The reopening of the institute in full swing has witnessed the revival of institute activities and a multitude of outreach events. US roadshow during May 06-25, 2022 was a major success highlighting the new strides IIT Kanpur has taken in the recent past. Invigorating sessions of ‘You and I’ with the donor and the recipients elicited an overwhelming response, with many donors coming forth to extend further support.
With a recent commitment of Rs. 100 crores donation by Shri Rakesh Gangwal has put life into the ambitious project of ‘Gangwal School of Medical Sciences and Technology’ and multidisciplinary research centers of excellence that IIT Kanpur has envisaged. Support from J.K. Cement Ltd. to bolster incepting ‘Yadupati Singhania Super Speciality Hospital’ has been very encouraging. Our gratitude will remain incomplete if we do not mention the league of valuable donors, Shri Jagjeet S. Bindra, Shri Muktesh Pant, Shri Dev Joneja, Shri Hemant Jalan, Shri Anil Bansal and Shri Sudhakar Kesavan in helping IIT Kanpur take a giant leap towards frontiers in research, sciences and technology. Sincere gratitude to all the donors who continue to extend their time, guidance, support, and goodwill throughout this journey of transitioning this visionary project towards reality. You have been our strong backing wall as you have always come forward and provided us with the needful support. You have been our guiding light and you are our spark that lights the fire. We need you as always!
The spirited aspirations of IIT Kanpur are on the fly and striving to set its global dominance. Thus, we plan to generate more resources in order to support prolonged summit-flight to those aspirations. We seek your continued backing in realizing these aspirations of excellence. Further, a total of 14 reunions are planned in the FY 2022-23 (one concluded for the Class of 2020 in June 2022) to revive the direct connection of alumni with the very campus of IIT Kanpur. DoRA office with the support of IITK Development Foundation has been phenomenal in reaching out, generating resources, and also hosting alumni on campus.
We look forward to connecting with alumni across the globe, ensuring a smoother and pleasurable user interface, and providing a welcoming ambiance for a homecoming through reunions. You are our pride, and we feel honored to have you as our family.
With best regards,
Prof. Kantesh Balani
The Foundation Stone laying ceremony of the Gangwal School of Medical Sciences & Technology, and Yadupati Singhania Super Speciality Hospital was performed by Hon'ble Union Minister of Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan on 16 July 2022. The event was graced by the prominent members of the institute and IITK alumni, such as Dr. Radhakrishnan K. Koppilil (Chairman, BoG, IITK), donors Mr. Rakesh Gangwal, Mr. Hemant Jalan, Mr. Muktesh Pant, and Smt. Sushila Singhania, Dr. Nidhipati Singhania (Vice President, JK Organization & Director, JK Cement Ltd).
A delegation from IIT Kanpur comprising IITK Director; Prof. Abhay Karandikar, IITK Deputy Director; Prof. S. Ganesh, Prof. Yogesh M. Joshi, IITK Development Foundation CEO; Mr. Kapil Kaul visited the United States to interact with alumni, strengthen institute-alumni relations, and to chart a future roadmap of IITK.
In the first leg of the visit, the delegation interacted with the alumni of the Indian Consulate, New York on May 8, 2022. Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Indian Consul General, was the Guest of Honor, and the event event was attended by more than 75 alumni. Our distinguished alumni, Mr. Rajeev Tandon, Dr. Dev Joneja, and Prof. Shiv Panwar were felicitated.
The second event that was held in Washington DC was attended by the Hon’ble Ambassador of Indian Embassy US, Shri Taranjit Singh Sandhu and many of IITK alumni. IITK Distinguished alumnus, Dr. T. Venkatesan, Director, Centre for Quantum Research & Technology, University of Oklahoma, was felicitated. Keynote talks were given by our Distinguished alumni, Mr. Muktesh (Micky) Pant, Senior Advisor at Beyond Meat, and Mr. Sudhakar Kesavan, Executive & CEO at Inner City Fund.
IITK Karvaan delegation held its third event in Chicago for its next outreach event with alumni. The event, held in the Union Chicago League Club, was attended by more than 120 alumni. IITK Distinguished alumnus, Dr. Rajeev Gautam, President & CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials & Technologies, was felicitated. IITK also signed an MoU with Dr. Rathin Dutta who committed an amount of USD 150 K for research in Sustainable Energy Engineering.
