IITK alumnus and self-taught Visual Artist, Anshul Roy (BT/BSBE/2020) talks about his inspiring journey from science to art, the challenges that came and the efforts he took to overcome those.
My journey at IITK started in 2015 when I joined the Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Department. During high school, my parents and coaching teachers would tell me that after coming to IIT everything would work out and I wouldn’t need to study much. I think, I took that way too seriously. I had lost touch with my studies right from the first semester, and my CPI was 3.9 at the end of the first year. It was a terrible situation to be in, but on the better side, I started doing photography, which I didn't do before coming to IITK.
My seniors used to motivate us to join the photography club for very absurd, shallow reasons, but I was encouraged to join photography because I was fascinated by the idea of using the camera as a tool to see the world differently. Once people start taking photographs, they start looking at sunsets more closely. They wait and observe flowers and start appreciating the profound beauty in our everyday life. I think photography is a visual art medium that completely changes the way you interact with the real world. One of my favourite quotes is by the French author Marcel Proust who said, "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Of all visual arts, photography is the one which teaches you this in the most concrete way.
I give a lot of credit to the Photography Club for fostering my interest in photography. I am still in touch with my coordinators (especially, Nishant Shukla, a Y14); on Teacher's day, I even wish them, because they were the ones who first planted that seed inside me. Another thing I love about IITK is its architecture. You cannot help but marvel at the different types of architecture that are present on the campus. My earlier photographic work was heavily inspired by this built environment and is one of the reasons why I still have a very geometric way of looking at the world. I also interned as an Architecture Photographer's assistant in NYC last year, and he also appreciated my eye for patterns and forms. This vision was totally cultivated during my 'photowalks' at IITK campus.
I see photography as a continuous struggle against the world, that is always in flux. The world throws out aesthetic moments at you from time to time. It is your responsibility to stop and react to those moments. Photography is different from other visual arts in the sense that it does not start with a 'tabula rasa' (a blank canvas), and it is an act of selection (from a continuous flow of time) rather than an act of creation. Everyone thinks that it's easy to do photography just because it's easy to use a camera, but that is not true. It's like saying it's easy to be a good writer because it's easy to use a pen. These were the intriguing factors for me to get into photography. However, I pursued it just for fun in my first year.
I did ruin my grades in the process, though. I still remember, during the MTH 101 end semester exam, I was done with my paper in 15 minutes, and when I went to submit it, the invigilator said that the exam was for three hours and I couldn't leave the room before 30 minutes. People used to fail and then they used to feel very bad about it, but I did not care. Looking back, I was very wrong. I should have worked hard, because when I was under Academic Probation, I could not do the things I wanted to with a free mind.
Along with photography, I also relentlessly pursued quizzing during my while at IITK, and won lots of national level quizzes for IITK. When I could not do the things I wanted to do, I realised the gravity of my situation and started to improve my academics from the 4th semester. I am pretty proud of the fact that I was able to graduate with a 6.6 CPI, even after studying the bare minimum.
I observed that a lot of my peers and seniors fell into the same trap of running behind money, jobs and lucrative packages. I always used to think that as IITians, we are the cream of the nation and we should have a unique vision, but our aspirations were very similar to those of students from other mediocre colleges (it was just a difference of magnitude). A friend of mine and I always ridiculed that mentality. I think IIT provides a great safety net, and those who are privileged enough to take a risk should go for it. My simple litmus test for what I'd consider a suitable job for me is the 'Garfield' test. I have to be in a job where I don't hate Mondays, where I enjoy my work so much that I cannot believe that I'm getting paid for it.
I have been very blessed to have supportive parents who let me do this. I remember, I had written a mail to my dad after my first year saying that I don't like this place, and I am in a bad situation. There is a rat race going on here and I don't want to be a part of it. So I wanted to drop out and try a humanities course instead. My father then gave me great advice. He said IIT is like a springboard, it's better to jump from a higher ground then from ground zero. He just told me to get my degree, apart from that I had complete freedom over what I wanted to do.
