JUNE 2022
KNOWLEDGE TREE - IMPACTFUL STORIES FROM IIT BOMBAY
Dear Alumnus,
Warm wishes from your alma mater.
William Wordsworth in ‘How Beautiful is the Rain’ said:
How beautiful is the rain! After the dust and heat,
In the broad and fiery street, In the narrow lane,
How beautiful is the rain!
The scorching summer in Mumbai is almost behind us and as Mumbaikars eagerly await the gentle downpour of the monsoon rains to cool us down from the sweltering heat of the past few months, I would like to apprise you of the key events that took place at the Institute over the past month.
1. After two years of the pandemic, the revival of the FAN (Faculty Alumni Network) meeting was the talking point of May. The 2022 edition of FAN was held in collaboration with Ohio State University (OSU) at the latter’s campus in Columbus, Ohio, USA, on May 13 & 14, 2022.
SPECIAL FEATURE
The Institute will inaugurate the Rahul Bajaj Technology Innovation Centre on June 10, 2022
Veteran Industrialist, Padma Bhushan awardee, and former chairman of the Bajaj group of industries, sadly passed away on February 12, 2022. Among his many glorious accomplishments, the late Shri. Rahul Bajaj was also a former member of the Rajya Sabha, chairman of the International Business Council, a philanthropist, and more.
Mr. Bajaj became the Managing Director of Bajaj Auto in 1972.
FACULTY INTERVIEW
Prof. D N Singh, an IIT Kanpur alumnus, is currently the D.L. Shah Chair Professor for Innovation, Department of Civil Engineering (Geotechnical Engineering Division), IIT Bombay.. Prof. Singh’s can-do attitude has been instrumental in the setting up of a unique Laboratory for Geoenvironmental Research & Innovation (LGeReIn)#, as well as launching an internationally renowned journal Environmental Geotechnics*, Institution of Civil Engineers, UK.
Read more about his incredible journey from IIT Kanpur to IIT Bombay and his commitment to placing India on the world map in the field of environmental geotechnical engineering.
Conversation with Alumni
We spoke with our alumnus, Ms. Zenobia Driver (M.Sc., Chemistry, 1998), last month where she took us back in time to when she was a student at IIT Bombay, and reflected on her career trajectory and her subsequent life as an entrepreneur.
In this second part of the conversation, she observes how her beloved Insti has changed over the years, describes her life as a volunteer, gives reasons why it’s important for alumni to give back to their alma mater, and her hopes and dreams for her very cherished Insti.
Q: As someone who has been in constant touch with IIT Bombay as an alumni volunteer – what are some of the changes you have observed on campus from when you were a student to now?
One of the most heartening changes that I have seen is an increase in the proportion of female students on campus to almost 25% today. When I was a student on campus, it was possible to walk from H10 to Chinko’s or Vihar Gate and see no other woman on the way apart from the H10ites I was walking with. Today, that would be close to impossible.
INNOVATIVE PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY
News from IIT Bombay
INSTITUTE HIGHLIGHTS
TECH NUGGETS
Dastur Energy Signs Pact with Advanced Resources International, IIT Bombay
Dastur Energy Pvt. Ltd. India has tied up with Advanced Resources International and IIT Bombay for geological mapping to enable large-scale storage of carbon dioxide in the country.
With the technical expertise and know-how of Advanced Resources International and IIT Bombay, the company will create large storage maps, which will enable the effective storage of carbon dioxide.
Advanced Resources International (ARI) is a consulting, research, and development firm providing services related to unconventional gas (gas shales, coalbed methane, and tight sands), enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS).
Upcoming Events
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) conclave
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) conclave will be held at IIT Bombay on July 6, 2022. The CSR conclave will serve as an opportunity for socially conscious corporates to partner with IIT Bombay on several pioneering projects the university is undertaking to address wide-ranging national and global challenges.
The CSR conclave aims to enable corporates to sharpen their CSR strategies while also helping to make their outcomes more impactful and measurable. It will also showcase cutting-edge research and infrastructure projects by IIT Bombay in the areas of climate change, health sciences, and energy, amongst many others.