In the last leg of its trip, IITK Karvaan held a grand event in San Francisco at the India Community Center in Milpitas. Our Distinguished alumni, Dr. Anand Jagannathan, and Prof. Vijay Dhir were felicitated. Mr. Rakesh Gangwal, one of the biggest benefactors of IIT Kanpur, gave a keynote address emphasizing on the importance of giving back to IIT Kanpur. Attended by more than 300 alumni, the event was a grand success.
Centre of BioMedical Research, Lucknow and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur signed an MoU to undertake translational research with special reference to patient care. The areas identified for collaboration were AI in healthcare, biomedical devices, identification & synthesis of small molecules for drug discovery.
IITK Research & Technology Park Foundation signed an MoU with Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), the nodal agency for UP Defence Industrial Corridor, to address growing R&D requirements & opportunities for collaboration of IITK with the domestic Aerospace & Defence industry.
IIT Kanpur signed an MoU with District Mineral Foundation Trust Angul, to initiate a project to develop land and water restoration plan for Angul, Odisha. Under this MoU, IIT Kanpur will use modern technologies in developing solutions for land and water resource restoration for SustainableDevelopment of the district, primarily in the context of circular economy. Prof. Rajiv Sinha from Earth Sciences Dept. will lead the project.
IITK signed a multi-institution collaboration agreement between University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, IIT Bombay, IIT BHU, IIT Jodhpur & Ashoka University. The agreement will facilitate joint research collaboration. Delegations of IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay, , IIT Jodhpur & Ashoka University were hosted by the University of Buffalo President, Prof. Satish K. Tripathi.
Bhu-Parikshak, a rapid soil-testing device will now be available commercially. It has been licensed to AgroNxt Services. The device is based on Near Infrared Spectroscopy technology that provides real-time soil analysis reports on smartphones with an embedded mobile application named Bhu-Parikshak available on Google Play Store. The device was developed by a team led by Prof. Jayant Kumar Singh, Department of Chemical Engineering, Mr Pallav Prince, Mr Ashar Ahmad, Mr Yashasvi Khemani and Mohd. Aamir Khan.
A team led by Prof Indra S. Sen, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Kanpur, has developed an E.coli water testing kit that is highly sensitive and can indicate water contamination (sewage or animal waste) in the drinking water. The prototype is an enzyme-substrate medium-based testing kit. The kit was developed with support and guidance from Jal Jeevan Mission and won the National Jal Jeevan Mission's Innovation Challenge for Developing Portable Devices to Test DrinkingWater Quality.
Inventors from IIT Kanpur and MIT have been granted a joint Indian patent for a unique water purification device, “A Vessel and A Method for Purifying Water and Monitoring Quality of Water”. An inexpensive, zero maintenance, easy to manufacture, dry & compact device that has applications in water purification & monitoring and dry sample preservation of micro water pollutants. This device can purify drinking water & has applications in the food & beverage industry.
Diamond Jubilee Academic Complex campus was inaugurated by Dr. Radhakrishnan K. Koppillil, Chairperson, BoG, IITK. Shri Pradeep Goyal our Board member, Deputy Director, Prof. S. Ganesh, various Deans, Heads of Departments & other faculty & staff were present. This building with an area of approximately 35000 square meters is the largest academic building in the institute. The building will be used for various UG, PG Labs, Lecture Halls & some departments such as Department of Design and Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering, etc.
IIT Kanpur incubator has signed an MoU with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) to become partner for the iDEX-Prime program. The MoU was signed in the presence of Hon'ble Minister of Defence, Shri Rajnath Singh Ji & Dr. Ankush Sharma, IITK. iDEX-Prime aims to support startups for projects up to Rs 10 crore to add to the evolving innovation ecosystem in the latest cutting range technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Imaging, Sensor Systems, Autonomous Unmanned Systems and Secured Communication.
IIT Kanpur hosted a Kick-Start meeting on DST- IIT Kanpur Integrated Clean Energy Materials Acceleration Platform (ICMAP) on materials on May 27-28, 2022 to discuss the key issues of the platform & the road ahead.
