IIT Gandhinagar

2013-2014, Volume VI, Issue II ConnectionsConnections is the quarterly newsletter for friends of IIT Gandhinagar Connections October - December 2013 Institute News

Leadership Conclave W Olin College of Engineering, USA; Shri Academic Advisory Council The fourth Leadership Conclave met on Kamal Nanavaty, president, Strategy De- The 3rd Academic Advisory Council meeting Dec 17, 2013 to guide the Institute on short, velopment, Reliance Industries Ltd, Mum- was held on Dec 16, 2013. Participants at the medium, and long-term strategic issues. The bai; Prof Surendra Prasad, former Di- annual event that provides strategic and ex- conclave discussed ideas on attracting phil- rector, IIT Delhi; Prof Akshai Runchal, ternal inputs on key academic issues included anthropic funds, industry partnerships, in- president, Analytic & Computational Re- Prof Sam Mannan, Prof Richard Miller, ternationalisation, and image building. Par- search Inc, California, USA; Shri Kushal Prof Surendra Prasad, Prof Dheeraj ticipants included Shri Abhay K Bhushan, Chand Sacheti, CEO, Galaxy USA Inc & Sanghi, Prof S P Sukhatme, Prof A K technopreneur; Shri Salil Dave, senior Key Items Inc, New York; Prof Dheeraj Suresh and Prof Satish K Tripathi. The director, Microsoft, Seattle, USA; Shri Ka- Sanghi, dean, Academic Affairs, IIT Kan- agenda this year included criteria and process malesh Dwivedi, chief information officer, pur; Shri Arvind Singhal, chairman & for faculty promotions and evaluations, di- Bellsystem24 Inc, Japan; Shri Rajen Jaswa, managing director, Technopak Advisors Pvt versity in faculty, and the concepts of depart- CEO & Chairman, Dyyno; Prof Paul C Ltd, Gurgaon; Prof S P Sukhatme, former ments and centres in the IITGN context. Jennings, former Vice President and Pro- director, IIT Bombay; Prof A K Suresh, vost, CalTech; Prof Sam Mannan, regents dean, Faculty Affairs, IIT Bombay; and Prof professor, Texas A&M University, USA; Satish K Tripathi, president, State Univer- Prof Richard Miller, president, Franklin sity of New York, Buffalo, USA. Essay Writing Contest The setting: It is the year 2035. IIT Gandhinagar has established itself as a leader in world education and has restored the glorious days of Nalanda and Taxila. Through its innovative, enterprising and unique approach, IIT Gandhinagar has woven top academicians, cutting edge re- searchers and inquisitive students into a golden fabric. It has helped transform the state of Indian education and society at large and the entire world is looking to this star from the east as one of the finest jew- els in the necklace of top class universities. The essay: Describe the incredible jour- ney of IIT Gandhinagar from a newly es- Young Researchers Conclave TinkerTank wins 5th ISB iDiya National Social Venture Competition tablished engineering institution in 2008 The third edition of the Young Research- TinkerTank Private Ltd, a for-profit tech- to a world leader in education in 2035 in ers Conclave held during Dec 26-27, 2013 nology social enterprise, founded by Kes- an essay of not more than 2500 words. attracted 50 young research scholars from hav G, IITGN alumnus, batch of 2008, won Deadline: March 20, 2014. around the world. These researchers had the the fifth edition of iDiya Challenge, a social Who can participate: Students, staff opportunity to explore new possibilities and venture competition at School of members, faculty members and well challenges in academic life in India through Business, Hyderabad, on Nov 30, 2013. The wishers of IIT Gandhinagar. panel discussions and talks on funding op- award includes an investment support of Rs Why participate: To share the vision of portunities, collaborative opportunities, re- 2 lakhs from ISB. TinkerTank, the second IIT Gandhinagar’s quest to excellence. turning to India, etc. They also got the op- company incubated at IITGN’s Incubation Top two selected essays will be show- portunity to interact closely with faculty and Center, is moving forward with the com- cased on IIT Gandhinagar’s website and students of IITGN through various interac- mercialization of Doopica, a low-cost semi- will receive Apple MacBook Air. tive sessions during the two-day event. The automated incense-stick machine that helps Where to send your entries: Send essays event was organized by Prof Gaurav and women produce four times more incense (preferably in MS Word) or any queries to Prof Harish P M. sticks, increasing their monthly income. Prof. Gaurav at [email protected]. Support for the Institute Swabhanu Challenge Grants to cate and travel funds for participation in in- Swinburne University, Victoria University, Encourage Excellence in UG Research ternational conferences. Monash University, Deakin University, Uni- Prof A V Anilku- versity of Western Australia, and University mar of Vanderbilt Reaching Out of Canberra either singly or jointly. Prof Jain University has set Prof Sudhir K Jain, director and Prof Achal also attended UNISDR/GA Regional Work- up the Swabhanu Mehra, dean, Strategic Planning and Special shop on “Structural vulnerability models for Challenge Grants Initiatives attended the PanIIT Conference the GAR Global Risk assessment,” Canberra, to encourage excel- in Houston on Dec 6-8, 2013. They visited Australia, Nov 11, 2013. lence in undergrad- the University of South Florida; Georgia Prof Amit Prashant was part of a 10-mem- uate research. The Tech; Texas A&M University; Rice Univer- ber delegation that visited the University of grant is named in sity; University of Texas, Austin; and the Uni- Bath, the University of Leicester University memory of his maternal uncle Shri Nan- versity of Houston, to promote student and and the Open University, UK during Oct jangud Gangadariah Viswanath, who faculty exchanges. They also visited Australia 20-26, 2013 to understand the initiatives was trained as a lawyer, and later became a during Nov 6-13, 2013 to participate in the taken and the practices being followed by successful entrepreneur. Students awarded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. They visited The these universities to embed e-learning into the Swabhanu Grants will receive a certifi- University of Melbourne, RMIT University, the teaching-learning experience.

