Volume 4 Issue 3 September 2011Newsletter of IISc Alumni Association

Young Minds at IIScEarlier this year, IISc admitted a batch of undergraduate students for the first time in the history. These students joined the Institute exactly 100 years after the first batch of students entered its portals in 1911. This marks a highly significant event in the annals of undergraduate science education in India. It is expected that the unique and carefully designed undergraduate programme of IISc will become the model that will be adopted by other Indian universities and academic institutions in the years to come.

The students enrolled in the undergraduate programme of IISc will obtain a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree after four years (eight semesters) of study. The uniqueness of this programme lies in its interdisciplinary character, strong flavour of engineering, exposure to humanities and social sciences, and early involvement in research. A novel mode of undergraduate training has been conceived in which all courses are taught in an knowledge and skills by taking about 30% of the courses from

other streams. The programme culminates in the fourth year with specialized courses and a research project carried out under the supervision of a faculty member of IISc.

The Institute plans to offer admission to about 110 students every year. Students who have opted for the science stream at the 10+2 level are eligible to apply for admission to the BS course. They can qualify for admission through existing national-level examinations such as KVPY, IIT-JEE, AIEEE, and AIPMT. 84 students have joined the inaugural batch of the BS programme. About 50% of these students have qualified through different streams of the KVPY programme and the remaining students are distributed almost uniformly among the three other channels of entry.

Chandan Dasgupta

Inaugural batch with Director and Guests

Next generation scientists at discussion

Budding scientists

active research atmosphere. The undergraduate programme is designed to strengthen the link between classroom learning and active research, making this an integral part of the undergraduate experience.

Students enrolled in the BS programme take compulsory core courses in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Engineering and Humanities in the first three semesters. These courses provide a systematic exposure to the pillars of scientific, mathematical and engineering principles. The students choose a subject for specialization at the beginning of the fourth semester. Specializations on offer are Physics, Chemistry Mathematics, Biology, Materials and Environmental Science. While a student specializes in a stream, he/she is encouraged to broaden his/her

President�s Message EditorialDear Readers,

On behalf of the Editorial Board, I sincerely thank the former editor Dr. K. S. Rajanandam and other members for successfully bringing out the newsletter till this date. With the newly constituted Editorial Board, Prof. T. Srinivas, Dr.N.C.Shivaprakash and Mr. N. Sivakumar, we launch the current issue. In each quarterly issue, we disseminate relevant information regarding the unique programmes initiated in the Institute, for example, the UG programme cited in this newsletter. We publish various activities of Alumni Association and its chapters, Departmental information, new facilities, Students' Council, etc. Our vision is to reach out to a larger audience globally.

This year is the centenary year of the discovery of the radioactive elements by Marie Curie and is considered the year of chemistry. It is dedicated to cherish the contribution of women scientists in chemistry. It is also the centenary of the IUPAC. All over the world many activities are planned to popularise the role of chemistry in society and its interdisciplinary nature. It is believed that the origin and secrets of life lie in chemistry. In today's world everyone should know chemistry.

I take this opportunity to wish the newly joined undergraduate students the very best of luck in all their future endeavours. Please feel free to express your views about our newsletter by email: iiscaanlg@yahoo.com

H K Anasuya Devi

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Students' CouncilThe Students' Council (SC) is the apolitical and elected representative body of the entire student community of the Indian Institute of Science. It is the interface between the students and the administration and works together to identify and address concerns that affect the students directly and indirectly. SC aims at the all round development of students and organize several extracurricular and cultural events through the year. It coordinates the student volunteer effort for the Institute events that are organized periodically.

Academic workload in an elite Institute like IISc tends to show its effects on even the most rugged of students. We have a student support network (SSN) where students volunteer to help their fellow students and counsel those in need of support. We take special measures and ensure that foreign,

QIP, married and UG students' specific problems are also handled efficiently. We have separate committees to deal with their specific problems.

Along with CSIC, we facilitate the placement process and ensure that our students are able to get best possible offers. We have a very active social and environmental activity wing and we indulge in various initiatives like Help the Needy, Blood donation camp, tree plantation programme, waste segregation, attempts to minimize water and electricity usage, etc. We plan to keep a wider perspective and identify and address issues of national importance and suggest systemic reforms through our Nation First Initiative.

As the representative body of the students of the institute, we would like to state that the alumni does play a big role in the welfare of their alma mater. We would like to acknowledge and thank the alumni for their participation, support, encouragement and guidance in various endeavours like the SnT Run (jointly organized by Alumni Association and Students' Council) and Knowledge Exchange Program/Mentor cloud. We are sure that our alumni will continue to participate actively in institute activities and to support us in the future as they have done in the past. We encourage the current students to make full use of the alumni wealth of expertise and experience (through programmes like Knowledge Exchange) and reach their potential.

Email: scouncil@tejas.serc.iisc.ernet.in Website: http://www.iisc.ernet.in/scouncil

Phone : 080-2293 2653

Sreevalsan Kolathayar and Pankaj Jain

Dear Colleagues,

At the outset, I would like to record my great appreciation

and thanks to the outgoing team of Office Bearers and

Executive Committee of IISc. Alumni Association ably led by

Dr. K. R. Srinivasan as President for last two years. In fact,

Dr. Srinivasan and his team have created a high benchmark with

vibrant activities & visibility of IISc. Alumni Association which

will make the task of the incoming team very challenging.

With all my humility and with the support and participation of

the new team we will definitely strive towards maintaining

the standards. One of my priorities will be to enhance the

networking among the alumni which will lead to a lot of

functional fallout and feeling of oneness.

