Alma Communique Vol- 2 Iss-2

VOL.1 ISSUE.2 FEBRUARY 2020 Official Newsletter of the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi INTRODUCTION THIS ISSUE : The time has come to see the future PARLIAMENT through the eyes of history. PAGE 02 On the occasion of the beginning of a new era with the Centenary CELLS Closing Program, the institute seeks its oldest connections, to PAGE 03 rejuvenate and nourish them, whilst finding new ones. Alma Communique - the official COUNCILS Alumni Newsletter, which PAGE 06 was released as a Centenary initiative, saw an overwhelming FESTS response and was appreciated PAGE 09 throughout the Alumni Community. Inspired by this, INNOVATION @ IITBHU in this second edition, we have PAGE 10 pledged to move towards the goal of “AlmaNewsAtHome” ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENTS with doubled enthusiasm. This PAGE 11 edition comprises a summary of various developments and PAGE 01 achievements of the institute and the highlights of the Giving Back of the Alumni Fraternity. This is a personalised newsletter initiative carried out by the Student Alumni Interaction Cell with the aim of honouring Alumni contributions and establishing stronger bonds between the institute and its graduated family members. We invite articles and encourage feedback for future newsletters through our email and on our social networking accounts. We have also provided a QR code below, scanning which, shall provide you with the platform to share your latest achievements with your Alma Mater family across the globe. Visit us at alumni.iitbhu.ac.in or scan the QR Code here. ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ

STUDENTS’ PARLIAMENT * Installation of washing machines, Mess App and Hostel Website are being made to provide students The Student’s Parliament is a student body that acts as with better service. a link between the administration and the students, * Installation of Sign Boards, barricades and street facilitating a symbiotic relationship between the lights to ensure security, installation of Sound, two. In the last semester, new HEFA projects have dustbins, benches, etc. have also been done. been proposed by the institute to provide world-class * The Institute Campus now has an Apollo Pharmacy infrastructure to its students. store operating from 8 am to 10 pm. * The Finance Committee started an Inventory audit HEFA-1 Projects checkup to keep an up to date checkup of all the inventory of the various councils under the Student 1. Student Activity Center (Phase-I) – A 2-storey Gymkhana. building, with the objective to provide top class * A new Instagram Page of IIT(BHU) Varanasi was indoor sports complex which comprises of a made by the Public Relations Committee to provide a Badminton Court, Gymnasium and Squash Court better reach of the Institute works on Instagram. which will be constructed in the Rajputana Ground. * The Academics Committee is working with various 2. New Boys Hostel (in place of Dhanrajgiri hostel)- departments and students to improve the course A seven-floor hostel consisting of 400 rooms and structure and add relevant streams. parking facility. The foundation stone of this project Thus, with the collective efforts of the students and was laid with two other infrastructural projects i.e. the administration, IIT(BHU)Varanasi will soon be Student activity centre and New Faculty Apartments in the top 5 engineering institutes in India, giving on the day of the 8th Convocation of IIT(BHU) by world-class education to its students, living up to the Honourable Human Resource and Development Malviyaji’s vision. Minister Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. All these projects will be constructed in a span of 20 months RESEARCH by CPWD. AND DEVELOPMENT 3. New Faculty Apartments- An eight-store building consisting of 64 3BHK flats shall be constructed. Research and Development acts as a catalyst for speeding up the growth of any organization or country by introducing breakthrough products in the market. It provides a platform for creativity and innovation to flourish in an organization. Understanding our responsibility as a premier institute of the country, various research and development projects are being operated on in the institute. HEFA-2 Projects * In 2019, 14 National and 10 International MoUs have been signed. The MoU between IIT BHU and Ministry 1. Construction of Morvi-II and Dining Block- Most of Road Transport and Highways, Government of hostel rooms are old with double occupancy. Hence, India was to establish MORTH chair in the institute to overcome this problem, this project is proposed. to promote road safety. 2. Extension of the Annie Besant Lecture Theatre * To foster academic and research collaborations an Complex- To create study space for the increased MoU was also signed with the University of Buffalo, student strength, this project is submitted by the state university of New York. CPWD,BHU and is expected to be constructed in 12 * The new Department of Architecture, IIT(BHU) has months. also been established as a result of an MoU signed 3. Augmentation and Upgradation of UG/PG labs of with IIT Roorkee. Departments/Schools Apart from this, a total of 50 patents have been filed Various student committees are working hand in in various fields in 2019, giving a clear idea of the hand with the management for the development of extensive ongoing research and development work in the institute in various sectors. the institute.These range from wastewater treatment system with microalgal biomass production to improved nozzle assembly for uniform fluid delivery and so on. 38 sponsored projects have also been sanctioned in the institute, including collaborations with DACFW, DRDO, SPARC-MHRD, and SERB. IIT BHU is one of the two Indian institutes selected by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) and the United ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 02

Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to hope to accomplish new records in the coming years conduct one of the nine chosen experiments. It is also with the established companies of our alumni also a matter of pride that from India, IIT (BHU) Varanasi participating in the Campus Placement Drive. will be working as one of the academic partners of SULIS, a UK-led solar science mission to study the STUDENT ALUMNI nature of solar eruptions and track the huge magnetic INTERACTION CELL clouds of charged gas. The Dean of Research and Development (DoRD), IIT BHU continuously works Student Alumni Interaction Cell (SAIC) is an institute to provide opportunities to students to work in their body operated by the students of IIT (BHU) Varanasi field of interest to benefit the society and nation as a under the guidance of Dean of Resource & Alumni. whole. It functions to build and strengthen connections with our Alumni community. The cell’s objective is TRAINING AND PLACEMENT “Connect, Engage, Celebrate” and thus it enhances the CELL student-alumni relations by facilitating interactions of the students with alumni so that they get well The Training and Placement Cell reached greater acquainted with the current educational demands heights this year with IIT (BHU) Varanasi concluding and opportunities in the future. it’s first phase of Campus Placements for the 2020 Batch. This Cell, like its name suggests, is responsible 1. INITIATIVES : for managing the placements and internships of students. The first phase lasted till 14th December, * Alumni Visiting Faculty (AVF): The AVF program was with the participation of a total of 167 Public and introduced by the SAIC in the academic session 2019- Private firms in all sectors including Software, 20. Under this program, every semester, around 400 Consultancy, Finance, Research, etc. A few highlights students opt for courses taught by renowned alumni of this season’s placement drive are- in specific fields. The alumni visit the institute weekly * A total of 970 offers, including PPOs, as compared to to teach students. It aims at providing students with 877 total offers last year. industrial/corporate exposure, which is immensely needed today.Every semester we have the pleasure of * In total, hosting 8 alumni who teach 4 courses. 11 students * Mentorship: In the students’ Alumni Mentorship received program, final and pre-final year students of IIT International (BHU) are mentored by our experienced alumni on offers during a one-one basis. As the streak to provide growth the first phase, opportunities for students continues, SAIC launched the figure this for students to acquire guidance in fields like increasing finance, management, analytics,etc. from our rich three-fold as alumni network benefitting over 2000 Students so compared to far. last year. * Alumni Bookshelf: This is the most recent initiative * A total of 4 wherein a bookshelf has been installed in the Main students got Library. Autographed books written by our alumni/ 1 Cr+ salary faculty are put on display for all the students. Apart package while from being the symbol of pride, these books will act 3 of them got as inspiration and will motivate students to diversify the highest of themselves and share their knowledge with the 1.58 Cr. world. * 44 firms have * SAIC Website: Giving a boost to strengthening the offered 177 Student-Alumni bond, SAIC launched its own website Pre-Placement in the previous semester. It lists all the on-going Offers to the initiatives, various important dates and mentions students this year as compared to 150 PPOs last year. with detailed procedure all the services that we * 555 students in B.Tech. and 242 students in IDD provide to the Alumni. The website also provides a and M.Tech got placed out of the total 1284 students platform for Alumni to share their achievements registered. with the entire IIT(BHU) Fraternity. The Campus The Cell also takes pride in the Internship session Ambassador and the Giving Back sections facilitate of the odd semester with a total of 347 offers, Alumni in expressing their wish to contribute to as compared to 246 offers in the previous year, their Alma Mater. raising the bar by 41%. The centenary celebrations * Alma Communique: SAIC launched its biannual reconnected a lot of families with the institute and alumni newsletter last year in July with the intention we are grateful for their spirit of giving back. While of updating the alumni on the recent developments celebrating the success of the year 2019-20, we ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 03

and various events organised in the lanes they this batch pledged a monetary fund worth 1.1 crores once painted colourful memories on. The barriers INR and aims to collect 3 crore INR soon. This batch of connection have now been overcomed and with stated that they wish to set the benchmark for future this edition we bring to you a deeper insight into reunions. With spirits running high and nostalgia the infrastructural developments, fests, research gripping everyone, this meet was a huge success. patents, etc. IIT BHU GLOBAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 2. SERVICES : (IBGAA) - PRINCETON MEET * Transcript: SAIC provides transcripts to the alumni The centenary celebrations that kicked off with a by simply giving some basic details/documents at grand event on Vasant Panchami (Feb. 10) earlier our website. Generally, transcript(s) are issued in two this year on campus, in Varanasi, reached a grand working days after doing the needful. culmination at the Global Alumni Meet held at * Hospitality: SAIC offers hospitality to the alumni Princeton, New Jersey on the 14th of September, 2019 visiting the campus, right from escorting them to by the IIT BHU Global Alumni Association (IBGAA). the campus to taking them for departmental visits. Over 500 Alumni and alumnae from a plethora The only requirement to avail our services during of fields and geographical locations converged to the stay on the campus is to fill the hospitality form joyously celebrate and gather a foresight of what can available at our website! be achieved in the next 100 years, aptly captured in the theme for the day: “The Next 100”. 