Conference in the memory of
Prof. Pravir Dutt, Prof. Arbind K Lal and Prof. Sudipta Dutta

Department of Mathematics & Statistics

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
 

Program Title and Abstracts Survey Article    
         

 

Date: November 5, 6, 7 2022

Time: 09:00 AM (IST)

Venue: Pioneer Batch Continuing Education Centre (PBCEC), Visitor's Hostel, IIT Kanpur

 

Pravir Dutt (1958 - 2021), completed his schooling from the Don Bosco School (Kolkata) in 1975 and then obtained MSc (Five year integrated) degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur in the year 1980. Subsequently, he obtained PhD degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, in the year 1985. After a brief stint (1985-1987) at the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA, Pravir joined IIT Kanpur as a faculty in the Department of Mathematics (since renamed as Department of Mathematics & Statistics), in 1987 and was promoted to the post of Professor in 2001.
Pravir was a researcher par excellence who is well regarded for his outstanding contributions in the areas of Numerical Solutions of PDEs, Spectral Element Methods, Fluid Mechanics and Parallel Computing. More than a dozen PhD candidates finished their thesis under his supervision in diverse areas of Applied Mathematics. Apart from excelling in his research areas, Pravir was a true scholar having in depth knowledge of other areas of Mathematics, Indian Mythology, World History and World Politics. To discuss any of these topics with him was always an enriching experience. Additionally, Pravir was a kind and compassionate person who consistently cared about the underprivileged. He is very much missed.

 

 

 

Arbind Kumar Lal (1966 - 2021), completed his schooling from the Sainik School, Tilaiyaa in 1983 and then proceeded to obtain BA (Math, Honors; 1983-86) from the Hansraj College, Delhi. Following this, he did a M Stat (1986-88) and PhD (1988-93), both from ISI Delhi. After brief stints at TIFR Mumbai and HRI Allahabad, Arbind joined IIT Kanpur, as a faculty in the Department of Mathematics (since renamed as Department of Mathematics & Statistics), in 1996.
Arbind served IIT Kanpur in an exemplary manner till his sudden demise. His research expertise was in areas related to linear algebra, graph theory and combinatorics. He made seminal contributions to these areas. In addition to his crystal clear lectures, students universally loved him for his genuine concern and support for their well-being. He also contributed liberally to Institute administration, as Head of the Department (Mathematics and Statistics), Chairman of the Senate Undergraduate Committee, President of the Staff Gymkhana, Games Counsellor, and Vice-Chairman, GATE.
Arbind was an embodiment of sportsmanship and excelled as a badminton player. Popularly known as “net samrat”, his net play and drop shots with pin-point accuracy took the breath away of the best of players. Arbind’s untimely demise left all who knew him shocked. He is sorely missed.

 

 

 

Sudipta Dutta (1976 - 2017) did his B.Stat. (1997), M.Stat. (1999) and Ph.D. (2004) at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata. After a brief stint at the Ben Gurion University, Israel, he joined IIT Kanpur as Assistant Professor in July, 2007, and became Professor in 2016.
Sudipta’s research interests included Banach space theory, Operator spaces and Abstract harmonic analysis. He was quite well-known in his area. In the short span of less than 13 years, he published about 25 articles, all in premier journals. He was awarded the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Fellowship in 2008-09, and the P K Kelkar Young Research Fellowship of IIT Kanpur. Two students got their Ph.D. degrees under his supervision. He was supervising the thesis of a third student at the time of his demise. Sudipta’s contribution to the department as part of different committees was immense. With Sudipta’s untimely and shocking demise, the department lost a star faculty. His immaculate wit and humour is missed. The impact that Sudipta has left behind in the tragically short life he lived will endure forever.

 

Speakers:    
  • Pradipta Bandyopadhyay, ISI Kolkata

  • T. S.S. R. K. Rao, Shiv Nadar Univ

  • P. Shunmugaraj, IIT Kanpur

  • Abdullah Bin Abu Baker, IIIT Allahabad

  • Divya Khurana, IIM Ranchi

  • Aryaman Sensarma, ISI Bangalore

 

  • R. B. Bapat, ISI Delhi
  • Sukanta Pati, IIT Guwahati
  • Kamal L. Patra, NISER Bhubaneswar
  • Bikas Bhattacharjya, IIT Guwahati
  • S. Reddy, Shiv Nadar University
  • S. Sivasubramanian, IIT Bombay
  • Sumit Mohanty, IIM Ranchi

 

  • S C S Rao, IIT Delhi
  • L. K. Balyan, IIITDM Jabalpur
  • Akhalaq Husain, BML Munjal University
  • Arbaz Khan, IIT Roorkee
  • Peeyush Singh,VIT-AP
  • Subhashree Mohapatra, IIIT Delhi
  • K. K. Naraparaju, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad