`IIT must provide holistic learning experience'

MUMBAI:"Can IIT-B be the institute where ideas germinate and take shape? Fifty yearsfrom now, can we visualise IIT-B playing a crucial role in the country'sdecision-making process,'' asked Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the institute'sboard of governors. Kakodkar was speaking at the 50th foundation day of theinstitute's Powai campus.Giving the example of a much cited researchpaper of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on recycling of nuclearwaste, Kakodkar said he wanted IIT-B to provide a "holistic learningexperience'' in which the current avenues of learning are broadened. He said hewished to see IIT-B provide technical solution for India'sneeds.IIT-B director Devang Khakhar said a team of senior facultywould chart out the road that the institute would take in the times to come. "Wewant to grow as a university of technology, and focus on research that makes adifference,'' he said while listing out the goalsidentified.Thursday also marked the end of the institute's year-longgolden jubilee celebrations. A book containing collection of sepia and recentpictures-Punctuations: A photographic journey through the IIT Bombay campus-wasreleased. Chetan Solanki, a faculty, who put the book together spoke of howjeans-clad students have replaced those with bellbottoms.Distinguished alumni awards were given out to Ajit Ranade,chief economist at Aditya Birla Group; Dhirendra Nath Buragohain, CTO at CivilEngineering Network System; Chetan Chitnis, senior research scientist atInternational Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and GirishGaitonde, CEO, Xoriant Corporation. Distinguished faculty awards were awarded toChandra Venkataraman and Sambasivarao Kotha.