convocation book final 2015 - birla institute of · pdf filethe convocation hall, all...

K K Birla Goa CampusConvocation 2015

BITS Vision

“ What do we propose to do here? We want to teach real science

whether it is engineering, chemistry, humanities, physics or any other

branch. We want to develop a scientific approach in Pilani, which

means there would be no dogma. There will be a search for truth. What

we propose to do here is to cultivate a scientific mind.”

--The Late Shri G. D. BirlaFounder Chairman, BITS Pilani.

“….to prepare young men and women to act as leaders for the

promotion of the economic and industrial development of the country

and to play a creative role in service to humanity.”

--The Late Dr. K. K. BirlaFormer Chancellor, BITS Pilani.

“What is it that can empower our nation? The most obvious answer is

education. Education that enhances livelihoods but also education that

is value-based. Education that gives roots and gives wings as well.”

--Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla Chancellor, BITS Pilani

MINUTE TO MINUTE PROGRAMME OF CONVOCATION 2015th9 August 2015

09:00 AM Chief Guest arrives; received by Vice-Chancellor, Members BoG, Directors & Registrar at VGH

09:10 AM Tree plantation by Chief Guest& Medalists at VGH

09:20AM Vice-Chancellor, Directors & Registrar receive Chief Guest at B-Dome

09.25 AM Vice-Chancellor, Members BoG, Directors & Registrar meet the Chief Guest in the Director's Conference Room

9:40 AM Chief Guest is helped with wearing the robe & escorted to the Auditorium

9.45 AM Assembly of Members of the Senate in the portico at the Auditorium

9.50 AM Introduction of the Senate members to the Chief Guest by the Vice-Chancellor and Director

9.55 AM Academic procession proceeds in columns of two, led by Registrar to the Convocation Hall. Procession music is played. {When the procession enters the Convocation Hall, all assembled will rise in their seats, & remain standing until the members forming the procession have taken their seats on the stage}

10.00 AM Invocation

10.02 AM Registrar requests the Vice-Chancellor to declare the Convocation open. The Convocation is declared open by the Vice-Chancellor

10:03 AM Report on activities of the Institute & address by the Vice-Chancellor

10:15 AM Vice-Chancellor reads the Chancellor's Message

10.20 AM Director's Report

10.30 AM Introduction of the Chief Guest by the Director

10.32 AM Convocation address by the Chief Guest

10.52 AM Presentation of Memento to the Chief Guest by the Vice-Chancellor

10.55 AM Award of Degrees: Registrar presents the candidates who have qualified for various Degrees. {All the candidates will rise in their seats & keep standing as the citation is read by the Vice-Chancellor }

12.00 PM Award of Medals by the Chief Guest

12.20 PM Administration of Oath to the recipients of various Degrees by the Gold Medalist. {Ms Shridevi Sharath Gowda, Gold medalist will lead the Oath. Recipients of Degrees will stand & repeat the oath word by word }

12.22 PM Vote of Thanks

12.25 PM The Convocation is dissolved by the Vice-Chancellor

12.26 PM National Anthem. {All assembled will rise and stand while the National Anthem is played, and remain standing till the procession completely leaves the Hall.}

12.30 PM Academic procession departs. Procession music is played.

12.45 PM Convocation Lunch

Convocation 2015, K K Birla Goa Campus 1

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla

Chancellor

Smt. Shobhana Bhartia

Pro-Chancellor

Prof. V. S. Rao

Acting Vice-Chancellor

Shri B.K. Birla Shri Rajiv Verma

Shri Sidharth Birla Shri Hemant Kumar

Smt. Manjushree Khaitan Shri Kris Ramachandran

Prof. G. Sundar Prof. M.M.S. Anand

(Registrar), Non-member

Secretary

SENATE MEMBERS

Chairman

Prof. V. S. Rao

Acting Vice-Chancellor

Vice-Chairman

Prof. Ashoke Kumar Sarkar

Director, Pilani Campus

Secretary

Prof. M.M.S. Anand – Registrar

Other Members

Directors

Prof. Ranendra N. Saha, Dubai Campus

Prof. Sasikumar Punnekkat, K K Birla Goa Campus

Prof. V.S. Rao, Hyderabad Campus

Prof. G. Sundar (Off-Campus Programmes & Industry Engagement), Hyderabad Campus

Deputy Director

Prof. Ashwin Srinivasan, K K Birla Goa Campus

2 Convocation 2015, K K Birla Goa Campus

University Wide

Pilani Campus

Prof. S. Balasubramaniam

Prof. S. Gurunarayanan Prof. R. Mahesh

Prof. Sanjay Kumar Verma

K K Birla Goa Campus

Prof. Sunil Bhand

Hyderabad Campus

Prof. Suman Kapur

Prof. Niranjan Swain

Campus Wide

Pilani Campus

Prof. S.C. Sivasubramanian


Prof. D. M. Kulkarni

Hyderabad Campus

Prof. M. B. Srinivas

Dubai Campus

Prof. Priti Bajpai Prof. B. Muralidharan

Prof. Ramadoss Roop Kumar Prof. Thoppil George Thomas

Associate Deans

Pilani Campus

Prof. Hari Om Bansal Prof. Hitesh Datt Mathur

Prof. Anshuman Dalvi Prof. Bijay Kumar Rout

Prof. Hemant Ramanlal Jadhav Prof. Sirkanta Routroy

Prof. Anil Kumar Prof. Kumar Neeraj Sachdev

Prof. Dalip Kumar Prof. P. Srinivasan

Prof. Sanjeev Kumar Shri K. Venkatasubramanian

Deans

Prof. Ajit Pratap Singh


Prof. S. Sindhu, Bangalore Prof. G. Venkiteswaran, Chennai


Prof. K.R. Anupama Prof. Aditya Prasad Koley

Prof. Prasanta Kumar Das Prof. Sampatrao D. Manjare

Prof. Ranjan Dey Prof. Srikanth Mutnuri

Prof. Neena Goveas Prof. Raghunath Ratabole

Prof. Jagarlamudi Venkateswara Rao

Hyderabad Campus

Prof. Souri Banerjee Prof. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla

Prof. K.V.G. Chandrasekhar Prof. Morapakala Srinivas

Prof. Sandip Shridharrao Deshmukh Prof. P.K. Thiruvikraman

Dr. P. Sankar Ganesh Prof. A. Vasan

Prof. Chittaranjan Hota Prof. P. Yogeeswari

Prof. Vidya Rajesh

Dubai Campus

Prof. Somasundaram Arumugam Prof. K. Kumar

Prof. Anand Kumar Prof. Neeru Sood

Professors

Pilani Campus

Prof. Debashish Bandyopadhyay Prof. Balram Dubey

Prof. Surekha Bhanot Prof. Navneet Goyal

Prof. V.K. Chaubey Prof. Chandra Bhan Gupta

Prof. Ashis Kumar Das Prof. Rajiv Gupta

Prof. Mani Sankar Dasgupta Prof. Kuldip Singh Sangwan

Prof. Rajiv Kumar Prof. Subit Kumar Saha

Prof. Rashmi Ranjan Mishra Prof. N.V. Muralidhar Rao

Prof. Janardan Prasad Misra Prof. Ram Kinkar Roy

Off-Campus Centre


Prof. Bandi Venkata Prasad


Prof. Saibal Ganguly Prof. G. Raghurama

Prof. Arun V. Kulkarni Prof. K.E. Raman

Prof. Dipankar Pal Prof. Sutapa Roy Ramanan

Prof. Santonu Sarkar

Hyderabad Campus

Prof. Arup Maharatna Prof. P.N.K. Rao

Prof. N. Rajesh Prof. D. Sriram

Prof. Komaragiri Srinivasa Raju Prof. S. Swaminathan

Prof. Addepalli Ramu

Dubai Campus

Prof. S. Karthiyayini Prof. S. Swaminathan

Prof. Dawood Jalaluddin Shariff Prof. C. Periasamy

Prof. S. Vadivel

Associate Professors

Pilani Campus

Prof. Anshuman Prof. Bharti Khungar

Prof. Rakesh Choubisa Prof. Inamur Rahaman Laskar

Prof. Sanjiv Kumar Choudhary Prof. Kusum Lata

Prof. Shibasish Chowdhury Prof. Pushp Lata

Prof. P.R. Deepa Prof. Arun Maity

Prof. Devika Prof. V. Manjuladevi

Prof. Abhijeet Keshaorao Digalwar Prof. Ravi Kant Mittal

Prof. Uma S. Dubey Prof. Jitendra Panwar

Prof. Arun Kumar Giri Prof. Rakhee

Prof. Poonam Goyal Prof. Saumi Ray

Prof. Lalita Gupta Prof. Mukesh Kumar Rohil

Prof. Navneet Gupta Prof. Ajay Kumar Sah

Prof. Rajendra Prasad Pareek

Prof. Sudeept Mohan

Prof. Shamsher Bahadur Singh


Prof. Subhash Narayan Karbelkar

Prof. Pradipkumar Haribhau Keskar Prof. Sangeeta Sharma

Prof. Chandra Shekhar

Off-Campus Centre

Prof. Vijay Arora Prof. Brajabandhu Mishra

Pune Bangalore

Prof. Krishnamurthy Bindumadhavan Prof. T.V. Rao

Hyderabad Hyderabad

Prof. Koneru Gopala Krishna Prof. H. Viswanathan

Hyderabad Bangalore


Prof. Geetha B. Prof. Vijayashree Nayak

Prof. Saroj S. Baral Prof. Bhavana P.

