It has been rightly said that the success of an institute can be gauged from the accomplishments of its students. And if one goes by this saying IITK emerges successful. IITK alumni have made remarkable contributions in varied fields across the globe and have fulfilled its mission of striving for excellence. They have played a major role in carrying forward the rich legacy of the Institute and will continue to do so.
To be a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, IITK’s alumni around the world organized four mega-events in the US and in India, a mini event in Japan and several other small alumni meets in Indian cities. The first alumni convention took place at IIT Kanpur in January 2010 with a focus on R&D. It was followed by a convention in Bangalore in June and conventions in the US East and West coast in July 2010.

Nearly 200 graduates of the Institute from around the world participated in the occasion. Many of them were accompanied by their families. The program comprised events such as lectures, talks, presentations, panel discussions, cultural programs and award ceremonies to facilitate distinguished alumni.

The program started with the traditional opening ceremony of lighting the lamp by Prof. R. K. Thareja, Deputy Director, IITK, Prof. Kripa Shanker, Secretary of the Alumni Association of IITK, and Prof. Sameer Khandekar, Treasurer of the Alumni Association. Prof. Thareja welcomed the guests while Prof. Kripa Shanker informed them about the events scheduled for the next two days. Prof. Khandekar anchored the podium and gave a vote of thanks. Prof. R. N. Trivedi (BT/MME/70) spoke on the occasion.

The next day, the IITK@50 award ceremony was held to honor the top 50 alumni achievements in the last 50 yrs. The awardees were elected using electronic voting. The event started with the lighting of the lamp by Mr. Abhay Bhushan (BT/EE/65), the President of IITKAA, and other institute dignitaries. The 14 awardees present at the function were felicitated with citations that were presented to them by the President and Secretary of the Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur.

This was followed by a presentation by Mr. Adarsh Misra, President of the Students’ Gymkhana. The audience then shared the success stories of some IITK alumni. Mr. Shantanu Srivastava (DAA and entrepreneur), Mr. Amithab Thakur (IPS officer), Mr. B. M. L. Jain (entrepreneur), Mr. P. D. Rai (Member of Parliament), Mr. Dharamvir (retired from defense services) and others shared their stories. Former faculty members of IIT Kanpur - Prof. R. N. Biswas and Prof. G. K. Lal interacted with alumni and students. Research presentations were made by the faculty to cover the new initiatives and centers of excellence at IIT Kanpur. These included talks by Prof. N. S. Vyas on the ongoing research in the Institute for developing technologies for railways; Prof. Bikramjit Basu on Biomaterials/Ceramics; Prof. Sunder Iyer on organic solar cells; Prof. A. Sharma on nanotechnology; Prof. Kamal Poddar on the National Wind Tunnel Facility; and Prof. Mukesh Sharma on Environmental Engineering.

On the 4th of January, 2010 there was the Distinguished Alumnus Awards and the Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award ceremony. The recipients of Distinguished Alumnus Awards were Dr. Viney P. Aneja (BTech/CHE/1971), Dr. Anil Kumar Chopra (BTech/CHE/1976), Dr. Rathin Datta (BTech/CHE/1970), Dr. Arun Kumar Ghosh (MSc/CHM/1981), Dr. Jainendra Kumar Jain (MSc (2 years)/PHY/1981), Mr. Sudhakar Kesavan (BTech/CHE/1976), Dr. Anupam Khanna (BTech/EE/1974), Mr. Muktesh Pant (BTech/CHE 1976), Ms. Neera Tandon (BTech/ CHE/ 1981), Mr. David B. K. Thomas (BTech/ME/1977), MR. Vishnu Varshney (BTech/EE/1969), Mr. Sudhir Vyas (BTech/EE/1975). The recipient of Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award was Mr. Shailesh Ramkumar Gandhi (BTech/CE/IIT Bombay/1969).

Cultural programs were organized on both evenings. A detailed report on these event is available in the ‘Cultural Events’ section.

