The Consulate General of India, New York organized an event at the Consulate on ‘Indian Institutes of Technology: Current Challenges and Future Prospects’ in association with IIT Kanpur Alumni Association on Tuesday, June 11, 2013.

Consul General Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay welcomed the guests and urged the IITs to promote equitable development and to become socially engaged in uplifting the weaker segments of society. Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Dean of Faculty at IIT Kanpur, discussed recent developments and the challenges at the institute, most notably the need to recruit talented faculty. He informed that the institute is establishing an office in New York for faculty recruitment and to promote student and faculty exchanges.

Columbia University Professor Sheena Iyengar, who is an internationally renowned expert on choice theory and author of the critically-acclaimed book ‘The Art of Choosing’ used anecdotes from her life, growing up as a blind Indian American, while discussing the cultural differences between communities on matters of choice.

A panel of IIT Kanpur alumni, comprising of Rakesh Jain, professor of tumor biology at Harvard University, Anil Agrawal, professor of civil engineering at City University of New York, Anil Bansal, executive chairman of Indus American Bank, Deepak Narula, founder of Metacapital Management and Taranbir Singh, Partner at Tower Research Capital, discussed the role of their IIT education in their professional development and career arc and offered suggestions for innovations in IIT Kanpur’s curriculum.

The programme was attended by large number of members of the IIT Alumni and academic community and ended with Q&A session.