Prof. Judith Maria Braganca Prof. Rabi Narayan Panda

Prof. Dibakar Chakrabarty Prof. R.P. Pradhan

Prof. Anjan Chattopadhyay Prof. Halan Prakash

Prof. Narendra Nath Ghosh Prof. Pravin M. Singru

Prof. Mridula Goel Prof. Utpal Roy

Prof. Basavadatta Mitra Prof. Tarkeshwar Singh

Prof. Patincharath Nandakumar Prof. Radhika Vathsan

Hyderabad Campus

Prof. A. Michael Alphonse Prof. B.V.V.S.N. Prabhakar Rao

Prof. A. Sajeli Begum Prof. V. R. Vinayaka Rao

Prof. Manab Chakravarty Prof. Punna Rao Ravi

Prof. Srikanta Dinda Prof. N. Suresh Kumar Reddy

Prof. Sunny Gosmam Prof. Pradyumn Kumar Sahoo

Prof. Amit Kumar Gupta Prof. Dipak Kumar Satpathi

Prof. R Gururaj Prof. I. Sreedhar

Prof. Jeevan Jaidi Prof. Jayanty Subbalakshmi

Prof. R. Krishnan Prof. K. Sumithra

Prof. Kannan Ramaswamy Prof. Ramakrishna Vadrevu

Prof. Raj Kumar Gupta

Prof. Arvind Kumar Sharma

Prof. Vishal Saxena


Prof. Nidhi Bhandari

Prof. Tapan Kumar Datta Prof. Mary Lourde R.

Prof. Bharat Bhushan Gulyani Prof. Shah Jabeen Shazi

Prof. Vijaya Ilango Prof. Krishna Kumar Singh

Prof. Kavita Sunil Jerath Prof. R Udayakumar

Prof. Sankaram M.

Heads of Departments

Pilani Campus

Prof. Rahul Banerjee Prof. Manoj Kumar

Prof. Anil Kumar Bhat Prof. Dilip Kumar Maiti

Prof. Gajendra Singh Chauhan Prof. Rajesh Mehrotra

Prof. Anu Gupta Dr. S. Murugesan

Prof. Suresh Gupta Dr. Arvind Sudarsan

Prof. Debi Datt Pant


Prof. Raghu Nath Behera Prof. Meenal Kowshik

Prof. Shibu Clement Prof. Srinivas Krishnaswamy

Prof. Gaurav Dar Prof. Prasanna Kumar N.

Prof. Mukund Keshavrao Deshmukh Prof. Meenakshi Raman

Prof. Bharat M Deshpande Dr. Debasis Patnaik

Hyderabad Campus

Prof. Jagadeesh Anmala Prof. M.G. Prasuna

Dr. A. Ramesh Babu Dr. Aravinda N. Raghavan

Dr. Anupam Bhattacharya Prof. Y.V. Daseswara Rao

Prof. Shrikant Yashawant Charde Prof. Ramana Sonti

Prof. Bivudutta Mishra Prof. Y. Yoganandam

Prof. N.L. Bhanu Murthy

Dubai Campus

Prof. Maneesha Bhagchandani Prof. B.G. Prakash Kumar

Dubai Campus

Prof. D.V. Prasad


Dr. Trupti Swarup Gokhale Prof. B. Vijayakumar

Prof. Ram Karthikeyan

Co-opted Faculty

Dr. Jyoti, Pilani Campus

Dr. Angshuman Sarkar, K K Birla Goa Campus

Dr. Lucy J. Gudino, K K Birla Goa Campus

Dr. Meenakshi Viswanathan, Hyderabad Campus

Dr. Phaneendra Kiran C., Hyderabad Campus

Dr. Abdul Rajak A.R., Dubai Campus

Dr. Mallika Praveen C., Dubai Campus

Librarian

Shri Giridhar M. Kunkur Dr. K. N. Sheshadri

Pilani Campus Dubai Campus

Workshop Superintendent

Shri G. J. Desai, K K Birla Goa Campus

Chief Wardens

Prof. Sai Jagan Mohan, Pilani Campus

Dr. Santosh Kumar Vasudevan,Dubai Campus

Dr. Ramesha C. K., K K Birla Goa Campus

Dr. Kumar Pranav Narayan, Hyderabad Campus

Admissions Officer

Prof. Ajit Pratap Singh, Pilani Campus

Prof. Thoppil George Thomas, Dubai Campus

Placement Officer

Prof. Mani Sankar Dasgupta

Prof. Adhir Baran Chattopadhyay Prof. A. Srinivasa Rao


Shri Archit Gadhok, Pilani Campus

Shir Arush Gupta, Dubai Campus

Shri Anmol Shrivastava, K K Birla Goa Campus

Shir Mahavadi Kashyap, Hyderabad Campus

Student Members


INTRODUCING THE BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND

SCIENCE, PILANI AND THE K K BIRLA GOA CAMPUS

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani is an all-India Institution declared

as deemed to be university established under Section 3 of the UGC act. It is privately

supported, fully residential and admits both male and female students. The primary

objectives of the Institute are "to provide for and otherwise promote education and research

in the fields of Technology, Science, Humanities, Industry, Business, Public Administration

and to collate and disseminate in such fields effective ideas, methods, techniques and

information as are likely to promote the material and industrial welfare of India" and to "train

young men and women able and eager to create and put into action such ideas, methods,

techniques and information".

The Institute was initially registered as a Society under the Rajasthan Societies Registration

Act of 1958 on the 13th May, 1964. Subsequently, by notification published in the Gazette of

India dated the 27th June, 1964, the Ministry of Education, Government of India, declared

that the Institute being an institution for higher education shall be "deemed to be a

University". The Institute started functioning with effect from 1st July, 1964 with late Shri G.D.

Birla as its Founder Chairman.

The Institute started as a small "Pathshala" in Pilani way back in the year 1901 by Seth Shri

Narainji Birla with one teacher for educating his grandsons, late Shri G.D. Birla and late Shri

R.D. Birla. Pilani was then a small isolated desert village in Rajasthan. The Pathshala

evolved slowly and steadily into a High School in 1925 and became an Intermediate College

in 1929. The Birla Education Trust was founded in the same year. The Intermediate College

developed into a Degree College in 1943. In 1947, this college was raised to postgraduate

level. In 1950, Pharmacy courses were started in this college, and in 1952, it was bifurcated

into College of Arts and the College of Science, Commerce and Pharmacy.

During World War II, the Government of India established a Technical Training Centre at

Pilani for the supply of technicians for Defence Services and industry. In 1946, late Shri G.D.

Birla decided to convert it into an engineering college with degree programmes in Electrical

and Mechanical Engineering. Master's programme in Electronics was started in 1955. B.E.

programmes in Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering were started later. In 1964 with

the inception of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, the colleges, viz., Birla College

of Science, Commerce and Pharmacy, Birla College of Arts and Birla College of Engineering


situated at Pilani, as also all properties, movable and immovable, together with educational

facilities, hostels, staff quarters, playgrounds, etc., became part of the Institute and all these

properties were vested in it. During the early years of its inception, i.e., 1964 to 1970, the

Institute with the support of Ford Foundation Grant had the advantage of having

collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. It adopted the

semester system, modular structure of courses, continuous and internal evaluation, letter

grading, etc. It also created institutionalized linkages with the industries. Over a period of

time, the Institute also introduced several flexibilities in its educational programmes.

