On being felicitated by IIT Bombay on Foundation Day (10th March 2016)

Thank you for your felicitations and the opportunity to be with all of you on the Foundation Day of IIT Bombay. I am humbled with the generous and very kind words said about me. I was fortunate enough to be associated with the Board of Governors of this Institute for 15 long years. 6 years as a member and 9 years as its Chairman. IIT Bombay is clearly one of the best higher education and research institution in the country with global recognition in the technological domain. Continuous search for improvements, positive approach to change, open mind for external inputs and strong alumni linkages at IIT Bombay are to my mind some of the key attributes that have been propelling the Institute over decades. The Institute today is the most sought after destination for JEE aspirants.

Like its other sister IITs, IIT Bombay has transformed itself from being primarily a high class teaching institution to a major research and teaching institution. Impact of this transition is slowly becoming visible in terms of signs of Powai area evolving on lines of Silicon valley as was said earlier.  The institution is progressively becoming more comprehensive in terms of spectrum of disciplines, interdisciplinary approach, translation of research into products or processes for industry or society and collaborative programs with other knowledge as well as stakeholder institutions. I am glad that today, IITB as also other IITs, in addition to their much higher research output, are increasingly seen as  credible platforms for addressing key challenges before the country and the society. Programs at IITB such as solar study lights for rural school students and other aspects of solar energy, centre for urban science and engineering, cleaning of rivers, CTARA, project ‘Shunya’ and such others are clear examples of IITs moving forward with leveraging their research and students for meeting key technological challenges in national development. I strongly believe this to be of critical value to holistic learning by students as well as to research in terms of its India centric orientation and original problem definition that can raise the quality to world class.

At this juncture, I would also like to acknowledge and thank IITB for taking up some of the programs of key interest to Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Commission such as the development of Science & Technology Resource Centre at Gondwana University Gadchiroli to create an education, training, research and entrepreneurship eco-system relevant to local tribal community, ‘Shikshan Pandhari’ an ICT enabled school education framework in rural areas around an engineering college at Gopalpur near Pandharpur and a multi centric Biomedical Engineering & Technology incubation Centre. These efforts are a part of the larger ambition to create a model for knowledge driven rural development. We are now looking forward to a model project led by IITB for an integrated block development incorporating some of these ideas.  

As we embrace the emerging knowledge era, we are likely to see rapidly increasing impact of new technologies on our lives. We are already witnessing this phenomenon with its multifaceted implications. I believe that an institution like IITB, while it focuses on research and human resource development in emerging technology areas, should also be able to research on transformative impact and its sociological dimension related to emerging technologies. Our knowledge institutions should be able to trigger a discourse that can proactively guide the future of our society rather than be embroiled in an externally triggered reactive discourse that only harms the academic environment.

There is often a desire expressed to see our institutions figuring near the top of the table of global ranking of institutions. Setting a target like this is no doubt laudable. However, targeting to deliver in tangible terms on key national challenges, notwithstanding the research and technological challenges as well as the complexity involved, would in my view make a much larger impact nationally as well as globally with high ranking coming as a natural spin off. As I mentioned earlier, I am happy to see this new paradigm already taking roots here.

My best wishes to you all.