I completely agree I was pretty privileged to come from a financially stable background to pursue my true interests. Many of my batchmates didn't have this luxury and had to do a "real job". I totally get the point that for a majority of students, IITs are a way to get out of poverty and elevate their socio-economic status. However, it was disappointing to see that other students who didn’t belong to such disadvantaged backgrounds and also had a desire to do something else with their lives didn’t have the guts to take a risk just because they were afraid of failure and what the society would say of their decisions.
I feel that the phrase “Indian education system” is a misnomer, because we don’t have an education system in our country, what we do have is a glorified job training system, and the much hallowed places like IITs and IIMs are quite emblematic of this fact. I despised this instrumental approach towards education during my time at IITK, and felt sad that most students don't make use of what we get in IITs, which actually can provide us a lot of knowledge across a broad spectrum of fields.
Unlike most of my batchmates, I did not have any structured guidance for my career. I did not have any senior who I could talk to about what I had to do in my career, because my path was very different. I had to figure it out all by myself. It was always clear to me that I had a very strong humanities bent. I understood that I wasn't into core engineering, so I tried to explore the other things which were offered in college, like Film Studies, Fine Arts, Cognitive Science. I also did a lot of self directed research in Art History and Critical Theory too. Luckily, I did find great professors in the fine arts department like Prof. Koumudi Patil and Prof. Ritwij Bhowmik, and doing courses offered by them were heavily influential to me.
For internships and other opportunities, I just had to shamelessly contact people and express my interest in the work being offered. I sent my portfolio to multiple people working in the photojournalism industry, which resulted in me being given a chance at The Hindu by
Mr. V. V. Krishnan (who is an iconic sports photographer). I was very lucky to have been mentored by him and learnt a lot during my time there. Overall, I had to put in a lot of effort, but once I found good mentors, it started making sense and the path seemed clearer. Initially I had a dream of being a photojournalist or documentary photographer, but I eventually realised that unfortunately, it is not a stable career path.
During my stay at IITK, I also realised that there were professors in fine arts with very stable jobs. I also wondered if I had certain professor-like traits, such as maintaining a captivated audience. I really loved imparting knowledge to others, and wanted to be an academician all my life, since my father is a professor. Looking at Prof. Ritwij Bhowmik’s profile, I also found out about the degree called Master of Fine Arts. If you want to become an art historian, then you do a Master of Arts (MA) and then go for a PhD in it, but if you do an MFA, you become a practising artist and can teach at an Art/Design school. This made me seriously think about applying to graduate schools. During my final year, I did a UGP under Prof. Bhowmik and he helped me a lot in crafting my portfolio for Art school as I was a complete novice. Hand of Defiance (Roe v. Wade Protests, NYC), 2022.
When most people think of art, they have the image of Monalisa in their mind; a painting you put on a wall and gain some aesthetic pleasure. According to me, that’s not art but decoration. Contemporary Art has evolved a lot lately and there is so much intersection between STEM and Arts, such as in fields “Bio-Art” and “New Media Art”. This one-dimensional way of looking at STEM and Arts is a very regressive thought process and stops the cross-pollination of ideas between these two fields. At IITK, I was highly influenced by reading C.P. Snow’s “The Two Cultures” in which he talks about similar topics way back in the 1950s.
IITs especially have a decent Humanities department, because they also teach us stem along with that. A lot of my art is inspired from what I have studied in college. This dichotomy between technology and art that society has created, does not really exist. One of my favorite Futurist painters Gino Severni said that - “One of the main causes of our artistic decline lies beyond doubt in the separation of art and science,” and I totally agree with this. I believe that having a basic exposure to mathematical rigour and the scientific method makes you a better artist.
I have found the most inspiring artists at IITK, rather than outside. The way of approaching problems is different. I am also looking to collaborate with some of my IITK friends in artistic projects related to computer vision and ML. This just shows how IITs are arguably the best institutes for pursuing any kind of academic program, not just engineering.
