurated by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IITK, who addressed the audience on the significant role played by the support staff in the betterment and well being of the Institute in its various wings and activities. It was followed by talks by Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Chairman, Golden Jubilee Committee, Shri Sanjeev Kashalkar, Registrar and Shri Arvind Kumar Drave, Administrative Officer.

Many other programs were organized and were enjoyed by the audience. Mementos were also distributed in the closing session

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Department of Materials Science and Engineering
December 19 – 21, 2010

The Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Department Day celebrations was titled “Materials Conclave 2010” and included an alumni meet, a gathering of ex-faculty and staff members, and a conference on current research and trends in Materials Science and Engineering.

Almost all of the ex-faculty and staff members had registered for the event and their support and enthusiasm was evident as some of them arrived as early as two days before the event.

The alumni day began on 19th December with the Chairman, Prof. S. P. Mehrotra’s address followed by a warm welcome from the Head, MSE, Prof. Dipak Mazumdar; the convener served as the master of ceremony. The alumni reminisced about the time they had spent in IIT Kanpur and shared their experiences with the audience. The ex-faculty members also gave suggestions for enhancing the growth and development of the Department along with their critical comments on the name change of the department from Materials and Metallurgical Engineering to Materials Science and Engineering. The day ended with a dinner where alumni, faculty and staff also showed their prowess in non-academic activities like singing, dancing and games.

On the following day, a trip to Bithoor, situated on the banks of the holy Ganges, was organized, and it served as an opportunity for strengthening bonds and developing relationships. The general discussions over a grand lunch varied from Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts to current research in materials to life after graduation. Then followed a Plenary lecture by Prof. J. Narayan on ‘Frontiers in Nanostructured Materials for Next-generation Nanotechnology’ and a panel discussion on the ‘Changing Face of Metallurgy and Materials Science’ where Professors. J. Narayan, V. Jayaram, H. S. Ray and S. P. Mehrotra served as panelists and Prof. E. C. Subbarao as moderator.

The final day was packed with technical talks by invited speakers from all over the world and poster presentations by students. The presentations were evaluated by eminent judges from various domains and the winners were given prizes and certificates. The event concluded with a lab tour for the participants in which the various laboratories in the Department showcased the research being carried out there.

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Laser Technology Program Day
December 30, 2010

The Laser Technology Program (LTP) day celebration on occasion of the Golden Jubilee of IIT Kanpur was a combination of old memories, cheerfulness and future dreams. The entire event was organized in the Outreach Auditorium. The ceremony was graced by the presence of the former faculty members, staffs, present faculty members, staffs and students.

The event started in the morning with the registration process of all the participants. This was followed by inaguration ceremony with lighting the lamps by the Head of the Program, Dr. P. K. Panigrahi, Deputy Director of IITK Dr. R. K. Thareja and the first Head of the Program, Dr. A. S. Parasnis. This was followed by Saraswati Vandana by the students. Subequently, Dr. P. K. Panigrahi welcomed the audience. Dr. R. K. Thareja presented the audience with history of the program. The pace of development of the Laser Technology Programme since its beginning till present was conveyed to audience by Dr. D. Goswami. The departmental brochure was also presented to the audiance. This was followed by high tea session with simultaneous interaction amongst the faculties, staffs, students and guests.

Students of LTP presented their research using poster presentation after the tea break. Subsequently, former faculties delivered their fonding memories. Dr. A. S. Parasnis, one of the forerunners in establishing CELT, enthusiastically expressed his overwhemling joy on the occasion. He shared many of his memories with all and was pleased to see the CELT at its present state. This was followed by Dr. Bisht, Dr. Bansi Lal, Dr. K. V. Rao and Dr. SivaPrakasam who enlightened all with their experiences, valuable suggestions and wished the success of Laser Technology and its students. Former office Staffs also shared their experiences.

There was a special seminar by Dr. J. P. Singh from the Institute for Clean Energy Technology, Mississippi State University, USA after the lunch break. The topic of the seminar was “Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and its application to water and slurry samples”. This lecture was the main attraction of the entire event. There was a departmental photo session and tea break after the seminar. Subsequently, there was a lab visit by the guests to both research labs and the teaching labs.

The evening was full of fun with exciting cultural performances from the students and faculty children. The cultural program was combination of drama, songs, music, classical dances and modern dances At the end, vote of thanks was given by the head, Dr. P. K. Panigrahi.

The day ended with a dinner where all the students, faculty members, guests, staff and their families were invited. The ceremony ended with presentation of momento to guests and staffs.
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ADEX 2011 and Department Day Celebrations of the Design Program
March 5 – 7, 2011

The Department Day celebrations of the Design Program were inaugurated by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IITK. Prof. Dhande said that the need of such a program was strongly felt by the community and it was started in 2002 with the support of the Media Lab of MIT. The Design Program at IIT Kanpur is unique and aspires to develop and provide innovative solutions towards the betterment of society. The methodology adopted to achieve this aim involves encouraging creative minds to think out-of-the-box and synthesize various knowledge domains. The Program has already gained popularity for its broad-minded philosophy and multi-disciplinary approach. Prof. Dhande has proposed a ‘3P’ format (Productize, Practice and Philosophize) for the advancement of the Program. He stressed the need to make viable engineered products, practice the art vigorously and lastly, to philosophize on the art and science of design.

Prof. Bishakh, Head of the Program, welcomed the guests among whom were present former faculty members (Prof. Amit Ray and Prof. Prashant Kumar) and alumni of the program. In his talk he said that the environment at the Design Program encourages inter-disciplinary research and inter-activity among students, faculty and industry. The curriculum, too, lays emphasis on the functional as well as the aesthetic and ergonomic aspects of design.

The Annual Design Exhibition (ADEX) 2011 was one of the main attractions of the celebrations. It was inaugurated by Prof. Gautam Biswas, who is presently the Director of Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur. Prof. Biswas said that Design should be introduced as a minor elective even in the undergraduate program of IIT. Students displayed a large number of developed products and conceptual posters. Looking at the exhibits of ADEX 2011 it was clear that every design project involved research on ergonomic and engineering aspects and an understanding of the user's needs and desires. Engineering and aesthetics need to be effectively merged to develop viable and sustainable products which will add value to the society.

Other programs included a cultural evening with performances in classical music by Mrs. Amarabati Biswas, Mrs. Pragya Khandekar and Shri Laxmi Narayan Tiwari.

On the following day, a panel discussion on the topic ‘Thinking Design’ was held. Prof. Jayanta Chatterjee conducted the discussion. Prof. K. Deb (ME), Prof. S. Iyer (EE), Prof. A. Sharma (ChE) and Prof. N. Tiwari (ME and DP) were the panelists.
Prof. Prashant Kumar, former Head of the Program and an alumnus, gave a brief account of the evolution of the Program. He emphasized that the designer should work as the interface between the user and the engineer. Prof. Amit Ray, also a former Head of the Program and an alumnus, talked about the need of innovation and how innovation could be achieved in design.
A creative design workshop was also held as part of the celebrations for the community and children of IIT Kanpur. The alumni were happy with the Program’s success. Today, the Design Program has about 14 faculty members from various inter-disciplinary branches contributing towards its development. It caters to about 40 students who aspire to the ‘Master of Design’ Degree. In-campus recruitment has been very encouraging over the years with many well known Indian and multi-national companies coming to IIT Kanpur to recruit our best talent.

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