Abhijnana ::: IIT Kharagpur

Leadership Transition at IIT Kharagpur: Prof. V. K. Tewari Hands Over Charge to Prof. Amit Patra

On December 31, 2024, IIT Kharagpur witnessed a significant leadership transition as Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari handed over the charge of the Director to Prof. Amit Patra, the Director of IIT BHU, who assumed additional responsibility for leading the institute. During Prof. Tewari’s tenure (2018-2024), IIT Kharagpur achieved remarkable growth in academic excellence, research, and global outreach, while strengthening its infrastructure and fostering industry collaborations. Prof. Patra, with his extensive experience, aims to continue this legacy by focusing on cutting-edge research, enhancing industry partnerships, and expanding the Institute’s global influence. This leadership change marks a new chapter for IIT Kharagpur, with high expectations for further growth and innovation under Prof. Patra's visionary guidance. We congratulate Prof. Patra and express our gratitude to Prof. Tewari for his exceptional leadership.

Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee
Professor at Department of Chemical Engineering
Dean - International Relations

Dear Colleagues (within and outside IIT Kharagpur), Alumni and Students:

Warm wishes for a happy, prosperous and successful new year.

This is the second issue of our newly launched newsletter and it is an honor for me to address you, and highlight some of the Internationalization efforts taken up by IIT Kharagpur.

Internationalization is not new to the IIT system, and neither to IIT Kharagpur. Foreign Internships, jobs, and higher study abroad for graduating students, and a large number of faculty members with education abroad is a hallmark of the IIT system. However, over the last almost two decades, there has been significant focus in the Higher Education System of India towards incorporation of a global perspective into India's education system, and promoting Internationalization at home.

At IIT Kharagpur, the Office of International Relations (OIR) was set up in 2003 and has since been spearheading the internationalization efforts of the Institute.

Activities of the Office of the Dean of International Relations include but are not limited to the following:

To induct more international students into the academic and research programs at IIT Kharagpur. At present the Institute has close to 40 international students who are admitted into different degree programs, and are from various countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
To initiate and intensify research collaborations with foreign universities, IIT Kharagpur offers Joint Doctoral Programs (JDP) with 6 international partner institutions. JDP provides a student with an exclusive opportunity to live and study in both countries during their candidature and earn their doctoral degree jointly awarded by the partner institutes.
To Engage and facilitate international faculty visits, the Shri Gopal Rajgarhia International Program (SGRIP) supports visit of International faculty for up to 2 weeks (Late Shri Gopal Rajgarhia was our own alumni; 1968/BTech/Chemical/Nehru Hall). On the other hand, the Institute recruits visiting International Professors and global academic leaders for up to one year. Visit by such eminent international personalities are likely to strengthen the academic and research eco system of the institute, and give world class exposure to our students. I welcome and request our alumni to donate generously so that the Institute can come up with more such International Programs.
The office of OIR is also responsible for signing and handling of all national and International MoU of IIT Kharagpur. Presently we have more than 80 MoUs with National and International organizations.
Finally, the office of the Dean IR is also responsible for hosting Institute lecture by eminent personalities. Eminent speakers in 2024 included Prof Abhay Karandikar, Secretary DST, Government of India; Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman, ISRO and others.

Institute lecture by Prof Abhay Karandikar, Secretary DST, Government of India in the Netaji Auditorium on 12th April, 2024.

IIT Kgp team, including two undergraduates met Secretary of Higher Education Sri Sanjay Murthy in New Delhi on 6th May 2024 regarding SPARC.

Signing of MoU with University of Leeds in New Delhi on 27th June 2024

IIT Kharagpur has recently initiated the Semester Away Program (SAP) for its students who can spend a full semester away in a University or an Industry abroad. Again, the alumni can contribute in helping the KGPians by offering to host them or by facilitating their visit, by extending financial support. Incidentally, the flagship international mobility program of the Ministry of Education, The Scheme for Promotion of Research & Academic Collaboration (SPARC) is also nationally coordinated by IIT Kharagpur. This is a hugely successful national program open to top Institutes across the globe. It funds the visit of International faculty members to India and out-bound visits of Indian students.