In spite of not enjoying my time very much in IITK when I was there, in retrospect I think it was a great decision. STEM education is always beneficial, no matter what you want to pursue later, because it gives you logical rigour and a way to think about the world in a rational way. Most of the intellectual malarkey that is plaguing the Arts and Humanities academia lately is just because the scholars in these fields have no exposure to this way of thinking.
Since the last one year, I have stopped doing photography for my professional art practice, as I am trying to rebrand myself as a Post-Conceptual artist. For me a good work of art is something that’s interesting to think about, rather than something that’s interesting to look at, and hence the paradigm of ‘Artist as a Visual Philosopher’ is what appeals to me the most right now. There is a distinction between retinal and cerebral art. I am more into cerebral art, where it is about ideas more than aesthetic beauty. I am heavily inspired by this quote by Lewis Baltz - “Photography as such is not necessarily interesting, it's interesting as an art medium when it can intersect with other social and aesthetic questions." My current artistic practice is highly “research-based” and is inspired by Post-Colonial discourses, exploring issues like identity historical memory and cultural representation, with a specific interest in probing how Britishers employed photography in colonial India for "othering" and how these ethnographic photos exist in contemporary institutional archives.
This paradigm shift in my thoughts is entirely based on what I was taught by Prof. Koumudi Patil in the Modern Art course at IITK, which also shows how things taught in undergrad are helping me out even now. I am also interested in things like Post-Internet, New Media, Performance Art and Institutional Critique, that I incorporate in my current practice. I recently participated in my first exhibition in a downtown Manhattan gallery and will also be presenting my work at Society of Photographic Education’s 61st Annual Conference next year in St. Louis, Missouri and in The Photographer’s Gallery in London. I am hopeful of gaining more traction in the contemporary art world with my current work.
There are a few pieces of general advice I would give all my juniors. Maintain a bare minimum for CPI, so that you can pursue what you want without hindrance. Question preconceived notions and reject authority. This is the first time in your life you have the opportunity to think for yourself and actually figure out what kind of life you want to live. And then, with the time and freedom you have, find your interests, Invest in them, and don't be afraid to pursue it. I believe that money and everything is taken care of if you enjoy your work so much that you can't believe you're getting paid for it.
IITK celebrated its 64th Foundation Day and honored the achievements of its faculty and alumni. Our alumni are one of the strong pillars of the institute who used the foundation provided by their alma mater to achieve greater heights in their professional world and created an impact on the society. IIT Kanpur has come a long way since its inception and continues to achieve new milestones every year. On 1st of Nov. 2023, a cultural event "Antrang" was held, a Kathak performance by Pandit Rajendra Kumar Gangani, who is from Jaipur Gharana enthralled the audience.
Prof. Abhay Kanrandikar along with his team, held a series of alumni engagement events in San Francisco, Houston, and New York in August. These events provided an opportunity for our alumni to network and collaborate, and know about the latest developments at IITK.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and IIT Kanpur instituted MIT-IIT Kanpur Seed Fund will enable research collaboration between the faculty of IIT Kanpur and MIT. This collaboration sets a milestone, making Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur the first Indian institution to enter such a partnership with MIT, which has similar funding initiatives in over 40 countries globally. This initiative has been possible due to generous contributions from Mr. Sudhakar Kesavan (BT/CHE/76), an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and MIT.
Prof. Abhay Karandikar, was appointed as the Secretary, Department of Science & Technology (DST, India). Prof. Karandikar is an alumnus of the institute and joined as its Director in 2018.
IIT Kanpur celebrated Teachers' Day honoring some of the most esteemed faculty members for their unwavering dedication and outstanding contributions to knowledge sharing. The institute presented the Distinguished Teacher Award, Excellence-in-Teaching Awards, 1989 Batch Faculty Award, and acknowledged those who have served the institute for 25 years. Prof. Deepak Pathak from IIT Bombay was the Chief Guest.
An orientation session was held on Student Welfare Initiatives & Programs for the Y23 batch on 25 Aug. 2023. The aim of the session was to apprise first year students on various scholarships, awards, and other programs that are offered at the institute. Prof. Kantesh Balani, Dean of Resources & Alumni, addressed some key points, such as, student support programs, IITK alumni family, and the contributions by some major donors of the institute.
