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IITaV Newsletter
April 2017                                                                                         Issue No. 16



Message from the IITaV President

Dear IIT Alumni,

 I am delighted to present you this edition of IITaV Newsletter. We are getting closer to finishing current term and I would like to take this opportunity to highlight major achievements during 2016-17. The Management Committee had decided to focus on three key objectives at the beginning of the Term, the first two being there to establish and enhance IIT brand equity in Australia:

1.       Promote and assist with professional development of members

2.       Promote professional networking with academia

3.       Promote social interaction between members

Two major Professional Networking Events were organised during this Term. The first event was a talk by Prof Ujwal Kayande, who is currently Director - Centre for Business Analytics at Melbourne Business School. He presented strategies employed based on predictive modelling of Cricket Player’s worth based on his past performance. The second event was a special feature event in collaboration with Engineers Australia. Professor Michael Rosemann, Head of Information Systems School at Queensland Institute of Technology, made an interesting presentation on “Thinking Patterns for the Digital Age” and elaborated on the new class of customers and competitors in the digital economy.

Our collaboration with the academic Institution has become stronger this year. Swinburne University of Technology as well as The University of Melbourne (UoM) are now our Corporate Gold members. We worked closely with Professor Ajay Kapoor, Pro Vice Chancellor (International Research Engagement and Development) at Swinburne University and some of our members got actively involved in guiding students undertaking Master of Entrepreneurial Engineering degree.

We also launched another initiative this year in collaboration with the UoM to provide mentoring support and guidance to the PhD students from IIT Kharagpur, Kanpur and Madras who are doing research under Melbourne-India Postgraduate Program (MIPP). Aakash Gupta was invited to attend IITaV Management Committee Meetings regularly as a Students’ representative so that we can understand their needs better and drive targeted initiatives. Consequently, a Networking Event was organised at the UoM campus on 29th Mar 2017 where these students had opportunity to meet some of IITaV members living in Melbourne and learn about their journey of settling down in Australia and better understand about local work culture and social life. IITaV also organised a Welcome Dinner at the Docklands on 29th Jan for over 15 Professors from IIT Kharagpur, Kanpur and Madras who were visiting Melbourne for MIPP Conference. The event was attended by many of our members and faculty from the UoM.

Diwali and Holi functions have become very popular among our members. IITaV always extends subsidised rates to its members for these events. As our members are getting to know each other better, it is pleasing to see that a record number of our members have attended these events during 2016-17 with their spouses and children. IITaV also organised a casual networking event at Novotel, Glen Waverley which attracted many members living in the Eastern suburbs.

IITaV continues to provide a unique platform to IIT Alumni living in Victoria to network and contribute with its activities. If you are not a member yet, I would like to invite you to join IITaV and support the organisation in achieving its objectives. Membership details can be found at IITaV website (iitav.org.au). Feel free to get in touch with any member of the Executive Committee and discuss how you can get involved and contribute in various initiatives being implemented by the organisation. You will soon receive details about IITaV Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is scheduled to be held on 13th May. I would encourage you to participate in this event and show your support.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of Management Committee and their families for their dedication and hard work. Your efforts are much appreciated.
 
Ravi Singh
ravi@escopacific.com.au
Mob: 0435 657 413

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Networking Event @
University of Melbourne

    
29th March 2017


IIT Alumni, who pursue postgraduate studies at UoM had an opportunity to meet IITaV members in a networking event organized by IITaV at Gryphon Gallery, University of Melbourne.

Our associate member, Aakash Gupta, who currently pursue his postgraduate research in Genomics helped conducting this event, which was well attended by both members and students alike. It was great to see many members attending the event on a working day.

IITaV President Ravi Singh spoke about the purpose of IITaV to the student community. IITaV members briefly introduced themselves and shared their area of expertise, which the students found helpful to initiate discussion with relevant members. Following the brief introduction, floor was open to networking.

We hope students would have found this session helpful, and look forward to see them participate in IITaV's future events. Thanks to Meenakshi Arora, Aakash Gupta, Gokul Siva Sankar,  Mukesh Soni and University of Melbourne for their help and support in organizing this event. (More Photos)

Prof Sharda with UoM Students




Welcome Dinner for IIT Faculty Visiting Melbourne

29th January 2017


IITaV  hosted over 15 visiting academics from IIT Kanpur, Kharagpur and Madras for a dinner at a scenic venue in Docklands. Professors were in Melbourne to attend a conference organized by our Gold Corporate Member, The University of Melbourne. This is one of its kind networking event where IITaV had a chance to welcome a contingent of IIT Professors in Melbourne.

Over 20 IITaV Members attended the event with their partners.  There were lots of fruitful discussions among the visiting Professors and the IITaV members. We hope this would open doors for more collaborative opportunities between them.

