1 dec jan 27 2015 pdf

December 2 0 1 4 - January 2 0 1 5campus diary

I N D I A N I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O L O G Y B O M B A Y

http://www.iitb.ac.in/CampusDiary/CD.htmlDecember 2014 - January 2015

campus diary

IITBombayX Launched:Providing Learners an opportunity to learn the IIT Way

In a step that could significantly push the bar for quality online education inthe country, IIT Bombay launched IITBombayX (the extended onlineeducational services from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay) for thebenefit of Indian learners and training workshops for teachers. IITBombayXwas launched by Prof. Devang Khakhar, Director, IIT Bombay on India’s66th Republic Day.

Describing the initiative as “pathbreaking”, Prof. Khakhar said “The rapidevolution of technology makes it imperative for students and teachers toincorporate the various offerings of technology in their learning process.”

The first three courses being offered on the IITBombayX platform are:

Introduction to Computer Programming - by Prof. Deepak BPhatak and Prof. Supratik Chakraborty; Department of ComputerScience and Engineering, a 8-week program starting in March 2015.

Thermodynamics - by Prof. U. N. Gaitonde, Prof. U. V. Bhandarkar,and Prof. M. D. Atrey; Department of Mechanical Engineering, a12-week program starting in March 2015.

Signals and Systems - by Prof. Vikram Gadre; Department ofElectrical Engineering, a 8-week program starting in March.

IITBombayX will also simulta-neously offer training workshops forteachers on ‘effective teaching andmentoring students in onlinecourses’, for each of these threesubjects, under T10KT (Train10,000 Teachers) Project. Facultyfrom IIT Bombay will be arranginglive interactive sessions everyfortnight, for such students andteachers. In addition to traditionalcourse materials such as videos,readings, and problem sets,IITBombayX provides interactiveuser forums like discussions,quizzes, instant feedback that willhelp build a community of students,professors, and teaching assistants(TAs).

IITBombayX will provide free onlinecourses and give access to highquality, IIT-style education to Indianstudents in Indian languages.Talking about this Prof Phatak said,“We have about 3500 colleges, butthe academic infrastructure inseveral institutions is not up to theexpected levels and quality ofeducation suffers. In other institutes,computer programming studentsmay be given 10, 20, or 30 lineprogrammes to write, but in IITBombay, students write 200 to 250line programmes. So, simply putIITBombayX stands for extendedonline educational services from IITBombay and IIT-style learning.”

Students will get an honourcertificate of achievement certifyingsuccessful completion of the courseafter they have qualified in the tests.

(L-R) Prof. Deepak B. Phatak, Prof. V. M. Gadre, Prof.Devang V Khakhar, Director,IITB and Prof. U.N. Gaitonde at the IITBombayX Launch

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IIT Bombay felicitates Defence Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar, on its Alumni Day

IIT Bombay celebrated its Annual Alumni Day on 28December, 2014. The Class of 1989 celebrated theirSilver Jubilee Reunion this year. The Institute alsofelicitated its Distinguished Alumnus, Mr. ManoharParrikar, Minister of Defence, Government of India, whograduated in Metallurgical Engineering from the Institutein 1978, “In recognition of his contribution to theDevelopment of the Country,” on the Alumni Day.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Parrikar said, “Institutionslike IITs, where research can actually be converted intocommercial application for national defence, have animportant role to play. From my side, I will try to see thatIITs are pulled into defence research as well.” He alsoshared interesting anecdotes from his college days atIIT Bombay, during the function.

In his address Prof. Devang Khakhar, Director, IITBombay informed how the institute is growing fromstrength to strength. “Today, IIT Bombay is the preferreddestination for IIT-JEE toppers. This year top 44 JEErankers out of 50, chose IIT Bombay for their education…The Institute is focusing on research that makes a

difference and has set up major research centers inareas like electronics, nanoscience and solar energy.We have recently established a virtual Tata Centre forTechnology and Design, for which Sir Dorabji Tata Trusthas agreed to grant Rs. 94 crores to IIT Bombay, over aperiod of 5 years,” he added.

As a part of the function, Distinguished Service Awardswere bestowed on five alumni members this year, whobesides being achievers in their own chosen domains,have contributed in a notable and sustained manner tothe progress of the Institute. The award was conferredon Mr. Rajendra Laad, Mr. Shankar Narayan, Mr. AtulNarkhede, Mr. Saumil Majmudar and Mr. AbhishekMangalick, by the Director.

The Silver Jubilee Batch has decided to fund threeexisting initiatives as a part of their Legacy Project andpledged a sum of Rs 3 crore towards it. The projectsthey have decided to fund include – Retired FacultyWellness Fund; Financial Aid Program for Students (itprovides unsecured loan program for needy students atlow interest rates for payment of tuition fee, hostel andmess expenses, laptop purchase, travel for conferencesetc.); and Young Faculty Award or New Faculty Sign-on Bonuses and Faculty Development Fund.

According to Mr. Ramesh Natarajan, a representativeof the Silver Jubilee Batch, “We felt that it is importantto support the retired faculty members, who have playeda great role in shaping many careers, as well as to attracttalented young minds to take up teaching at IIT Bombay.Hence, we have decided to contribute towards theexisting projects that are supporting the same goal. Also,given the fact that the cost of education and living hasincreased substantially, we would like to offer morefinancial aid to the deserving and needy students at IITBombay.”

