PBCEC Pioneer Batch contributed generously towards the making of Pioneer Batch Continuing Education Centre building which now forms a landmark on the IIT Kanpur map and started an excellent tradition of contributing to its alma mater.

Samtel Centre for Display Technologies SCDT was formally established on March 5, 2000 through a memorandum of under-standing between SAMTEL Group of Industries and I.I.T. Kanpur. This has been a beginning of one of the most significant efforts towards meaningful industry-academia interaction to meet the challenges of emerging technologies in electronic displays. The creation of the Centre is testimony to the faith that our alumni have in IITK, the freedom that the faculty enjoys, and the values that are cherished in the academic environment of IITK.

Vision is bringing academia and industry together to invent and innovate display technologies and underlying science.

Mission is to conduct R&D so as to nurture and support growth of science and technology of electronic displays; To establish a tripartite relationship between industry, academia and governmental agencies so that the country can become a global leader in Display Technology; and To develop Human Resources in Display Technology.

Mr. Satish Kaura (BT/EE/1966), Chairman and MD of Samtel Group of Industries, the first awardee of Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kanpur has been the principal motivator, resource provider and conceptualizer in establishing the center. He is the co-chairman of the Apex Committee of the Centre.

Prof. K. R. Sarma is currently Technology Advisor to Samtel Group of Industries, and was one of the most revered former faculty members of IIT Kanpur who helped shape the institute in its founding years. With his experience in academia and industry, intimate knowledge of people and institutions, he continues to be the most important link in this experiment.

H R Kadim Diwan Building With a generous donation of over Rs. 8 crores ($1.9 Million) from a distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur (who wants his name to be used sparingly), the CSE department now has a new building. The building is called the H R Kadim Diwan Building.

The building is situated next to the Computer Center. It is a three-storey building with total constructed area of 31,000 square feet. The building has been designed to support a maximum faculty size of 28. It has three classrooms where one can hold classes of sizes 100, 50, and 40 approximately. There is students' lounge with lockers and some furniture. There are three meeting-cum-discussion rooms. PhD students will have their own rooms. There are also rooms for research staff. The lab can accomodate 160 users at a time. This is in addition to those who work from their offices or in research groups. The lab space can be increased for another 50-60 users by minor modifications in the future.

Rao and Satya Remala Foundationa Travel Support Program Rao and Satya Remala Foundation donated US$100,000 to the IIT Kanpur Foundation to support Ph.D. students in Computer Science and Engineering Department in IIT Kanpur.

This program is designed to minimize the opportunity cost of doing a Ph.D. and to increase interaction of Ph.D. students with international researchers. It is hoped that this program will also help in attracting good students to the Ph.D. program of CSE/IITK.

Program offers: International travel to attend conferences/workshops/summer schools/... ; home travel scheme; some extra financial support over and above their fellowship (through part-time work) Procurement of books/journals, and membership to professional societies/bodies; special equipment/software for research.

Background on the Donor

Rao Remala (MT/CSE) was born and raised in Kothaplam Village, Andhra Pradeh. His father was a rice farmer, and his early educationwas at the village school, which involved a daily trek of 12 miles. His innate brilliance in mathematics and science, however saw him complete school with top honors, and he joined the nearby REC Warangal College, from where he gruaduated in 1971 with highest honors. He then went on to obtain a Master in Technology in Computer science from IIT Kanpur.

Rao started his profesional career at Delhi Cloth Mills (DCM). Later when Shiv Nadar left to start Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL) Rao went with him, and started the software division. Rao moved to the US in 1981 and became Microsoft's 39th employee and the first Indian to join the company. In a 20-year tenure with Microsoft, he worked on a slew of the company's best known products - Basic, Cobol Compiler, Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, OLE 1.0, OLE 2.0, Office 95, Office 97. He held a range of positions from individual contributor, to Group Manager, to Product Unit Manager and was an integral part of the team that virtually defined the personal computing industry.

Rao, now lives in a Bellevue with his wife and daughters, and is determined to contribute to a variety of social goals. He recently funded an initiative at Hyderabad's L.V. Prasad Eye Institute to provide eye care to the poor, and is working to develop an education program for economically deprived students in Andhra Pradesh.