3. REUNIONS : Arun Tripathi (Mechanical,1997, event co- chair) started proceedings with the invitation of 1975 Batch: Conforming to the spirit of camaraderie, dignitaries to light the lamp. Dr Jagdish (Jay) Agrawal the 1975 batch reunited at IIT(BHU) to celebrate 40 (Chemical,1945), who was the senior-most alumnus years of their graduation from the 16th to the 18th to grace the event, shared experiences during times of November,2019. With the base camp stationed of India’s independence movement, an eventful at IIT Guest House, the expedition set out to the journey of 26 days. Former Member of Parliament, hostels, playfields, departments, Malviya Bhawan, Manoj Sinha (Civil,1979) gave a keynote address and the Ghats savouring the delights of college life. highlighting the need for IIT (BHU) to adapt to A congregation of sprightliness, playful banters, modern times with an education system analogous and of course, the stories, this affair enhanced the to Industry 4.0: “Education 4.0”.There were three ‘merriment quotient’ as the batch reminisced their panel discussions that discussed how the alma mater coupling with Banaras. can rise further up the global rankings symbolizing the true worth it inculcates into its students. They DéjàBHU were titled “Next 100 Years - Brand IIT (BHU)” ,Next 100 Startups and Next $100 Million for IIT (BHU). The joyous reunion of 1994 batch was held from Notable alumni were awarded by IBGAA for their the 22nd to the 24th of December, 2019 in Varanasi. contributions. The event also remembered Yogesh This Silver Jubilee meet, named DéjàBHU, with its Upadhaya (CHE 1977) who played a monumental role gala dinners and splendid performances was an in knitting together the alumni network through his extravagant affair. It connected the 140+ Alumni who leading work on Chronicle - the alumni newsletter. attended this celebration along with their families. The intense day-time schedule was followed by an Benares tour, Darshan at Kashi Vishwanath, Subaha- evening of gala entertainment and cocktails. A group e-Banaras, Ganga Aarti and Boat - rides rejuvenated of alumni, under the banner of GAP (Grover-Arya- their young spirits. The Institute and departmental Pathak) Productions, had prepared an enthralling visits brought back threads of colourful memories skit that took the audience down their memory lane. their enthusiastic selves had once made. After a Varun Grover, a renowned comedian, screenwriter meeting with the Director, in the giving back event, and lyricist presented the final act. In addition to several memorable moments for attendees to cherish, everyone received a personalized memento featuring 100 years of IIT(BHU), a souvenir booklet, a pocket-sized copy of the Bhagawad Gita straight from Gorakhpur press and a custom tumbler. Zscaler, the title sponsor for the event along with the platinum sponsor - Botsford Associates LLC, the host organization IBGAA and the motivation of alumni and current students made this event visibly outstanding. ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 04

WESTERN INDIA ALUMNI The closing ceremony saw the history knitted address ASSOCIATION (WIAA) of our chief guest and the generous donation of INR 1 cr by Shri Gururaj and Smt. Jayshree Deshpande IIT (BHU) Alumni Association of Western India in honor of their father. The alumni of the golden is working to bring together Alumni in Western jubilee batch of 1970 batch also aim to donate INR India. This includes Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and 1 cr. to the institute. The ceremony ended with a adjoining territories. One of its multiple initiatives cultural performance by the SPIC MACAY in the to connect alumni was The TATA INDIA MARATHON evening, amoungst anew smiles on their old faces. Dream Run. This 5.9km race across Mumbai’s iconic landmarks got together over 20 Alumni on E-CELL the 19th of January, 2020. Participants went as representatives of the IIT BHU Contingent to show Taking forward its role as the entrepreneurship- solidarity and their love for Alma Mater. The Alumni promoting body of the institute, E-cell has a lot of enjoyed themselves and cherished memories from achievements to be proud of this year. their hostel life. Such efforts in bringing IIT BHU 1. It has provided a platform for students to experience Alumni together have always been a characteristic of entrepreneurship in its true sense by organizing two WIAA. big events: Startup Weekend Varanasi’19 and the Keeping its vow of creating platforms for our Alumni Hult Prize. to engage, WIAA will be organizing the Wester India 2. Know Your Department, a series of sessions Alumni Meet on the 29th of February, 2020. It aims to were organized to make students more aware of bring together Alumni of IIT BHU, living in different the opportunities lying in their core engineering cities of Western India, to exchange pleasantries and field and the start-ups that presently work on such reminisce memories of the past. The Venue is Mirage problems. Hotel in Andheri East, Mumbai. The event will have 3. The E-Cell had also launched a web portal called only one agenda : “Bringing back memories”. We the Student Internship Portal (SIP), which connects wish WIAA a successful Alumni meet and express talented students with the opportunities available our happiness in this joyous and rejuvenating event. within the startups incubated within the campus. 