A one-day workshop on Telemedicine & AI in Healthcare organized under the aegis of the Gangwal School of Medical Sciences and Technology at the Noida extension center of IIT Kanpur. The workshop focused on advancing the concept of telemedicine policy and strategy, application scenarios & exploring the role of artificial intelligence in empowering the health system, especially in addressing the needs of our villages and tier 2/3 cities.
The Class of 2020 held its reunion on 11 June 2022 in IIT Kanpur. Due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, convocation could not be held for the graduating students that year. Hence, the theme of the reunion was ‘Convocation’ where students dressed in convocation attire were handed over the degrees. The reunion was attended by 450 students.
A Conclave on "Direct-to-Mobile & 5G Broadband - Convergence Roadmap for India'' was organized by IITKanpur in New Delhi in association with Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI,India) & Prasar Bharati. The Conclave included a demonstration of NextGen Broadcast technology and showcased a live Proof-of-Concept project.
IIT Kanpur has transferred a novel bone regeneration technology to Ortho Regenics Pvt Ltd. Prof. Ashok Kumar and Mr. Arun Kumar Teotia have developed novel biodegradable material which has bone healing and new bone growth properties for bone regeneration.
Ms. Leena Manimekalai delivered the Dr. Rajyashree Khushu-Lahiri Memorial Lecture 2022 on Decolonizing cinemas and smashing patriarchy on 02 April 2022 at IIT Kanpur.
Ramchandra Rao Dasari Distinguished Lecture Series 2022 was hosted by Center for Lasers & Photonics, IITK. Dr. Shankar V. Nakhe, Director of Raja Raman Center for Advanced Technology, Indore, was invited as a speaker.
IIT Kanpur hosted the 28th edition of technical and entrepreneurship festival, Techkriti’22 from 25th-27th March, witnessing the presence of Nobel laureates, scientists, technocrats, and many other dignitaries from various fields.
Mr Lalit Mohan Kapoor (BT/CHE/1971), renowned health & nutrition coach and a successful serial entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley delivered a talk at IIT Kanpur on “Preventing and Reversing Chronic Diseases Naturally” as part of the institute lecture series to a house full audience. His talk highlighted how we could live a healthy life by simply changing our food habits and lifestyle.
The Mehta Family Center for Engineering in Medicine organized a talk by Prof. Shyni Varghese of Duke University who talked about Bioengineering Platforms for Therapeutic Interventions.
The 8th International Yoga Day was celebrated at IIT Kanpur. This year's theme, Yoga For Humanity, focused on how yoga helps people in achieving holistic health not just for themselves but for the whole society.
Director IITK, Prof. Abhay Karandikar along with Divisional Commissioner, Dr. Raj Shekhar inaugurated the Smart Class at Shri Ram Janki Inter College, Bithoor. Ranjit Singh Rozi Shiksha Kendra in association with Unnat Bharat Abhiyan has set up a pilot Smart Class for online rural education. The institute would be collaborating with Kanpur administration to scale this project in villages of Kanpur. Volunteers would be teaching from IITKanpur and children sitting in the smart class can have continuous interaction with teachers. The classroom is set with such a technique that it enables the children to see the teacher(s) and the board through a projector, and vice versa. To standardize the system, an educational app by Schooglink Pvt Ltd has also been deployed to record the blackboard notes and lectures.
C3iHub launched the second cohort of startups with the aim to make India self-reliant in cybersecurity. The startups were chosen from all cybersecurity domains, including UAV Security, Blockchain, Intrusion Detection, and Cyber-Physical Systems. They aim to innovate in the cyber security space, focusing on the design and development of services and products to safeguard India’s critical infrastructure. The event was graced by Prof. Ajay K. Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor, GoI (Chief Guest).
was elected as the next President of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA).
was honored with Gopal Das Bhandari Memorial Distinguished Teacher Award at the 55th Convocation at IIT Kanpur.
was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Rheology (USA, founded in 1929). Prof. Joshi works on the flow behavior (rheology) of soft materials that include colloidal dispersions and polymers.
was honored with Sushila & Kantilal Mehta Award at the 55th Convocation of IIT Kanpur.
