Invitation on Dais :

Before I begin, may I request (the dignitaries)

1) the Honorable Vice Chancellor of BESU, Shibpur Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray

2) the Honorable Chief Guest of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three), Prof. Gautam Biswas

3) the Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Prof. Patha Pratim Chattopadhyay

4) the President of ISTAM, Prof. Subir Kumar Satsangi

5) the Head of the Dept of Aerospace Eng & Applied Mechanics, Prof. Salil Haldar

6) the Secretary of ISTAM, Prof. P.V.S.N Murthy

7) the Organizing Secretary of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three), Prof. Basudeb Bhattacharyya

8) the Organizing Secretary of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three), Prof. Koustuv Debnath

to kindly occupy the chair on the dais.

Welcome speech :

Distinguished Delegates, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to extend to

you a very warm welcome on behalf of the Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur to

the 58th Congress of the Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. With the aim of

encouraging the spirit of research and innovation, the University feels proud to be the host of this

annual convention over the next 4 days. We are also very grateful to all those who have accepted

our invitation to be a part of this event.

I would now take the opportunity to introduce this prestigious university to everyone

gathered here today. The Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur is the 2nd oldest

engineering institute in India established as the Calcutta Engineering College, way back in 1856 with

the idea of meeting the requirement for trained engineering personnel in the pre-independence era

of our country. Since then, the institute has had a long and glorious past and has a played a major

role in the development of our country. In 1865, the college merged with Presidency College,

Kolkata and functioned as the Civil Engineering Department of Presidency College. In 1880, the

college was shifted to its present campus at Shibpur, Howrah, the sister district of Kolkata. In the

year 1920, the institute was renamed as the Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur. The college began

offering the Bachelor of Engineering degree from 1935 and PG courses in Engineering from 1954 as a

constituent college of the Calcutta University. In recognition of its services to the nation for all these

years, the college was elevated to the status of a Deemed University in 1993, the formal

inauguration of which was done by the erstwhile Honorable President of India, Dr. Sankar Dayal

Sharma on the 13th of March, 1993. On the 1st of October, 2004 the institution was elevated to a

fully fledged university with the present name. It was formally inaugurated by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,

the then Honorable President of India, on 13 July 2005.

The University has a beautiful green campus spreading a little under 49 hectares and it is

situated on the northern bank of the river Hoogly, opposite to the city of Kolkata. It is adjacent to

India's largest botanical garden, the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden which is

home to the Great Banyan Tree, the widest tree in the world. One of Kolkata's most prominent

landmarks, the Victoria Memorial Hall is only a 15 minutes drive from the campus.

It is therefore, needless to say that it is a proud moment for all of us to have gathered here

at this historic venue for this event.

Now, Moving Forward with the inaugural session, the organising committee of ISTAM (two-zero-

one-three) would like to felicitate the dignitaries present on the dais.

I request the undergraduate students of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Applied

Mechanics to present bouquets to:

 

 

1) the Honorable Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ajay Kumar Ray

2) the Honorable Chief Guest of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three), Prof. Gautam Biswas

3) the Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Prof. Patha Pratim Chattopadhyay

4) the President of ISTAM, Prof. Subir Kumar Satsangi

5) the Head of the Dept of Aerospace Eng & Applied Mechanics, Prof. Salil Haldar

6) the Secretary of ISTAM, Prof. P.V.S.N Murthy

7) the Organizing Secretaries of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three), Prof. Basudeb Bhattacharyya

And Prof. Koustuv Debnath

I would now like to invite the Secretary of ISTAM(two-zero-one-three) Prof. Koustuv Debnath who is

also a faculty at the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics at this university

to deliver the welcome address.

Thank you Prof. Debnath for the opening remarks.

I would now request Prof. Salil Haldar, the Head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and

Applied Mechanics, BESU, Shibpur and the chairman of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three) to address the

gathering.

Thank You for Prof. Haldar for providing valuable insights into the history of the department.

It is now time to hear from the Secretary of the Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics,

I would therefore request Prof. P.V.S.N Murthy who is also a faculty at the Department of

Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur to address the audience.

Thank You Prof. Murthy for addressing the audience.

I would now like to invite the president of ISTAM Prof. Subir Kumar Satsangi who is also a faculty at

the Department of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture at the Indian Institute of Technology

Kharagpur to address all of us who have gathered here.

Thank You Prof. Satsangi. It was a pleasure to hear from you.

Moving on, I would now take the opportunity to invite the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and

Technology at Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur Prof. Partha Pratim

Chattopadhyay to address this gathering.

Thank You Prof Chattopadhyay for those words of wisdom.

Our next speaker needs no introduction. He is a globally acclaimed researcher in the field of Fluid

Mechanics and I'm sure that most of us gathered here have read his books or followed his lectures

on Fluid Mechanics and Turbulence. Without much delay, I would request the Honorable Chief Guest

of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three) and the present director of the Indian Institute of Technology,

Guwahati, Prof. Gautam Biswas to give the inaugural address.

Thank You Prof. Biswas for the inaugural address. It was an honor to hear from you. It will be a great

pleasure for all of us to listen to you again in future.

The next speaker is another stalwart in his own domain. He is a patron of this conference and it is

because of his strong motivation and encouragement that we have all gathered here at ISTAM (two-

 

zero-one-three). It is an honor for all of us to hear from him. I would request the Vice Chancellor of

Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray to kindly address the

audience.

Thank You Sir for the influential message. I am sure that your motivation will go a long way into

making this event successful.

[I would now request all the dignitaries present on the dais to light the inaugural lamp.]

Now, before we end this inaugural session, I would like to invite Prof. Basudeb Bhattacharyya, the

secretary of ISTAM (two-zero-one-three) and a faculty at the department of Aerospace Engineering

and Applied Mechanics at this University to deliver the vote of thanks.

Thank You Prof. Bhattacharyya for the closing remarks.

With this, we have now come to the end of this inaugural session. We will now break for tea which is

being served just outside this hall. I would request everyone gathered to be back here sharply at

 _____ for the presidential address that will be delivered by Prof. Subir Kumar Satsangi. Thank You.