Dr. K.K. Birla who took over as the Chairman of BITS in 1983 was deeply involved and

closely associated with his visionary father in running both the earlier Birla Colleges and the

current institute BITS, since its inception. With his spirited involvement in all the activities of

the Institute, he was able to see the vision of his father Late Shri G.D. Birla unfolding. Taking

over the responsibility of running the institute, Dr. K.K Birla who became the Chancellor in

2003 realized the need for greater number of promising graduates in the field of science and

technology in shaping up the nation's development. Hence he initiated an increase in the

number of students at Pilani campus during 1999 which gradually carried the total strength

from 2500 to 4000. Under his patronage, BITS started expanding by establishing three

campuses, one in Dubai in the year 2000, in Goa in the year 2004 and in Hyderabad in the

year 2008.

Consequent upon the sad demise of Dr. K.K. Birla on 30 August 2008, Dr. Kumar Mangalam

Birla was elected as the Chancellor and Smt. Shobhana Bhartia was nominated as the Pro-

Chancellor of the Institute. Under the leadership of young and dynamic Chancellor, BITS is

taking steps to scale greater heights.

In the year 2000, BITS was accredited by NAAC with the highest possible rank in University

accreditation. In 2008-2009, the NAAC peer team visited BITS campuses at Pilani, Goa and

Dubai and BITS has been reaccredited with CGPA 3.71 on four point scale at the highest 'A'

grade.

Vision 2020: A Strategic Plan for BITS

The Institute has embarked on a journey to become one of the leading universities in the

world by the year 2020. Initially, a task force was constituted to prepare the Vision 2020

document and the draft 'Vision 2020' was released in February 2009. After several

deliberations and discussions, Vision 2020 was formalized and logically split into 3 year long

milestones, known as 'Mission Programmes'. First such milestone, Mission 2012, was


accomplished in the year 2012, after being formally launched in October 2009.

Mission 2012 focused and achieved significantly in six thrust areas - Academic Programs

and Pedagogy, People, Research & Consultancy, Campus Life, Infrastructure & Facilities

and University Administration. 16 Task Forces comprising of more than 110 faculty members

were involved in realizing 33 different goals under these six thrust areas. Several initiatives

such as curriculum bench marking and redesign, strengthening student feedback, seed

grant, research initiation grant, sabbatical leave policy, performance appraisal, faculty

recruitment among others were fully completed and institutionalized into regular operations

at BITS.

Other initiatives with varying degrees of completion would be taken up by existing offices,

completed and institutionalized. Off Campus programmes (WILP), initially an intrinsic part of

the People thrust area, was recognized to be a significant component in realizing Vision

2020. Several initiatives to engage with the industry have been taken up that will be achieved

over 2-3 years.

Mission 2012 was formally concluded on a celebratory note, with a formal event 'Reflections

2012', presided by the Chancellor, Dr Kumar Mangalam Birla. The event was held in the K K

Birla Goa campus, and was attended by several faculty & staff members. The Task force

members were felicitated for their valuable contribution towards Mission 2012 goals.

In March 2013, Mission 2015, the next milestone in the journey towards Vision 2020, was

formally launched. The Mission 2015, expected to bring a quantum jump in the aspirations of

the objectives set forth, entails focusing on 7 imperatives: Faculty & Staff Development,

Industry Engagement, Inter-Disciplinary Research, Internationalization, Innovation &

Entrepreneurship, Quality Assurance & Assessments and Technology Enablement. One

team per imperative has been identified and the teams have already started working on

refining and actioning the goals.

A growth plan for the next 10 years has been developed and under implementation. While

projecting growth in number of students from 11,000 to more than 17,000 by 2020-21 across

its four campuses, the plan outlines a strategy for transforming BITS into a research-focused

university while continuing to consolidate its First degree and Higher degree programmes.

Establishment of new research labs is an important ingredient of the growth plan, for which

the plan envisages an aggressive push to sponsored research grants from Govt. agencies

and from industry. As a result of extensive efforts to benchmark the First degree and Higher


degree programmes against the best in the world, the curricula of all First degree and Higher

degree programmes have been completely re-designed while ensuring greater focus on

discipline-specific courses, on courses in Humanities, and on hands-on learning through

lab-based experimentation and thesis work. The new curricula was implemented starting

August 2011.

Transforming BITS into a research-focused university is at the top of BITS' agenda. To take

that forward, BITS has undertaken several measures. These include (i) Significant increase

in the number of “teaching assistantships” that offer tuition waiver and stipend to full-time

PhD students and (ii) Streamlining of its processes from admissions to evaluation of PhD

dissertation. BITS has undertaken several initiatives to encourage, facilitate and incentivize

faculty to seek and execute research grants.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

The idyllic and sylvan beauty of Goa sets the right ambience for BITS Pilani, K.K. Birla Goa

Campus, an Institute of excellence in Technology and Science. Nestling in the lap of verdant

hills, overlooking the Zuari River, the campus is spread over an area of 180 acres. The

location of campus is unique in the respect of scenic beauty and panoramic view of

picturesque surroundings encompassing the river Zuari, hillocks, waterways, forests and

landscape. The Campus is about 25 kms south of Panaji (capital of Goa), 10 kms west of

Vasco-da-Gama, 22 kms north of Margao and 5.5 kms from the Goa airport, along National

Highway 17B. The campus houses the main building, having academic and administrative

offices, Visitor's Guest house, hostels for boys & girls, student activity centre, faculty & staff

quarters, medical centre, playground and shopping complex.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa campus was commissioned in August 2004 and was formally

inaugurated by Honorable Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh on May 5, 2006. In

keeping with the tradition of innovation and creativity, it has given a state-of-the art touch to

the infrastructure of the entire institute without diminishing in the least, the natural beauty of

Goa surrounding its campus. Spacious laboratories, state of art classrooms with soundproof

acoustics, modern furniture, computer labs with Internet facility and library define the

infrastructural pillars of the institution. Being fully residential, separate hostels are provided

for girls and boys with single rooms.

http://www.bits-goa.ac.in


CHANCELLOR’S MESSAGE

Our distinguished guest for today, Mr Naveen Tewari, Vice Chancellor Prof. Rao, Director of

the K. K. Birla Goa Campus, Prof. Punnekkat, ladies and gentlemen, and graduating

students:

I am delighted that Naveen is with us today as our Chief Guest, and that he will deliver today's

Convocation Address. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Harvard, and McKinsey & Co., he has

created a US$ 400M company InMobi in just 6 years. He is an ace experimenter and a

staunch believer of disruptive innovations. There is much more to him. I am sure

Prof. Punnekkat will highlight his accomplishments.

Naveen exemplifies the person every young graduating student aspires to be. If we Google

his name, we get over a quarter million hits in under half a second. He is disrupting an entire

industry, and leading explosive growth in a domain that is the future. Combining creativity,

innovation, insight, belief and passion in using mobile communication devices to connect

consumers to the products and services they need, sums up his expertise.

I remember reading about your young daughter asking you “…who spends time putting

these ugly ads on my phone?”. That this too was an insight into the mind of the consumer,

and that it played a role in defining value proposition, shows one more ingredient of your

genius.

In my address today, I have also touched upon some aspects which spawn innovations.

Three weeks ago there was an article in the Times of India on BITS headlined: “At BITS

Pilani, start-up spark is a flame”. Truly, BITS graduates have made a huge mark as

innovators and entrepreneurs. So, today, I want to talk about the special mindset and the

enabling conditions that nurture innovation and entrepreneurship.

No matter where you go next, you are going to be surrounded with the rush and swirl of

Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla


creativity and innovation. Innovation will present the opportunity to translate dreams and

ideas into real world successes. On the other hand, many ventures founded on innovation

will fail and fold up. And, given its very nature, innovation will also sweep away the old, the

status quo and result in losers also. That's the nature of the powerful and unstoppable force

that is innovation! I urge you to keep your senses and instincts open to the waves and winds

of innovation. Either you leverage on innovation and succeed, or you get overwhelmed and

be swept away by it.

1. You are limited only by your imagination:

We learn to imagine and dream early in childhood. Our parents encourage us to see the

world around us, and the possibilities. The opening up of our minds and imagination

continues through school and university. The best schools and universities are defined by

their ability to ignite curiosity.