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The Bangalore convention was the first major convention off-campus. The main focus of the convention was “Igniting Innovation” at IITK and in the country and “Building Bridges” between the alumni and their alma mater, to create a vibrant innovation ecosystem. Nearly 600 delegates from across the world, including alumni, IITK faculty members, ex-faculty members, families and distinguished guests from corporate, academia and government institutions participated in the event. To give the alumni the feel of entering IITK, a huge replica of the IITK Gate was created at the entrance of the convention hall and this triggered reminiscence of their days at the institute during the convention.

The highlights of the convention included:

1. Spurring Innovation in IIT education
2. Next50 Innovation Challenge
3. Discussion on Vision 2020
4. Celebration of the achievements of ‘unsung alumni heroes’
5. Loads of nostalgia!

After the inaugural ceremony Mr. Rakesh Pandey, Alumni Association President, welcomed the audience and spoke about the role of alumni in shaping the future of IITK and called for more active alumni participation. He requested the audience to give a standing ovation to all the ‘gurujis’ who are the real pillars of an institution. The nostalgic highlight of his address was the felicitation given to him in the traditional IITK way with ‘golden bumps’ on the stage! After this Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande addressed the audience and spoke about the achievements of the past, the status of the present, and the plans for the future. Prof. Dhande emphasized the need for IITK to go borderless and set-up extension and research centers outside Kanpur, even outside the country. He said that this will promote R&D capabilities of IITK at international level, and move IITK forward in competing and excelling at international levels.

The next speaker, Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan (CEO of Infosys) gave the inaugural keynote address on behalf of Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy (MT/EE/69), as he could not make it to the convention. Addressing the gathering Mr. Gopalakrishnan said that innovation should be embraced as a culture in academic institutions. He said that establishing a research park triggers the process of innovation and suggested that we must “break the rules to innovate”. According to him, while IITK celebrates the 50th anniversary, what is more important is what’s next! IITK must think and do things differently and innovate. He exhorted the alumni to visit their alma mater regularly to keep in touch and support the institution in every possible way.

This was followed by an inspiring innovation panel discussion, led by Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala (BT/EE/75) and with eminent innovation leaders as panelists such as Dr. Ashok Misra (BT/CHE/72), Prof. Jitendra Malik (BT/EE/80), Mr. Rajeev Chawla (BT/EE/84), Mr. Naveen Tiwari (BT/ME/01), Prof. Ramadhar Singh (former faculty member, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences) and Mr. Shantanu Agrawal ( BT-MT-Duel/ME/09 and IITK Jugnu team member). The panel came up with several suggestions on how to make the IIT system more innovative and what it needs to focus on to become a top class research institute in the world. These recommendations will be incorporated in the IITK Vision 2020 for implementation.

Later in the day there were talks and discussions on IIT Kanpur Vision 2020, which was the focus of the Bangalore Convention. Vision 2020 is a draft document developed jointly by alumni and faculty to set the vision for IITK for the next decade and beyond. On 18th June, a day before the actual convention, McKinsey presented their findings and recommendations to the Vision 2020 Steering Committee. These were evaluated and included in the Vision 2020 roadmap which Dr. Manindra Agrawal (BT/PhD/CSE/86/92) presented the next day. He (figuratively) wore two hats – one as a faculty member and the other as an alumnus, and articulated the vision from both perspectives. The session was moderated by Mr. Jeet Bindra (BTech/CHE/69). The alumni showed enthusiastic support and involvement by making many suggestions and asking questions that were answered by the Vision 2020 team on the panel, including Mr. Rakesh Pandey (BT/ME/78), Mr. Abhay Bhushan (BT/EE/65) and Mr. Praveen Tripathi (BT/EE/77).

Following the discussions on Vision 2020, there was the announcement of the winners of the Next50 Innovation Challenge. The Next50 Innovation Challenge attracted over 100 business plans from top early stage innovators from around the world. The challenge focused on five themes: Agriculture, Clean Technologies, Education, Financial Inclusion, and Technology. The top five innovations were chosen from amongst these and were awarded at the convention by corporate sponsors and innovation leaders. The Next50 can be seen at http://www.onebillionminds.com/category/project/next50.