In collaboration with SIIC IIT Kanpur, a mentoring session was organized under the Ajay and Rooma Dubey Health Tech Ideation and Innovation Program. The session witnessed active participation from selected students, medical experts from Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, and professors from the BSBE department, IITK. The panel provided feedback on the problem statement and offered insights on prototype development.
India and the United States have collaboratively taken a significant step towards enhancing defence excellence and collaboration by convening the INDUS-X (India-United States Defence Acceleration Ecosystem) workshop on August 29, 2023. The event, co-facilitated by IIT Kanpur, Pennsylvania State University, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), the Ministry of Defence, India; and the US Department of Defence (DoD), was supported by the US-India Business Council (USIBC).
IIT Kanpur took part in Asia’s largest India CSR Summit held from 11-12 Oct. 2023 in New Delhi. The institute showcased some of its R&D products like, Life-to-Limb (a bionic arm for the physically challenged), Atmos (Air quality monitoring device), Sit-to-Stand Smart Stick (for the elderly), and Smart Touch Watch (for the visually impaired). The institute also highlighted its major projects, centers, and departments, such as the Gangwal School of Medical Sciences & Technology, Hridyantra, Cyber Security Hub, and Sustainable Energy & Engineering Department. Prof. Ashish Garg participated as a moderator in a panel discussion at India CSR Summit on 11 Oct. 2023 in New Delhi. The thematic session focused on Fostering Cross-Sector Collaborations for Climate and Sustainability Action in India.
The Mehta Family Center for Engineering in Medicine at IIT Kanpur was inaugurated on 6 Nov. 2023 and a two-day symposium was held at the Center. The center had been set up with the generous support of Mr. Rahul Mehta of the Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta Family Foundation with the objective of facilitating breakthroughs in biomedical engineering innovations.
IIT Kanpur signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) Kanpur, in which IIT Kanpur will mentor IIS Kanpur to Establish State-of-the-art Laboratories and Cutting-Edge Curriculum. The MoU was inked in the presence of Hon'ble Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Ji, Ministry of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India. The partnership is aimed at building capacities and meet the aspirations of India's youth by upskilling the working force and the youth of our country.
As part of their CSR initiative, Vertiv has partnered with IIT Kanpur to support our community development program with Shiksha Sopan - IIT Kanpur. The main objective is to improve academic performance, promoting student well-being and providing quality education to the department of science. A high magnification microscope was purchased, a temperature controlling furnace was designed, furniture was set up and repaired in labs and paintings based on ISRO’s recently established Launchpad and International Space Station (ISRO) were put in the corridor in the month of July. A course on ‘Computer Coding & Robotics' started functioning where students learnt block based coding and presented their animations on ‘The International Yoga Day’. They were introduced to scientific instruments.
Under CSR initiatives, IIT Kanpur had signed an MoU with Tower Research Capital for developing AI/ML for India and social good. The project aims to re-engineer public grievances systems, and redressal processes in Indian organizations, and develop an indigenous, AI-based, India-stack for AI services. Center for Developing Intelligent Systems (CDIS) at IITK will develop a SAAS platform for common AI/ML use cases and serving AI/ML models specialized for the needs of India for the company.
Bhoomi Pujan ritual for the construction of the Gangwal School of Medical Science and Technology and Yadupati Singhania Super Speciality Hospital was held in the month of October in the graceful presence of IITK Director Prof. Abhay Karandikar.
Akshar, IITK's 3-day literature festival was organized jointly by Shivani Centre for the Nurture and Reintegration of Hindi and Other Indian Languages, Rajbhasha Prakoshth, Appreciation and Promotion of Art, Culture and Heritage (APPROACH) Cell of IIT Kanpur, Hindi Sahitya Sabha – a student body at IIT Kanpur and @Gaatha – a SIIC IIT Kanpur incubated company. Several well-known poets and artists will provide the IIT campus community with an opportunity to appreciate various genres of literature stories, poems, and plays. Besides, an evening of Hindustani classical music, thought–provoking panel discussions, a Kathak performance, Rabindra Sangeet, Kabir – Bhajan, and many more performances will be featured during the Akshar event. Akshar 2023 is also hosting a Mega Book - Fair was also organized coordinated by leading publishers of the country.