- Day & Date: July 6, 2022
- Time: TBA
- Venue: IIT Bombay
Civil Services Reunion
IIT Bombay is organizing a two/three-day reunion for our alumni members who are part of the Indian Civil Services. The festivities planned are a way for our alumni to relive their journeys at IIT Bombay, get reacquainted with their peers and hostel buddies, visit their favourite hangout spots on campus, and participate in the many fun activities organised by the IIT Bombay community.
- Day & Date: July 8, 9 and 10, 2022
- Time: TBA
- Venue: IIT Bombay
Inauguration of Rahul Bajaj Technology Innovation Centre
The Director, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay cordially invites you to the “Inauguration of Rahul Bajaj Technology Innovation Centre” by Chief Guest : Dr. R.A. Mashelkar , Former Director General, CSIR & President, Indian National Science Academy, National Innovation Foundation, Global Research Alliance in presence of Bajaj Family Members
- Day & Date: Saturday, June 10, 2022
- Time: 11:30 AM
- Venue: Prof. B. Nag Auditorium, VMCC, IIT Bombay
Tinkerer’s Lab Inauguration
The Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay, has created a unique space for students called the Tinkerer’s Lab where they can nurture their curiosity, build experiments, test/verify a hypothesis, innovate and develop solutions based on engineering principles on a smaller scale. The Lab is funded by Alkyl Amines CSR and will be inaugurated on June 13, 2022. The chief guest for the event is Padma Vibhushan awardee, Shri M. M. Sharma.
- Day & Date: Monday, June 13, 2022
- Time: 11.00 am to 12.00 pm
- Venue: IIT Bombay
Student Research Article
3D Dense Reconstruction of Lidar Point Cloud from Samples: A Deep Learning Application
Have you ever wondered how amazing it would be to reconstruct an entire 3D point cloud based on very few measurements? Imagine, an airborne platform scanning overhead, capturing a bare minimum of measurements, and transmitting them to the processing facility. Subsequently, the reconstruction of the entire 3D point cloud is accomplished with near-perfect accuracy based on just those few measurements. You might wonder if this is possible? And the answer is yes, it is, indeed, possible.
OBITUARY
Dr. Arun Netravali, an Indian-American technological genius and a Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Bombay, sadly passed away on November 4th, 2021, in Dallas, USA.
Dr. Arun Netravali was born in Ankola, Karnataka (1946), and grew up in Mumbai. After five years of study in a municipal school, he joined King George High School and later Elphinstone College. He graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay, in 1967 and completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at Rice University, Houston, Texas (1971). Dr. Netravali was also conferred with an honorary doctorate by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale, Lausanne, Switzerland.
An electrical engineer by profession, Dr. Netravali worked in NASA during his initial years before moving to Bell Laboratories, one of the best high-tech labs in the world. He became the ninth president of Bell Laboratories from (1999 – 2001) and later switched to Lucent Technologies as its Chief Scientist (2002-2003). During his tenure at Bell Laboratories, Dr. Netravali was instrumental in the rapid increase in innovations and led the grand alliance to develop High-Definition Television (HDTV) in the USA, which resulted in benefits for all in the community. Later, in 2003, he served as Managing Partner at Omni Capital and was director of various companies, including Agere Systems, Level 3 Communications, and LSI Logic. He authored over 170 technical papers and was an inventor on more than 70 patents. Dr. Netravali held the position of Adjunct Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and taught graduate courses at City College (New York), Columbia University, and Rutgers University. He received several honours, including the Padma Bhushan from the President of India, the National Medal of Technology from the President of the US, and the Marconi Prize for his contributions to digital video systems and services.
Dr. Netravali was a loving husband to Dr. Chitra Netravali and a doting father to their children, Ilka and Ravi. Ilka completed her M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School, while Ravi did his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and currently teaches at Princeton University.
IIT Bombay mourns the passing away of Dr. Arun Netravali. He leaves behind a rich legacy of pioneering research and development projects and numerous technological breakthroughs in digital technology, such as digital video research and high-definition television. He dedicated his whole life to innovating and contributing to ground-breaking technologies that had the potential to transform human lives. Our deepest condolences go out to his family members. May his soul rest in eternal peace.