What can you, the graduates, do to nurture creativity and foster innovation? First, invest

yourself and your mind on what you can do to change the circumstance you are in. You can

always make small, lasting changes, wherever you are. It is imagining a cleaner workplace,

which will prompt you to pick up litter lying around. Influencing those responsible to place

litterbins takes this to the next level. Lead a local cleanliness drive, and you begin to influence

change and enable creativity. Imagining is seeing the possibilities, in every small thing.

All of you may not become the next Steve Jobs or found the next Google or Flipkart. But each

one of you can aspire to keep your imagination on fire, and keep innovating in small ways. To

innovate is to create value; putting an idea to practical use is innovating; changing something

for the better is innovating. Understand the power of your imagination.

2. An appetite for risk

Risk comes hand in hand with wanting to put your imagination to work. A 21-year old,

dropping out of college to follow a dream is putting one's career at risk. The instinct to take

risk is inborn, but often our upbringing and environment stifle that natural instinct, and puts in

us the fear of failure. The best colleges and universities teach risk and its value in many

ways. The best teachers convey through behaviour that “it is ok to get it wrong” as long as

you have tried. Needless to say, we have to learn to make informed assessments of the risks

and the consequences.

3. An eye for opportunities

Some see opportunities where others do not – and this has always fascinated me. You can


see this manifest itself in a hundred small ways. Look carefully and you will see that some

are more prone to see and grab opportunities than others. Curiosity, the desire to do

something different, and the desire to test out an idea are the ingredients that go into spotting

and grabbing opportunities. Again, this is nurtured early in life: at home, by parents, teachers

and guardians who encourage curiosity and inquiry, who take the time and effort to engage

with their young ones, and take delight in it.

4. An obsession to do it better and differently

Innovations are born also when someone wants to do something better, or differently. Just

'wanting to do it' is grossly insufficient. It must have the intensity of a passion, an obsession!

There were many MP3 players in the market when Apple launched the iPod in 2001. History

was created. Just 'wanting to do it' is grossly insufficient. It must have the intensity of a

passion, an obsession! It is the same story with Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, or Alibaba: how

to bring the entire world to your fingertips. The shopping experience these e-retailers offer

today is a world different than what it initially was. In turn, Amazon took warehousing and

logistics to a whole new level. All because that was the only way to enhance customer

experience: do it better; do it differently.

The best colleges and universities create an environment where students are encouraged to

push the boundaries of knowledge. They are taught to question, and ask “why not?” as much

as to ask “why?” You too can contribute to this journey by questioning the status quo, by

asking how something can be done differently and better.

5. Connecting the dots; seeing patterns

Almost all real word problems today are complex, and do not have simple solutions. When

these problems have strong social, economic, and political roots, conventional approaches

fail. Such problems require the ability to 'connect the dots' – to see patterns in seemingly

unrelated events and circumstances.

Great schools and universities not only encourage, but also structure their education in a

way that different disciplines work together, and problem solving takes on a multi-disciplinary

approach. The best commercial organisations break silos, and encourage and build into

their organisations cross-functional groups. Because it is important to connect the dots –

connect seemingly unrelated parts to deliver a whole.

Do read a rather interesting Popular Science webpage titled “TEN THINGS YOU DIDN'T

KNOW ABOUT THE APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING”. It opened my eyes to some of the


challenges NASA faced 45 years ago when they landed the first man on the moon. They did

not know it would succeed; there were no prototype and trials. It was a team of scientists

figuring out what would be the challenges, and connecting myriad dots to find the best

possible solution that would have the highest probability of success.

6. A willingness to fall down, and rise up; again and again

Finally, the best innovators and entrepreneurs don't give up easily. But they also know when

to stop trying, cut their losses, and move on. Success is almost always built on a hundred

failures. Dream big, be prepared and willing to fail, and having fallen, to rise and do it right, do

it better, and do it differently.

Closing

In closing, I ask every one of you to think what you can do to plant a seed every day that will

encourage and nurture creativity and innovation.

My best wishes are with you as you step out into the world outside today. I wish you all

success in your chosen endeavours, and I know that you will bring pride and glory to your

alma mater.

Kumar Mangalam Birla

Chancellor

Birla Institute of Technology and Science

Pilani | Dubai | Goa | Hyderabad


VICE-CHANCELLOR’S REPORT

Chief Guest for the occasion, Mr. Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO, InMobi, Members of

Board of Governors, Members of the Senate, Faculty and Staff of K K Birla Goa campus, the

graduating Class of 2015, Ladies and Gentlemen: a very Good Morning to all of you.

It is a special honor for us to have Mr. Naveen Tewari as the Chief Guest for our convocation

in Goa. We are deeply indebted to you, Mr. Tewari, for accepting our invitation. Mr. Naveen

Tewari co-founded InMobi Technologies Private Limited in 2006 and serves as its Chief

Executive Officer. Mr. Tewari's journey started with McKinsey & Company, where he worked

on developing the go-to-market strategy for a large Indian conglomerate, as it entered the

telecom sector. He also worked with the top management of number of large software

companies and consumer product enterprises in India on various strategic issues.

It is my proud privilege to welcome you all to this happy occasion, Convocation 2015 in Goa,

and to highlight the achievements of BITS Pilani, and its four campuses taken together. This

report also brings out its future plans, and the challenges BITS Pilani faces going forward.

Prof. Punnekkat, Director of the K K Birla Goa campus, will present a report specific to Goa

campus.

As you are aware, BITS Pilani offers undergraduate, post-graduate and PhD programmes in

science, engineering, pharmacy, management and social sciences to over 12,000 students

from its four campuses in Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad. While today students in the

undergraduate programmes account for nearly 87% of the student body, we expect the

share of post-graduate and PhD students to grow from the current 13% to nearly 20% by the

AY 2020-21. This change reflects our growing emphasis on pursuing an agenda for research

that aims to grow the number of PhD students from the current figure of 732 to over 1500 in

that period.

Prof. Vajja Sambasiva Rao


You are also aware, BITS Pilani was, in 2005, the first institution in India to conduct BITSAT,

an online examination for undergraduate admission. But, more importantly, it has conducted

BITSAT every year for eleven years without any disruption. This summer, nearly 163,000

students took the exam seeking admission to about 2275 seats in its 3 campuses in India.

The exam, spread over 21 days, was conducted at 63 centers, including the ones in

Srinagar, Siliguri and Agartala. This reflects our commitment to use technology to ensure our

admissions process is fair, transparent, and environment-friendly.

You will be pleased to note that during the AY 2014-15, 2878 students have graduated from

BITS Pilani with an under graduate or post-graduate degree. Of these over 575 will receive

two degrees under the Dual-degree programme, an option that only BITS Pilani provides. An

additional 59 students have graduated this year with a PhD. In the coming years, we expect

these numbers to grow significantly. By year AY 2020-21, the number of students completing

an undergraduate or post-graduate degree is expected to surpass 3,800, and those

graduating with a PhD should exceed 200.

This year for the first time BITS has admitted 28 international students at the Hyderabad

campus. These students were admitted on the basis of their scores in the advance SAT test.

The minimum cut off for the SAT score this year was 2200 and the admitted students are

interspersed in all streams offered at BITS Pilani. With growing number of students from

different countries, BITS Pilani looks forward to providing rich and global experience inside

and outside the classrooms to its diverse student population.

Thus far I have reported on programmes we run from our four campuses. You are aware of

BITS Pilani's pioneering role in offering UG/PG programmes to over 20,000 industry

professionals. Many of these are run in partnership with industrial organizations. This year,

6660 industry professionals will graduate with a formal degree for the first time in their lives or

will have upgraded their skills to keep up with a fast changing world. Going forward, the

enrollment is expected to exceed 35,000 by AY 2020-21.

Invariably, and justifiably, BITS Pilani is ranked amongst the top 6 or 7 publicly or privately

funded engineering institutions in India. This is not to mention we are consistently ranked no.

1 private university. Amongst universities, however, BITS Pilani's ranking has steadily

improved. International ranking agency, QS, has ranked BITS Pilani at 95 amongst all

universities in the 5 BRICS countries, and 14 within India. While that may not attract

accolade for us, BITS Pilani ranks high on “reputation amongst employers”,together


with many IITs. Clearly, we cannot remain content with that.

