IISc alumnus Dr. Desiraju Rajagopal Rao, and his wife Dr. Vijaya Rao have made a generous contribution to create a Biomedical Research Laboratory in the Centre for BioSystems Science and Engineering (BSSE), IISc. Their contribution will support biomedical research at BSSE for perpetuity. At a ceremony held on Diwali at the Faculty Hall, the couple handed over the cheque to Prof. Anurag Kumar, Director, IISc.

Dr. Rajagopal Rao enrolled in the Associateship Programme in Biochemistry in the mid 1950s. He conducted basic research in food biochemistry at the Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore, and retired as its acting Director. Dr. Vijaya Rao served with distinction as a microbiologist at the Defence Food Research Laboratory, also located in Mysore. This distinguished scientist couple is passionate about science, and biomedical research in particular.

The Institute sincerely appreciates their generosity.

ISSUE 2 NOVEMBER 2016

alumnus dr. rajagopal rao & dr. vijaya rao fund biomedical research @

BSse

Odaa NEWSLETTER

Indian Institute of Science (IISC)

Updates on Alumni and Institute

News

From the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs @

IISc

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore – 560012, India www.odaa.iisc.ernet.in

ALUMNI DAY @ IISc We are excited to announce that IISc’s first annual alumni reunion will be held at the IISc Bangalore campus from December 16-18, 2016. Registrations are open at https://alumni.iisc.ernet.in/event/alumni-day REGISTRATION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 9, 2016 We invite all alumni who have graduated with a degree from IISc to sign up and join us in our celebration.

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The IISc Alumni Association, jointly with the Institute, honoured three distinguished alumni in recognition of their extraordinary service to science and technology. The ‘Distinguished Alumnus Awards’, as they are called, were presented in a function held at the Faculty Hall. Prof. N. Balakrishnan, Prof. Ajay K. Sood, and Prof. Ramalingam Chellappa are the alumni who were honoured this year. Prof Anurag Kumar, Director, IISc, presented the awards.

N. Balakrishnan, Honorary Professor, Supercomputer Education and Research Centre, IISc, has played an important role in building India’s first supercomputer centre and the National Centre for Science Information at the Institute. His research has found direct applications in many strategic areas including national security. He is a recipient of many awards including the Padmashri, SN Mitra Memorial Award, DRDO Academy Excellence Award, Homi J Bhabha Award, and JC Bose National Fellowship.

“If IISc holds a special position in the history of computing in India, it is largely because of Prof. Balakrishnan’s untiring efforts,” said Prof. Balaram, former IISc Director.

Ajay Sood, Professor, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, is widely recognised for his contributions to physics. His research contributions are

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numerous and diverse, and have started several sub-fields covering both quantum and soft condensed matter physics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow and the Secretary General of the World Academy of Sciences, and a former President of the Indian Academy of Sciences.

Ramalingam Chellappa, Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, USA, is widely recognised for his pioneering contributions to developing statistical methods for pattern recognition and computer vision problems. He is also a Distinguished University Professor and a Minta Martin Professor of Engineering. He is a recipient of many awards including the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, IBM Faculty Development Award (four times), and the King-Sun Fu Prize from the International Association of Pattern Recognition.

At the event, two other scientists were also honoured with the Prof. S. K. Chatterjee Memorial Award: Prof Parbati Biswas, Department of Chemistry, Delhi University and Dr Suja Elizabeth, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science. The new IISc Alumni Association website was also launched by Prof. Anurag Kumar.

- Madhukara Putty

Alumni association & iNSTITUTE honour distinguished alumni

ODAA NEWSLETTER issue 2

ORGANIZATIONS FUND SPECIAL PROJECTS under corporate social responsibility

RURAL ELECTRIFICATION CORPORATION (REC) Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), a Govt. of India Navratna Enterprise, has extended financial assistance under its CSR initiative to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, for the establishment of 279 KWp photovoltaic solar panels on 3 department rooftops to generate power for the institutional grid, and installation of 2200 LED lights at various locations on the IISc, Bangalore campus.

The main objective of this project is to reduce the campus carbon footprint and dependence on non-renewable energy

sources.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for this project was executed between REC and IISc in Bangalore on 31st October 2016. Shri P. S. Hariharan, Zonal Manager, Southern Zone, REC, and Shri V. Rajarajan, Registrar, IISc, signed the MoA in the presence of Prof. Anurag Kumar, Director of IISc, and other senior officials of REC and IISc.

HAL-IISc SKILL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and IISc have joined hands to establish a Skill Development Centre at the Institute’s second campus in Challakere, Chitradurga district, Karnataka. The Bhoomi Pooja for the construction of the new “HAL-IISc Skill Development Centre” was held on 27th October in the presence of Prof. Anurag Kumar, Director of IISc, and Mr. T. Suvarna Raju, CMD of HAL.

“This will go a long way in recognizing and honing skills and providing opportunities for youth at various levels in line with the Government’s Skill India initiative,” said Mr. Suvarna Raju.