4. To help students build their startup models using CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS the latest tools such as Blockchain, the cell held an CLOSING CEREMONY interactive session called Learning Bootcamp. 5. Another initiative in mentoring the students was The yearlong Centenary Celebrations the Startup 101 course. This 12-week long course commemorating the 100 years of engineering connected students with eminent speakers around education at IIT (BHU), Varanasi concluded on a the world through video conferencing. high note on the auspicious day of Basant Panchmi, It is because of these continuous efforts, the E-Cell 29 January,2020. The foregoing week had seen can proudly say that startups like Ovias, Doctor the reunion of the 1981 batch and Golden Jubilee around u, Trash Cash, Check-in, etc. have been Celebration of 1970 batch.The Chief Guest and incubated within the campus and are now disrupting the Guest of Honour of the ceremony were Shri the markets of their respective spheres. They hope Shreenivas Gururao Deshpande (Alumnus,1948) to get better insights into their market models and and Shri Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande respectively. The different stages of investments from various alumni ceremony commenced with paying floral tributes to in the future. the revered founder Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya followed by the inauguration of the 90-year E-SUMMIT old refurbished BENCO Chimney and the newly made Teaching and Learning Center. ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 05

The first edition of E-Summit IIT BHU turned out skills to realise their dream careers. The team to be a huge success! It witnessed an overwhelming conducts workshops and expert workshops for participation of hundreds of entrepreneurial boosting linguistic, managerial, analytical and enthusiasts from all over the nation. Presented by professional skills. The Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT BHU Varanasi, this • The team also plans to conduct certification two-day long frenzy attracted various sponsors & courses in foreign languages, professional skills partners, and various eminent personalities from etc. around the world to deliver keynote addresses and be a part of the panel discussions on finance and International Exchange: start-ups. Traveling off the beaten path, E-Summit IIT BHU, owned a list of unique events that it could • The International Exchange Team is aimed proudly boast of! Entrepreneurial prodigies around at boosting the international exchange the world spared their valuable time to add to the opportunities at IIT BHU. glory of this fest. We were entranced and honoured to host several alumni like Mr. Kaustav Mukherjee, • The other objective is to facilitate the stay of Vish Narayanan, Mohan Satyaranjan, Manish Gupta, foreign students on the campus by providing Rajeev Gupta, Madhup Garg to name a few. them with a “buddy” who will help them in acclimatizing to the local food and living habits. STUDENT COUNSELING SERVICES - SAKHA Inaugural Event of SCS: The Student Counseling Services is an institute- The Inaugural event of SCS was held on the 2nd of level faculty-student body established to cater to April’19 which was graced by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the counselling needs of the student fraternity of Founder: Art of Living Foundation who spoke on the institute. The Student Counseling Services (SCS) “Excellence in Action” in the interest of the students. also known as SAKHA (Sanskrit word for ‘a true friend’) is aimed at providing “a friend on campus” Induction Program 2019: for every student. It is classified into 5 fields of counselling namely - Wellness, Academics, Career, IIT - BHU has pioneered in conducting the Induction Skill Development and International Exchange. Program since 2016 for welcoming the new entrants into the institute. In 2019, SCS has organized a one- Wellness: week-long Induction Program which has witnessed talks by 4 Padma Shri Awardees, various IIT and • The team endeavours for the holistic well-being IIM alumni, Entrepreneurs and other eminent of the students involving physical, emotional, personalities like Dr H. C. Verma, renowned author of social, intellectual and spiritual wellness. The Concepts of Physics. Our alumnus, Brig. Dr Sunil Modgil (Metallurgy, 1975) conducted an enthralling • It is developing a well-equipped Psychotherapy workshop for students. The Induction Program Lab for providing personal counselling by the on- was designed so as to help the new entrants to get campus psychologists. accustomed to the new environment comprising all the necessary elements of Knowledge, Experience, • It has taken several positive initiatives like Entertainment and Physical Activities. Jogger’s club, Students’ Self-Help Library, and Heritage Walks to various heritage sites in GAMES Varanasi. AND SPORTS COUNCIL Academics: The previous semester has brought numerous opportunities for this council to prove its mettle. The • The team endeavours to assist students in their teams have participated in Udghosh (IIT Kanpur), academic difficulties by conducting the Remedial Inter IIT Meet 2019 hosted by IIT Kharagpur and IIT Classes following the regular classes. Bhubaneshwar and Spardha, 2019. The buoyant athletics team had won 3 gold, 2 silver, • They are working on developing an “Academic 5 bronze medals and were second in the overall Counselors’ Network” to boost Academics. standings in Spardha. Both the aquatics team and the cricket team bagged the 1st spot at Spardha. Career Development: The Boxing team won hearts by their stunning performance and secured 8 gold and 6 silver medals • The team strives to help the students in finding in Spardha. The men’s badminton team went out career options that will best suit them based on of its way and secured the 1st position in Inter IIT the individual’s interests, knowledge and skills Sports Meet and Inter-Faculty Meet. The team also by conducting workshops and group discussions. bagged 1st position in Spardha. The women’s team also secured 3rd position in the Inter-Faculty Meet. • It provides information on different scholarships Basketball men’s and women’s team bagged 1st and and fellowships, nationally and internationally. 2nd position respectively in Spardha and finished as 3rd and 2nd runner up in Inter IIT Sports Meet.The Skill Development: • The Skill Development team provides a platform for the students to hone the relevant ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 06