Going forward, we aspire to be listed as one of India's top research-led technical institutes by

academic year 2020-21, both in India and in Asia. While that may seem like a tall order, we

have begun work on a new set of big-ticket imperatives under project “Mission 2015” that will

enable our faculty and students together to excel in teaching, research, innovation,

entrepreneurship, and industry engagement. I will outline some of the projects we have

completed in the last two years. Later, I will mention imperatives that we have begun to focus

on since 2013.

1. Our aggressive plan to recruit research-focused faculty continues to gain traction. In the

last 4 years, we have hired over 250 faculty from about 30,000 applicants. I am glad to

share that a significant number of them have doctoral or post-doctoral experience from

the very best universities in India or abroad. Going forward, we propose to empower

existing faculty in various ways to ensure they contribute to growth and excellence at

BITS Pilani. This includes two innovative programmes “industry-immersion” and

“exposure to universities abroad”.

2. Our PhD programme and sponsored research projects are now feeding into each

other's growth. Success in these two areas gives us the confidence that we are on track

to be recognized globally for our focus on research. While the number of PhD students

has grown from 417 to over 750 during 2010 to 2015, the number of sponsored R&D

projects approved last year alone has grown from 41 to 67 and their worth from Rs.

6.52Cr.toRs. 16.00 Cr. in the corresponding period.

3. Our plans to upgrade the physical infrastructure across all Indian campuses have now

been cast in stone. Project “Parivartan” in Pilani campus envisages very significant

investment to expand or renovate academic areas and housing for students and faculty.

Similar projects for expanding capacity in Goa and Hyderabad campuses will now take

flight, given that we have recently received environment clearance from the concerned

governments.

4. In the last two years, we have started off-campus degree programmes for industry

professionals in partnership with 17 new organizations. In the coming weeks, we will

conclude similar partnerships with several more. Based on recommendations by

McKinsey on exploring new verticals, BITS Pilani will expand its footprint into

new industry segments, automobile engineering, for instance. To ensure that we

succeed, we have created a separate office to engage with industry. And to comply with


structure and syllabi suitably and significantly revised.

5. “Business incubators” established in the last 3 years on our Indian campuses are now

seeing an increasing interest on the part of faculty, students and the public. This has

been possible with generous support from DST and DEITY. Of noteworthy, agreements

have been signed to transfer technologies developed by faculty and students to

companies incubated by two such faculty and their students.

I will now turn my attention to the seven imperatives that we have taken up as part of Mission

2015. I will however speak about only two of them, which to my mind are game changers.

The other imperatives are:

• Faculty and Staff development,

• Industry Engagement,

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship,

• Internationalization, and

• Inter-disciplinary research.

• Quality assessment and assurance should be, and is, central to what we do as a

University. To do so, we are insisting that we collect and analyze feedback from

students, faculty, industry partners, and employers, among others. We are proposing to

similarly track quality of research publications as reflected by the journals where our

papers are published and by the number of citations for each paper. With help from

faculty from NUS Singapore, we are ready to launch what we term as “teaching/learning

centres” across our four campuses to ensure that younger faculty is equipped to deliver

quality instructions.

• “Technology enablement” is a game changer for us. Other than experiencing year-on-

year increase in students taking the online BITSAT, we are reaping rich dividend in the

form of conserving faculty time by utilizing high-definition video-conferencing and

classroom facilities we have across our campuses. Now that a full-scale

implementation of ERP is nearing completion, we will see how ERP will impact

transparency and speed in the way we do things. For a country with a growing economy

and growing aspirations, technology has to be at the core of expanding opportunities or

improving quality of education.BITS Pilani aspires to be a leader in this area. And this is

beginning to show. BITS Pilani has been given the inaugural FICCI Higher Education

Award 2014 for “ICT Integration” and by ASSOCHAM the National Education

UGC norms, all WILP programmes have now been renamed, and their curriculum

,


Excellence Award 2015 for “Best Use of ICT in Education”. More recently we were

recognized with Cisco Digital Literacy award, 2015. While on the subject of awards and

recognition, I must add our students have brought laurels to this institution by winning

international and national awards. To mention a few, this includes the Google Summer of

Code awards to 50 students, the ASME Old Guard Oral Presentation Competition, the

$35,000, Samsung's idea competition “My Visual Companion”, Gandhian Young

Technological Innovation Award 2015.

Not to be left behind, two of our colleagues from Hyderabad have been recognized with the

2015 Photon Research Award and the 2015 Award for Excellence in Pain research and

management in developing countries.

Various projects or programmes currently under implementation, together with those

proposed under Mission 2015, are part of a larger plan to grow the student body by70% in the

current decade, while transforming BITS Pilani to become a research-focused science and

technology institution.

I must pause here and speak about the challenges that limit the growth of universities in

India, particularly those that are independent, and not publicly funded. As a country that

dreams of double-digit economic growth, we will need to grow the enrolment in universities to

more than 50 Million students from over 28 Million today. This is no trivial task. If it costs Rs. 5

Lakh to create capacity for a single seat in a higher educational institution, the investment

required for the anticipated growth will be over Rs. 12 Trillion. A similar amount will be

required to upgrade existing universities and colleges. The question remains: how should we

create quality institutions of higher education in India, but do so at a scale and quality that

satisfies both the aspirations of the next generation as well as the needs of Indian economy.

Independent, privately-funded universities are an important part of the solution. Already,

they play an important role, given that private independent institutes enroll over 60%

students. Among these, many, together with BITS Pilani, stand out for their quality of

education, especially in engineering, management or medicine. Even as we speak, many

new universities, such as Ashoka University, Azim Premji University, Shiv Nadar University

are being established with private funding. Going forward, large-scale participation by the

private sector in higher education can and will become significant but only if the government

proactively encourages, facilitates and incentivizes independent initiatives.


Some of the required steps are clear. Clear procedures for land acquisition and for

environmental clearances will hasten the time required for establishing a new university. A

proactive stance of regulators such as UGC and AICTE will allow development of innovative

programmes. We propose two additional steps to empower private universities to increase

capacity, while boosting quality so that they will be listed among the best in the world.

The first proposal is to boost funding for research in universities. Constant engagement with

research is a key reason why faculty at IITs, IISc Bangalore or BITS Pilani are able to deliver

high quality education. However, establishing and maintaining labs that support post-

graduate education or research is expensive, something that cannot be recovered from

tuition fees that MEor PhD students pay. Even as funding to create or rebuild research labs is

drying up, funding agencies discriminate against private universities by insisting that they

arrange for 50% of the required funds. Further, even when research grants are given on a

competitive basis, some agencies have ruled that overheads that pay for expenses such as

electricity will no longer be provided to private universities. In contrast, top private

universities in the US such as MIT and Stanford University became research powerhouses

by accessing public funds disbursed by NSF or NIH, for instance. By offering equal access to

public funds for research, the government will significantly boost quality of education,

research and innovation at independent private universities.

The second proposal is for the governments to offer a large number of scholarships which

students can take to any public or private university. While philanthropy may help create new

facilities, it rarely pays for recurring expenditures. Tuition fees paid by students are the life

line to sustain year-on-year operations. In contrast, government-funded institutions charge

low fees precisely because they receive annual maintenance grants from the public

exchequer. Instead of directly supporting public universities, the government should

consider financing students who study there but pay full tuition fee with scholarships.

Students can there by choose the college that best meets their educational needs and

interests, regardless of whether it is private or public.

While access and affordability of higher education appear limited at this time, we believe that

a partnership between private initiative and government support suggested above would go

a long way in satisfying student aspirations and building India's human capital.

Before I close, I would like my faculty and staff to join me in congratulating all our students

who will be graduating today from K K Birla Goa campus. The degree awarded to you today


is a certificate for your academic qualification. However, I sincerely hope that the education

provided to you on this campus will lay a strong foundation for lifelong learning so that you

can face the challenges of life with confidence and determination. I am confident, as

ambassadors of BITS Pilani, you will continue to strive in enhancing the reputation of your

Alma Mater. Congratulations, once again.

Mr. Naveen Tewari, thank you once again for agreeing to be with us at this very joyous

moment. My faculty, staff and students are as grateful as I am. They are eagerly waiting to

hear your convocation address.

I would also like to thank our Chancellor, Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla, and members of the

Board of Governors for their unflinching support to BITS Pilani.

