Ranbir (Ron) Singh Gupta, B.Arch 1970 IIT-Kharagpur and a top-notch architect in the US with his own company based in New York has given his alma-mater “Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management“, first such school of its kind in the world. His donation of $1 million is the second-highest endowment received by the institute. The Scholars’ Avenue talked to him about the upcoming school, its infrastructure, necessity and focus over a wonderful breakfast at The Tech Guest House. Excerpts from the interview: (more…)

Profile:
October 1957. The first artificial satellite, Sputnik -1, a Russian Scientific marvel sprang into orbit. With it, rocketed the aspirations of a small boy in a Mine Town of West Virginia. Defying destiny which was bound to shackle him to the mines of Appalachians, Homer Hickam went on to become one of the greatest engineers America has ever produced.

Colonel E. M. Fincke

Colonel Edward Michael Fincke, USAF,  is an American astronaut, who spent April to October 2004, on board the International Space Station as flight engineer. He is scheduled to be the Commander of ISS Expedition 18, launching on a Soyuz spacecraft in October 2008. ICTACEM brought him to IITKGP this December 2007, and we at The Scholars’ Avenue, never too far behind from the flurry of any venerable activity in campus, caught up with him.

He greets us with a typically foreign accented “Namaskar” and ample not-so-typical warmth. While waving at everybody present, he entertains the endless requests of people trying to share a frame with him. The beaming smile never falters. He punctuates his conversation with an occasional “theek ache”, which he says is one of the few Bengali words he has picked up. Decked up in a spacesuit, he stands out amongst the crowd. The man has spent six months in space but surely has his feet firmly grounded. In the more comfortable and quiet setting of his guest house, we fire away.

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Prof. Anupam Basu

Prof. Soumitro Banerjee

The Scholars’ Avenue talks to Prof. Soumitro Banerjee (EE) and Prof. Anupam Basu (CSE)about the campus protest march against the Nandigram killings.

AB : Anupam Basu, CSE
SB : Soumitro Banerjee, EE

TSA: We noticed there were 3 undergraduate students among a procession of over 200 people. Does the apparent nonchalance of the UG population disturb you ? (more…)