The day culminated in a musical evening, an event that was coordinated and handled to perfection by our alumni, followed by a semi-professional band from another alumni-duo Saikat-Shankar. It is interesting to note that these alumni collaborated and practiced over the internet to rehearse! Spirits soared high with a mix of melodies from the past decades and enthusiastic junta dancing in the aisles. Mr. Abhay Bhushan was the cynosure of all eyes with his terrific dance moves.
On the second day several working group sessions with the focus on innovation in IIT Kanpur, were held and were attended by more than 180 participants. The discussions centred around the different aspects of Vision 2020 – Excellence in Research, Academia-Industry Connect, Academia-Society Connect, Innovation Center, and most importantly, Alumni Connect. The members who took part in these discussions were Prof. Anil Gupta (IIM Ahmedabad and Executive Vice Chair, National Innovation Foundation), Prof. Balram (Director, IISc Bangalore), Prof. Sangal (Director, IIIT Hyderabad), Prof. Ashok Misra (Chairman, Intellectual ventures India), Mr. T. C. Meenakshisundaram (founding Managing Director of IDG Ventures India), Mr. Jeet Bindra (President, Chevron Global Manufacturing), Mr. Saurabh Srivastava (Chairman of CA Technologies, India), Mr. Rajeev Chawla (secretary for e-Governance for the state of Karnataka )and Mr. R. K. Misra (founder SAHYOG - Indian Council for Public Private Partnership).

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The theme of the US East Coast convention was ‘US-India Collaboration: KIAP and Beyond’. In keeping with the spirit of the theme, the alumni convention showcased and celebrated IIT Kanpur’s 50 years of contributions to academia, industry and entrepreneurship in India and the USA. On this occasion, IITK honored and acknowledged the collaborations and contributions of the US government and other institutions toward its creation and success.

The convention explored emerging opportunities to extend this symbiotic relationship between the US and India on globalization of Education, Energy, Environment and Entrepreneurship. There was a very enthusiastic and energetic group of participants, from the earliest of the KIAP participants and KIAP-era Indian faculty members, to current IITK faculty members and administrators to representatives of the Indian and the US Governments, and students from the first batch to almost the most recent graduates.

The first part of the program was hosted by Prof. S.G. Dhande, Director, IITK. In the opening session, Prof. Dhande and Prof. Anandakrishnan felicitated the representatives of all the nine universities who formed the KIAP consortium. It was a privilege to have the second KIAP program director, Dr. Robert Green, present at the event. This was followed by several very engaging panel discussions.

The Indian Ambassador to the United States, Mrs. Meera Shankar hosted a lunch at the Indian Embassy for the KIAP participants, KIAP-era faculty members, IITK representatives and Distinguished Alumni and select invited guests, including representatives of the US Government.

The highlights of the alumni event included: a) recorded messages from the MIT President, Dr. Susan Hockfield and by the Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, b) keynote addresses by Mrs. Meera Shankar; Ambassador; Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State; Mr. Aneesh Chopra, CTO of the US Government; Mr. Jim Moran, Representative from Virginia; and Dr. John Hamre, former Deputy Secretary of Defense, c) recognition of KIAP participants and KIAP era faculty members, d) honoring of IITK’s Distinguished Alumni, e) honoring of IITK@50 awardees, f) discussion of Vision 2020 and g) the Saturday evening entertainment by The Capitol Steps.

“I thank you and your colleagues for organizing such a marvelous conference, reunion, and celebration. I was delighted to reconnect with several of my old friends from the IITK faculty, KIAP visiting faculty and students of the late 1960s -- and also to make new friends. I also really enjoyed meeting some former KIAP visiting faculty who were at IITK before me or after me. And I appreciated the perspectives on IITK's current status and the outlook and diverse plans for its future. All the conference sessions were excellent.”