Faculty News

Awards and Recognition of the Indian Institute of Metals for thin films, sponsored by DRDO, prin- • Prof Abhijit Mukherjee, 2013-14. cipal investigator, Prof Emila Panda, Dean, Research & Devel- • Prof Pratik Mutha has Materials Science and Engineering. opment, has been elected been awarded the Ra- • How are context and health of fellow of the National manujan Fellowship, older adults related? Incorporation Academy of Sciences India (NASI). sponsored by DST. Prof of geospatial analysis into sociol- • Prof Surjeet Kour received the IN- Mutha will be working on the Neural ogy of aging sponsored by ICSSR. SPIRE Faculty Award from the De- basis of skilled motor behavior. principal investigator, Prof Tannistha partment of Science and Samanta, Social Sciences. co- principal Technology (DST), Gov- Sponsored Projects investigator, Prof Shivakumar Jolad, ernment of India for her • Intelligent virtual reality based gaze- Physics. research project On clas- sensitive social communication sys- sification of simple deri- tem for children with autism spec- Consultancy Projects vations of the polynomial algebra. trum disorder, sponsored by DST, Design of barricades with improved effi- • Prof Sairam Swaroop principal investigator, Prof Uttama ciency for Raksha Shakti University, princi- Mallajosyula has received Lahiri, Electrical Engineering. pal investigator: Prof Amit Prashant, Civil the INSPIRE Faculty • Fabrication and a detailed micro- Engineering, co- principal investigator Prof

Award from DST for his structural investigation of Cu(In1- Bhaskar Bhatt, Design.

research project on Theoretical inves- x,Gax)Se2 (CIGS) thin films with tigations of carbohydrate protein ZnO buffer layer for the photovol- Continuing Education Programme linkages. taic applications, sponsored by SERB, Technical Education Quality Improve- • Prof Jyoti Mukhopad- DST, principal investigator, Prof Emi- ment Programme (TEQIP) Proj- hyay has been appointed la Panda, Materials Science & Engi- ect, for Government of Gujarat. principal as the Council Member neering. investigator: Prof Amit Prashant, Civil for the National Council • Oxidation behavior of rare magnetic Engineering.

