The global audience present in Greater Noida to participate in Confederation of Indian Industry-organised Knowledgexpo from 20th November to 21st November, got a rare glimpse of the research prowess of 14 premier Indian Institutes of Technology at a single place on Thursday at Knowledgexpo. Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ms Smriti Irani inaugurated the pavilion along with other education pavilions at the expo which has been organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The participating IITs at Knowledgexpo included IIT Delhi, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Bombay, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras, IIT Indore, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Mandi, IIT Ropar, IIT Roorkee and IIT Kanpur.
Delhi Government’s Pavilion had eight institutes participating in the expo. These included the Department of Training & Technical Education; Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology; Delhi State Cancer Institute; Delhi Technological University; G. B Pant Hospital; Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University; Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women; Institute of Liver Biliary Science and Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology.
Commenting on the expo Prof Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT Bombay said, "IIT Bombay believes in pursuing research that makes a difference. The Expo is indeed a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase the kind of R&D work our institute is doing in varied and important areas such as healthcare, rural development, IT, design, manufacturing and technology. At the same time, the expo also allows us to see the kind of work our counterparts are doing in the US and share our best practices with other institutions / organizations for the benefit of mankind.”
Director of IIT Delhi Prof R K Shevgaonkar said, “For over 50 years, IIT Delhi has been creating world class educational platforms dynamically sustained through internationally recognized research based on excellent infrastructural facilities. Our faculty and alumni continue to make a huge impact in all sectors of society, both in India and abroad. The Knowledgexpo is an excellent opportunity for us to share some of our achievements and success stories not only with other academic community, but also with the other stakeholders in the wider society, i.e. the industry, the government and the general public.”
IIT Hyderabad Director Prof Uday Desai said, “All the IITs, combining decades of experience with fresh ideas of today, will provide industry, government and academia in India and the US a formidable aggregation of world-class R&D infrastructure supported by some of the keenest and most incisive researchers in the world."
Director of Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, Prof Ajoy Ray said, “Knowledgexpo provided the much needed bridge between industry and academia and it had the potential to grow to a much bigger level.” IIEST has had a rich history in its earlier avatar as Bengal Engineering and Science University. Since February this year it has attained the status of an institute of national importance.
Commenting on participation of IIT Mandi, Director, Prof T A Gonsalves said, “The future of India requires the development of appropriate technology-based products and processes to address India's unique needs. This can only be achieved by a partnership between Indian academia and industry. Working for the betterment of Indian society is an important part of IIT Mandi's vision. We congratulate CII for this initiative to bring academia and industry together.”
Prof Sudhir Jain, Director of IIT Gandhinagar said, “IIT Pavilion strengthens the identity of the IITs and provides a unique opportunity for visitors to interact with all the premier institutions of technology in the country under one roof. Staff and students of IITs across the nation also have a unique opportunity to interact with and learn from each other”.
Greater Noida
November 20, 2014