Last, but not the least, I want to thank my faculty and staff in Goa, and elsewhere, for their

commitment to excel in every aspect of teaching and research, both inside and outside the

classrooms. Their continued effort helps BITS Pilani retain its position as a top destination for

students, faculty and recruiters in India.

Thank you for your attention.

Vajja Sambasiva Rao

Senior Professor & Acting Vice Chancellor


Pilani | Dubai | Goa | Hyderabad


DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Chief Guest of today's Convocation at the BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa campus, Mr. Naveen

Tewari; Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. V. S. Rao; Members of the Board of Governors;

Directors; Members of the Senate; distinguished guests; parents and relatives of the

graduating students; students, faculty and staff of K K Birla Goa campus; members of the

press; and most importantly, the shining stars of today – the graduating students from this

campus ;

A very good morning and a hearty welcome to all of you!

This year, 673 of our students are eligible to receive their degrees, 608 of them their first

degree; 178 of them their first degree along with another degree under the dual degree

scheme; 59 of them their higher degree; and 6 of them their PhD degree. In this batch, we

have three medalists: Gold medal: Ms. Muthkhod Shridevi Sharangowda, Silver medal: Ms.

Pooja Malik and Bronze medal: Ms. Zantye Manali Sunil. At the outset, let me congratulate

each and every one of you.

Our campus

This campus is the dream-come-true of our respectful former Chancellor, Dr. K K Birla, the

son of the legendary Dr. G. D. Birla. He was a successful industrialist, a renowned

philanthropist and an active Parliamentarian. Known for his vision and meticulous planning,

Dr. Birla saw to it that the campus came up with all the necessary infrastructure in two years

time well before admitting the first batch of 600 students in August 2004. This fully residential

campus has been built on an area of 180 acres with a capital investment of about 155 crores

and has been named after Dr. K K Birla.

Prof. Sasikumar Punnekkat


Educational system

The Goa campus of BITS Pilani offers 10 first degree programmes, 5 higher degree

programmes and PhD programme. With an annual intake of 660 students, the campus now

has a total strength of about 2800 students. We have embarked upon an ambitious growth

plan over the next 5-6 years, wherein the student population as well as the faculty strength

will almost be doubled with added focus on post-graduate and research programmes.

Since the seventies, BITS had pioneered several educational reforms, such as semester

system, credit based system, transparent admission process, continuous and total internal

evaluation, letter grading, academic flexibilities which include the well known dual degree

scheme, periodic revision of curriculum in tune with the needs of industry and practice-

oriented learning apart from classroom teaching.

The BITS Practice School programme running for the past 4 decades is unique in this

country wherein students spend seven and a half months on projects in the industry. This

programme is an integral part of the curriculum enabling our students to practice what they

learn in the classrooms. Every semester, about 300 students of this campus are occupied in

about 50 locations supervised by an equal number of faculty members. We have been

fortunate to receive industrial patronage for this innovative program and most of our students

receive generous stipends during this period.

In recent years, many of our students have been pursuing their thesis work either at our

research labs or in the prestigious institutions of national and international repute, as an

alternative to Practice School. Students of this campus have been carrying out their thesis

work at various prestigious universities and labs across the globe such as: Belgium: Vrije

University, Brussels, Canada: University of Montreal, Finland: Aalto University, France:

INRIA, ENSTA Paris Tech, LIAFA University, Paris, Telecom Paristech, TSI department,

Paris Descartes University, Germany: IECR (Institute of Energy and Climate Research), TU

Darmstadt, University of Heidelberg, Iceland: Reykjavik University, India: IITs, IISC, TIFR,

ISRO, IISERs, NPL, Microsoft Research labs, Italy: University of Brescia, Portugal: IST,

Singapore:National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Spain:

University of Zaragoza, Sweden: Uppsala University,UK: University of Westminster,

Imperial College and USA: University of Michigan,University of Maryland, Georgia Institute

of Technology, University of California Davis and Vanderbilt University,


New Initiatives

The telepresence facility established in January 2013 is extensively used for cross campus

meetings, discussions and also for offering courses. As of date 60 courses have been

conducted across the campuses using this facility.

As part of the Vision 2020 - Mission 2015 imperative to improve on the quality of industry

engagement in various aspects of the academic programme in BITS Pilani, a workshop was

conducted in September 2014.

A workshop for selected faculty from all campuses including off campus was conducted

under Mission 2015, Interdisciplinary research initiative in November 2014. The focus areas

of research for this workshop were Disaster Management, Sanitation, and Health. The

invited speakers were Dr. Neelima Thota, Director - Araghyam, Bengaluru, Dr. Mylles

Elledge, Senior Director RTI International, North Carolina- USA, Prof D. Balasubramaniam –

Director Research LV Prasad EYE Institute, Hyderabad, and Prof Vinod K Sharma, Indian

Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.

Teaching Learning Centres (TLC) have been set up at the four campuses at Pilani, Dubai,

Goa and Hyderabad to carry out research on innovative teaching pedagogy, collection of

good practices of teaching learning and disseminate such practices among the faculty,

conduct intensive teaching workshops and invite experts from India and abroad to deliver

lectures on relevant topics. In this regard the Quality Assurance and Assessment Imperative

team under BITS Pilani's Mission 2015 conducted a workshop on effective teaching and

learning during 18th-20th July, 2015 at K K Birla Goa Campus wherein faculty members

associated with newly constituted Teaching Learning Centre's from all the campuses

participated. The resource persons for this workshop included Prof. Lakshminarayanan

Samavedam, NUS Singapore, Prof. Daphne Pan, NUS Singapore, Dr. Rajendra Joshi,

Mission 10X Wipro, Bangalore and Ms. Kiruthika Ragupathi, NUS, Singapore along with

Prof. A. K. Sarkar, Director, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus as well as Prof. K. E. Raman, Ex.

Director, BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus.

We recently launched the Entrepreneur in Residence program (EIR) to provide students and

interested faculty with a unique opportunity to meet one-on-one with successful

entrepreneurs. The mentoring program is aimed to support an entrepreneurial ecosystem

that is being laid down by the University through teaching and applied research, setting up of

incubators on each campus, providing seed fund opportunities and IPR support


mechanisms to encourage innovation.The programme was launched on 15th October, 2014

by BITS Pilani alumnus Mr. Phanindra Sama the Co-Founder of redBus. During the

weeklong program he held discussions with students and faculty and addressed concerns

regarding startups and pursuing entrepreneurship as careers.

Research at BITS

Research at BITS is an integral activity that encompasses teaching and utilizes its linkages

with the outside world of Academia and Industry. A large number of students from all the

three-tiers are involved in research. In addition to Doctoral research, at the first degree level,

a one-semester full-time, thesis-cum-seminar course and at the higher degree level,

dissertation course offer excellent research opportunities to our students.

Research Highlights

At present, the campus has 67 sponsored research projects including 4 consultancy projects

worth Rs. 22.77 Crores funded by various National and International funding agencies.

Among these research projects, 24 new projects worth Rs. 6.41 Crores have been approved

during 2014-15. The funding agencies being DST, CSIR, DBT, UKIERI, GAIL, ICAR, UGC-

DAE, BRNS, DRDO, BRFST, ICSSR, DST-WOS, DST-INSPIRE, University of California,

Kurade Agro, ONGC, Hitachi, MOEF, Lockheed Martin, USA, and Accenture, USA.

During the period DST- FIST support was received by the Department of Chemical

Engineering (Rs.31 lakh) and Department of Mathematics (18.75 lakh).

Some of our significant ongoing research projects include:

• Prof. K. R. Anupama (EEE&EI)- project on “Design and development of condition

based monitoring of pipelines using wireless sensor networks” funded by GAIL for

Rs. 95.87 lakhs.

• Prof. Santonu Sarkar (CS & IS) -project on “Addressing challenges in application

development for heterogeneous computing platform for speedup and power

efficiency” – funded by DST for Rs. 37.55 lakhs.

• Prof. Dibakar Chakrabarty (Biological Sciences)- project on “Anticoagulant platelet

aggregation inhibitors from Indian cobra and viper venoms” – funded by DBT for Rs.

36.54 lakhs.


Prof. Vijayashree Nayak, (Biological Sciences) - project on “Study on EMT

regulation through TGFâ/SMADs in gall bladder disease” – funded by SERB for Rs.

38 lakhs.

• Dr. Asima Shaukat (Chemical Engineering) -The INSA Inspire Faculty for the project

"Rheological Dynamics of polymer layered silicate/grapheme nano-composites” -

funded by DST for Rs. 35 lakhs.