- Prof. Don Wilhelm

“The convention was as memorable for the super-annuated faculty as their stay at IITK. All our remembrances of the Old Era flashed in front of our mental screen like a dream-video. It was wonderful to meet our good old friends and colleagues as well as students who are flourishing in their academic as well as social careers. We, the faculty, are indeed extremely grateful to the Alumni Association for organizing such an event, an event which will remain in our heart for all our lives.”

- Prof. Y. R. Waghmare

“Having so many former students come and introduce themselves and their families and reminisce about me having taught brought a lump to my throat. At least two alumni wives could not believe how good my Hindi was! I enjoyed participating in the program; the sort that I expect only IITK alumni capable of organizing! The arrangements were excellent, as was the food. And to have my hotel expenses taken care of and to be picked up and dropped off at the airport was the icing on the cake.”

- Dr. Vijay Stokes

The convention has already produced some results. All the panelists of the Entrepreneurial Panel, led by Mr. Pradeep Wahi, have been meeting regularly since the convention and plan to propose, in the near future, a series of activities to promote Entrepreneurship among IIT alumni. Dr. Sanjeev Aggarwal, DRPG, is creating Google groups for the KIAP participants and KIAP-era faculty and Distinguished Alumni to help connect them with each other. Several alumni and faculty members have provided feedback for Vision2020 and have indicated their willingness to contribute to it. Mr. Satish Kulkarni continues to keep us informed on how we can work with the Department of State on the Indo-US collaboration in education. Mr. Sudhi Kulkarni, Mr. Raj Bhattarai and Mr. Arun Kumar are working with Dr. Vijay Stokes to help fillout the missing sections of the IITK history book project.

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The theme of the IIT Kanpur Golden Jubilee Event in Santa Clara was “Reconnect! Rejuvenate! Rejoice!” The event succeeded in living up to and exceeding its promise.

The Alumni night was on the 16th of July 2010. Alumni attended in large numbers to celebrate the success of IIT Kanpur and to meet their old friends, mentors and gurus. The evening’s highlights were the announcement of the Rajeev Motwani awards and the nostalgia section, put together by Mr. Anil Gupta. There was also a performance put up by the Bhangra Empire. The main conference was on Saturday, the 17th of July 2010. The day was action packed but easy paced with keynote speeches, professional tracks and other informative sessions and award presentations.

Each distinguished keynote speaker had his own distinct style of putting a point across. In styles ranging from inspiring to downright entertaining, they shared their unique perspectives about business, success and life.

The content tracks were a balanced mix of Pan-IIT alumni and other speakers from all walks of life. Attendees got an opportunity to choose between sharing table time with some very successful entrepreneurs in the Mentorship track, listening to inspirational alumni as part of the Inspiration track, or attending classroom style educational sessions in the Education track.

The Vision 2020 panel discussion and presentation, which was followed by a Q&A session, informed the alumni about the future plans of IITK and about the need for their continued support and participation in implementing these plans. The evening’s entertainment had an impressive line-up of performers; Rajiv Satyal’s comic standup routine, Tara Priya and Mona Sampath Dance Co’s awesome performances and the music of the popular band Indian Ocean playing well into the night. Sunday was the alumni cruise day and it turned out to be a bright sunny day with dance, food and perfect views of the San Francisco bay. There were reunions which happened throughout the event; informal chat sessions, heart-warming scenes of old classmates, seniors, juniors, all sitting together at tables, talking in the hallways, sharing their journeys, re-living the past and in many cases, plotting the future.

The Golden Jubilee event succeeded in re-igniting the West Coast alumni’s interest in the affairs of IITK. The overall success of the event was a result of generous donations by the sponsors and a strong dedicated team of volunteers.

Volunteering for this event was a very enriching and satisfying experience. Everybody worked together for months and in the process formed lasting bonds and friendships. Seasoned experts mingled with fresh minds and it was wonderful to see participation across the wide spectrum of IIT Kanpur alumni in the Bay area.