In addition, a student body, the Students International Relations Cell (SIRC) works under the mentorship of Dean IR and particularly focus on helping IIT Kharagpur students secure foreign Internships, and also organize various international students’ related programs. The Students’ International Cell has also re-kindled the annual event, “Dyuti”. This event held between Oct 30 to Nov 01, 2024 offered an opportunity to international students studying at IIT Kharagpur as well as other Institutions in India to participate in the Indian Culture and witness the KGPian way of celebrating Diwali.

Thanks for your time and attention in reading our efforts on internationalization of IIT Kharagpur. I look forward to your active support (as our alumni are spread across the globe) in whichever way you can contribute. Please feel free to contact me for any clarification or suggestions.

INSTITUTE EVENTS

The 70th Convocation 2024 of IIT Kharagpur was held on December 30, 2024, at the Netaji Auditorium. The ceremony was graced by distinguished guests, including Prof. Pradeep K. Khosla, the Hon’able Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, USA, Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan, National Research Professor – AYUSH and Distinguished Professor of Health Sciences at Savitribai Phule Pune University and Sh. T. V. Narendran, Chairman BOG and CEO & MD, Tata Steel Ltd.

This significant occasion celebrated the academic achievements of the graduating students, with inspiring speeches from the esteemed dignitaries, leaving a lasting impact on all present.

Inauguration of the Centre for Teaching, Learning (CTLVS 2024) and Virtual Skilling by the Hon'ble Chairman of AICTE, Dr. TG Sitharam on December 2, 2024.

The 7th edition of SMART INDIA HACKATHON organised at IITKGP (December 11-15, 2024) with 210 participants across 35 teams, was virtually inaugurated by the Union Minister for Education, Sh. Dharmendra Pradhan. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji interacted with students of IIT Kharagpur along with others virtually and encouraged the young innovators to be more creative and innovative.

The Start-up EXPO 2024 was organized by the Agri Business Incubation Foundation, IITKGP (October 24-25, 2024) with participation of 37 Start-ups in technology demonstrations, investor connections, and expert sessions designed to transform the start-up vision into reality.

ACADEMIC EVENTS

The Postgraduate (PG) Certificate Ceremony on AI & Machine Learning, was held at IIT Kharagpur in presence of the Hon'ble Chairman of AICTE, Dr. TG Sitharam on December 2, 2024 in collaboration of IIT Kharagpur and AICTE.

Vaachna 2024, hosted by Vinod Gupta School of Management on November 9, 2024 explored AI's impact on talent acquisition, HR practices and employee engagement, highlighting the balance between AI and human connection.

IIT Kharagpur's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering hosted a workshop on Semiconductor Supply Chain Resilience (November 11-12, 2024), discussing trends, challenges and opportunities in India and the UK.

INDICon 2024, hosted by Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (December 19-21, 2024) featured 7 tutorials, keynote talks, 300+ technical papers, 16 invited sessions, the Intel Hackathon, and the IC Annual Award Ceremony with 450+ attendees.

The graduating students of IIT Kharagpur secured over 1400 offers, with 60% UG and 26% M.Tech placements, 25 international offers, and CTCs ranging from 0.80 to 2.14 crores at the end of phase-1 of the 2024-25 placement.

The SPARC workshop hosted by Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (December 16-18, 2024) focused on Microstructure-Property Correlations of materials using computational methods and machine learning, with expert lectures, hands-on training, and insights from Prof. Luis A. Barrales-Mora from Georgia Tech, France and Prof. Surya R. Kalidindi from Georgia Tech, USA.

The 16th International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics, hosted by Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (December 12-15, 2024), focused on Quantum Photonics and Metaphotonics. It included keynote addresses, plenary sessions, 70 invited talks, 400+ papers, and a vibrant exhibition.

The Indo-Austrian Symposium on Materials Engineering, hosted by The Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (December 12-13, 2024), featured over 90 lectures across seven advanced themes. 150 delegates, including experts from India, USA, UK, Austria, Australia, and Canada participated.

Institute Lecture of Prof. Jainendra K Jain

On October 11, 2024, Prof. Jainendra K. Jain from Pennsylvania State University delivered a captivating lecture at IIT Kharagpur’s S.N. Bose Auditorium, titled "Absolutely Mindboggling! Weirder Than We Ever Thought."