• Prof. P. M. Singru (Mechanical Engineering) - The RO/RO challenge award award

from Lockheed Martin USA for USD 25,000.

• Prof Santonu Sarkar (CS & IS)- Accenture Research Grant of USD 25,000, being

among 11 researchers from leading international Universities.

Other significant achievers were: Dr. Ranjit Patil, Mechanical Engineering, SERB 27.66

lakhs, Dr. Angshuman Sarkar, Biological Sciences, DBT 23.55 lakhs, Prof Sunil Bhand,

Chemistry, BRNS Rs 24.75 lakhs. Prof. M. Srikanth, Biological Sciences received a

consultancy project worth Rs. 16.00 lakh from Ms Hitachi India Pvt. Ltd. Prof. Utpal Roy,

Biological Sciences received a DST project in the field of antifungal drug discovery in

collaboration with PGIMER, Chandigarh. He is also mentoring DST-WOS (Dr. Purnima

Singh) with a funding of Rs. 18 lakhs. Prof. R. N. Behera Department of Chemistry (Mentor

for Dr. A. Panda) DST-WOS project Rs. 17 lakhs.

Additional competitive grant to encourage research among new faculty members on a

competitive basis was introduced. In the first round Dr. Ranjit Patil; Mechanical Engineering,

Dr. Asima Shaukat; Chemical Engineering, Dr. Indrani Talukdar; Biological Sciences, Dr.

Amlin Prince; EEE&I, Prof Santonu Sarkar and Prof. Ashwin Srinivasan, Department of

Computer Science and Information Systems were awarded grants totaling Rs. 40 Lakhs.

Collaborations

The Institute has collaborative arrangements with several foreign universities in order to

promote joint research activities and the exchange of faculty, students and published

material. Notable among them is the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences,

Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, INRA,

Narbonne, France, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany and

Cypress Semiconductors, California, USA. National collaborations include Indian Naval

Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala, Goa state pollution control board (GSPCB), Hitachi India Pvt

Ltd, R.D. Aga Research Technology and Innovation Centre of Thermax Limited, M/s Kurade

Agro Goa and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.

•


Memorandum of Understanding was signed with WindSim AS, Norway in September 2014

to improve the exchange of knowledge and experience within the area of wind energy

technology. MoU was also signed with the National Institute of Wind Energy Chennai,

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India in February 2015 for

research in wind power development. A MoU was recently signed in July 2015 with NIO, Goa

to augment the research in the area of Chemistry, Biology and Engineering disciplines.

Achievements

Since 2011, researchers from Goa campus have authored 400+ SCOPUS journal

publications. During 2014, our researchers published 123 articles in International Journels,

44 publications in Conferences and 15 Book chapters. Last year 3 patents (including one

US patent) were filed by our faculty. So far, 32 Ph.D. students graduated from the Goa

Campus and the number of Ph.D. students currently registered is177.

Many of our faculty members have brought laurels to this campus through their academic

and research endeavors- some examples are:

Prof. Narendra Nath Ghosh, Department of Chemistry visited University of Leeds under the

Indo-UK (DST-UKIERI) project together with one Ph.D. student. Dr. Narendra Nath Ghosh

and Prof G F Fernando (University of Birmingham, UK) have jointly received the prestigious

Newton Research Collaboration award from Royal Academy of Engineering, UK for

conducting collaborating research in the area of Advanced Nano composite based

Materials. Prof. Ghosh has also been awarded the Outstanding Reviewer Status by the

Journal “Materials Chemistry and Physics”, published by Elsevier.

Dr. Sukanta Mondal, Department of Biological Sciences, paper published in the journal of

Theoretical Biology featured on Global Medical Discovery as a key scientific article

contributing to excellence in Biomedical research.

Under the University Immersion Programme this year Prof. Anjan Chattopadhyay visited

University of Heidelberg, Germany. He was hosted by Prof. (Dr.) Horst Koppel and worked

on Computational photochemistry and photodynamics of some substitutedpolyene

(Hexatriene) system. Dr. Sumit Biswas visited Freie Universitat, Berlin, He was hosted by

Prof. Udo Heinemann and worked on Structural studies on novel protein from Moringa

Oleifera.

Under the Industry Immersion Programme,

• Prof. Utpal Roy visited the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research


(PGIMER), Chandigarh and worked on the Molecular Identification of Hospital-

acquired Fungal isolates by MALDI-Biotyping and Amplified Fragment Length

Polymorphism (AFLP).

• Dr. Sachin Waigaonkar visited GMI Zarahak Moulders Pvt. Ltd., Verna, Goa and

worked on the Development of Low cost Mould Internal Temperature Monitoring

system for Controlling Rotational Moulding

• Prof. Halan Prakash visited the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and

Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram and worked on the Pollution control /

Oxidant Activators, Advanced oxidation processes.

• Dr. Ranjit S. Patil visited the Shri. Mahankali Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd.,

Sangli, Maharashtra and worked on the Energy Conservation & Co-generation. Dr.

Ranjit S. Patil also received the OPERA (Outstanding Potential Excellence in

Research and Academics) Award by BITS Pilani based on Performance in

Research and Academics.

Our faculty from the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematics,

Computer Science, Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences have presented their

research findings and participated in international conferences at USA, The Netherlands,

Italy, Japan and Bangkok.

A number of international dignitaries visited the campus. Notable amongst them are Nobel

Laureate, Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn of the Institute of Supramolecular Science and

Engineering, University of Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, Ambassador of France, H. E. Mr.

François Richier and Professor Paul Millner of University of Leeds. A delegation from

University of Tartu visited BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus on 12th February 2015 in

connection with Erasmus Plus and a joint Master's programme in Analytical Chemistry.

Subsequently, an MoU has been signed between both the Institutions. Dr Vince Cable,

Member of Parliament, Government of UK along with his officials and delegation visited

BITS Pilani , K K Birla Goa Campus on 11 October 2014. He addressed the students and

faculty members across all campuses of BITS Pilani using Tele presence facility on the

opportunities of higher education in UK.

A number of conferences and workshops were hosted at Goa campus during 2014 –15,

which enabled the students and faculty to network with experts from various fields and

exchange ideas with them:


Space, Place, Travel, Displacement, Exile: The annual conference of IACLALS

(Indian Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies) was

organized by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in February 2015

and was inaugurated by Padma Shri Dr. Maria Aurora Couto.

• ACM India Event – 2015: The Annual three day event was held during 5 - 7 February

2014. The Keynote lecture was delivered by Professor John E. Hopcroft (1986 A. M.

Turing award winner) on the 'Future of Computer Science'. The Annual flagship

event is a meeting of ACM India.

• XXIX SERC Main school in Theoretical High Energy Physics (SERCTHEP): The

school was organized by the Physics Department during December 20, 2014 to

January 8, 2015. It was funded by SERB, DST, Govt. of India.

• Conference on Decentralized Biogas digesters and their slurry management : The

two-day conference was organized in association with Institute of Agricultural and

Urban Ecological Projects (IASP), affiliated to Berlin Humboldt University, Germany

in November 2014. This conference brought together researchers, scientists and

professionals working in the field of biogas production and slurry management so

as to share experiences, update technologies and provide a platform for strong

collaborative network. It was inaugurated by Dr. Pramod, V. Pathak, Member

Secretary, Goa Energy Development Agency, The Keynote Speech was delivered

by Padmashri Dr. Sharad Kale from BARC.

• International Conference on Towards Ecocultural Ethics: Recent Trends and Future

Directions:The three-day International Conference was organized by the

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in association with ASLE ( American

Society for Literature and Environment). In his inaugural address, Prof. Mark C

Long, President ASLE (American Society for Literature and Environment) and

Professor at Keene State University, USA, spoke on “The Ecological Arts :

Humanities, Technology and Science”.

• International Conference on Changing Contours of Indo-US Relations: Perceptions,

Continuity and Change : Departments of Humanities & Social Sciences and

Economics jointly organized the three-day conference in collabration with Indian

Council of World Affairs (ICWA), Brooklings India, National Council for Antarctic and

Ocean

•


Research (NCAOR), International Centre, Goa (ICG), Dept. of Science, Technology

& Environment, Goa and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).