The weather turned out to be fantastic, and could see some of the visiting Professors relaxing at Docklands following the event. 

Thanks to Ravi Singh IITaV President and Meenakshi Arora, Deputy Director of Melbourne-India Postgraduate Program for their efforts in organizing this event. (More Photos)

IIT_Professors_Welcome_Dinner






Thinking Patterns for the Digital Age
    Dr Michael Rosemann
Professor and Head of Information Systems School,
Queensland Institute of Technology

25th October 2016


                                                            
A group of IITians, Alumni form Melbourne Business School (MBS) and Engineers Australia (EA) members had the opportunity to hear Dr Michael Rosemann talk about the Thinking Patterns for the Digital Age. In his talk titled “Oppositional Thinking” Dr Rosemann informed and entertained the audience with real life examples showing what is needed to succeed in the Digital Age. The audience were completely engaged in the interactive session which went well over the allocated time. Some examples shared by Dr Rosemann can be found at  Hijack.

ThinkingPatterns_event_1

There was a vote of thanks for Dr Rosemann from Ravi Singh on behalf of IITaV. The venue was provided by Engineers Australia and Herve Carlos from EA was very helpful in making the evening run smoothly.

ThinkingPatterns_event_2




IITaV 2017 Holi Celebrations
25th February, 2017


It was a beautiful day for IITians to celebrate Holi this year. The venue for the celebration was Nazaaray Estate Winery in the Mornington peninsula - a picture-perfect setting. The pleasant drive to the winery was complemented by perfect weather - sun smiling with a mild 22 Centigrade, the sky was cloudless. The members arrived at Nazaaray to find plenty of green lawns, wooden decking looking over the green hills and also some facilities for members who chose to be indoors. The perfect weather and natural surroundings provided a great setting for the Holi celebrations to follow.
 
Members arrived to find a good atmosphere of Holi songs. A tray of dry colours and enthusiastic players were waiting for them, to help them get into the spirit of the occasion. If they wanted get into the spirit of Holy and did not mind their friends and spouses splash a bit of colour on their faces, then here was their opportunity. And many members did get into the spirit of Holi and colours on their faces and for some even on their clothes.
 
The festivities set the scene for the appetising entrée, main course and dessert. Judging by the finger licking and the repeat trips to the food buffet area it was clear that the chef had done a great job. Members who liked wine tasting, had an opportunity to taste the Nazaaray wines for free throughout the day – which many members did. Some went on to buy the wines to add to their collection.
 
After lunch all the members got a tour of the winery including its recent history and the winemaking process. This started with the old tram converted to restaurant, then to vineyards which had so many varieties of the red and white wine grapes and ended with the cool room where the fermentation and the storage of wine took place. Judging by the questions received during the tour, members found it interesting and informative.
 
All in all, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable Holi celebration for IITAV members. The committee will like to thank all the IITAV members and their families for their support of the function and the friendly staff of Nazaaray Winery for their hospitality and service. For those who attended, Nazaaray Winery would appreciate if they share their experience via their social media of choice. (More Photos)

Holi_Photo_1

Holi_2






IITaV 2016 Diwali Celebrations
15th October, 2016


IITaV celebrated the Festival of Lights with its members and their families on October 15th, 2016 at St. Leonard's Community Centre, Glen Waverley. Over 100  IITaV members, including Gold Corporate Members - Swinburne University of Technology, EnvisionIT and Melbourne University - and their guests turned out for the evening and made the occasion grand. They were thoroughly entertained by music and food.

Diwali Photo

 Individual and group performances by many of IITaV members and their families graced the evening. Our evergreen MC's Sangeeta Singh, Rakesh Saraf and Pallavi Saraf presented the gamut of events. Radhey Shyam Gupta and Dolan enchanted the occasion with their melodious voices.  Chaitanya charmed the guests with her dance moves.

The highlight of the evening was the "Diwali-Dance" performed by Sangeeta Singh and her group of IITaV Women.  They indeed put in a huge effort on rehearsing the dance so many times, and it turned out to be as graceful as they are.  On the other end of the spectrum was the performance by the IITaV Men in Black. They were truly rocking!!!

Diwali_2 
Thanks to all members and their guests on making this occasion grand.    Thanks a lot to Sangeeta, Rakesh and Pallavi Saraf for their effors in organizing this function. Also, last but not least, thanks to many of the other members who provided place to rehearse the dance performances. (More Photos)






 


IITaV AGM 2017

Saturday, 13 May 2017

3:00 – 6:00 pm

GS217 Swinburne University,

 Hawthorn





DD Saxena wins Times Now ICICI Bank NRI of the Year Award 2016:

"
Look for opportunities to capture; Believe in your vision, Show courage and never give up" is the message given by DD Saxena, our IITaV Member, to the young and aspiring entrepreneurs during his interview to IndusAge on this occasion.(Read More)

IIT-KGP to run its hospital and MBBS course: The construction of Dr B C Roy Institute of Medical Science and Research is nearing its first-phase of completion and the hospital is expected to be in operation  by 2018 - allowing the institute to offer MBBS programme by 2020-21. IIT-KGP is planning to create a registered society that would run the hospital and the MBBS programme in sync with the institute  (Read More). 