Prof.D.V.Khakhar,Director, IITB felicitates Defence MinisterManohar Parrikar on Alumni Day

IIT Bombay has been conferred the Thomson ReutersIndia Innovation Award 2014 in recognition of theinnovation and patenting activity being carried at theInstitute, under the category of ‘Academic and ResearchInstitutes’.The award is given to honor the most innovative academicinstitutions and commercial enterprises in India for theirspirit of innovation in R&D. The criteria used to select thewinners include the patent portfolio size, success rate,extent of globalization and influence of innovation, basedon the research and analysis using the Derwent WorldPatents Index, Derwents Patents Citation Index Data andThomson Innovation tools.The award was received by Prof. P.M. Mujumdar, Dean(R&D), IIT Bombay on behalf of the Institute, at afunction held in Mumbai on December 12, 2014.

IITB wins the Thomson Reuters Award

IITB wins Thomson Reuters India Innovation Award


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The exhibition ‘4D Living: From Housing to AffordableLiving’ was organized on January 16-19, 2015 by IITBombay’s Industrial Design Centre (IDC) toshowcase ideas to solve problem of affordablehousing through the Industrial Designer’s lens. Theexhibition was inaugurated by Mr Arun Kashikar,Head, R&D Tata Housing. After almost four years of

brainstorming and committed planning and design,the IDC has come up with two different variants of3D and 4D Homes which is a unique design thatboasts of both affordable and sustainable designelements. The “3D Home,” is fit for a family, with stow-away couches, desks and chairs as well as movablewalls to meet the changing needs of its occupantsthroughout their lives. The flexibility ensures multipleuses of the spaces. For example, when not in use,part of the bathroom folds-in thus increasing thekitchen space. A modern interpretation of housing,the “4D Home” is a unique concept that aims atproviding transients and settlers the comforts ofmodern housing without spending much. Thisdimension works in two different “avatars”. Initiallythe services can be shared by people with the serviceprovider getting paid for the services rendered. Thisdecreases the cost of living for the EWS. At a laterstage by virtue of increased income and needs,people can take ownership of their spaces andresources as they get transformed from shared toself-contained dwellings.

Prototype of “3D Living”

4D Living Exhibition: Transforming the way we Live

Techfest 2015

The 50th Inter IIT Sports Meet washeld from December 12-19, 2014 atIIT Bombay. Chief Guest at theinaugural function, Master BlasterMr. Sachin Tendulkar waswelcomed by a jam packed crowdof 5000 students and facultymembers. Midst, deafening cheersof ‘Sachin! Sachin!’, he inspired thestudents to follow their passion bygiving them a reminiscence of hischildhood memories on the field. Hismessage to the participants was tocompete in the right spirit of thegame.

Golden jubilee edition of Inter IIT Sports Meet held at IIT Bombay

IIT Bombay won the Woman’sChampionship while the MenChampionship was won by IITKanpur. IIT Roorkee was a closesecond in the Men Championshipwhile hosts IIT Bombay finished 4th.several sportspersons were invitedas Guests during the Meet. Mr.Dhanraj Pillay, Former Captain ofIndian National Hockey Team, Mr.Nandan Bal, who represented Indiaat the Davis Cup in Tennis, and Ms.Mamta Prabhu, Silver Medalist,Table Tennis at the Delhi CWG,were among others who graced the

occasion. An interactive session withMr. John Gloster – ex-physio of theIndian National Team was alsoorganized.

The Golden Jubilee celebration ofthe Inter IIT sports Meet alsowitnessed, the launch of a socialinitiative ‘Mashal’ which aims atimproving the scenario of primaryeducation in the country through themedium of sports.

The Meet Comprised of total 12sports.

IIT-Bombay 2015 Techfest, whichattracted students, startups and techenthusiasts across the country wasorganized from January 2-4, 2015.The three-day event showcased somemind-boggling tech innovations fromIndia and abroad, along with someexciting events and lectures byrenowned personalities, includingFormer President Dr. A.P.J AbdulKalam, mathematician Prof. ManjulBhargava, and Google Doodle’s Mr.Ryan Germick.

While the Techfest had plenty oftalking points, Speech by Dr. Kalamstole the show. He urged the crowdto support his dream of digitalisingrural parts of India. “In two years, Indiashould move away from consumptionof costly fuel to providing solar energy.Youngsters will be the pioneers ofIndia’s future development. I amsharing this with you, so that you canbecome future ambassadors for solarpower,” he saidFormer President of India Dr. A.P.J

Abdul Kalam delivering speech at IITBTechfest event


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E- Summit 2015 - Where Innovation Transcends Business

Riding on the principle of encouraging innovation, lateralthinking and leadership The Entrepreneurship Summit2015 (E-Summit 2015) was held at IIT Bombay fromJanuary 31, 2015 to February 1, 2015. E-Summit is aninitiative by the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Bombay toprovide a meet-up point for the youth to interact withtheir role models and learn from their experiences. The

highlights of the event were IIT Flagship event EurekaFinals, Hack e thon, Speaker Sessions and PanelDiscussions. The event was graced by eminent andDistinguished Personalities such as Madhukar Parekh,Chairman, Pidilite Industries, Alan Mamedi, Founder,Truecaller, Ridham Desai ,MD, Morgan Stanley to namea few. The Guests engaged students in the form ofIndividual Speaker Sessions and Panel Discussions.

