Homage to Dipak Sarkar

February 20, 2023 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

with contribution from Atul Kumar, Prof. Rajiv Shekhar, Tilak Sharma

Sri Dipak Sarkar passed away on July 25, 2022. The sudden demise of Shri Dipak Sarkar, our beloved Board Member and Ex-President Dipak Sarkar came as a shock to us. The numerous deserving students at IIT(ISM) are fortunate to have had Dipak as the President of our association for so many years. He had joined the ISMAANA board during the transition time between Prof. Ramani and Dr. Ganesh Thakur. He had worked tirelessly in networking with our alumni base, to establish over 60 merit-cum-means scholarships for the students at IIT(ISM). Under his guidance significant funds have been raised to improve the existing facilities and the construction of an Innovation and Incubation Lab. He inspired the vision of IIT(ISM) among the top tier premier educational and research institutions in India. It is because of Dipak’s untiring efforts that ISMAANA is considered the best alumni association of IIT(ISM) today. We at ISMAANA owe so much to the great contributions that he made to make our organization a dynamic organization, deeply involved in helping the students at IIT(ISM). We have put together a homage to him based on the messages we received from several of his fellow alumni and friends.

Dipak ji graduated with a B.Tech. degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1967. He did his M.S in Petroleum Engineering from University of Tulsa, USA in 1969 and an M.B.A. in General management from the Southern Methodist University, USA in 1975. Dipak ji contributed significantly to community service. He was also the President of Bharat Sevashram Sangha Temple at Brea in California, which provides religious and community services and disaster relief locally and worldwide. Dipak ji was also the Founder President of ‘Pratham’ at Los Angeles that raised funds for education of poor children in India. He also held the position of President of the ISM Alumni Association of North America and contributed significantly to the Alma mater during the period 2018-2021. Mr. Dipak Sarkar was able to use his personal influence to round up his wealthy and generous friends to donate for the common good of our alma mater in terms of fellowships & scholarships. That’s probably the way he will be most be remembered.

Prof Shekhar had memories of 2019 come flooding back when Dipak ji visited IIT (ISM) during Basant: there were intense discussions on the way forward for his alma mater to become a globally acclaimed institution, funding scholarships for needy, meritorious students, and his fascinating stories about his student days at IIT (ISM). Dipak ji was also set to play an active role in organizing the Centenary Celebrations of IIT (ISM) as the current President of the IIT (ISM) Alumni Association. For Prof Shekhar, it was indeed a privilege to personally honor

Dipak ji with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2020. His passion and commitment to the Institute was awe-inspiring. Dipak ji was a true, blue SCOLOMINITE. IIT (ISM) has lost a dear alumnus, a good friend, and a benefactor!

 

Dipak ji, we wish you farewell in your journey to eternity knowing fully well that a portion of your heart will incessantly beat for your alma mater.

Naresh Vashisht Center for Tinkering & Innovation (NVCTI)

February 20, 2023 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

Sometime in the year 2018 ISMAANA received a request from IIT(ISM) for finding sponsors to fund several infrastructure projects at IIT(ISM). Even though ISM had become an IIT it was not receiving funding from the Govt of India to fund these projects. One of the projects in this was for setting up a research laboratory where the students and faculty could conduct research that could lead to the development of innovative products. The model of this laboratory was going to be the one that was operational at IIT(Delhi).

Mr. Naresh Vashisht (1967 PE) agreed to fund this project. He wanted to build a world class research laboratory that was superior to the lab at IIT(Delhi). After a yearlong period of tiresome research, that involved visit to the IIT(Delhi) Lab by Naresh and the Director IIT(ISM) The blueprint for the construction of this facility at IIT(ISM) was developed. The lab with space of 10,000 square meters is located at the newly constructed GRIHA compliant building, inside the IIT(ISM) campus. With the total cost of 1.157 million US$ (8.2 Crores Indian Rs.) it is one of the biggest donations made to a premier educational institution of India.

NVCTI is now fully functional. It consists of the following five separate units:

  • Unit 1 (Mechanical Tools & Rapid Prototyping unit): Mechanical equipment, tools and instruments are integral part of the Lab. Collection of these equipment works as a mini workshop where the students can give shapes to the ideas. Some of the major equipment in this unit are CNC milling machine, Lathes, drilling machines, welding and grinders, 3D scanners and various types of modern 3D printers.
  • Unit 2 (Electronics Circuit and IOT Unit): This unit’s design consists of the basic and the advanced instruments to provide hands-on of the electronics design for innovation and Industrial applications. It offers in depth learning of the electronic circuit design and simulation with the PCB design, followed by the fabrication of the circuits and the validation of the same.
  • Unit 3 (Animation and Game Design Unit): This unit primarily contains the hardware and the software used in designing animation and games.
  • Unit 4 (Pouch Battery Cell Assembly Unit): This prototype battery fabrication unit is in the form of coin or Pouch cell. It would be helpful for the in-house production of the battery prototypes. It could be scaled up for the further development, based on their capacity and integration with the solar cells.
  • Unit 5 (Robotics & Automation Unit): This unit is designed to develop intelligent robots and to train them. Major equipment in this unit are Industrial Robots, IP Cameras, Workshop Tools, Parallel Robot Actuators & Controllers, Pneumatics IOT Training Systems, Mechanical Simulator Software and PLC Training System.
    To encourage students to take advantage of the facilities offered by NVCTI, combined with the endowment fund setup by Mr. Naresh Vashisht, IIT(ISM) is now offering a minor in the product development at NVCTI. Any student (including from the first year) that has completed at least two regular semesters at IIT(ISM) can apply to participate in this program. This provides the students opportunity to convert innovative ideas into products or processes by using the lab facilities of NVCTI or any other lab or workshop at the institute. Consumables / contingencies when required are provided to the students. The students in the program receive stipend of 6000 IRS per month for a maximum of 12 months.

