The discussion was part of an online summit organized for the Doctoral Fellowship in India for ASEAN

Kanpur, UP: Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur participated in an online panel discussion on the Research and Innovation Opportunities at IITs, as part of the Online DIA (Doctoral Fellowship in India for ASEAN) Summit held on 13 March. The focus of the online summit was to popularize the ASEAN Fellowship announced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2019, give ASEAN students more insight into the IIT system and to promote joint activity between ASEAN and IITs.

The Chief Guest for the event was Dr. K Sivan, Chairman ISRO, India and the keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Ronojoy Dutta, CEO, InterGlobe Aviation Limited and former CEO of United Airlines.

The inaugural ceremony was followed by the panel discussion which was attended by several IIT Directors and faculty including Prof. V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi; Prof. Nitin Tripathi, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand; Prof. RV Raja Kumar, Director, IIT Bhubaneshwar and Prof. Swati Patankar, Dean of International Relations, IIT Bombay.

The research and innovation environment at IITs was discussed in depth and also how the residential campuses offer great learning opportunities for all students. Prof. Karandikar spoke at length about research in affordable technology including 5G for digital inclusion at IITs and how the work that students undertake here for their PhD can find applications in their home country as well. He also drew upon his experiences as a student at IIT Kanpur to share with the students the advantages of choosing to study at IIT.

"Some of the problems faced by Indians are also problems faced by people in other South Asian countries so from that point of view, the research and innovation that is now happening at IITs is not only state-of-the-art and globally competitive but also addressing the problems of these nations," he added.

This session was followed by another panel discussion on the entrepreneurship and innovation support that IITs offer to students.

The DIA Online Summit was an excellent opportunity for prospective students to learn from the faculty and esteemed alumni of IITs about how the institutes support excellent learning and encourage research and innovation amongst students.