Meanwhile, the major attraction at the event was 10Minute Million program which offered an opportunity tothe shortlisted start-ups to pitch in front of a panel ofangel investors, which led to 6 start-ups securing afinancial backing of around Rs 1.35 crore (over$200,000). These ventures include event ticketingventure InstaBounce, online clothing customization siteFaaya, career guidance platform CleverSharks, cash-back site Dealwithus, IoT firm Leaf and online healthysnack store Chloroplast Foods. The six start ups wereselected among eight which had pitched their respectivebusiness models to 12 investors from Mumbai Angels.The funding amount ranges from around Rs 10 lakh toRs 63 lakh each.

10 Minute MIllion event at the E-Summit

An excellent opportunity to meet andnetwork with alumni of the Institute,“The Distinguished Alumni Meet –2015 (DAM)” was held on January17-18, 2015 at the Taj Exotica Hotelin Goa. Sessions on ‘IIT Bombay:Past, Present and Future -Observation of External PeerReview’, ‘Creating a World ClassInstitution with Indian Heritage’,‘Strengthening Engagement withCorporate Sector’ and ‘Alumni asLifelong Stakeholders’ were mainareas of discussions at the event.

Distinguished AlumniMeet 2015

Annual Faculty AlumniSymposium – 2015

Annual Faculty Alumni Symposium– 2015 on “Energy and Environment”was organized by the Faculty AlumniNetwork (FAM) of IIT Bombay onJanuary 17, 2015 at the Taj Exotica,Goa.

A large number of eminent speakersand panelists from IIT Bombay aswell as those from industry andacademia, attended the event. Prof.Devang V. Khakhar, Director, IIT

Bombay; Dr. Mark StephenWrighton, Chancellor, WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis; Dr. RahulWalwalkar, Founder and Director,India Energy Storage Association;Prof. Sagar Mitra, Department ofEnergy Science & Engineering, IITBombay; Prof. S. Bandyopadhyay,Department of Energy Science &Engineering, IIT Bombay; Prof.Pratim Biswas, Professor,Washington University in St. Louis;Prof. Chandra Venkataraman,Department of ChemicalEngineering, IIT Bombay; Prof.Subimal Ghosh, Department of CivilEngineering, IIT Bombay and Prof.K. Narayanan, Department ofHumanities and Social Sciences, IITBombay were among the featuredspeaker at the symposium.

German Mayor visits IITB

Mayor of Karlsruhe, Germany visitedIITB campus on January 23, 2015.There was a presentation given bythe Mayor about Karlsruhe with anoverview of business andeducational institutions, theirinternational linkages, collaborationswith Indian institutions, opportunities

for students, faculty members andresearchers from IIT Bombay. Prof.H.S. Pandalai, Dy. Director (FEA)gave a presentation on IIT Bombayand its activities. After the meetingwas over, the Mayor visited theSociety for Innovation andEntrepreneurship (SINE) and theCentre for Environmental Sciencesand Engineering to understand theactivities that are being carried in theinstitute.

Republic DayCelebration

IIT Bombay celebrated nation’s 66th

Republic Day with a lot ofenthusiasm, at its Gymkhanagrounds. IIT Bombay Director, Prof.Devang V. Khakhar unfurled theIndian National Flag and addressedthe students, staff and facultymembers, present during thefunction. As always, Drawing andCreative Writing Competition for thechildren were organized by theInstitute and awards were presentedto the winners on the Republic Dayby the Director. A short skit on“Childhood Obesity” by the NSSstudents of IIT Bombay, was alsopresented on the occasion.


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We became an independent nation in 1947. At that time,we bought all our sophisticated defence equipments fromabroad. Our Ordnance factories made only routine items,like certain types of ammunition, guns and rifles. Quiteobviously, we could not continue like that and over theyears, the Government has set up a number of R&Dlaboratories and public sector undertakings which designand produce many more items needed for defencepurposes. However, we are still buying from abroad andspending huge amounts of money on sophisticatedequipment. In this light I feel the urge for a collaborationbetween Educational Institutions and Defense R&D.

In the past as we know, the IITs have been involved in anumber of ways with Defence R & D projects andcertainly need to be involved more in the future. I amgoing to share my thoughts on two projects — first isthe Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project and the other isthe Main Battle Tank (MBT) Project.

The LCA program was started about 25 years ago withthe purpose of advancing our indigenous aerospacecapabilities. The objective was to develop a light weightsupersonic (Mach 1.6) jet fighter to certain specifications.This objective has been achieved over the years withan aircraft called Tejas. It is a tail less aircraft with adelta wing and a single engine and its development hasbeen done in phases. Around 20 aircraft are in theproduction line and the first of these was flown on August1, 2014. Separately, advanced development is also inprogress as part of future plans and more importantlyfor the Navy, a naval version of Tejas which would belocated on an aircraft carrier is also being developed.

In the process ‘Fly-by-wire’ flight control was developedindigenously and another important achievement wasthe use of composite materials for the body. This reducedthe weight of the aircraft significantly and was a bigdevelopment. These were big achievements.Undoubtedly we faced some hitches anddisappointment. However, the main point to note is that

notwithstanding the delay, today India has an excellentsupersonic jet fighter, which is essentially indigenouslydeveloped.