IIT Kanpur held its 55th Convocation on 29 June 2022. Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Founder & Chairperson, Narayana Health Care, was the Chief Guest. The event was graced by Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of Board of Governors, IITK; BoG members, Dr. Saurabh Srivastava, Shri Pradeep Goyal, Dr. Manoj Gonugunthla, Dr. Mahesh Gupta, Prof. Manas K. Ghorai, and Prof. Bishakh Bhattacharya. Attended by head of the departments, IITK faculty, and parents of graduating students, 1360 students were conferred degrees. Students were also issued digital degrees to all the graduating students using blockchain-driven technology developed at IIT Kanpur. The degrees are based on Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and unforgeable and globally verified.
was named the next President of the Oregon State University, USA. She is the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of California Los Angeles. She is also a professor in UCLA’s mechanical and Aerospace Department.
was elected to the Board of Directors of Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Dr. Krishna is the Chairman & CEO of IBM, New York.
was elected as the Senior VP of ASM International. He is the Founder, Chairman, and MD of Pradeep Metals Ltd.
Mr. Rakesh Gangwal (BT/ME/1975) donated Rs. 100 crore for the medical school to be established at IITK. The school has now been renamed as the Gangwal School of Medical Science & Technology. An MoU was signed between IITK and Mr. Gangwal on 4 April 2022 in Mumbai, India. This is the largest personal donation ever given to IIT Kanpur.
Mr. Anil Bansal, IITK alumnus, donated a generous sum of USD 2.5 Million to support the Gangwal School of Medical Sciences & Technology, thereby becoming a member of the Founder's Circle.
Mr. Jagjeet Singh Bindra (BT/CHE/1969) had donated Rs. 1 Crore towards the establishment of ‘Jeet Bindra Unit Operations and Innovation Lab’ at the Chemical Engineering Department . The renovated lab was inaugurated on 13 April 2022 and houses state-of-the-art facilities to help undergraduate students to conduct experiments.
Many students aspire to establish and operate their own businesses, whether it be a local mom-and-pop store or an industry giant like Amazon. However, running a business is a time-consuming activity that requires a lot of cooperation and dedication. The paths these student leaders have traversed to reach their current positions in Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and their positions is already extraordinary.
Between 1990 and 2010, Cambridge Associates, a Boston-based international investment business, monitored the results of venture investments in 27,259 startups. According to its study, the actual failure rate for venture-backed startups—defined as those that give investors a 10X return or less—has not exceeded 60% since 2001.
Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Startup Land continue to claim the 90% number because it has merit. It consoles startup owners who lost their investors' money, fired employees, and shut down their businesses. It encourages the startup community to celebrate failure. The reasoning goes, "Sure, you failed, but that's the norm.” The chances weren't in your favour.
When entering an unfamiliar society, it is wise to learn the local customs, the unspoken rules, and the names of its heroes, villains, and legends.
The same rule applies to Startup Land. To an outsider, the world of venture-backed startups might feel impenetrable. But don’t despair: There are multitudes of angels existing amongst the boomers of the world. These angels are known as consulting firms. That is where ShARE-IITK Consulting comes in.
ShARE-IITK Consulting is the IIT Kanpur Chapter of ShARE Global, an organisation at the crossroads of education and consulting that offers a Leadership Program of Excellence to the potential student-future-leaders from across 100+ top universities around the world, and mentored by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Tony Blair.
The firm has a worldwide network of about 2500 students and 3000 alumni from 45 different countries, and from universities including Yale - University of Chicago (US), Cambridge – Imperial College London – LSE – Oxford – UCL (UK), EPFL (Switzerland), HEC (France), Fudan University – Perking University – Hong Kong University – Shanghai Jiaotong University (China), NTU (Singapore), University of Cape Town (South Africa), Tec de Monterrey (Mexico), and most importantly, IITs and IIMs (India).
After seeing the light of absolute necessity to have a consulting arena on campus, few enigmatic students, Ghulam Farooqui, Raj Aryan, Prajwal Khobre & Rohan Kumar, launched an initiative and came to an accord with the executive members of ShARE Global Consulting in the month of October of 2021 with the intent of providing students at IITK with an accurate representation of the consulting practice.
With a President, three Vice Presidents, three Heads of Verticals—External Affairs, Startups, and Events & Internal Affairs—25 Executives, and 50 Junior Members—SHARE-IITK is currently run by a five-tiered strong team. They have been able to earn the distinction of being India's largest continuously operating team among all IITs and IIMs, including chapters that have been active for the past ten years, within a short period of time.