chess team secured overall fourth position in Inter all participating teams were IITs. We stood 4th in the IIT Sports Meet and the football team finished as the overall tally by winning 3 gold, 8 silver and 3 bronze second runner up in Inter-Faculty(BHU). medals. The handball team came 1st in Spardha and 2nd in Udghosh and the Hockey team finished 1st in 1. The Theatre​​Club emerged as the Overall Dramatics Spardha, Udghosh as well as Inter IIT Sports Meet. Champion for the third time in a row. 2. With the collaborative efforts of the Indian Music Our swift Kabaddi Club and Western Music Club, we emerged as the team secured 1st Overall Runner Up in the Music Cup. position in Spardha. 3. Quiz Club secured 3rd Runner Up position in the Kho-Kho men’s and Quiz Competition. women’s teams 4. Fine Arts Club secured 2nd position in Paper finished as runners Costume Designing and 5th in Still Life Competition. up in Spardha and 5. The Literary Club stood 2nd and 3rd in Hindi Poem Udghosh. The Lawn Recitation and 2nd and 4th in English Poetry Slam. Tennis men’s team 6. The Dance Club secured 6th position in Street stood 1st in Sparda Dance and 11th in Duet and Group Dance. and Inter IIT Sports Meet. The Squash team stood third in Spardha. Table Tennis men’s and women’s teams finished as 2nd and 3rd runners up in Spardha. The women’s team also stood 4th in the Inter IIT Sports Meet. The Taekwondo team won 17 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze medals in Spardha. The dedicated Volleyball men’s team stood 2nd in Spardha, 2nd in Inter-Faculty (BHU) and finished as 3rd Runner up in Inter IIT Sports Meet. The women’s team also bagged 3rd position in Spardha. Many internal tournaments were held like Girls weekend and Intra freshers in order to increase participation and to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to explore different sports and their interests. The innumerable achievements of the council show the dedication and hard work of the students which will always increase opportunities for growth in the coming years. CULTURAL COUNCIL The Cultural Council is the beating heart of IIT Overall, this semester has proved to be a great success (BHU), Varanasi. The seven clubs of the Council are​ for the entire Council and we will ​surely achieve the Dance Freakz Club, Quiz Club, Literary Club, greater heights in the coming years. Theatre Club, Western Music Club, Fine Arts Club, and Indian Music Club. The Cultural Council started SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY the session 2019-20 with the Cultural Council COUNCIL Orientation, an evening full of live performances and interactive sessions in the Swatantrata Bhawan The Science and Technology Council of IIT (BHU) by clubs of the Council. Thereafter, AAGMAN’19, ​an Varanasi is the hub of all technical activities carried Inter - Branch Cultural Competition for all freshmen,​ out by students in the institute. To cultivate an was conducted from 6th-8th September which innovative and technological culture amongst ended with the Department of Ceramic Engineering the students, the seven Clubs of the Science and being crowned the new champions. Last semester, Technology council extensively conduct various the Council has brought laurels to the institute by activities throughout the year. Various events outperforming other institutes in various outstation like Robota, HacktoberFest, Aquadrive, GitHub competitions like Effervescence’19, IIIT Allahabad, Workshop,etc. are conducted for students. A winter Oasis’19, BITS Pilani and Antaragni’19, IIT Kanpur. The Cultural Council represented IIT (BHU) Varanasi at the Cultural Meet 4.0 held at IIT Bombay in which ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 07

camp was organized in collaboration with the Design level projects involving CGI VFX compositing and Innovation Centre (DIC). It provided an excellent short-animated movies. opportunity for students to build their projects or learn new skills and courses related to Astronomy, OUTREACH CLUB Augmented reality, Programming, Case Study, etc., with continuous assistance from the ‘Technical Every college event, from fests to ceremonies, has Activity Centre’. been framed by these enthusiastic core members. A heated social topic- “Public Display of Affection” was discussed with the general public near the Vishwanath Temple. The team too supervised a Vlog making competition, which saw huge participation. Winter Rhapsody - a 3-week long camp for people to well acquainted with the various activities was undertaken by the club. IIT BHU secured the overall 7th position by winning MEDIA CLUB two gold, two silver, and one bronze in the Inter IIT Tech Meet 8.0 held at IIT Roorkee. Our top projects This club gave all Placement updates of 2019-20 via were displayed in the Engineer’s Conclave, and social media. Additionally, the odd semester edition research work by students was presented in the of ‘The Quest’: IIT (BHU)’s