Visiting Faculty Apartments

Bio-Sciences & Bio-engineering Department A major R&D and HRD initiative was undertaken at IIT Kanpur with the funds (Rs. 11.90 crore) pledged by then Hon'ble Union Minister, Shri Arun Shourie in the year 2000 under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). These developments are unprecedented in the history of the Institute and also that of the allocation of MPLADS, namely, its pledge for scientific research and development. The event also highlights a deep commitment of Mr. Arun Shourie to the cause of science and technology and the aspiration of the Institute to undertake research and teaching in some of the most challenging areas of modern biology. Incidentally, the program also began at the time when the news and excitement of the completion of the Human Genome project was sweeping across the entire global scientific community. The initiative is multi-disciplinary because modern biology and bioengineering now represent fusion of all the disciplines of basic sciences and engineering.

Conceived in August 2001, this building was designed to meet two distinct purpose. Firstly, state-of-the-art research laboratories for Biological Sciences & Bioengineering and secondly, teaching, training and research. Covering a floor area of Building of 64000 sq.ft., it houses 16 Labs for research along with central instrumentation facility, 2 teaching Labs, Seminar Hall of a capacity of 80, Administrative block, Library, Canteen and ancillary facilities. The building embodies several conceptual frame works. These include segregation of the Teaching Labs, meeting/seminar rooms from the research labs, provide for a conducive, interactive, open working environment. A hallmark of this building is the central courtyard and a 3 floor covered atrium with open staircases to relieve the visual monotony of an enclosed indoor space and also provide an interactive area outside the labs.

Professor S. Sampath Chair Family members, friends and admirers of Professor S. Sampath, former Director, IIT Kanpur have taken the initiative to establish the "Professor S. Sampath Chair" at IIT Kanpur.

The idea was to raise at least Rs. 20 lakhs towards the corpus and from the interest pay an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month to the incumbent of the chair. It was assumed that the chair position would be offered to an outstanding researcher (Professor) in IIT Kanpur so that he/she would receive the honorarium, in addition to the salary. The appointment would normally be for a period of three years. The proposal was approved in principle by the Senate and the Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur.

The response from the friends, relatives and admirers of Professor Sampath and the alumni of IIT Kanpur has been overwhelming. At a formal function in the Institute, Professor S. Ranganathan, IISc Bangalore, the younger brother of Professor Sampath and who has been spearheading the fund raising handed over the list of collections to the Director IIT Kanpur, on April 15, 2005.

Professor Dhande appreciated the gesture in memory of the former Director. He recalled the valuable services rendered by Professor Sampath to the Institute during the troubled days of early 1980's and announced the establishment of the Chair at IIT Kanpur to commemorate the 80th birthday of Professor Sampath, which falls on April 16, 2005.

It is hoped that people will continue to come forward and contribute generously to this cause. All donations from within India are 100% tax deductible under section 80G of Indian Income Tax. Donors in the US can avail 100% tax deduction by routing the donations through IIT Kanpur Foundation in the United States.

Donors not in the United States may send cheque payable to IIT Kanpur Endowment Fund and mail it to: Professor Sudhir K. Jain, Dean, Resource Planning and Generation, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur - 208016 (UP), INDIA.

Donors in the United States may send the check payable to IIT Kanpur Foundation and mail it to Mr. Abhay Bhushan, CFO, IIT Kanpur Foundation, 3838 Mumford Place, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA, Phone: 650-868-6645

Donors are requested to specify clearly in the covering letter that the amount is for Professor S. Sampath Chair. All contributions, large or small, will be deeply appreciated

N. Rama Rao Chair The N. Rama Rao Chair was set up in the year 1998 in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering by a generous corpus of over Rs 65 Lakhs, set by one of the distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur (who wishes that his name be used sparingly) in the memory of his father Mr. N. Rama Rao .

The basic objective of the chair is to encourage research and development work in all areas of Computer Science. There are three modes of operation that the Chair allow:

In mode 1 , occupancy by a Full Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur for 5 years, extensible to 10 years. In mode 2 , occupancy for 1 year or 1 semester for eminent researchers from around the world, of any nationality. In mode 3 , short term occupancy (upto a few weeks) by top-class computer science researchers from around the world of any nationality. Besides, the chair also supports a Distinguished Lecture Series A complete list of occupants of this chair is available here.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering encourages any reputed computer scientist who is interested in associating with the Department in any of the three modes to contact the Head of the Department. For any other information also, contact the Head ( head@cse.iitk.ac.in ).

Mode 1
Any well reputed Computer Science researcher from any part of the world can apply. The occupant of the Chair will also hold a regular Professor position in Computer Science and Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur. This mode is likely to be of interest primarily to researchers of Indian Origin.
The salary for the occupant will be that of a senior Full Professor, which is around Rs 30,000 per month. In addition, the Institute will provide a bunglow-style, 3-bedroom house on campus. Travel cost will also be reimbursed. From the Chair endowment, the occupant will get every year a grant of about Rs 3.75 lakhs, which can be used for travel, equipment, hiring staff, etc. It may be pointed out that for graduate students, the Institute provides full scholarship from its own funds (and the grant does not have to support them).