QS University Rankings 2017: 
QS has released its University rankings for 2017. IIT Delhi and Bombay are ranked 71 and 78 respectively in Engineering and Technology Category. (Read More)







We welcome the following new members to our IITaV family.

Financial Members:

Associate Members:
  •   Aakash Gupta
  •   Neeta Lohani
  •   Dileep Chandran
  •   Sushma Reddy
  •   Prathap Chandran
  •   Shaktivesh Shakti
  •   Nagesh Panyam

Information about most of our newly joined associate members can be found from here.

Its Membership renewal time of the year. If you haven't renewed, please renew your membership and show your support to IITaV.

We take this opportunity to thank all members for their continued participation in  IITaV activities.



corp_members

Swinburne Logo

Swinburne University of Technology is an Australian public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. Swinburne operates five campuses in two countries and has an enrolment of students across vocational, undergraduate  and postgraduate levels.

Swinburne houses advanced labs such as Design for Ageing, Smart Structure and Factory of Future labs. “Being a corporate member of IITAV, we benefit from collaborations and industry experts to create a new forum for engineering students,” Professor Ajay Kapoor, said.

Swinburne has been ranked one of the world's top 400 universities by the prestigious 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).  This result places Swinburne among the top 3% of universities in the world.

Swinburne was named one of the world’s top 400 universities by the Times Higher Education University World Rankings 2014–2015. In 2015, Swinburne was ranked for the first time in the Times Higher Education Top 100 Under 50 Rankings, an index of the world’s top universities under the age of 50.


EnvisionIT


Established in 2002 in Melbourne, Envision IT develops software products for global markets. This includes Standalone, Cloud based SaaS, Enterprise, Line of Business and mobile applications.

 Envision IT products are known for their ease of use, high productivity, efficiency and reliability. Typically, our products offer an ROI under 3 months.

We are able to achieve this through decades of experience in industry, developing 100+ innovative projects and technology alliances (see below). This enables us deliver products that are seamlessly integrated, diligently automate tasks and streamline business processes.

Microsoft technologies and agile methodology provide a base platform for all our projects. The projects however invariably involve disparate software and hardware from vendors such as Adobe, Autodesk, Cameras, CISCO, Devices, Equipment, Hadoop, Hortonworks, IBM, MongoDB, Oracle, Pay by Phone, RFID, SAP, SenSen Networks, Sensors etc. We maintain alliances with all major and many niche technology vendors.

Envision IT products has consistently won awards right from TravelSmart (2004) to Encarp for employee parking management (FMA 2011 Runners up) to our new product – Audispect that eases Audits and Inspections and saves 40-85% in routine workload. In addition, we develop product for global and government organisations that run their core business.


The University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne has had a long standing involvement with India. During its formative years, The University of Melbourne received high recognition when Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India (1899-1905), invited Professor Masson, Chair of Chemistry at The University, to India to advise on the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Later, at the time of Indian Independence, Professor David Derham, who was to become Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, was involved in drafting the Indian constitution. Today The University of Melbourne is engaged with the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institutes of Technology Kanpur, Madras and Kharagpur through the Melbourne-India Postgraduate Program, which offers graduate researchers the opportunity to work under joint supervision with leading academics from The University of Melbourne and one of the program’s Indian partners.

Currently, the University of Melbourne has more than 40 IIT alumni either working as academics or enrolled in PHD. IIT student association@Melbourne has recently been established. The University of Melbourne is pleased to join IITaV as a Corporate member. This collaboration would provide IIT alumni working/studying at the University of Melbourne various opportunities to engage with IIT alumni living across Victoria.

IIT Student   association @ Melbourne could be contacted by email or phone:
Mr. Mukesh Soni (President)
M/ +61 4329 28 786
F/ +61 3 8344 4290
mukesh.soni@unimelb.edu.au





We take this opportunity to thank everyone for their contributions.

To help us improve the newsletter, please send your feedback and contributions (news, views and memories) for the next issue to

 mail@iitav.org.au

Previous editions of the newsletter are available here.

Members are also requested to update their profiles at our website.


Thank you.
IITaV Management Committee







 

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Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are the premier institutes of engineering education in India.
IITaV is the Alumni Association for IIT alumni in Victoria.