newsletter for students Student Academic Conference. This council launched has been formulated by it. A series ‘Tastes of India’- its website this semester. Being a student-centric uncovering the numerous lesser-known delicacies initiative, the website keeps students updated on of Indian states were introduced. The opinions council initiatives and helps them get all learning and experiences of people in Jammu and Kashmir material at a single destination. Overall, this were brought to limelight by a survey administered semester was extremely fruitful and productive for amongst the students of IIT JAMMU following the the Science and Technology Council. removal of Article 370. FILM AND MEDIA COUNCIL PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB The Film and Media Council serves as a platform ‘Face diary’ - A conventional digital review platform has been chronically made in every programme. for all those who are interested in working behind Visionary elements of the team created a number of photo stories on the themes - “Boundaries” and “Too the camera or Close, Yet Too Far!”. Photowalks are executed over the year to maintain the vitality of skills. have a passion CINE CLUB for writing. The Short film making competition FIRST CUT was council procures organized to inculcate interest and bonds among the students. Authentic Video walks were organized, the daily coverage with elaboration on basic film, video making and editing. This resourceful club also supervised lessons of all the events on certain complicated software like Adobe After effects and Adobe Audition. and fests held in the institute. Accompanying this, they interview the eminent personalities that visit the campus during fests. CREATIVE DESIGN CLUB It assisted the institute in various designs for the successful organisation of the Institute lecture series, Convocation Ceremony, FMC Weekend 2019,etc. A couple of talented students participated in the logo design competition of International Today 2020. ANIMATION CLUB The team has been constantly working on industry- ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 08

SOCIAL SERVICE COUNCIL Thinqbator and for the pre-final round at Abhyuday Action Plan 2020, IIT Bombay. HEALTH AND HYGIENE CLUB: FMC WEEKEND 2019 For its strive to spread awareness for better health The FMCWeekend’19 gave every creative individual a conditions, the club organized a Disease Awareness platform to showcase their art. It is one of the only drive and the annual medicine collection drive. The fests in India which is entirely dedicated to digital ‘Rights Drive’ was held to help people in ‘bastis’ know art. This year’s theme was “To Infinity and Beyond”. their rights and benefits of various government It brought out everyone’s infinite creative potential schemes. Winter Training Programme also helped through varying artforms encompassing the volunteers learn the basics involved in sustainability- domains of Photography ,Filmmaking, Animation, related projects. Two plantation drives were also Design, Outreach and Media. held. The design and photography skills of the participants were put to test with creative events like montage, KASHI UTKARSH: snapchase, and 48-hour filmmaking. RJ hunt and with ‘escapade’, the participants shared their travel The club is working in mainly three bastis: Patiya, experiences. Most enriching moments were the 8 Lahartara, and Kakarmatta, to create awareness workshops conducted by industry experts, that about education and health care. Navodaya classes covered every aspect of digital art. The Photowalk have been started in the bastis for students. This with Ashish Sulkh, Ganesh Bagal, and Yogesh year the volunteers celebrated Independence Day and Manhas instilled moments in the camera, which Diwali with children in these bastis. Fund collection are cherished, and the most exciting part was their Drive was also held this semester. stories as a photographer. In the session with Danny Wilson, animation enthusiasts explored the world SAHYOG CLUB: of animation and VFX and got an insight into how the industry works. The co-founders of The Scribbled Apart from their regular school visits, various other Stories shared enriching ideas in the field of writing. events were also held by the club this year. Sports On the other hand, Nazneen Bhatia gave insights Day was conducted in three schools: Tikri, Ravidas, on how to write, shoot, and make a full-fledged and Ashadeep Vidyashram. A string of events, under documentary. Lastly, the heart-warming presence the theme Daan Utsav, were conducted to spread the was of our alumni, Mr Phani Tetali, the head of IDC, joy of giving. It included clothes and books collection School of Design, IIT Bombay, conducted a workshop and Milan, an event to celebrate music with orphans. on creative designing. SOCIAL PROJECTS’ CLUB: This year’s edition sets a benchmark by seeing international participation apart from exhilarating The club is mainly working on projects namely: participation from cities like Delhi, Lucknow and Terrific Lights, Agrinext, Energy Harvester, Prayagraj. In total, we saw a registration of over 3000 Gardeino, and Udaan. Abhipraya 2019, organized for our events and workshops. There was no end specifically for freshers consisted of two events: to the entertainment with the fantastic comedian Cleaner Tomorrow and Junkyard Jugaad. The Ravi Gupta and the evening movie screenings. With Data Science Online Winter Camp and The Social the upcoming editions of FMC Weekend, we will Entrepreneurship Online Winter Camp saw a large keep giving the budding digital artists a platform to number of students participate and benefit from showcase their talents. them. Project Agrinext has been selected in Cisco ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 09