Now I come to the Main Battle Tank Project. The MBTProject has drawn even more criticism because it tooka lot of time to develop Arjun. Now, Arjun is a mainbattle tank which was expected to meet the needs ofthe Indian Army in the 90s and beyond. It was designedby the Combat Vehicles R & D Establishment (CVRDE)at Avadi and manufactured by the Heavy VehiclesFactory also at Avadi. The vehicle was initially designedas a 40 ton tank with a 105 mm main gun. However,because of delays, its specifications were upgraded andit ended up as a 58 ton tank with a 120 mm gun. Therewere other issues also like fire control, operation in hotregional temperatures, the performance of the mainengine, etc. Finally, a Mark I model has performed well,met all specifications and has been accepted by the armyafter extensive field trials and modifications. 32 pre-production models and 12 follow-up models have beenbuilt. Overall 125 tanks of the Mark I model will beinducted into the army. These will be followed by theMark II model, which has many improved features. TheMark II model was unveiled in 2011 and the Indian Armyhas agreed to take 124 nos. of this model.

So, the overall picture I am trying to present is that inthe future we need more well-defined mission-modeprojects with stringent time schedules in the Defence R& D sector. We need to ensure that in these mission-mode projects, there is a close connection with IITs, otherresearch institutions and even some NITs. From the pointof view of management, it may even be useful to developclose linkages with IIMs. The capabilities exist. We needto harness them in the national interest.

(The article is based on the views shared byProf. S.P. Sukhatme, former Director of IIT Bombay

on the occasion of Alumni Day)

OP-ED: Need for Collaboration between Institutes and Defence R&D :Prof. S. P. Sukhatme

A health camp for basic checkup for the construction workers living oncampus was organized by the NSS, IIT Bombay and free medicines weredistributed to these workers as a part of ‘buddy programme’. Theprogramme was initiated couple of months back with the vision of getting toknow the problems faced by the working class better by interacting withthem on a very regular basis and befriending them.

NSS freshmen under the guidance of the core team members organized aCleanliness drive in the construction workers residence near Hostel 9. Inorder to appreciate the efforts of the students, campus residents also joinedin to help them with the cleaning of residence areas, places near marketgate, etc.

Inauguration of SolidWaste Treatment plant

A residential solid waste treatmentplant (composting plant) constructedin front of Vidya Nivas at the Hillsideof IIT Bombay Campus wasinaugurated by Prof. H.S. Pandalai,Dy. Director (FEA) on December 23,2014 .

This is a step towards building amore environment friendly Campus.

Activities undertaken by NSS


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Research in focus

IITB has developed a potentiallyminimally invasive cartilageregeneration technique whichcould be a painless, inexpensive,and non-toxic method to cureosteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a progressivemusculo-skeletal disorder, whichaffects around 10% of thepopulation worldwide above theage of 60 years, causing gradualdegeneration of bone joints.Cartilages are the flexible softtissues that cover the ends ofbone in a joint. Over a passageof time, with the breakdown ofcartilages, bones start to rubagainst each other causingstiffness, pain and loss of jointmovement. A team of resear-

Injectables for Osteoarthritis

chers from the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at IIT Bombay is working on cartilage regenerationusing naturally occurring biopolymers. Biopolymers are polymers of natural origin and form hydrogels whichmimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) and promote tissue growth. Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymeric networkswhich can absorb water but are prevented from dissolving due to their cross-linked structure. Many biopolymersare in fact components of the ECM and can regulate division, adhesion, differentiation, and migration of cellsmore favorably than synthetic polymers.

Dr. Biji Balakrishnan under the mentorship of Prof. Rinti Banerjee of Department of Biosciences & Bioengineeringhas developed an in situ gelling biopolymeric hydrogel system which can be injected to the site of injury as aliquid, which solidifies after about twenty five seconds assuming the shape of the cartilage defect. Thisbiopolymeric hydrogel prepared using polysaccharides and proteins, acts as a scaffold for regulating division,adhesion, differentiation and migration of healthy cells (chondrocytes) in cartilage and helps in the regenerationof the cartilage.

This technique of generating hyaline cartilage is chemically and mechanically better in comparison to theexisting techniques. It takes less than a minute to inject the biopolymers into our body using a syringemechanism. The biopolymeric derivatives for the preparation of hydrogels are also easy to manufacture andare biocompatible. They also produce negligible inflammation and oxidative stresses. Since the hydrogel getsdegraded as the regeneration of cartilage proceeds, there is no need for any surgical intervention to remove it.The properties of hydrogel can be tuned by changing the concentration of biopolymeric derivatives. If required,growth factors or drug molecules can also be incorporated within this hydrogel by simple mixing with biopolymericsolution. The amount of hydrogel to be injected is decided by the degree of cartilage defect.

Though this approach has been investigated for cartilage regeneration, it is not limited to it and can be extendedfor regeneration of other tissues. Methods used are simple while circumventing toxicity, stability and scale upissues making this injectable system feasible, minimally invasive and easily translatable for therapeutic andregenerative purposes.

