Know Your University: A BITS2MSPhD and Embryo Initiative

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BITS2MSPhD and Embryo are proud to announce the launch of our newest initiative – Know Your University, a cross-campus lecture series aimed at giving BITSians a glimpse of graduate school life at top research universities across the world. The series kicks off with a panel discussion by three graduate students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on 16 February at 8 PM IST.

The panel will be moderated by Yash Gandhi, Team Leader, BITS2MSPhD. Here is a brief introduction to our panelists for this talk.

Andrea Colaço (2003A3PS007P) is a Ph.D. student at the MIT Media Lab and an affiliate with the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. Her research interests include statistical signal processing and optimization with applications to 3D sensing. Among her achievements at MIT are the award of LG Electronics Fellow (2009), winning the MIT $100k Entrepreneurship Competition’s Pitch Contest (2012), and twice winning Qualcomm Innovation Research Fellowship (2011, 2012).

Ashok Ajoy graduated from BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus with a dual degree in Physics and EEE. He joined MIT’s Research Lab of Electronics as a Ph.D. student in September 2010, and currently works on exploiting spin defects for quantum computation. His past research experience includes stints at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and University of Dortmund at Germany.

Subramanian Sundaram (2005A3A4550P) joined MIT as an ABB-MIT Energy Fellow in 2011. He currently works in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at MIT, where he builds MEMS oscillators. Earlier, Subra worked on tunable MEMS gratings at EPFL, Switzerland, and on carbon nanotube based bio-sensors at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Germany. During his free time, Subra enjoys photography, coding, biking, running, sailing and ice skating.

A Look at 2012 and a Thought for 2013

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As 2012 comes to a close and we welcome 2013, the Alumni Membership team at BITSAA International thought it would make sense to have a look at how membership numbers have changed over the year.  The team decided to publish some of the stats, and come with some insights on these numbers. If you have ideas on how we can improve these numbers and bring in more registrations, we are all ears – Shoot out an email to membership-team@bitsaa.org and we will be happy to learn from you.

We have grown a lot this year. In 2011, we got 1354 registrations; this year we got 2551. That is just more than an 88% increase in growth! As the awareness of BITSAA International keeps on increasing registrations steadily keep moving upwards as well.

Today I would like to share an interesting observation with you.  So, numbers are increasing and that is a very positive sign and it got us thinking.  What is it that actually makes the greatest difference to our numbers? Its word of mouth! The simplest yet most effective form of communication used over centuries.  We often underestimate this force in today’s world, with the power of technology at our hands, with our mobile phones in our pockets and our tablets in our hands (not to forget our laptop in our bags).  We feel that it does not have a place in our life anymore, we disregard its power and toss it away like spoilt milk or old clothes in our wardrobe.

With the New Year around the corner, it is time we change this. Each BITSian should take a small step, a resolution to help our Alma Mater in a simple effective way.

Tell every BITSian you meet this year to join BITSAA International!

I doubt that will take a lot of work :-), but I’m pretty sure it will make a huge difference. Let us make sure we make some noise, and have all our friends registered. Now, you know, what to ask, when you talk to them after a long time.

I would also like to formally hand over to the batch of 1984, next years Silver Jubilee batch the pressure of trying to reel in more registrations than 1983 this year. I wish them the very best for the new year now that the torch has been passed on!

PS: Yes, we are here – the world hasn’t come to an end just yet!

BITSConnect 2.0 – The journey so far

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2 years of all the hard-work  planning, and anticipation come to fruition with the inauguration of BITS Connect 2.0 on Jan 9th and 10th ! Our alma mater will take its first step in becoming a world class private university with the state of the art TelePresence installations. We at BITSAA International are thrilled – to say the least !