New Faculty The following faculty joined IITGN during this quarter: Name Designation Discipline PhD/Last Degree Join Date Shankarjee Krishnamoorthi Assistant Professor Mechanical Engg University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 17.10.13 Vipin Kumar Visiting Professor Design & Mech Engg Massachusetts Inst of Technology, 1988 08.11.13 Pratik Mutha Assistant Professor Elec & Biological Engg Pennsylvania State University, 2009 11.11.13 Sairam Swaroop Mallajosyula Assistant Professor Chemistry JNU Centre for Adv Scientific Res, 2009 12.12.13 Bruno Gaminha Asst Res Professor Humanities ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute, 2012 13.12.13 Satwant S Rihal Visiting Professor Civil Engg University of New Mexico, 1969 23.12.13 Gaurav Sukhija Research Associate Social Sciences University of Illinios, 2011 27.12.13 Svetlana Brzev Visiting Professor Civil Engg IIT Roorkee, 1994 30.12.13 Rajen Jaswa Visiting Professor Electrical Engg Stetson University, 1980 30.12.13 Kishor Trivedi Visiting Professor Computer Sci & Engg University of Illinois, Urbana, 1974 30.12.13 Manuel Ramos Visiting Professor Humanities ISCTE-IUL, 1995 30.12.13 Frederick Coolidge Visiting Professor Humanities University of Florida, Gainesville, 1974 30.12.13 Rosa Maria Perez Visiting Professor Social Sciences ISCTE, Lisbon, 1992 30.12.13 Ramesh Gaonkar Visiting Professor Electrical Engg Syracuse University, New York, 1975 30.12.13 Chandrakumar Appayee Assistant Professor Chemistry IISc, 2008 30.12.13 Sharmistha Majumdar Assistant Professor Biological Engg Cornell University, 2006 30.12.13 Anirban Dasgupta Associate Professor Computer Sci & Engg Cornell University, 2005 30.12.13 Andrea Bobbio Visiting Professor Computer Sci & Engg Politecnico of Torino, 1969 31.12.13

Scholars in Residence M Ramamoorty Former Director General, Central Power Research Institute, Ministry of Power, Government of India Lina Fuzzetti Professor of Anthropology, Brown University, USA Akos Ostor Anthropologist, filmmaker and author at Documentary Educational Resources, USA

Activities at IITGN

Conference and Workshops on Cognitive Sciences, Process Safety and Seismic Design The Second International Conference Technology Center Bangalore; Dr Mimi on Cognition, Emotion and Action held Haryani Hassim, senior lecturer, Uni- during Dec 6-8, 2013 was attended by 160 versiti Teknologi Malaysia and Prof Raj leading researchers from different areas of Srinivasan, IITGN. cognitive science, including computational psychology, philosophy of mind, neurosci- A four-day short course on Seismic De- ence, artificial intelligence, and anthropol- sign of Earth & Rock-fill Dams was ogy. Inaugurated by Prof Janak Pandey, organized during Oct 15-18, 2013 with vice-chancellor, Central University of support from IITGN Safety Center. The Bihar; the keynote address was delivered course faculty included Dr Ahmed El- by Prof Thomas Metzinger, Johannes gamal, University of California, San Di- Gutenberg Universitat Mainz. Various in- Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, Texas ego; Dr David Paul, Lead Civil Engineer ternational experts from countries like US, A&M University; Mr Hirak Dutta, execu- in US Army Corps of Engineers; Prof Canada, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Hun- tive director, Oil Industry Safety Directorate Sudhir K Jain, Prof Amit Prashant and gary and France took part in the confer- (OISD); Dr Jayaraman Gopal, advisor- Prof Ajanta Sachan, IIT Gandhinagar. ence organized by Prof Meera M Sunny. HSE Essar Oil Ltd; Prof S A Abbasi, head, The course was attended by 54 civil en- Centre for Pollution Control, Pondicherry gineers including professionals from all A two-day symposium on Process Safety University; Mr G Vishwanathan, former over the country and abroad engaged in during Dec 19-20, 2013 saw the partici- deputy general manager, Indian Petrochemi- or responsible for directing design and pation of leading National and Interna- cals Corporation, (now RIL) Vadodara; construction activities from organiza- tional Process Safety experts, including Dr Hugo Vits, general manager, Bitumen tions like NTPC, NHPC, BARC, SAIL, Prof M Sam Mannan, director, Mary Technology and Site & HSSE manager Shell Druk Power Bhutan, CECB Srilanka etc.

