Bengaluru: IIT Kanpur celebrates 60 years of excellence

Bengaluru: IIT Kanpur, one of the first Indian Institutes of Technology and a globally acclaimed Institute of National Importance, continued its Diamond Jubilee celebrations with a unique event in Bengaluru hosted by IIT Kanpur Alumni Association, Bangalore Chapter.

The symposium on 'Transforming India: The Next Innovation Powerhouse' was the first of a series of events that are being organized by the Alumni Association of IIT Kanpur across the country and abroad. The event saw eminent IIT Kanpur alumni and other luminaries from various walks of life participating including Dr Koppillil Radhakrishnan, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur, and Honorary Distinguished Advisor in the Department of Space (ISRO), Prof Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur, and Umesh C Joshi, Co-Founder Hush, President IITK Alumni Association Bangalore.

The all-day event with the theme 'Connect, Collaborate and Celebrate' was packed with in-depth panel discussions covering academia, industry and entrepreneurial innovations. The discussions on topics such as scientific research and development and Mission Nobel Prize through building a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship saw enthusiastic participation from the audience. Industry-specific roundtables saw deliberations on how IIT Kanpur and its alumni could shape the future of India.

A nostalgic session on the inception of IIT Kanpur took the alumni down memory lane and a trivia quiz had them reminiscing about their time at the institute. Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, President, Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur said, "The idea behind organizing such conferences across the country and overseas is to get the alumni under one roof and deliberate over various important issues that are critical to the growth of India's economy. With so many thinking minds putting their heads together, we are sure to generate innovative ideas to ensure India stays ahead in business and science!

The conference in Bengaluru focused on conversations and debates around making India a global R&D hub, an examination of the challenges and ways to address these with the involvement of academia." During the event, Institute signed MoUs for research collaboration with various R&D centres in Bangalore. Adding to that, SIIC (Incubation Centre) and Technopark from IIT Kanpur showcased various startups being incubated at IIT Kanpur.

The event saw the participation of more than 800 alumni along with industry leaders. Events are further planned to be held across Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune in India, and abroad in San Francisco, New York, Ottawa, and Zurich to reach out to the over 10,000 alumni of the institute and bring about productive interaction with ideas for India's growth.

The themes identified include India as a Global R&D hub, transforming India through technology and Innovation, touching the grassroots and building a $5 trillion economy, powering the future with AI & IOT, engagement with government departments and building Centres of Excellence, methods to attract world-class faculty; growth with manufacturing and SMEs, and innovation and funding for growth and collaboration with Universities and Industry. State Bank of India and Livspace were the main sponsors of the event.