Sonal Mansingh, Padma Vibhshan Awardee and Former MP, Rajya Sabha also graced the occasion as the Guests of Honour. The invocation started by hoisting the national flag and institute flag at the main building. Conferment Gitindra Saran Sanyal Faculty Excellence Awards, Young Alumni Achievers Awards, Staff Excellence Awards, and the institute employees who completed 25 years of service were felicitated.
The Young Alumni Achiever Award was given to 32 young alumni of IIT Kharagpur honouring excellence in innovations, technological developments, research, community welfare, leadership, entrepreneurship, social impact, nation building, national interest and professional accomplishments.
A total of 09 Faculty Excellence Awards, along with 30 Staff Excellence Awards. A total of 74 employees were recognized for their uninterrupted 25 years of service to the Institution. The Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award 2024 was awarded to Pankaj Kumar & . Siddhant Aagrwal at IIT Guwahati for developing the technology of Floating Solar PV Technology.
Amitabh Kant, India’s G-20 Sherpa and Chief Guest of the 72nd Foundation Day of IIT Kharagpur remarked, “For the growing India, we need innovation of the highest order which would require India to become an Innovation hub.
This in turn will require us to invest in applied research and market oriented innovation for which we need a huge build-up of Academia-Research-Industry Partnership.
The mistakes we did in our initial years was to establish research Institutes outside which were independent outside but all future researches should be part of the academic institutions like the IIT Kharagpur…. India is paying much more in Intellectual Property Royalties (IPR) than in returns. We have 24000 PhD graduates in India, the US produces 68000 doctoral graduated. According to the economic survey only 51.25% of the Indian graduates are deemed employable… In a very short time we have become the 3rd best start-up ecosystem in the world. To become the 5 trillion dollar economy in the next 4-5 years, the challenge for India is to raise it’s per capita income which can come from intuitions like IIT Kharagpur. IIT Kharagpur was the founder of all IITs, it has been the father figure to all IITs. It has not only inspired million of engineers in India but also inspired all other IITs to become the centre of excellence so the future of India is truly in the hands of Institutions like IIT Kharagpur. Its energy, its vitality, its dynamism will shape India in the years to come.”
Dr. S P Somanath, Chairman ISRO, “Thank you so much for this opportunity and selecting me for the Life Award. I would like to tell you that I am totally 100% made in India product. Whatever I did was from the knowledge and skill I acquired from the Indian Space Research Organization. I would like to thank my alma mater and TKM College of Engineering, IISc Bangalore and others. I thank all my teachers and gurus in ISRO and this institutions. Our work has been in building certain capabilities in this organization in the last 38 years along with the years I was working. I am fortunate to work with great people, motivators, leaders, who made ISRO what it is today and had the opportunity to follow their footsteps today and do certain works that made all of us proud like the Chandrayaan 3.
This gives us more courage and determination to work more towards achieving greater goals in the future. Whatever you are doing great as an institution and the ability to connect with you is very important for all of us is ISRO and other scientific organizations in the world and in this country. There is a great vision ahead for all of us in ISRO and I will like you to be a part of it as well, contributing in you capability in different domains. I would be more than happy to connect the faculty of IIT Kharagpur with the scientist in ISRO for greater goals that we have set for ourselves. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Dr. Smair V kamat, Chairman, DRDO, “At the outset my greetings to you on your 74th Foundation Day. I am indeed humbled and honoured by this conferment of the Life Fellow Award. As you are aware, I am the Alumni of this institute and it is indeed special when you alma mater recognizes you. Whatever little I have achieved in my career is because of the strong foundation that I got in IIT Kharagpur. And let me say it is not only the knowledge I gained here but it is the life skills that I learnt here which has helped me in my career. So as Dr. Somanath said that when you work in organizations like ISRO and DRDO, it is not individuals who make the difference. It is a collective effort which goes in when you have to realize large systems and where I am standing today is because of all the collaborations and all the team work that several people contributed in achievements that we made. As Dr.
Somanath said we are on the threshold of a transformation in the nation. The Prime Minister has given us a call to become a developed country by 2047 and he has also given us a call that we should become a technology leader. And this can only happen if academia, industry, R&D organizations work together, work in synergy and develop innovative technologies which are cutting edge, which are first in the world and I am sure, the way things are going forward in this country, this dream will be achieved even before 25 years are complete. So, thank the Director of IIT Kharagpur for granting me this Life Fellow Award, I will cherish this for the rest of my life.”
Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Dean Alumni Affairs, IIT Kharagpur talked about Gurudakshina, an aesthetic giveaway by the Alumni of IIT Kharagpur. Guru Dakshina for my Alma Mater will be received from the Alumni of the institute which will help in making IIT Kharagpur self-reliant over a period of time. The funds received through Guru Dakshina shall alleviate the challenge of collecting funds by the students for Spring Festival, Kshitij, Sports Fest and even for increasing and improving hall amenities. Total 34 Pledges of Gurudakshina has been received with the current batch of students. Dr. V Narayanan, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, ISRO; Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Dean Alumni Affairs and Commander V K Jaitly, Chairman, C_cube Consultants are the donars who have already contributed their part of Gurudakshina to IIT Kharagpur.
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