Mode 2
Any well reputed computer scientist from any part of the world, of any nationality, can apply. This mode is best for faculty and researchers who wish to spend their Sabbaticals and Leave in India.
In this mode, the occupant will be given a salary or honorarium consistent with his/her experience (likely to be between Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 per month.) In addition, the occupant will have from the endowment a grant of about Rs. 3.75 lakhs for one year. This can be used to cover the travel expenses of the occupant (both domestic and international travel), and other contingency expenses. The Department will provide accommodation on Campus, which can also be furnished.
It is expected that during the stay, the occupant will offer one course every semester, and strengthen the research program in the Department in his/her area. B.Tech. projects and M.Tech. thesis may also be guided.

Mode 3
Any well reputed computer scientist from any part of the world, of any nationality, can apply. This is the most unstructured mode, and anything is workable in it. The visit duration should be such that both the Department and the occupant can derive suitable benefits. In this mode, the occupant will be given a honorarium of about Rs. 1,000 per day. In addition, the occupant's travel expenses, and other contingency expenses, can be covered by the Chair endowment. The occupant will also be provided accommodation in the Guest House of IITK campus (which is furnished and also has dining facilities).
It is expected that during the stay, the occupant will give some seminars, offer some workshop, collaborate with faculty members in suitable courses, and provide inputs to strengthen the research program in the Department in his/her area.

Poonam & Prabhu Goel Chair Dr. Prabhkar (Prabhu) Goel, a distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur, and his wife Mrs. Poonam Goel have created an endowment of $160,000 to set up the ``Poonam and Prabhu Goel Chair'' at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur in the area of ``Internet Space''.

Scope of the Chair

Internet today is the fastest growing medium for communication and conducting business. It will continue to revolutionize all aspects of life. The basic objective of the Chair is to support R&D work in Internet Technologies and related areas. The Internet space can be considered as having three major sub-areas:
(a) Supporting technologies for the Internet, like high speed networking, ATM, new communication protocols, etc.,
(b) Internet based new technologies - these comprise concepts and technologies that use the basic network and add value, e.g., search engines, browsers, plug-ins, distance education technologies, audio/video players, security/encryption etc., and
(c) E-Business - this area deals with software, business models, legal issues, etc., related to doing business on the Internet. The Chair will support R&D and teaching in any of these three sub-areas.

To augment its resources, IIT Kanpur has created an Endowment Fund for receiving donations from its alumni, industry, philanthropic organizations and well-wishers. All donations to the Endowment Fund qualify for tax exemption, under section 80G. In addition to the donations, savings from the non-plan funds and R&D projects, net earnings from continuing education and the interest on the corpus are also transferred to the Endowment Fund. Specific purpose donations are used as per the donors' wishes. The accounts for all such donations are separately maintained and audited, and the utilization report is sent to the donor. Any undesignated donation is transferred to the corpus of the Endowment Fund. Interest earnings of the corpus are used for the developmental or operational activities of the Institute, only after the specific approval of the Board of Governors.

Joy Gill Endowment Fund Ajit Gill (BT/EE/1969) has pledged US$100,000 as Endowment Fund to be named as 'Joy Gill Endowment Fund' to support Bio Science and Bio Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur.

Prabhu Goel Research Centre for Computer and Internet Security The Prabhu Goel Research Centre for Computer and Internet Security at IIT Kanpur was established by Dr. Prabhu Goel with a generous grant of US$ 1million. The centre was inaugurated on June 3, 2003 by Dr. Vidyasagar, Executive Vice President, Advanced Technology Centre, TCS Hyderabad.

Dr. Prabhakar (Prabhu) Goel (BT/EE/1970) is a distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur, and is a well-known entrepreneur. He is the chairman of iPolicy Networks, company dealing with hi-Tech security. He has also established a Poonam and Prabhu Goel Chair at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur.

The vision of the centre is to become the nodal R&D centre in the country for all aspects of computer security and to educate various governmental and non-governmental organizations on the security issues and help them in this regard. The centre is therefore undertaking research, training, and consulting activities in the area of computer and Internet security. The centre also collaborates with defence and security agencies in developing various security technologies. IIT Kanpur has already been doing work in the area of Computer Security.