I would welcome your valuable suggestions on your vision

about our activities and on the role of IISc. Alumni Association

which will enhance the high image of our Alma Mater � Indian

Institute of Science. I look forward to an exciting period with

all your participation and innovative ideas.

V Babu Sathian

Students� Council new committee

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Applied Photonics Initiative (API)

Photonics is the science and technology involving light. Photonics is considered as the technology of this century like the electronics of last century. The subject spans a wide application domain. Recent advances in fiber optics have changed our communication scenario. Lasers have brought in a sea change in medical diagnosis and treatment. Photonics is considered as the route to Quantum Engineering. It is expected that many applications of electronics will be replaced with photonics in the near future.

IISc has a long history of optics and photonics research from the days of Sir. C.V. Raman. More recently, Prof. A. Selvarajan, Prof. A.K. Sood and others have made seminal contributions in various areas of photonics. With an idea to strengthen R & D in photonics, IISc has started a new interdisciplinary initiative (API) with a seed funding from IISc. API is attracting projects from other funding agencies like DRDO, NPMASS, DST etc. Envisaged activities of API include common research programs, new course programs, international conferences, workshops, seminars, educational and outreach activities.

High-resolution biological imaging, Large area image sensors and Displays, Fiber Optics Sensors, Bio-molecular sensing, Integrated optical devices, All optical Switching, Photonic Devices and Photonic Materials.

S Asokan (IAP)

Major Areas of Research :

Convenor :

Awards and Recognitions

l Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award, 2011 received by Dr. S Dasappa and Dr. N K S Rajan (Aerospace)

Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) - Prof. Navakantha Bhat (ECE)

Lifetime Achievement Award of The Electron Microscopy Society of India - Prof. Chattopadhyay (Materials Engg)

Jai Krishna Award of the INAE and JC Bose Fellowship from Dept. of Science and Tech - Prof. Banerjee (Materials Engg)

Technical Programme Chair, International conference on Science, Technology and Higher Education, July 2011, Krakow, Poland � Dr. N C Shivaprakash

IEEE has recognized IISc-IEEE Students Chapter under university partnership program (UPP). IISc is one among seventeen universities all over the world recognized

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Nano Photonic device FBG Fabrication Facilitycharacterization facility

T Srinivas

IIScAA Science Forum - Popular Lecture Series

The Fourteenth Lecture (June 18, 2011)

The Fifteenth Lecture (July 16, 2011)

The Sixteenth Lecture (August 27, 2011)

Topic :

Speaker :

Moderator :

�Energy for the Millions : the challenge of the Century�.

Dr. V. S. Arunachalam, Chairman, Centre for study of Science, Technology & Policy, Bangalore

Dr. V. K. Aatre

Topic :

Speaker :

Moderator :

Incredible Nano : Hype or Reality?

Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Professor, Dept. of Physics, IISc and President, The Indian Academy of Sciences

Prof. B. N. Raghunandan

Topic :

Spea ker :

Moderator :

�Role of Food and Nutrition Security in the Sustainable Health and Wellness Chain� from - �Farm to Folk�

Dr. V. Prakas h, President, Nutrition Society of India and Former Director, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore.

Prof. N. Appaji Rao

H R Parthasarathy

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IIScAA Activities

Dear Members,

Greetings and Best Wishes from IISc. Alumni Association. The highlights of last quarter is the election of new executive committee for 2011-13 of IIScAA and presentation of various IIScAA awards.

The Annual General Body Meeting of IIScAA was held on Saturday, August 6, 2011 at the Faculty Hall, IISc. The Election to the Executive Committee of IIScAA for the year 2011-2013 was also held on the same day and Lt. Col. G. Rajaram, the Returning Officer, announced the Election results. 131 members attended the meeting and participated in the election. The following are the members elected for the Executive Committee of IISc. Alumni Association for the year 2011-2013 :

Mr. V. Babu Sathian (President ), Wg. Cdr. H. R. Parthasarathy (President Elect / Vice President I), Dr. K. S. Rajanandam (Vice President II), Dr. L. N. Satapathy (General Secretary ), Prof. H. K. Anasuya Devi (Joint Secretary), Mr. K. B. Anand (Treasurer);

Dr. N. C. Shivaprakash, Dr. H. N. Shankar, Prof. T. Srinivas, Dr. H. Sundaramurthy, Dr. S. Seetharamu, Dr. B. Ashok, Mr. C. D. Sankar Sastri, Dr. P. Raghothama Rao, Mr. N. Sivakumar and Mr. Shyam Vasudeva Rao.

On August 6, 2011, the awards for the year 2011, were presented by Prof. P. Balaram, Director, IISc. The Awards function was followed by Lunch at the Lawns of IISc. Alumni Association.

L N Satapathy

Editorial Board : H K Anasuya Devi (Editor), N C Shivaprakash, T Srinivas, N Sivakumar, K S RajanandamEmail: iiscaanlg@yahoo.com website: www.iiscalumni.com Phones : 23600180, 22932597

IIScAA Awardees

LT. Gen. (Dr.) V.J. Sundaram (Retd.) Advisor (Micro and Nano Systems), National Design and Research Forum and Former Director,

DRDL and RCL, Hyderabad (Distinguished Alumnus Award)

Dr. Ravi Bhushan Grover - Director, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai and

Principal Advisor, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Mumbai (Distinguished Alumnus Award)

Prof. V. Krishnan - Honorary Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced

Scientific Research, Bangalore (Distinguished Alumnus Award)

Prof. Anjali A. Karande -Dept. of Biochemistry, IISc

(Prof. S.K. Chatterjee Award)

Prof. M. R. S. Rao - President, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore

(Prof. N. Appaji Rao Best Mentor Award)