For more information please visit: http://www.iitb.ac.in/en/research-highlight/injectables-osteoarthritis

(Article Courtesy : S&T Media Cell, IIT Bombay)

Research in Focus

http://www.iitb.ac.in/en/research-highlight/injectables-osteoarthritis


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Mr. Rushil Shailen Bhatt, ResearchFellow, Haffkine Institute, Mumbai,delivered a lecture on ‘DengueAwareness’ on December 5, 2014.

Institute Colloquium /Lectures & Seminars

Dr. Herbert W. Roesky, EmeritusProfessor, Institute for InorganicChemistry, University of Goettingen,Germany, delivered an InstituteLecture on “Interstellar Space” onDecember 8, 2015.

Dr. David Wisler, GE Aviation,Chief R & Technologist, (formerlyGE Aircraft Engines) - retired, MITCDIO Engineering Educat ionInitiative, United States, deliveredan Insti tute Colloquium on‘Rethinking Engineering Education’on December 19, 2014.

Prof. M.S. Raghunathan,Distinguished Visiting Professor andNASI Platinum Jubilee Chair,Department of Mathematics,delivered a lecture on “India’smathemat icians in the post-Ramanujan era” on December 22,2014, on the occasion of the NationalMathematics Day. The lecture wasfollowed by screening of a featurefilm on ‘Ramanujan’.

Prof. V. Chandrasekhar, Director& Professor, National Institute ofScience Education and Research,Bhubaneswar, delivered a lectureon “Single Molecule Magnets(SMMs)” on December 12, 2014.

Prof. Chandrasekhar and his teamis working on phosphorus-supportedligands for the preperotion ofheterometalic 3d/4f complexes.

Prof. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski,J.C. Warner University Professor ofNatural Sciences, Professor ofChemistry and Director, Center forMacromolecular Engineering,

Carnegie Mellon University, USA,delivered a talk on “NanostructuredMultifunctional Hybrid Materials viaMacromolecular Engineering usingAtom Transfer RadicalPolymerization” on January 5, 2015.

Prof. Akeel Bilgrami, SidneyMorgenbesser Chair in Philosophy,Professor, Committee on GlobalThought, Director, South AsianInstitute, Department of Philosophy,Columbia University, New York,USA, delivered a lecture entitled“The Political Enlightenment and itsOther” on January 13, 2015.

Prof. Vijay Govindarajan, CoxeDistinguished Professor at TuckSchool at Dartmouth and MarvinBower Fellow at Harvard BusinessSchool, delivered a Colloquium on“Reverse Innovation” on January 15,2015.

Reverse innovation is aboutinnovating in poor countries andselling those products in r ichcountries. It is a very importantphenomenon, since two-thirds of theworld’s growth in GDP is likely tocome from poor countries.


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Prof. Anthony K. Cheetham, FRS,Goldsmiths’ Professor of MaterialsScience, Department of MaterialsScience and Metallurgy, Universityof Cambridge, UK, delivered theInaugural talk of the ProfessorC.N.R. Rao Lecture Series onNanoscience and Nanotechnologyon “Flexibility and Phase Transitionsin Metal-Organic Frameworks” onJanuary 19, 2015.

Prof. Michel Danino ,Visit ingFaculty, IIT Kanpur and IITGandhinagar, delivered an InstituteLecture on “Science in Ancient India”on January 27, 2015

Department of MechanicalEngineering

Dr. Jack Wells, Director of Sciencefor the Oak Ridge LeadershipComputing Facility at Oak RidgeNat ional Laboratory (ORNL),delivered a seminar on “What doesthe Titan supercomputer teach usabout preparing for exascalesupercomputers?” on December16, 2014.

Dr. Chang-Hwan Choi, AssociateProfessor, Mechanical Engineering,Stevens Institute of Technology,Hoboken, New Jersey, USA,delivered a seminar on “Bio-inspired Nano-engineered Surfacesfor Multi-functional Applications onJanuary 23, 2015.

Department of Humanities andSocial Sciences

Dr. Shalini R. Jain, NationalUniversity of Singapore (NUS),Singapore, delivered a seminar on“Between EnvironmentalVoyeurism and Activism: ArtisticMediations in Mahasweta Devi’sShort Stories” on January 2, 2015.

Dr. Dibyesh Anand, Dept. ofPolitics and International Relations,University of Westminster, London,delivered a talk on “Kashmir: theblindspot of Indian Democracy” onJanuary 6, 2015.

Dr. Anush Kapadia, CityUniversity, London, UK, delivered atalk on “The elements of finance” onJanuary 7, 2015.

Mr. Mark Thompson, ManagingDirector, Talga Resources Ltd,Australia, delivered a seminar on“Northern Lights: an introduction toremarkable mineral deposits of theFennoscandian Shield, Sweden,with a focus on the development oflarge – volume graphene supply” onJanuary 15, 2015.

Prof. Purushottama Bilimoria,Deakin University and University of

Melbourne, Australia, delivered aseminar on “PhilosophicalOrientalism: The GermanJudgement, f rom Kant, Hegel,Husserl, Heidegger to Habermas (&Zizek)” on January 20, 2015.

Dr. Alison Booth, AucklandUniversity of Technology, Auckland,New Zealand, delivered a seminar on“Event Production andEntrepreneurialism in the IndianDiaspora” on January 21, 2015.

Dr. Gregory Booth, University ofAuckland, New Zealand, delivered atalk on “Music, Technology and theMarket Economy in India” on January28, 2015.