IIT Kanpur’s Akshar Literary Festival ‘23 celebrated Hindi author Shivani’s birth centenary on its final day. The event was graced by the presence of Shri. Muktesh Pant, IIT Kanpur alumnus and son of the great author, and his wife Smt. Vinita Pant; Smt. Ira Pandey, daughter of Shivani, her husband Shri Amitabha Pandey and son Aditya Pandey. Several batchmates of Shri Muktesh Pant and former distinguished alumni of IIT Kanpur, notably Shri Sudhakar Kesavan and family, Shri Anupam Khanna, Shri Varun Sinha, Shri Rajesh Nandan Pandey and a few others also graced the occasion and shared their collective memories of Shivani.
IIT delegation visited University of Melbourne and IITK La-Trobe Academy in Australia.
Mr. Vijay Parthasarthy, an alumnus of IITK, launched his book, The "Golden Ladder" on 8th Aug. 2023 in IIT Kanpur. It is a self-help book that teaches readers how to achieve success in business and in life. The book also includes a number of case studies of successful businesses and individuals who have used the principles of the Golden Ladder to achieve their goals.
IIT Kanpur recently took part in Global Technology Summit- PI-WOT 2023 held in Bengaluru. The institute highlighted the significant work done by Cyber Security Center, Startup Incubator and Innovation Center, and Technopark IITK. Prof. Nitin Saxena, Coordinator, Center for Developing Intelligent Systems (CDIS), IITK, delivered a keynote speech on "How Indian academia is harnessing AI for social transformation." Prof. Siddhartha Panda, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, IITK, participated in a panel discussion on "Frugal Innovations for Masses. Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, CEO, FIRST, IITK, led a panel discussion on "Digital identity for a global landscape." PI-WOT 2023 was attended by industry leaders from Hexaware, Infosys, and alumni across the globe.
IIT Kanpur and Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) launched the Kotak School of Sustainability - India’s first fully integrated school of sustainability at IIT Kanpur in the presence of Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India as the chief guest; and Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and Shri. Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, as guests of honor. Kotak and IITK believe that this school, with a vision to promote pedigree education, research, and outreach, will offer thought leadership solutions towards sustainability actions and prepare future generations to lead the cause of sustainable development. The Kotak School of Sustainability, funded through KMBL’s CSR program, will have dedicated centers of excellence covering different aspects of sustainability such as clean energy, environment, ecology, circular economy, climate finance, sustainable societies, and policy.
IIT Kanpur signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Navy (IN) on 15th December 2023. The signing ceremony was held at Naval Headquarters, New Delhi. With the expertise and academic prowess in defense technologies, the Institute is well poised to contribute in this strategic alignment. The structured collaboration focuses on joint Research and Development initiatives involving teams from Centre of Excellence (Marine Engg) at INS Shivaji, Lonavla and other organizations of IN with IIT Kanpur and enable capacity building, provide solutions to field level issues, and enhance training effectiveness through exchange of faculty/guest lectures.
Prof. Sachchida Nand Tripathi
Dept. of Civil Engineering and Sustainable Energy Engineering
Prof. Arun Shukla
Dept. of Bio Chemical Sciences & Bioengineering
Prof. Avinash Kumar Agarwal
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Prof. Nitin Saxena
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering
Prof. Bushra Ateeq
Dept. of Biological Sciences & Bio Engineering
Dr. Rahul Mnagal
Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Prof. Nitin Saxena
Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering
Prof. Nitin Saxena
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering
Prof. Sandeep Verma
Dept. of Chemistry
Prof. Krishanu Biswas
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
Dr. M Jaleel Akhtar
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Prof. Nitin Gupta
Dept. of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering
Prof. Ramasubbu Sankararamakrishnan
Dept. of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering
Late Prof. Amit Dutta
Dept. of Physics
Prof. Rakesh Kumar
Dept. of Aerospace Engineering
Dr. Purushottam Kar
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering
Prof. Ashok Kumar
Dept. of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering
Prof. Pradip Swarnakar
Dept. of Humnaities and Social Sciences
Dr. Shubham Sahay
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Prof. Anantharaj Sengeni
Dept. of Chemistry
Prof. Ashok Gadgil (MSC2/PHY/1973) was awarded the prestigious White House National Medal for Technology and Innovation by the US President, Mr. Joe Biden. Prof. Gadgil was presented the medal for providing life sustaining resources to communities around the world.
