US-based IIT grads plan global meet in May

Indian Institute of Technology graduates, numbering an estimated 40,000 in the US, plan to hold a Global IIT Alumni Conference from May 20-22 in Washington to chalk out ways to enhance interaction among countries in an increasingly globalised economy.

The conference, is expected to be addressed by top industrialists and policymakers from India and the US, including steel magnate L N Mittal, chairman, Mittal Steel and Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and professor M G K Menon.

It plans among other things to set up a resource centre, so there will be a follow up to the conference, and prepare through distance learning how the agricultural revolution can reach villages so that India can become one of the world's breadbaskets instead of wasting 40 per cent of all produce.

An even more ambitious project is to build on the great accomplishments of the IIT institutions in India, to bring it on par with institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by focusing not only on studies but research and "discovery" or innovation.

The plans were unveiled at a Global Media Luncheon hosted by the IIT 2005 Conference Committee by Anil Bhandari, senior vice president of Smith Barney and others.

Chris Foster, Maryland chief scientist, who has been instrumental in forging MoUs with institutions in India, discussed the Johns Hopkins University's memoranda to collaborate with the IITs in the areas of computer science informatics, electrical engineering and miroelectronics. Currently signed with IIT Madras, Delhi and Bombay, similar pacts are anticipated with other IITs.