IITaV organized an philosophical and thought provoking session by Dr. Ajay Kapoor on July 8th over Zoom online.

Dr Ajay Kapoor is a world renowned researcher and has produced over 325 papers/ reports, 3 books, several patents and a university spin-off company. His research work has won many prizes in the UK and Australia, and he is on the editorial board of IMechE Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. Recently, Prof. Ajay Kapoor was rated within the top 2% of researchers in the world in his subject area. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and the Cambridge Commonwealth Society. He has served as Pro Vice Chancellor at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia and significantly expanded Swinburne’s international research engagement through Joint Research Centres in India, China and Malaysia.

Words of wisdom and insight are always welcome, even more so in the current times. Through a fortunate series of co-incidences, we were lucky to have a talk in early July by Professor Ajay Kapoor, on how to cope with uncertainty and turmoil. Professor Ajay Kapoor is the Vice Chancellor at Chinmaya Vishwa Vidhyapeeth (Kerala, India) and has previously been the Pro Vice Chancellor at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. His talk was based on the idea that while we all have achieved much success, yet there are times when we feel that this is not enough. This is amplified by the circumstances of the current pandemic which has created yet more uncertainty in our world.

In his talk, Professor Kapoor drew on lessons from the past pandemics to show that this too shall pass! Ideas from eastern spirituality and western philosophy were covered and strategies to achieve success both materially (comfortable life) and mentally (peaceful mind) were examined. There were practical ideas on how to cope with the current turmoil, how to take control and manage ourselves. The best part of the talk was the Q&A section where attendees were able to share their world views as well and share other perspectives on common problems and mentally (peaceful mind).

This event was well attended by over 40 people involving academics, entrepreneurs and people in corporate roles. IITaV President Dr Raman Singh, thanked Dr Ajay Kapoor. IITaV thanks Abaran Deep for arranging the session and being zoom master of the day.

   IITaV committee is delighted to welcome Monash University as our new corporate members. Monash University joins our other two Melbourne-based universities (Swinburne University of Technology and The University of Melbourne) as a corporate member. A sincere thanks to the earlier IITAV teams and members who liaised for getting Monash University on-board. Monash University is the youngest among all universities to figure in the top 100 universities of the world. Monash is the home for higher education for the highest number of students among all Australian Universities. Monash has a strong research link with IIT Bombay through the joint program of IITB-Monash Research Academy that generally has nearly 200 PhD students, each of them must have a supervisor each from IIT Bombay and Monash, and each student must spend at least one year at Monash Australia. Each of the Monash Engineering disciplines rank very high among Australian universities and worldwide. IITaV thanks Monash Engineering Dean, Professor Elizabeth Croft and Deputy Dean (External Engagement), Professor Chris Davies, for their appreciation of the corporate membership, and will explore opportunities of mutual benefits.

   IITaV committee is working out to organize an open event (in-person or online, depending on the COVID restrictions) with the corporate member universities (Melbourne, Monash and Swinburne). The purpose of this event is: (a) for IITaV to provide their perspective of opportunities with academia, and (b) hear from Deans and Deputy Deans about their perspectives

   IITaV committee is planning to conduct the annual social event of Diwali on November 27th. The planning is in progress to conduct the event in an opern air venue. Please block your calendars to have much awaited fun and entertainment in a safe manner. Please note that this event will be conducted as per the Victorian government norms e.g. fully vaccinated people are allowed.

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 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.

 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.