SPARDHA 2019 KASHIYATRA 2020 Spardha has been a confluence of diverse sports, Kashiyatra is the annual socio-cultural festival of IIT games, and informal activities, drawing exponents of BHU is a three-day carnival where participants from all existing sports forms, sportspersons from myriad all over the country compete in the field of literature, schools, and accomplished players of every vein to its music, dance, dramatics and arts to find the best realm of the sporting extravaganza. The 35th edition amongst themselves. It was organised from 17th of Spardha was held between 18th-20th October, to 19th January, 2020. The pre-events like BATTLE involving over 2000 athletes and a spectating footfall OF MEMES, Stud Hunt, La diva and “The Treasure of over 50000. Hunt” were organised to enthral freshers and a “RUN FOR CANCER” marathon was organised to spread The Mashaal handover ceremony, which took place awareness about cancer. The inauguration ceremony under the benign presence of Arjuna Awardee, Ms on 16th January was followed by SPIC MACAY, an Rahi Sarnobat, marked the beginning of Spardha’19. evening with famous Violinist GJR Krishnan and Spardha organized a Blood donation camp and a Bharatnatyam artist Rama Vaidyanathan. Bike Stunt Run For Cause marathon, which was graced by the Shows were organised each day. presence of Arjuna Awardee Ms Sonia Lather. This fest comprised of 21 different sporting events of Each club of the Cultural Council had its own events which Aquatics was inducted recently. lined up. The dramatics society, Masquerades, conducted in The Street Play and Mono Art which were a part of Abhinay. Solo dance, Duets, Group Dance and Street Dance were organised by The DFZ under Natraj. Sur, Sanlayan and Advaita were the flagship events of the IMC and were held by the club as part of Bandish. These events saw extensive participation from the respective clubs and universities from all over India. Enquizta included India Quiz, Sports Quiz, BizTech Quiz and MELA, which were organised by famous quizzer Major Chadrakanth Nair. The literary club coordinated a slew of events throughout as part of Samwaad. Mirage- the lifestyle event was also organised. Toolika included all the events conducted by The Fine Arts Club and CrossWindz was the flagship event of the WMC. The Opening Ceremony of Spardha’19 took place on This 38th Edition of the festival witnessed an 18th October, in the august presence of Mr Rajpal International Carnival in which 14 artists from Singh, the chief guest for the event. A bonafide legend countries like Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy of the sport of hockey, Mr Singh is an Arjuna Awardee and Spain performed 6 different acts. A pro-night was and former captain of the Indian national hockey organised each day which included performances team. The ceremony concluded with the motivating by The Local Train, Uneven, Zakir Khan and Ritviz. words of Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof. B.N. Rai. The festival ended with the Bollywood Night by the The three exhilarating days of Spardh’19 were filled famous duo of Salim-Sulaima where all students with different sports events along with informal danced to the beats, as they got a break from their events like Freestyle Football and Bike stunt shows. hectic schedules creating memories they will cherish Spardha’19 ended with the Closing Ceremony, held at forever. Gymkhana Grounds on 20th October. The ceremony began with garlanding of the bust of Bharat Ratna INNOVATION @ IIT(BHU) Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Ji, by the esteemed guests, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee The only way to discover the limit of the possible is Mr Ronjan Sodhi and the iconic Indian spinner, Mr to go beyond it into the impossible. It all starts with Amit Mishra. The general championship of the 35th a single innovative thought in our subconscious edition of Spardha was won by IIT-BHU, with IIT mind. IITs consist of the brightest students from all Delhi being the best outstation team. over India. IIT-BHU aims to contribute to nation- building by enabling the development of disruptive and sustainable technologies at the campus. The institute aims to provide maximum opportunities to its students to tinker upon in labs, then research and lay milestones. ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 10

● AQUIVO participation of several alumni in their innovative A company founded by Naveen Kumar and Rohit events. Kumar Mittal, alumni from the Civil Engineering batch of 2014, Aquivo got its pre-Series A round funding from the Technology Development Board, Govt. Of India, along with Villgro’s INVENT and IIT Kanpur. Incubated at MCIIE, IIT-BHU, Aquivo was able to recover more than 70% of water with its purification technology. Its products are installed in private and govt. offices, hospitals, institutes, and the Indian military. ● MACHINE & MORE Incubated at Malaviya Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (MCIIE), it is an online marketplace for buying and selling new and used machinery, providing a one-stop solution. ● BRIDGE DOTS ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENTS With its research focused on Industrial & wastewater treatment, membranes and construction chemicals, IIT BHU has an enormous alumni base. With our Bridge Dots’ recent PCT patent is filed for extraction alumni achieving milestones in every field, here are of silica from rice husk ash. a few coveted achievements accomplished by our alumni in the year 2019. ● TEAM AVERERA * Shri R.N. Tripathi (Mechanical Engineering, 1971) A team of undergraduate students of IIT-BHU, Team Averera recently won Shell Eco-Marathon, India, is the Managing Director of Ved Sassomeccania 2019 and also bagged an off-track award in Technical (India) Pvt. Ltd. They contributed to