The team has been publishing a series of newsletters covering the idea of the game changing project, how BITSConnect 2.0 will change the way the world looks at BITS Pilani and the passionate BITSians who have generously donated for the project. If you had missed out on reading the newsletters, here’s a quick recap on what’s been happening around the BITS Connect 2.0 front

    • The Bridges to the Future fundraising Campaign was formally launched on Dec 6, 2011 with the flagship initiative being BITSConnect 2.0. Here’s a snapshots of the events so far http://www.bitsaa.org/news/109013/
    • Two BITSians scripted one of the first BITSian entrepreneurial success stories in the US and then generously donated US$ 100K towards a TelePresence room at the BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus. http://www.bitsaa.org/news/111338/
    • Two BITSians join hands to pay Gurudakshina to their favorite Professor at BITS – They donate $50K for BITS Connect 2.0 and name a TelePresence room in Goa campus after Prof. Handa – http://www.bitsaa.org/news/112178/
    • Young BITSian entrepreneurs talk about how BITS and BITSians supported them in their entrepreneurial journey. As a pay-back, they donate $50K towards a TelePresence room in Pilani Campus  –  http://www.bitsaa.org/news/112322/

You can also watch the inauguration from the confines of your home – Connect with us via our Facebook page and stay updated about the webcast of the launch !

Spread the word about BITS Connect 2.0. Feel Proud to be a BITSian !

Wear your BITS Tshirt to Work day – Dates Postponed

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BITSAA International had announced the ‘Wear your BITS Tshirt to work’ day on 11th Jan, 2013 – When BITSian across the world would show their Support for BITS Connect 2.0 by wearing their BITS Tshirts to their work-places.

We loved the enthusiasm that BITSians have shown and truly appreciate their coming together supporting BITS Pilani’s flagship project.

We received an overwhelming response from BITSians across the globe to participate in the campaign. Unfortunately, catering to the large orders and shipping them around the peak holiday season posed logistic problems – and we are forced us to postpone the ‘Wear your BITS Tshirt to Work’ day to a later date.

BITS Pilani is entering its 50th year of functioning as a private university and the BITS administration is gearing up for grand celebrations across all 4 BITS campuses.This will be a bigger project and a bigger initiative for BITsians to show their support. The Wear your BITS Tshirt to work day will now coincide with the Golden Jubilee celebrations at BITS slated in the next academic year. We will keep you posted on the exact dates!

Stay tuned for more updates on the campaign and look forward to your enthusiastic participation next year !

BITSian set to conquer Antarctica!

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Bandan Jot Singh, a BITSian from the batch of 2005-2010, has been selected as a team member on the International Antarctic Expedition (IAE), 2013. The expedition will be led by Sir Robert Swan, the first person to walk both the North Pole and the South Pole.

The expedition, which is organized by the 2041 Foundation , aims at creating leaders for education, environment and sustainability across the globe through a leadership and sustainability program called ‘Leadership on the Edge’. More than 60 people from about 20 countries will be part of the expedition which starts from the port of Ushuaia, Argentina.

The selection for the expedition has been very carefully done to identify potential sustainability leaders for a greener future. Through a network of industry and academia, Bandan has been working in the domain of renewable & alternative energy with a focus on ‘Sustainability in Energy’ initiatives. Some of the key features of his work include:

  • Consulting in the establishment of research divisions in the energy domain, including initiatives such as Energy Monitoring and Storage in IITs.
  • Working with technology companies in Alternative Energy to help achieve less dependency on pollution-producing fuels like coal.
  • Collaborating with companies to set up Energy Control and Monitoring for Smart Micro-grids in rural areas through the Community Entrepreneur Model.

The expedition, which will kick off in March 2013, is being covered by leading print media publications, news channels and social media. Last year, companies like Airtel, Coca-Cola , Shell, BP and even smaller firms sponsored the Indian who was part of the expedition team.

Kudos to Bandan Jot for making BITSians proud! We wish him all the luck 🙂

You can follow live updates of the exciting story leading to the Antarctica Expedition in March 2013 on the Expedition Blog: http://goingtosouthpole.tumblr.com/. You can also get in touch with Bandan at goingtosouthpole@gmail.com to find out more and to send your good wishes.