IIT Madras Alumni of 1983 & 1993 batches pledge Rs. 14 cr to boost campus infrastructure

Institute hosts Reunion Day with over 300 alumni from various batches taking part and interacting with students and faculty.

INN/Chennai, @infodeaofficial 

Indian Institute of Technology Madras Alumni of the 1993 batch, which is having its Silver Reunion this year, have pledged to raise Rs. 12 crore, on the occasion of Reunion Day, hosted by IIT Madras today (28^th December 2018), to support the campus infrastructure, Research and Development and student innovations. Further, the 1983 Batch also pledged another Rs. 2 crore. Over 300 alumni from across batches took part in the meet.

Addressing the Reunion Day celebrations, Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Many important research that must be done falls within gaps of existing funding sources and researchers find it difficult to raise funds. The CSR funding from industry provides scope for these kind of research projects. Faculty can do research and produce technology that will have huge impact. CSR funding can help scale up these projects, particular those with social impact, to support pilot scale deployments.”

Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi also announced the 12 Distinguished Alumnus Awardees for 2019 (given below). The Awards are broadly given in following categories – Academics, industrial, research, business/entrepreneurship leadership and general category.

Various competitions and projects of the Centre for Innovation, IIT Madras, were demonstrated during the occasion. The students interacted with alumni who have been vital in encouraging innovations and helping them attend global competitions.

Speaking on ‘Broad Avenues to engage with IIT Madras,’ Prof Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (International and Alumni Relations), said, “IIT Madras Alumni is about 48,000 strong and the Alumni Relations Office is connected to around 35,000 of them. Alumni have engaged with students and faculty over the years. We welcome all of you to partner with our faculty research groups which are addressing industry problems.”

He said, “Nearly 60 Faculty have startups set up through IIT Madras Incubation Cell. Many efforts undertaken by IIT Madras requires a lot of resources. Alumni contribution with their resources has been immensely helpful. Many of our research laboratories and sports facilities have government and Alumni funding as well. We have a Development Office that liaises with corporate firms as well as the Alumni.”

Further, Prof Mahesh Panchagnula added, “India is on a growth trajectory that is unprecedented and IIT Madras is also on a growth trajectory that is very exciting. IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering university in the country by the Government of India for three years in a row now.”

The IIT Madras Heritage Centre gave a presentation on ‘IIT Madras: Then and Now,’ capturing evolution of the Institute over the years. The presentation showcased the new synthetic sports track, which came up with funding from Fairfax Holdings Chairman Mr. Prem Watsa, a 1971-batch Chemical Engineering graduate.

Speaking about the contribution of her 1993 Batch, Ms. Rohini Chakravarthy, Partner, NGP Capital, U.S., said, “We are having the Silver Reunion for our Batch with the highest attendance ever as nearly 50 per cent of the class are here. As many as 126 of our batch are meeting 25 years after graduating today. We have now committed to raising an endowment of Rs. 12 crore from alumni across the world towards supporting Research and improving students life on campus.”

Further, she added, “In the Research areas, the class intent is to support undergraduate Research opportunities as well as supporting new faculty with startup funds for research and travel for conferences. We would like to bolster the mental student initiatives including the wellness aspects.”

Speaking about the 1983 batch, which is having its 35^th year reunion this year. Mr. Kumar Doraiswami, Founding Partner, Tribecca Early Stage Partners, U.S., “Our batch targeted Rs. 2 crore, of which we have already raised around Rs. 1.25 crore. A couple of areas of interest to the class is supporting new faculty members via externships by providing funds for travel and collaborate with industry and top global universities.”

Further, he added, “A second area is a number of our people are interested in supporting students from economically weaker sections and third is helping women students and increasing the involvement of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).”

Mr. M. Subramanian, Chief Executive Officer, Development Office, IIT Madras, and Ms. Shuba Kumar (1994 batch), President, IIT Madras Alumni Association, spoke on occasion. A panel discussion was held during the meeting on the topic ‘Alumni are key stakeholders in the Institute’s growth’ with representatives from Reunion Batches.