Department of ComputerScience and Engineering

Prof. Moshe Y. Vardi , RiceUniversity, delivered a talk on “TheRise and Fall of Linear TemporalLogic” on January 7, 2015.

Department of Earth Science

Prof. R.R.Navalgund, ProfessorEmeritus, ISRO, delivered lectureson various aspects on ‘Remotesensing and its applications’ betweenJanuary 27 – February 6, 2015.

IDP in Climate Studies

Prof. J. Phillip King, John Clark,Distinguished Professor andAssociate Department Head,Department of Civil Engineering,New Mexico State University, LasCruces, NM gave a presentation on“Facing the Reality of ClimateChange, Policy, and Politics: A NewMexico, USA Case Study” onJanuary 9, 2015.

Centre for Environmental Scienceand Engineering (CESE),IIT Bombay organized a forum jointlysupported by British Council, MPCB,NEERI, JSW Steel, andThermofisher on “National Forum onAir Quality Management : Transport,Health and Sustainability” betweenJanuary 21 – 23, 2015.

Prof. Nitin Nitsure, Professor ofMathematics, Tata Institute ofFundamental Research, Mumbai,

delivered an Institute Colloquium on“Euclidean Geometry, Analysis andPhysics” on January 29, 2015.


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SJM School of Managementorganized Leadership LectureSeries on the theme “Learning fromthe Journey of Eminent Leaders andAchievers from varied sectors ofEconomy” from January 27, 2015.Many eminent speakers participatedin the Lecture series and shared theirexperiences with the students. Mr.R C Bhargava, Chairman. MarutiSuzuki India Ltd; Padmashree Mrs.Lila Poonawalla, Chairperson of LilaPoonawalla Foundation, FormerChairperson of Tetra Pak India Ltd.,Alfa Laval India; and Dr R AMashelkar, Eminent Indian Scientistand former DG, CSIR were amongthe leaders who spoke on variedrange of topics at the event. Thesessions on the Leadership LectureSeries was co-ordinated by Prof.Atanu Ghosh, SJM SOM.

Prof. Sambhu N. Datta, Departmentof Chemistry, delivered a lecture on“Theoretical and ComputationalStudies of Magnetic OrganicMolecules” at Theoretical ChemistrySymposium, NCL, Pune onDecember 18, 2014.

Prof. Shrikrishna G. Dani,Department of Mathematics,delivered an Inaugural address on“Bhaskaracharya’s mathematicallegacy” on December 8, 2014 at theRashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth,Tirupati, held during December 8-12,2014.

He also delivered Foundation Daytalk on “Some mathematicalhighlights from ancient and medievalIndia” at the Ramanujan College,Delhi on December 19, 2014.

A short course of three lectures on“Lattice Dynamics” at IISER Mohali,during December, 17 – 22, 2014.was delivered by Dr. Dani.

He gave the Presidential Address onthe Annual conference of the IndianMathematics Society, held at theIndian School of Mines, Dhanbad,

during December 27- 30, 2015 - ageneral address on “Prizes,Recognition and Promotion ofMathematics” and a technicaladdress on “Dynamics of Numbers”- at the inaugural session.

Prof. Dani delivered a seminar talkon “Continued fractions and theirapplications in geometry andDiophantine approximation” at theIndian Statistical Institute in Kolkataon December 31, 2014.

A Symposium on History ofMathematics in India was organizedby Prof. Dani, on January 4, 2015in the 102nd Indian ScienceCongress, held at the University ofMumbai.

LeadershipLecture Series

Scilab and SciPy IndiaConference 2014

Free and Open Source Software forEducation (FOSSEE) organized aconference “Scilab India 2014” fromDecember 3-4, 2014. Scilab India2014 provided opportunities tospread the use of Scilab in thescientif ic and educationalcommunity in India. The objective ofthis conference was to facilitateinteraction with the best of the Scilabcommunity, with a special emphasison interaction between young andmore experienced researchers. Itprovided an open ground to learn,understand, part icipate, andcontribute to the Scilab community.This software will enable to gainfurther knowledge of the toolboxesavailable in Scilab. Basically, thegoal is to combine education,engineering, and science withcomputing through the medium ofScilab.

SciPy India 2014 Conference wasorganized from December 5-7,2014. SciPy India conference aimedat providing opportunities to spreadthe use of the Python programminglanguage in the Scientif icComputing community in India. Itprovided a unique opportunity tointeract with the “Who’s who” of the

Python for Scientific Computingfraternity and learn, understand,participate, and contr ibute toScientific Computing using Python.This conference aimed to combineeducation, engineering, and sciencewith computing through the mediumof Python & spread the use of Pythonfor Scientific Computing in variousfields and among differentcommunities. This software willenable access and review the toolsavailable, learn domain-specificapplications and how the tools applyto a plethora of application problems.

Proteomics ConferenceInternational ProteomicsConference on “Proteomics fromDiscovery to Function” wasorganized by the Department ofBiosciences & Bioengineering at IITBombay from December 6-11,2014. Proteomics is a study of largenumber of proteins, and to identifytheir interactions and functions. Tounderstand the advances inproteomics from its Discovery toFunction, the six-day-longconference comprised of EducationDay, International Conferences andworkshops. PSI-2014 provided aunique opportunity to shareproteomics research with widescientific community and a forum forthe in-depth analysis of thechallenges involved in studying thedynamic proteome. In a series ofsessions, renowned expertspresented their research and gavetheir perspective on the key issuesin the field.