Short Courses/ Workshops/ Panels was organized by Prof Babji Sriniva- Dhru, head, research wing at Research • A short course on Strengthening san and Prof Harish P M along with Foundation for Governance in India of Democracy at Grassroots by Dr post-graduate students. (RFGI), Nov 16-17, 2013. Sandeep Pandey, recipient of Ramon • A joint program by IITGN and the • A workshop on Low Cost Hi-Tech Magsaysay Award, Oct 12-13, 2013. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Automation by Prof N Ramakrish- • A one-day workshop on Technology Engineers (IEEE), USA to enhance the nan and Prof Joycee Mekie, Nov 28- Incubation was organized on Oct 12, quality of electrical engineering educa- 30, 2013 was attended by 12 participants 2013. Dr M V Shankar, director, Tech- tion in the country was held on Nov from organizations like Reliance, Ma- nology Planning, India at Cummins Inc, 13-17, 2013 with the logistical sup- hindra & Mahindra, Memco, Erhardt- Pune; Dr Arvind Viswanathan, chief port of Gujarat Technological Univer- Leimer etc. Prof Ramakrishnan also executive officer, Xellect IP Solutions, sity (GTU). Over 200 faculty members conducted a two day hands-on training Bangalore; Mr Pulkit Gaur, CEO from engineering institutes from across for engineers from Peass, Navsari dur- Gridbots; Ms Poyni Bhatt, chief oper- Gujarat enrolled in one of four basic ing Dec 13-14, 2013. ations officer, SINE, IIT Bombay were electrical engineering courses delivered • The DST Contact programme work- among the speakers. Prof Sriram Kan- by Prof Arup Lal Chakraborty, Prof shop on Earth Surface Processes co- vah and Prof Joycee Mekie organized Joycee Mekie, Prof K V V Murthy, ordinated by Prof Vikrant Jain was or- the event, with support from TIDE; and Prof Shanmuganathan Raman. ganized at IITGN from Dec 9-10, 2013. DieTY, Government of India and IIT The workshop also included pedagogi- Gandhinagar. cal sessions conducted by Prof Mi- Lectures • A short course on Data Analytics: chael Lightner, vice president, Educa- • Overview of ABB corporate research Application in Modeling, Control tional Activities, IEEE. by Dr Vinay Kariwala, group leader, and Signal Processing, supported by • A short course on Intersections of ABB Corporate Research Center; Mod- IEEE Gujarat Section; Oct 25-26, 2013 Law and Technology by Ms Kelly el-based advanced control: perspec- tives from oil & gas industry by Dr tional Economic Council, Prime Minis- Chand, Mohit G, Chandrashekhar Niket Kaisare, principal scientist, ABB ter’s Office, State of Israel, and Jacobs Tunga and Apoorva Ojha. Prof Joycee Corporate Research Center, Bangalore. Technion Cornell Innovation Institute. Mekie coordinated the event. • Modelling of earth surface process- • Ultrafast snapshots of matter and es by Prof R N Singh, INSA senior beyond by Dr Anil Patnaik, senior re- Amalthea ‘13 scientist, National Geophysical Re- search scientist, US Air Force Research The 4th edition of Amalthea, the annual search Institute (NGRI). Laboratory (AFRL) and Research fac- technical summit of IITGN based on the • Macromolecular crystallography us- ulty, Wright State University Ohio. theme Shaping the world through In- ing Bruker instruments by Dr Ver- • Seismic design and constructions by novation and Technology was held dur- non Smith, Bruker AXS, Germany. Mr Jitendra Bothara, technical director, ing Oct 19-20, 2013. An “Innovation Con- • An overview of Harappan civiliza- Miyamoto Impact, a New Zealand con- clave”, a “Design and Innovation Expo” and tion and the application of stable sulting engineering firm. several technical and non-technical events isotope analysis in archaeology by Dr were held over the two days. The conclave V N Prabhakar, superintending archae- was inaugurated by Mr Manu Seth, direc- ologist, Archaeological Survey of India. tor, Marketing, HTC India; and Shri Ma- • Dholavira: a unique Harappan city heshwar Sahu, additional chief secretary, by Dr R S Bisht, professor of archaeol- Industries and Mines Department, Gov- ogy (retired), Archaeological Survey of ernment of Gujarat. Eminent speakers at India (ASI); and lead archaeologist of the conclave included Dr Kamlesh Lulla, Dholavira site. chief scientist and research director, NASA; • Sanskritam Kim Artham? - Why Mr Alan Emtage, inventor of Archie, the Sanskrit? by Prof Gajendra Panda, L world’s first search engine; Mr Paparao D Arts College, . CalTech-IITGN Course