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As a part of the series of alumni events organized worldwide in different cities to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of IIT Kanpur, the Hyderabad-Secunderabad Chapter of the IITK Alumni Association planned an alumni meet on 17th December 2010 at the Infotech Campus, Gachibowli, Hyderabad. The Chapter has been in existence for the last 25 years. More than 250 alumni and their family members were seen proudly networking and re-living those nostalgic memories.

The theme of the Hyderabad convention was 'IITians should be job creators and not job seekers'. Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur, Dr. Uday Desai, Director, IIT Hyderabad, Prof. Sudhir Jain, Director, IIT Gandhinagar, Prof. Bijendra N. Jain, Vice Chancellor, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, and Dr. Krishna Tanuku (Executive Director - Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at ISB) were some of the eminent people who participated in the lively and intense panel discussion on the theme 'What should IITs do to create more Entrepreneurs'. The session was moderated by Ms. Madhu Chadda (BT/ME/79). The ideas, the good practices and the recommendations presented and discussed during the session will be shared with the Directors of all IITs for the benefit of the entire IIT community.

The ‘Entrepreneurship’ theme was introduced by Mr. BVR Mohan Reddy (Founder and Chairman, Infotech Enterprises Ltd). This was followed by a panel discussion by IITians on "Entrepreneurs' Journey" which saw some great advice on the Do's and Don'ts of entrepreneurship. The panelists were all distinguished achievers and entrepreneurs like Mr. B. V. R. Mohan Reddy (Founder and Chairman, InfoTech Enterprises), Mr. Jay R. Pullur (Founder and CEO, Pramati Technologies), Ms. Anu Acharya (Founder and CEO, Ocimum Biosolutions), and Mr. Ashok Das (CEO, Sunmoksha); the discussion was moderated by Mr. Abhaya Shankar (MD, Hyderabad Industries Ltd). The chief guests and the stars of the event were the dozen or so retired faculty members of IIT Kanpur who currently reside in Hyderabad.

Prof. P. Dayaratnam (CE), Prof. K. V. G. K. Gokhale (CE), Prof. P. N. Murty (AE), Prof. C.V.R. Murti (AE), Prof. D. Balasubramanian (CHM), Prof. D. P. Rao (CHE), Prof. S. R. Doradla (EE), Prof. P. R. K. Rao (EE), Prof. Usha Kumar (HSS) and Prof. Padmanabhan (Ex-Director, IITK) were felicitated for their service to the Institute and for being a source of inspiration to their students, many of whom are successful entrepreneurs and professionals around the world.

The Hyderabad Chapter congratulated Mr. B. V. R. Mohan Reddy (MT/ME/74), Founder, Infotech Enterprises on being selected for the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the year 2010-2011 for his outstanding entrepreneurial and managerial skills. Dinner amidst the beautiful ambience of the lawns at the Infotech campus was a fitting conclusion to the event. Further information on the event and photos can be viewed at iitkhyd.blogspot.com.

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A function was organized by the IITK Alumni Association, Lucknow Chapter at the Genesis Club, Lucknow to which all IITK alumni residing in Lucknow and Kanpur were invited. Most of the alumni with their families attended the function. Apart from Mehfil-e-Khaas (a networking session), the invitees enjoyed Mehfilee-Mausiki (Cultural Evening) a musical performance by the well known Sufi singer Kavita Seth of the 'Gunja sa ek tara' fame (Movie-Wake up Sid) and her troupe. Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur with Prof. Kripa Shanker, Secretary, Alumni Association were present on the occasion. Col. Sanjay Ayyangar, Mr. Ajay Jain and Mr. Neeraj Agarwal worked hard not only in formally setting up the Lucknow Chapter but also in making the evening a memorable event.

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The Kanpur Chapter of the IITK Alumni Association also arranged a meet on the 9th of January 2011. The chief sponsor of the event was the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Many alumni from the campus along with their families enjoyed the get-together over lunch. More than 100 people from Kanpur city and the IIT campus attended the event. Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur, Mr. Rakesh Pandey, President of the Alumni Association, and others spoke on the occasion. The Alumni Association also distributed Life Membership ID Cards to all the alumni present on the occasion.

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