Conference on TransportationInternat ional Conference on“Transportat ion Planning andImplementation Methodologies forDeveloping Countries (TPMDC)” byTransportation SystemsEngineering (TSE) Group of CivilEngineering Department wasorganized from December 10-12,2014. The conference covered widerange of topics in the area oftransportation engineering.

Invited Lectures

Conference /Workshops


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Conference/Symposium on‘Knowledge and Moral Identity’

An International Conference/Symposium on ‘Knowledge and MoralIdentity’ was organized by theDepartment of Humanities and SocialSciences from January 13-16, 2015.

Prof. M. Ravikanth, Department ofChemistry, has been elected as aFellow of the Indian Academy ofSciences in recognition of hisoutstanding research work.

Prof. Soumen Chakrabarti,Department of Computer Scienceand Engineering, has been electedas a fellow of the Indian Academy ofSciences, Bangalore in recognitionof his outstanding researchcontributions.

Prof. S.H. Patil, Department ofPhysics, has been awarded the“INSA Teachers Award 2014” by theIndian National Science Academy,for his consistent excellence inteaching.

Prof. S. Sudarshan, Head ofDepartment of Computer Scienceand Engineering, has been electedan ACM Fellow for 2014 for hiscontributions to database education,query processing, query optimizationand keyword queries, by theAssociation of Computing Machinery(ACM).

Prof. Puja Padhi, Department ofHumanities and Social Science andher student Mr. P.K Naik receivedthe best paper award for their paper“Stock market development andeconomic growth in emerging marketeconomies: dynamic panelevidence,” and a trophy of theICBPEM 2014 held duringDecember 12-14, 2014 by Schoolof Managment, NIT Rourkela.

Prof. R. Murugavel, Department ofChemistry, has been selected toreceive the prestigious J. C. BoseFellowship in recognition of hisoutstanding research contributions.

P.J.Reddy, S.Ray, G.J.Sathe, G.J,T.S.K. Prasad, S.Rapole, Prof.D.Panda and Prof. S. Srivastava,published a paper titled “ProteomicsAnalyses of Bacillus subtilis afterTreatment with Plumbagin, a Plant-Derived Naphthoquinone” in OmicsJournal of Integrative Biology, Vol. 19,pp.12–23, 2015.

Department of ChemistryA.K. Pal and Prof. S. N. Datta,published a paper titled “QuantumChemical Investigation of Calix[4]areneBased Radicals with Bis(biphenylene)methyl Linkers as Precursors ofSpinglass and Superparamagnets”, inJournal Phys. Chem. C, Vol.118,pp.27599-27610, 2014.

Prof. S.N. Datta and Hansda. S.,published a paper titled “Relationshipbetween coupling constants inHeisenberg exchange Hamiltonian andIsing model”, in Chem. Phys. Lett,2015, Vol. 621, pp. 102-108.

Department of PhysicsProf. Mukhopadhyay G and hisstudents Ms. Parul Maheswari andMr. Sidhhartha Sengupta, TCSResearch Lab, published an onlinepaper on “Properties of Tensor HermitePolynomials”, through CornellUniversity Library via arXiv.com, 2014.

Ms. Parul Maheswari, presented apaper on “Some Properties of TensorHermite Polynomials” at the 3rdInternational Conference on Advancesin Mathematical Sciences, organizedby ISAET, in Dubai, UAE, duringJanuary 11-12, 2015.

Awards andDistinctions

Publications /Presentations

Prof. Y.M. Desai, Department of CivilEngineering and his PhD StudentMayank Ajugia presented a paperentitled “Micromechanical Analysis ofUnidirectional Fiber-reinforcedComposites” at the EngineeringMechanics Institute InternationalConference organized by ASCE at theHong Kong PolyTechnic Universityduring January 7 - 9, 2015.

Dr. Ranjit Kumar Das, CentralLibrary presented the research paperentitled “E-book, need of the hour inAcademic Library: Analytical Study in102nd Indian Science Congress inthe section of Information &Communication Science andTechnology (including ComputerScience) during January 3 – 7, 2015at University of Mumbai.

Department of Biosciencesand Bioengineering

(Publications from the Lab)

V.Özdemir, J.Faris and Prof. S.Srivastava, published a paperentitled “Crowdfunding 2.0: The next-generation philanthropy: A newapproach for philanthropists andcitizens to co-fund disruptiveinnovation in Global health” at EMBORep. 16, 267-271, 2015.

S.Sharma, S.Ray, S.A.Moiyadi,E.Sridhar and Prof. S.Srivastava,published a paper on”Quantitative proteomic analysis ofmeningiomas for the identification ofsurrogate protein markers” inScientific Report (Nature Publishing),Vol. 4, Article No. 7140, 2014.

S. Sharma, S.Ray, S. Mukherjee,S.A.Moiyadi, E.Sridhar and Prof.S.Srivastava, published a paperentitled “Multipronged quantitativeproteomic analyses indicatemodulation of various signaltransduction pathways in humanmeningiomas” in Proteomics, Vol.15,pp. 394–407, January 2015.