Ghulam Farooqui, President (in centre) with his executive team
The Leadership Program of Excellence, which consists of six modules and spans 18 months, is being performed by the students enroled in ShARE-IITK. The curriculum is constructed in a manner that it gives participants a thorough theoretical and practical overview of the consulting industry while also instilling in them a passion for leadership.
The students are provided with realistic issues offered by start-ups, who after extensive research develop a strategic solution, which is presented to the class in the form of high-level consultancy presentations.
The students also have the opportunity to work on a strategic project with a group made up of members from other ShARE chapters throughout the world. It's known as i-Batch. The vision for ShARE - Sharing Analysis for Regional Economies is being best realised during this period of the curriculum.
ShARE-IITK is in constant communication with 200 startups housed in various IIT and IIM incubation centres. The key areas of project focus are strategy and consulting, but the firm is slowly dipping its toes into web development and IoT technology. The perpetual exchange of intelligence and information has been an eye-opening experience into the world of production schedules, organisational management and leadership for everyone involved.
The main patron of the firm is the Startup Incubation & Innovation Centre (SIIC/ SIDBI), which is located at IIT Kanpur. Ghulam Farooqui wholeheartedly thanks Dr. Amitabha Bandhyopadhyay, Professor In-Charge, SIIC IITK Incubation & Innovation, for his generous assistance from the beginning.After a recently held conversation between President of ShARE IITK, and Professor In-Charge, SIIC IITK Incubation & Innovation, the latter stipulated favourable terms that will allow ShARE-IITK Consulting to collaborate with other firms nurtured at SIIC IITK.
Regular sessions and workshops cover the most crucial subjects for students' academic success and career development, making the IITK chapter of ShARE Global one of the most active groups in all of the Indian Institutes of Technology in India. A complete guide for McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company placements was one of our most recent events, and IITK alums who were placed in the MBB were invited as guest presenters.
Founding members discussing consulting problems in campus’ CCD lounge on a weekend evening
The firm organizes talks and practice sessions for Guesstimates, Group Discussions (GDs), Case Studies, etc. In partnership with the Academics and Career Council, IIT Kanpur initiated a Management Series, a series of sessions covering all the popular Postgraduate Routes in management that IITK students consider/opt after graduation.
In addition to i-Batch, the firm communicates often with the ShARE community worldwide. Highly qualified professionals, primarily former MBB consultants, are invited to speak on important global topics. For the exchange of ideas among nations, they have initiated international collaborations with other ShARE chapters at Cambridge, Oxford, University of Chicago, etc.
In order to study and share ideas with other ShARE students from IIT Kanpur, Binus University and TSM, and Bilkent University, respectively, ShARE-IITK launched the CONNECT India-Indonesia-Turkey Program.
“What I’ve found particularly rewarding is the ability to make decisions while still getting input from my peers,” said Vice president Aryan. “Balancing leadership with being open to others’ ideas is a critical skill I’ll use in my career,” he added. One of the Vice Presidents said he’s happy to have been a part of something as special as the ShARE Consulting firm. But even more so, he’s proud to be part of a bigger community that has welcomed him and others so warmly. “I look back and see that this is where our school is today and what people can achieve here — and what they’re expected to achieve here — it’s just a reflection of what this community is really like.”
The establishment of a new system, organization, or group necessitates a large amount of effort from not only an individual, but also from a collective will power of a team. Having a highly productive team helped them reach their goals, leading to a significant increase in productivity.
These young fledgelings, with their compelling stories of leadership, are just four ways in which IITK holds great promise for the future. But theirs is not the only stories. Each year, students run more than 40 student organizations and hold leadership roles in our research centers, live-client clinics and pro bono projects. It’s nice to celebrate these four student leaders reflect the face and the future of a changing profession.
Today, government, educational bodies and business communities need and demand consulting representation that reflects the diversity of our nation and the interests of the people they serve. The institute school plays an important role in this effort. Ghulam, Raj, Prajwal & Rohan are just a few examples of the phenomenally talented students from IIT Kanpur. As they continue to grow and head forward in life, we wish them all the very best. Congratulations to them and their classmates.
Photo credits: Shreyansh Nallawar, Rishi Jaiswal, Rohit Stapute, Praneat Data