the Innovation. The team has been consistently development of India’s semi high-speed train, innovating it’s design and performing well at Shell Vande Bharat Express by developing the Bogie Eco-Marathon (SEM). In the previous edition of Frames of the train that are subjected to loading SEM Asia, Team Averera represented India and were and mount all essential assemblies. runner up at the competition, with an efficiency of * Shri Anil Chakravarthy (Computer Science 465.1 km/kWh. The Team is currently working on Engineering, 1989) recently stepped down as building their Hydrogen Fuel Cell, for SEM Asia 2020. CEO of the Redwood City enterprise cloud data management company Informatica LLC to take ● CLEAN ELECTRIC over as executive vice president and general Incubated with MCIIE, IIT-BHU with the mission manager of Digital Experience at Adobe. to develop a Light Commercial Electric Vehicle for * Shri Dipak Kumar Das (Electronics Engineering, E-commerce logistics, Clean Electric’s vehicle got 1983) is the Director of Space Applications featured in the top 3 in the Carbon Zero Challenge by Centre (SAC)- ISRO. He has played an important IIT-Madras. role in the launch of Chandrayaan-1 as well as Chandrayaan-2 to improve the understanding of MCIIE, Design and Innovation Center, Cisco the Moon. Thinqbator, RAFTAAR Agri-Business Incubator * Shri Ashutosh Gupta (Chemical Engineering, provided the students with these vast opportunities 1997) has recently been appointed as the Country to implement their ideas and bring them to life. Manager for India by LinkedIn where he envisions They hope to continue doing so, given the active to forge deeper government relationships. * Shri B.N Shukla (Mining Engineering, 1982) has recently taken over as the Chairman-cum- Managing-Director (CMD) of Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited (MCL). * Dr. Nina Sharma (Pharmaceutical Engineering, 1976) has been honoured with an Award for Excellence in Drug Regulatory given by Pharmaceutical Royal International Society and Top Paper Prize Global Award for two papers. She is presently the Managing Director of Shamisha ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 11

Resources Management. * Mr. Harshit Vyas(Industrial Chemistry Engineering, 2012) was appointed as the Chief Business Officer (CBO) of hospitality startup, OYO Hotels & Homes recently. One of the youngest CXOs in the hospitality industry, Mr. Harshit, is an early OYOpreneur who has led OYO’s first foray in the international market. * Shri Deepak Ahuja (Ceramic Engineering, 1985) was recognized as ‘CFO of the year’ in 2019 for his spell at TESLA - the automaker union. Under his guidance, Tesla has become the global leader of the electric car market. * Shri Amit Walia (Ceramic Engineering, 1995) was appointed as the CEO of Informatica. Since the very beginning of his journey with the leading cloud management company, Mr. Amit Walia has played commendable roles including the Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer. * Shri KVS Manian (Electrical engineering, 1982) has been appointed as the Director at the Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. for a three-year term effective from the date of approval from the Reserve Bank of India. He has also been the President – Corporate & Investment Banking since 2014. * Dr. Pulickel M. Ajayan’s (Metallurgical Engineering, 1985) research titled ‘The nano revolution spawned by carbon’ has been featured in Nature Magazine’s list of ‘Top 10 Papers’. He is currently the ‘Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson’ Professor in Engineering at Rice University. * Priya Sharma (Metallurgical Engineering, 2001) is the CFO, COO, and Co-founder of ZestMoney, the largest and fastest consumer lending fintech company in India. It has recently secured a fund of $15 million from Goldman Sachs in the Series B funding round. It is now live on Amazon India! ONLINE FUND COLLECTION DRIVE With the target the #Next100IITBHU in mind, the institute has to work on several verticals to provide more opportunities for its students to excel in. The institute proposes to initiate a good number of prestigious chair positions to accelerate ongoing research & knowledge generation and dissemination in cutting edge areas. The number of students that are admitted to IIT(BHU) is increasing by 300 every year. Therefore, there is an urgent need for infrastructure upgrade for the fulfillment of the demand for the better conducive all- round academic environment. Key projects like the School of Decision Sciences, Malviya Student Activity and Computing Centre have been proposed to improve the industry, academic, students and other stakeholders engagement and development. The institute invites its beloved alumni to shower their affection on their alma mater and be a part of our institute’s revolution. Shatabdi Kosh - a centenary fund collection initiative has been established to aid us with the same. For more details you may visit https://www.iitbhu.ac.in/iaic. UPCOMING EVENTS Technex 2020 Silver Jubilee Meet of Batch of 1995 Spardha 2020 Golden Jubilee Reunion of Batch of 1971 CONCLUSION With this closing note, we would like to thank all the alumni associations of IIT(BHU) for their help. The constant encouragement and guidance that we received from the Director of IIT(BHU) and the Dean of Resources and Alumni made this newsletter possible. Atlast we would like to thank the entire IIT(BHU) alumni fraternity for their blessings. TEAM CORE TEAM ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ SAIC Aditi Sammi Siddhartha Malani Aishwary Saxena Romit Mangukiya Gomati Goswami Naman Jain Rishija Rishiraj Prakhar Bhatnagar Yashika Lamba Ekta Sinha Manav Jain Jinal Jain Vaibhav Jain Akul Gupta Ria Sonigara Shrey Jain Pushpak Musram ALMA COMMUNIQUÉ PAGE 12