Prof. Keshav Pingali (BT/EE/78) received the ACM-IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award. Prof. Pingali is a faculty at Department of Computer Science, University of Texas, Austin, is a W.A."Tex" Moncrief Chair of Grid and Distributed Computing.
Mr. Srikant Sastri (BT/CHE/1983) got appointed as the Chairperson of the Geospatial Data Promotion & Development Committee. He currently serves as the Chairman of IIM Calcutta Innovation Park; Director of Foundation for Innovation.
Dr. Dipti Ranjan Sahoo
(MT/PhD/CE/2004/2008)
Dr. Neeraj Kayal
(BT/PhD/CSE/2002/2007)
Mr. Gopal Sutwala and his family donated Rs. 41 Lakhs to support treatment of patients from ‘Economically Weaker Section’ at the upcoming Yadupati Singhania Super Specialty Hospital of Gangwal School of Medical Sciences & Technology at IIT Kanpur. An MOU was signed between Sutwala family and IIT Kanpur to support the establishment of a bay within a general ward allocated for patients covered under different government health schemes at Gangwal School of Medical Sciences and Technology with a 500 bedded Yadupati Singhania super-specialty hospital at IIT Kanpur.
Mr. Sutwala said, “I just wanted to give money for the treatment of the poor. I am happy that such a project is coming up here (in IIT Kanpur) and it needs to be supported in any case. So, I am thankful.”
The grant will help the students promote excellence, facilitate research, and act as a major factor in improving the academic ranking of the Institute. Mr. Bhargava, a Distinguished Alumnus of IITK, received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from IITK in 1973.
The scholarship would be given to an all-rounder 2nd-year student of the Mechanical Engineering Dept. Dr. Mohan Shetye, father of Dr. Behrend, is an alumnus of IITK, who founded Integral Information Systems, pioneering business intelligence software, culminating in the powerful data analytics tool, Pinpoint, which has notably supported Harvard Partner Medical Practice for over two decades.
On the birth anniversary of late Prof. Rakesh Popli, his family instituted Prof. Rakesh Popli and Mrs. Rama Popli Distinguished Lecture Series in the Department of Physics, IITK. Dr. Abhimanyu Popli (PhD/IITD), Ms. Shivaranjani Popli Verma (MT/EE/2011/IITK), and Mr. Divyantaran Popli (BT/BSBE/2014/IITK), children of Prof. Popli and Mrs. Rama Popli, have established this lecture series with aim to present excellent speakers describing “Common Man Science" in an engaging style with different perspectives. Leading scientists, researchers, technologists, innovators, entrepreneurs, change-makers and thought leaders are invited from all branches of science, technology, business, government, academia, and other fields.
Mr. Ashish Karandikar (BT/EE/1995), currently serving as the Vice President of Engineering at NVIDIA, USA, donated generously to his Alma mater to establish three endowed programs at the Department of Electrical Engineering. This generous contribution will pave the way for newer avenues of growth for our faculty, researchers, and students of the Electrical Engineering Department alike, thereby also contributing to the flourishing academic and R&D ecosystem at the institute. The three programs include, Smt. Lata and Shri K.G. Karandikar Faculty Chair, awarded to IITK faculty; Karandikar Best Ph.D. Thesis Award, recognizing outstanding scholarly contributions celebrating exceptional doctoral theses; and Karandikar Student Scholarship, aiming to nurture and support students.