Collaboration Kodali, vice president, Ingersoll Rand; Mr • Memory systems, case studies, & IITGN and Caltech are collaborating on a Hadi Syed Abdul, vice president, Robert theoretical applications by Dr Paul joint design course titled “Disruptive De- Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions; Li, UC Berkeley. sign: Design for the Developing World.” The and Dr Srinivas Garudachar, Grameen • The infinite network by Dr Nikhil course is offered at IITGN by Prof Bhaskar Intel Social Biz. Prominent exhibitors at the Balram, president and CEO, Ricoh In- Bhatt and at Caltech by Prof Ken Pickar. Expo included ISRO, DC Design, Inter- novations Corporation. The classes share lectures by IITGN and national Thermonuclear Experimental • Comparing Carnatic and Hindu- Caltech faculty by video conference and 19 Reactor (ITER-India), iNDEXTb and stani music systems by Dr Lakshmi IITGN students are paired with 16 Caltech KPIT Technologies. Student coordinators Sreeram, visiting faculty, IIT Madras. and Art Center College of Design, Pasade- included PVS Anurag, Mudit Rathor, Sam- • Tata incubation center’s program na, students on nine design projects based arth Vaijanapurkar, and Gaurav Sharma. to develop abrasion resistant auto- in India. Prof Pickar and 14 students from motive paint and R&D in India and Caltech & Art Center College of Design vis- Visit to Dholavira abroad by Dr Soumen Sensarma, ited the institute during Dec 15-22, 2013, to Fifteen IITGN faculty members and their Tata Incubation Center. identify opportunities for design intervention. families visited Dholavira, a major Harappan • Holographic adventures in flat space Together with IITGN students, they visited site in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, on Oct by Prof Arjun Bagchi, IISER, Pune. the Polio Foundation, the salt-pan workers in 19-20, 2013. Guided by Dr R S Bisht, emi- • Physical simulation of extreme and the Little Rann of Kutch, the Spine Research nent archaeologist and former Joint Direc- transient wind effects on civil struc- Center at the Ahmedabad Civil , ag- tor General, Archaeological Survey of India, tures by Dr Partha P Sarkar, director, ricultural workers in Viramgam, kite-makers who directed the excavations at Dholavira Wind Simulation and Testing Labora- & incense makers in Ahmedabad. A half-day in the 1990s. The visit was organized by Mr tory, Iowa State University. symposium on Design for the developing Michel Danino, IITGN Guest Professor. • Fuel cells in India - Present scenario world was also held on Dec 21, 2013. and future perspective by Mr Alok Sports News Goel, head of India Operations, Ballard Awards & Recognition Power Systems. • Yogesh Shantaram Fulpagare, PhD 49th Inter IIT Aquatic Meet • Conjugates of calixarenes as smart scholar, mechanical engineering, has Animesh Kumawat won silver medals in supramolecular systems for selective been awarded the INSPIRE Fellowship 1500m free-style, 100m back-stroke and recognition of ions and molecules 2013 from Ministry of Science & Tech- 200m back-stroke at the 49th Inter IIT by Prof C P Rao, IIT Bombay. nology, Government of India. He is Aquatic Meet held during Oct 1-4, 2013 • Madhava and the invention of cal- working on the thesis titled Data Cen- at IIT Guwahati. Parth Sane won a silver culus by Prof Divakaran, formerly ter Thermal Management with Prof medal in 50m butterfly and a bronze in with Tata Institute of Fundamental Re- Atul Bhargav as advisor. 100m back-stroke while Nisha Rawat won search, Mumbai. • Bhaskarjyoti Das’s photo-essays on a bronze medal in 50m breast-stroke in the • Fuel cells in the Indian navy by Dr A Buddhist marvel in Golaghat and women’s category. Suman Roy Choudhury, scientist F & The tea tribes of Assam have been director of Fuel Cell Research Center, published in the magazines Eclectic 21st Inter IIT Staff Sports Meet Naval Materials Research Laboratory, Northeast and Little India, respectively. Mr Santosh Raut won a bronze medal in Ambarnath, Maharashtra. • The Texas Instruments innovation javelin throw at the Inter-IIT Staff Sports • Entrepreneurship and Technion’s challenge - India analog design con- Meet held during Dec 25-29, 2013. The experience with incubation by Dr test (college level), was won by the team 24-member strong IITGN contingent se- Harry Yuklea, consultant to the Na- comprising of Mandar Bhoir, Mohit cured 3rd place in the March Past competition.