Students News

SJM School of Managementstudents excel in Ignisense

First Year Management students ofSJMSOM, won accolades at theSymbiosis Institute of InternationalBusiness annual Management &Cultural Event – IGNISENSE heldfrom December 9 - 10, 2014. 1000Faces, Prastav & Synergy weresome of the events held during thefest. 1000 Faces, the flagship eventof IGNISENSE, began its hunt, forthe best managers of future, and aftera grilling session that lasted for 3hours, the judges declared Team

Prof. H. B. Singh, Department ofChemistry, has been selected toreceive the prestigious J. C. BoseFellowship in recognition of hisoutstanding research contributions.


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Dr. Sateesh Bandaru, Departmentof Chemistry, hasbeen appointedas Post DoctoralFellow onDecember 15,2014.

Dr. Rimjhim Agrawal, Departmentof ElectricalEngineering, hasbeen appointedas Post DoctoralFellow onDecember 16,2014.

Dr. Jyoti Rani, Department ofPhysics, hasbeen appointedas Post DoctoralFellow onDecember 18,2014.

Dr. Narendra R. Chaubey,Department ofChemistry, hasbeen appointedas Post DoctoralFellow onDecember 19,2014.

Dr. Chandan Patel, Department ofChemistry, hasbeen appointedas Post DoctoralFellow onDecember 22,2014.

Dr. Rajesh K, Department ofChemistry, hasbeen appointedas Post DoctoralFellow onDecember 22,2014.

Dr. Jayadipta Ghosh, Departmentof CivilEngineering, hasbeen appointedas AssistantProfessor onDecember 23,2014.

Dr. S.S. Yadav, Sr. Sports Officer,Gymkhana, retiredafter 36 years ofs e r v i c e .

Shri Jagdish P. Chandorkar,S r . T ec h . Supdt ,Printing Press,ret ired after 32years of service.

Ms. Saudamini A. Parulkar, Jr.Superintendent,Accounts Section,ret ired after 38years of service.

Ms. Vrushali M. Damle, Jr.Superintendent,Estate Office,ret ired after 33years of service.

Shri K.R.R. Pillai, PS to Director,ret ired after 39years of service

Shri Balendra C. Singh, Watchman(SG), SecuritySection, retiredafter 34 years ofservice

Shri Suresh T. Gawde, Sr.M e s s e n g e r ,Department ofHumanit ies andSocial Sciencesret ired after 29years of service.

Retirements onDecember 31, 2014

Retirements onJanuary 31, 2015

Dr. Rajendran Antony, Departmentof Chemistry, hasbeen appointed asPost DoctoralFellow onDecember 8,2014.

Dr. Dhritiman Gupta, Departmentof Physics, hasbeen appointed asPost DoctoralFellow onDecember 10,2014.

FearSome from IIT, Bombay as thewinner for 1000 Faces’15. TheTeam FearSome comprised of RohitKumar, Aman Soni, Ratul Sarkarand Ravi Verma.

Prastav - the Agri event was wonby Rohit Kumar, Aman Soni andRatul Sarkar. Synergy - which hadpresentations on Innovat ivesolutions & ideas on sustainabledevelopment of Energy andEnvironment was also won by IITBombay students Rohit Kumar andAman Soni.

SPIC MACAY

Padma Shri Dr. Kiran Seth, thefounder of SPIC MACAY - Societyfor the Promotion of Indian ClassicalMusic and Culture Amongst Youthorganized interactive sessions on‘Promotion on Classical arts of Indiawith IITians’ on January 30, 2015.The session was arranged by Roots-IITB Classical Cultural Association.Meanwhile, SPIC MACAY will alsobe organising its 3rd InternationalConvention at the Indian Institute ofTechnology - Bombay (IIT-B) fromMay 31 to June 6, 2015, where about1800 participants will gather from allover the country and abroad torededicate themselves to thisvoluntary movement. At this week-long event, over 300 artistes wouldbe participating from different partsof the country.

Appointments


BOOK POST

December 2014 - January 2015

Campus Diary is edited and published byPublic Relations Officer,IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai - 400 076.

Printed at IITB Printing Press

For Private Circulation Only.Material for publication in Campus Diaryshould reach PPR section by the 25th ofevery month

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CEP courses scheduled during March - April 2015

No. Course Title Course Coordinator / Department Duration1 Chemical Engineering for Chemists Prof. Anurag Mehra March 25-April 1, 2015

Chemical Engineering (8 days)

2 Use of Circuit Simulation Teaching Electronics Prof. Mahesh B. Patil March 27-28, 2015Electrical Engineering (2 days)

3 Planning and Design of Scientific Landfill Sites Prof. A.K. Dikshit April 15-17, 2015(including Framework for Management and Environmental Science & Engineering (3 days)Safe Closure Technology Options)

4 Planning and Design of Scientific Landfill Prof. A.K. Dikshit April 20-22, 2015Sites (including Framework for Management Environmental Science & Engineering (3 days)and Safe Closure Technology Options)

5 Solar Technologies for Industrial Process Prof. S.B. Kedare April 20-22, 2015Heat and Power Energy Systems Engineering (3 days)

6 Finite Element Method & Applications in Prof. T.I. Eldho / Prof. Y.M. Desai April 27- May 1, 2015Civil Engineering Civil Engineering (5 days)

WildernessIn the Salt’n Pepper

by Dr. Arun Inamdar

RIP R. K. Laxman

Photo Credit :

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