The concept of a Skill Development Centre has been in the pipeline for nearly eight years at IISc. However, the realization of this vision warranted working with active partners having common goals. HAL came forward to support the infrastructure for this new Centre under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

The goal is to create a model facility that would provide skill development programmes for various beneficiaries — from unemployed youth and local community members to advanced engineering professionals.

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IISc MET-ALUMNI RECEPTION @ NMD-ATM IISc alumni from the Metallurgy/Materials Engineering department gathered at the annual reception held during NMD-ATM, the flagship event of the Indian Institute of Metals at IIT-Kanpur during 11-14 November 2016.

ALUMNI events

The Institute’s first annual Alumni Day will be held this December on the IISc Bangalore campus. The purpose of this reunion is to reconnect with alumni at both the Institute and department levels. We invite all alumni who have graduated with a degree from the Institute to sign up and join us in our celebration. Register at: http://alumni.iisc.ernet.in/event/alumni-day (REGISTRATION DEADLINE: December 9, 2016) For registration via cheque payment, please visit: https://alumni.iisc.ernet.in/page/alumni-day-registration-via-cheque For any queries, write to alumniaffairs@odaa.iisc.ernet.in

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SIR LESZEK BORYSIEWICZ Vice Chancellor, University of Cambridge

IISc recently had the privilege of hosting Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the Vice Chancellor, University of Cambridge.

In his special lecture titled “Global collaboration in the face of global challenges”, he stressed on the role of international partnerships in tackling pressing global problems.

“From mitigating the effects of climate change, to improving lives of people in rapidly growing cities, the challenges we face are global – and so must be the solutions,” he said.

He also highlighted areas of collaborations between IISc and Cambridge. “Here, in Bangalore, and at this Institute, we find the same commitment to excellence that drives Cambridge’s research community,” he said.

Full transcript of speech: http://www.v-c.admin.cam.ac.uk/professor-sir-leszek-borysiewicz/speeches/global-collaboration-face-global-challenges

DR. JAYANT BALIGA Distinguished University Professor, North Carolina State University

The Institute recently hosted Dr. Jayant Baliga, Distinguished University Professor, North Carolina State University, for the IISc Golden Jubilee Lecture at JN Tata Auditorium.

A stellar, high-impact researcher, Dr. Baliga is the celebrated inventor of the IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) device, which has had an enormous impact on creating a sustainable society by enhancing the comfort and convenience of billions of people while reducing energy consumption. His talk focused on the challenges that had to be overcome to commercialize the IGBT, and its wide range of applications.

The IGBT is, even today, widely used in the consumer, industrial, transportation, lighting, medical and renewable energy generation sectors.

In October 2011, Dr. Baliga was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Obama – the highest honor conferred by the United States Government to an Engineer.

CAMPUS VISITORS

ODAA NEWSLETTER issue 2

IISconnect: Industry Interaction Day & Research Career Fair IISc organized its first research career fair on Oct 3, 2016. Graduating doctoral students presented their work to representatives of interested industries and learned about various opportunities in these sectors.

The event included presentations by the Director, IISc, and faculty members on the various ways in which industry could engage with IISc. Over 100 graduating doctoral students presented their work. A large number of other IISc students also participated and interacted with industry delegates. Over 100 delegates representing industries from a host of sectors in science and engineering attended.

The event was organized by the newly established Office of Career Counselling and Placement at IISc, and sponsored by Qualcomm and Media.net.

IISc ranked #1 Indian institution in THE rankings 2016-17

IISc has been ranked as India’s top institution in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-17 list, jumping 50 places from last year to reach the top 201-250 group. This year, a record 31 Indian universities have made it to the list of 980 institutions.

Distinguished alumnus Sunil Kumar appointed Provost of Johns Hopkins University Prof. Sunil Kumar has been appointed as the 15th Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, USA. He completed his M.E. in Systems Science and Automation from IISc in 1992.

He was most recently the Dean, University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Five faculty members awarded INSA Medal for Young Scientists

Profs. Prabeer Barpanda (MRC), Sai Siva Gorthi (IAP), Praveen Kumar (Materials Engineering), Anshu Pandey (SSCU) and Chandan Saha (CSA) have been honoured with the medal which recognizes notable research contributions in science and technology.

This is the highest number for any institution this year.

Questions? Write to alumniaffairs@odaa.iisc.ernet.in Photos: IISc photography club, Archives & Publications Cell, Jagadesh

IISc researchers develop tiny heat engine powered by bacteria

In a major breakthrough, IISc and JNCASR scientists have designed a tiny, highly efficient heat engine that relies on bacterial activity, with potential applications in nano-electromechanical and microfluidic devices. The first-of-its-kind design was reported in a paper published in Nature Physics.

For more news, visit: https://alumni.iisc.ernet.in/news

CAMPUS BUZZ

CONNECT: The latest issue of IISc’s quarterly magazine highlights ongoing efforts to support entrepreneurship and the growth of startups, the origins of the Aerospace Engineering Department and plenty of other articles on campus happenings. Read the full issue at: http://www.iisc.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CONNECT_2016_09.pdf