The GIAN course on "Characterization of Agricultural Particulate Materials for Effective Handling and Processing," led by Prof. Kingsley Ambrose from Purdue University, USA, was inaugurated on December 20, 2024. The course was supported by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

The Department of Chemistry, IIT Kharagpur, organized the first International Conference on Advances in Functional Solids (AFS 2024) held at Gargi Auditorium (November 9-12, 2024).

On October 30, 2024, Prof. Sven Lidin from Lund University delivered an insightful lecture at IIT Kharagpur’s S.N. Bose Auditorium, discussing how elements have shaped and continue to shape our world.

Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan (on the left), Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami (on the right), and Prof. V.K. Tewari, Director IIT Kharagpur

IIT Kharagpur hosted two distinguished Institute lectures at the Kalidas Auditorium in December 2024. On December 26, Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami delivered a captivating lecture on "Bhavya Bharata (Majestic India)," exploring India's cultural heritage, history, and its global significance. The following day, Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan presented an insightful talk on "Genome to Meta-Science," highlighting the evolution of modern science into the realm of meta-science.

Institute Lecture of Prof. Hirotaka Nakai

The Department of Cryogenic Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, hosted an institute lecture by Prof. Hirotaka Nakai from KEK, Japan, (October 21-23, 2024), at the S.N. Bose Auditorium. The lecture focused on Cryogenics, Superconductivity, Superfluid Helium, and their applications in Linear Colliders.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACCOLADES

CII Award on Excellence for Women in STEM

IIT Kharagpur received the CII Award for Excellence in Women in STEM, recognizing efforts to promote women's participation in STEM, aligning with the President's call for increased involvement in education.

BRICS 2024

Dr. Suverna Trivedi, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Department at IIT Kharagpur, was selected as a Young Scientist in Environment and Climate Change at the 9th BRICS Young Scientist Forum in Russia, representing India.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

IIT Kharagpur and L'Institut Agro Montpellier (Institute of Agriculture, Food & Environment), France

7th India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) in New Delhi

Airbus India & IIT Kharagpur Collaborate to Support Female Students

Students’ Startup Accelerator Program (IIT Kharagpur with z21 ventures)

IIT Kharagpur and MoRTH Collaborate on Tunnel Projects for National Highways

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

DYUTI : ILLUMINATING, IDEATING, TRANSFORMING

"Dyuti," organized by IIT Kharagpur's IR Cell (October 30-November 1, 2024), fostered cultural exchange, unity, and inclusivity through diverse activities, performances, and workshops, promoting international cooperation.

About 400 students participated in National Students' Space Challenge (NSSC 2024) Programme held at IIT Kharagpur (Nov 8-10, 2024) where space-themed events like Space Quiz, CosmoMath, Astrobite, Space Art, Astrophotography took place. The new event "Eggstravaganza" made a grand debut.

GLOBAL AI WEEK HACKATHON 2024 IN JEJU ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA

Ms. Khushi Kasturi and alumnus Mr. Nikhil Agarwal represented IIT Kharagpur at the Global AI Week Hackathon 2024, winning 2nd prize and a US $3,000 award. They were the only Indian team to reach the finals in Jeju Island, South Korea, earning recognition for IIT Kharagpur's legacy and student excellence.

PAN IIT STUDENT GOVERNANCE SUMMIT 2024

IIT Kharagpur’s Sagar Kumar and Mehul Jain attended the PAN IIT Student Governance Summit at IIT Madras (October 26-27, 2024), focusing on wellbeing, sustainable policies, and strategies to enhance student experiences.

RANGOLI & ILLUMINATION

Diwali at IIT Kharagpur celebrates unity and creativity through the Illumination & Rangoli competition, highlighting Indian culture and community spirit on October 31, 2024.

MEESHO DICE CHALLENGE

IIT Kharagpur team members Shubhendu Pandey, Sidharth Sinha, and Adarsh Jha secured 2nd place and a 50,000 INR cash prize in the Meesho DICE Challenge, out of 10,000 registrations. The team was the only data science group to reach the finals in Bangalore.

INTER-IIT AQUATICS MEET 2024

At the Inter-IIT Aquatics Meet held at IIT Indore (October 1-5, 2024), IIT Kharagpur's girls' team emerged as champions for the third consecutive year, securing a dominant victory. In the boys' category, Hard Desai earned two Gold and one Bronze medal. Pravalika Das was named Best Woman Swimmer, winning 5 Gold medals.