• Advances in Robotics (AIR-2015): This conference was inaugurated on 2nd July

2015 by Prof. Dr. Roland Yves Siegwart, Professor of Robotics, ETH Zurich,

Switzerland. The conference was jointly organized by 'The Robotics Society of

India' and BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus. Keynote speakers included Dr.

Steven LaValle (University of Illinois) and Dr. Jae Bok Song (Korea University).

• National Graduate Physics Examination (NGPE) 2015 Part C, an examination in

experimental skill was conducted by Department of Physics on Sunday, June 7,

2015. Prof. Arun V. Kulkarni was the Examination Superintendent where in

twenty students among 102 National Toppers qualified for this examination.

The Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at BITS Pilani, K K Birla

Goa Campus in association with the Department of Information Technology, Government of

India has established a Technology Business Incubator under the TIDE scheme to

embolden the spirit of technology based innovation and entrepreneurship. Presently there

are three startups; Sustainable Biosolutions LLP and Bactreat Envvironmental solutions

LLP and Sattva MedTech. Sattva MedTech was selected as a Top 50 Innovator in the India

Innovation Growth Programme, organized by DST, Lockheed Martin, FICCI and Stanford

University in 2014.

Our students have always enjoyed a pride of place in our success by winning honors in

various spheres. Often we find number of students opting for internships abroad (France,

Germany, and USA) out of their own initiatives during the summer of their third year. They

participate in various competitions and win accolades for the campus. Our research scholars

too have received a number of awards and scholarships. Some of the achievements for the

year 2014-15 are:

• Mr. S. Arun karthick, Research Scholar from Department of Physics working under

the supervision of Prof. Nandakumar received a Scholarship of 800 Euros and

registration fee waiver to participate in the 18th International Microscopy congress

(IMC-2014) held in Prague, Czech Republic.

• Mr. Rajat Mishra (2011B4A7564G) has been one of 15 recipients of the National

Scholarship to Young Artists 2014-16 Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India in the

category Light Classical Music.


CSIR –Senior Research Fellowships were awarded to Ms. Deepthi Das, Dept. of

Biological Sciences, Ms. Priyanka Dwivedi, Dept. of Biological Sciences and Ms.

Chetana Deoghare, Dept. of Chemistry.

• Mr. Krunal K Patel, student of CS Department received an international job offer

with salary package of $ 1,35,000 from Google.

• Mr. Raghav Parwal (student of Mechanical Engineering) received a project of

$25,000 to develop Roll-on/Roll-off Design for Lockheed Martin Corporation, USA.

• Ms. Sanskriti Dawle and Mr. Aman Srivastava (students of CS Dept) have

developed Mudra a – Braille Dicta – Teacher for blind users, which received Prof.

Suresh Ramaswamy award.

• 15 of our students were selected for the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) this year.

Apart from their scholastic records, students of Goa campus are actively involved in various

extracurricular activities: Three festivals, namely, Waves (cultural), Quark (Techno-

management) and Spree (Sports) all were organized by students at the All-India level with a

host of interesting and challenging events. They also demonstrate their sensitivity to the

needs of the society by organizing social service activities through two forums, Nirman and

Abhigyan.

At this juncture, I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions made by Prof. K E

Raman, former director of BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa campus.

BITS Pilani is at an important stage of growth and all the faculty, staff and students at the Goa

Campus are looking forward to meet the challenges in meeting our Vision 2020. The growing

profile of achievements of our faculty and students, together with the dynamic leadership of

our Chancellor Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, makes us absolutely confident of reaching higher

heights in terms of educational, scientific and technological excellence in the coming years.

Dear graduating students; I am confident that you all are capable of excelling in your careers

and future endeavors and will bring laurels to self, your families, BITS Pilani and our Nation.

My best wishes to all of you to be great achievers!

Sasikumar Punnekkat

Senior Professor & Director



•


INTRODUCTION TO THE CHIEF GUEST

Naveen is the founder of InMobi. His philosophy of constant innovation and disruption is

embedded deep into the DNA of InMobians and is resonated across InMobi. His dream is to

re-imagine advertising in a truly 'user-first' way and unlock the true potential of the mobile

ecosystem.

He has a Bachelor's degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT) and a Master's

degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he was also

bestowed with the Dean's Award, for his exceptional leadership and contribution. In 2013, his

alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur also honored him with the esteemed

'Distinguished Alumnus Award' for his excellence in entrepreneurship.

Naveen is involved in the fueling of around 30 start-ups as yet in India and has personally

invested and supported several start-ups like NestAway, SlideRule, Mettl, Moneysights,

Bombay Canteen, Zimmber, Razorpay etc. A believer that start-ups will be the pillars of

growing India, he co-founded iSPIRT, which is a change agent with the brain of a think tank

and aims to address government policy, create market catalysts, and grow the maturity of

product entrepreneurs in order to transform India into a hub for new generation software

products.

He also founded and chairs a U.S. based nonprofit called India School Fund which funds and

sets up schools in rural India, a cause he cares deeply for. Naveen is the board member of

Paytm and has been recognized for his entrepreneurial skills at various platforms. He

received several awards and recognitions over the last several years:

Naveen TewariFounder & Chief Executive Officer


Minister, 2015

• Fortune's '40 under 40' most powerful, influential and important people in

business, 2015

• The 'Pathbreaker of the Year' Award, 2014

• Forbes India Leadership Award for 'Outstanding Start Up', 2014

• 100 Most Creative People, 2014 across the world

• The 'Pathbreaker of the Year' Award, 2013 presented by Shri Narendra Modi,

Indian Prime Minister

• 7th Most Important Person' by Business Insider's the Mobile Power List, 2013

• Mobile Top 50' in The Drum, 2013

• 2nd Most Important Person' by Business Insider's the Mobile Power List, 2012

An avid fan of cricket, Naveen is a fitness enthusiast and his early morning routine alternates

between a long run outdoors and a cycling trip around the less crowded parts of the city.

• Future Leaders Award presented by Shri Narendra Modi, Indian Prime


LIST OF STUDENTS WHO ARE AWARDED MEDALS

Sl.No

Name and ID No. Photograph CGPAobtained

Positionobtained

Type ofMedal to

be awarded

1

2

MUTHKHOD

SHRIDEVI

SHARANGOWDA

2011A8PS005G

POOJA MALIK

2011A7PS003G

ZANTYE MANALI

SUNIL

2011A1PS426G

9.81

9.78

FIRST

SECOND

GOLD

SILVER

3 9.63 THIRD BRONZE


th thGRADUATION DATA (76 and 77 AWARD)

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

CONVOCATION 2015

M.E.Biotechnology

M.E. Chemical

M.E. Embedded Systems

M.E. Software Systems

M.E. Design Engineering

M.E. Microelectronics

Chemical Engineering

Electrical & Electronics

Engineering

Electronics & Instrumentation

Mechanical Engineering

Computer Science

Information Systems

Biological Sciences

Chemistry

Economics

Mathematics

Physics

ProgrammesB.E./B.Pharm.

(Hons.)S. No.

M.Sc.

(Hons.)

M.Sc.

(Tech.)H.D Ph.D. Total

76 - - - - 76

118 - - - - 118

116 - 116

114 - - - 1 115

125 - - - - 125

- - 50 - - 50

- 39 - - 2 41

- 30 - - 3 33

- 43 - - - 43

- 40 - - - 40

- 35 - - - 35Physics

- - - 7 - 7

- - - 10 - 10

- - - 13 - 13

- - - 9 - 9

549 187 50 59 6 851

10 - 10

- - - 10 - 10


th th76 and 77 Award

CONVOCATION - 20159th August, 2015

LIST OF STUDENTS RECOMMENDED FOR CONFERMENT OF VARIOUS DEGREESBITS PILANI, K K BIRLA GOA CAMPUS


“On this solemn occasion, Convocation 2015 at Goa and in the

presence of my teachers and family, I pledge to use my

knowledge and experience gained at BITS Pilani and

elsewhere in the service of the people of my country and of the

world. I will do so while adhering to the highest ethical

standards, in harmony with the environment, and with utmost

humility, honesty and devotion, and thereby bring glory to my

family, my Alma mater, my profession, and my country.”

Oath

leadinnovate achievevate

Phone: +91 832 2580139www.bits-goa.ac.in

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, PilaniK K Birla Goa Campus NH 17B, Zuarinagar, Goa, India.

convocation book final 2015 - birla institute of · pdf filethe convocation hall, all...

Documents