Spotlight

IIT Kanpur organized a two-week (February 19th to March 4th, 2021) Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP-2020) in New Delhi. The training program included lectures, experiential learning, group discussions, special evening talks and problem-solving sessions. The Programme was inaugurated by the Distinguished alumnus of IITK, Mr. R. K. Mathur, Hon. L. G. of Ladakh. The goal of the programme was to develop leadership skills of the academicians, teach them the principles and practices of good governance and to handle responsibility. It was coordinated by Prof. Avinash Kumar Agarwal.

Mr. Kapil Kaul joined as the first CEO of IIT Kanpur Development Foundation. IITK DF, a section 8 company promoted by IIT Kanpur. The Company would work to meet the growing requirements of substantial resource generation and matching the expectations of our donors and partners.

The first session of ‘You & I’ (You & Institute) was held on 30 Jan 2021 with the batches of ‘80, ‘83, ‘84, ‘85 and ‘86. Prof. Karandikar discussed some new initiatives especially the Dept. of Cognitive Sciences & Dept. of Sustainable Energy Engineering, IITK Development Foundation, and the School of Medical Research and Technology.

The second session of ‘You & I’ was held on 27 Feb 2021 with the class of ‘79, ‘81, ‘82, ‘91 and ‘92 and the Director, Prof. Abhay Karandikar discussed the institute's developments and future plans. In this session, the key speakers were Mr. Kamalesh Dwivedi, Alok Agarwal, Atul Sharan, Ms. Anjali Joshi, Ajay Gupta, S Sriram, Rajat Mittal, Ashish Xavier, Sanjiv Rangrass who shared their vision and views for the need of research required in the field of medical science.

IITK Incubated start-up, PHOOL received the prestigious BIRAC Innovator Award 2021 for their innovative product FLEATHER during the Global Bio – India 2021. FLEATHER is a cruelty-free bio alternative to animal leather made from temple flowers and farm waste.

The Team of Prof. Siddhartha Panda and Dr. Prabha Verma developed an algorithm for chemical sensors to detect the freshness of perishable milk products and their degradation at NCFLEX, IIT Kanpur that was licensed to Kapla Innovative Solution, Gujarat and an MoU was signed between the two parties.

IIT Kanpur signed an MoU with Punjab National Bank, India to set up a Fintech Innovation Centre. The Centre is being set up to do research & develop technological solutions to address challenges & explore opportunities in banking, financial services, and insurance.

Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) and Startup Incubation and Innovation Center, IIT Kanpur, signed an MoU to collaborate on entrepreneurship development across borders and to provide a gateway of opportunities to tech-based start-ups. The event was graced by Dr. T. Chandroo, Chairman, SICCI, Mr. Maneesh Tripathi, Vice-Chairman, SICCI, Mr. Tushar Doshi, Board Director, SICCI, Mr. Johnson Paul, CEO, SICCI, Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, Professor In-charge, Innovation, & Incubation, IIT Kanpur, and Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, CEO, SIIC IITK.

Technopark@iitk & IIM Lucknow-Enterprise Incubation Center signed an MoU that will provide an opportunity to technology start-ups graduating from the IIML incubator to gain an insight into the IITK ecosystem, explore possibilities of R&D collaboration and set up their offices within Technopark premises.

The C3iCenter hub, IIT Kanpur and HCL Technologies signed an MoU to collaborate on cybersecurity. C3i will work on providing solutions to relevant problems addressed by HCL Technologies and HCL will work towards commercialization on the technologies developed at the institute.

IIT Kanpur celebrated National Science Day with lectures on Sustainable Energy delivered by eminent faculty members Prof. Ashish Garg (Dept. of Sustainable Energy Engineering), Prof. Sameer Khandekar, (Head, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering), Prof. Jishnu Bhattacharya (Dept. of Mechanical Engineering).

Endure Air Systems Pvt. Ltd. developed Vibram, an autonomous unmanned helicopter drone of 15 kg, under the guidance of Prof. Abhishek (Dept. of Aerospace Engineering). With superior wind tolerance, it can be used to transport medicines and vaccines to remote areas of the country having poor accessibility. Vibram was displayed in India Pavilion at Aero India 2021 in February. The design was also a winner of the 2021 endurance challenge organized by NIST (USA).

Air Sampling Device, a low-cost technology for efficient air sampling, for bioaerosol & particulate matter was transferred to Airshed Pvt. Ltd. for commercialization. The technology has been developed by Prof. Tarun Gupta & his PhD student, Dr. Amit Singh Chauhan.




Giving Back

IIT Kanpur and JK Cotton Ltd. signed an MoU to institute Shri Y. P. Singhania Memorial Chair at the Institute in memory of the distinguished alumnus, Shri Yadhupati Singhania. The Chair, with an Endowment of INR 125 lakhs, aims to promote research in cutting-edge technology in engineering sciences for the improvement of life on earth. It would be given to any faculty of IITK from engineering departments for a period of three years.





IIT Kanpur and Micky and Vinita Pant Charitable Fund signed an MoU amounting to US$ 2.5 million to support the establishment of School of Medical Research and Technology (SMRT). It is the first such donation towards development of SMRT in the Institute. Mr. Muktesh Pant is the Founder of Micky and Vinita Charitable Fund and Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Kanpur. Mr Muktesh Pant said, “The vision of a world-class medical school at IIT Kanpur is extremely exciting. The current team, under the able leadership of Prof. Karandikar, inspires great confidence. IIT Kanpur has always been renowned for leading the way in engineering education and this focus on bringing engineering excellence to medical technology has the potential to create many healthcare miracles in future. Vinita and I are delighted to be able to help in starting this exciting new chapter.”

CSR Initiatives

IIT Kanpur and Citibank signed MoU of INR 2.86 cr. under CSR initiatives for the Citi Social Innovation Lab that will nurture and promote early-stage high-impact for-profit start-up companies in sectors such as Agritech, Medtech and Fintech by providing them seed funding support, mentoring, handholding and network connections.