To earn the minor in PDI, the students are required to earn 18 credit hours in three consecutive semesters by taking courses like: Smart manufacturing, Robotics, Electronics, Data Software and Aeronautics and Space technology etc. They also must maintain a minimum GPA of 7.0. The faculty support at NVCTI is currently being provided by Prof Pankaj Mishra (Dean & HOC) and Prof Ajit Kumat (Head Strategy & Execution).

Since opening in April 2021, NVCTI has participated in the Samsung Innovation awards 2021. These awards are organized every year to identify and encourage innovative ideas and projects. It is a multi IIT event. ISMAANA sponsors has setup 9 prizes to be awarded each year to the students that have developed innovative processes or products. A summary of these awards is listed below. For the year 2021 ISMAANA Piyush Dutta award of $1500 was jointly awarded to two students: Mr. Saswata Som & Ms. Shweta Kumari.

A Hike Among the Clouds: My Journey to the Everest Base Camp

February 20, 2023 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

by Pallav Sarma

As an asthmatic, sickly kid growing up, it suffices to say that scaling the Himalayas was never on my bucket list But as we all know, things in life rarely turn out as planned. So, when the opportunity arose sometime last year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and signed up for the Everest Base Camp trek along with a group of my batchmates and friends from ISM. While this trip on its own is an experience of a lifetime, supporting visually impaired Bikram Jyoti Das on his quest of EBC made it far more fulfilling. I am very happy that I played a small part in this journey with him. This narrative will hopefully provide you an insightful glimpse into this amazing adventure.

So, a little bit how I came to know Bikram. Coincidentally, both I and Bikram are from Guwahati, in fact both are from the same neighborhood called Kamakhya Gate, although we never met each other as kids. We met almost 2 decades back when we joined Indian School of Mines as fresh graduates. Although we were in different departments, there being only a handful of Assamese guys in ISM, we came to know each other well. We used to usually travel together from ISM to Guwahati and shared a few interesting adventures on those trips After ISM, we went our separate ways, but kept in touch. I went for higher studies to the US while he joined a mining company. We met each other a couple of times in Guwahati since then, and life was going on as usual for him until 2013, when it was turned upside down after a mining accident that rendered him blind. But he did not let this set back take over his life. How he got his life back on track and beyond in just incredible and an amazing story. So, when our ISM group of friends started to plan this Everest Base Camp trip last year and learning that Bikram wanted to take on the challenge, I thought it was a good opportunity not only to join an incredible adventure, but also support him on this endeavor.

Among the 10 or 12 that initially signed up, it was clear that Bikram was the one most dedicated to train properly, taking long hikes regularly and testing his limits. In his own words “he didn’t want us to fail because of him”, which shows the kind of person he is. Ultimately 6 of us made it to Kathmandu mid-October, and after some last-minute gear shopping for the trip, we started our journey to Lukla, the starting point of the trek. While I with another friend took a helicopter to Lukla and made it quite early, others took the flight which was delayed due to multiple reasons. Unfortunately, Bikram was on the flight, so they got a very late start to the trek, and reached Phadking, the first stop on the trek, very late in the evening. Even though it was a very long and hard day for Bikram, it was good to see that he was in very good spirits and ready for the next day.

For the next nine days, as we went slowly but surely towards our destination, never did I hear Bikram complain once, even though at times, particularly in the last few days, I could visibly see how tired he was. This trek to EBC at 17598 ft at well below freezing temperatures, with 50% oxygen and over treacherous terrain was difficult even for seeing people like us, it is hard to understand how difficult this is for someone like Bikram without experiencing it firsthand with him. The last few days was mostly scrambling though rocks, and we could see his ankles twisting every few steps, even though the guides were doing their best to support him. Finally, on Oct 26th, on a very beautiful sunny day, we made it to base camp from Gorakchep, the last stop on the route. I had made it to base camp a little earlier before Bikram, and as I was resting, I remember Bikram slowly climbing over the last hill, with a look of triumph and relief, realizing that he had achieved something only a few have achieved before him. Hats off to him for his persistence and perseverance in completing this incredibly hard challenge. I believe this is only the beginning of many new adventures for Bikram and wish him all the success.

Pallav Sarma (PE, 2000) is Co-Founder and CTO at Tachyus, a technology startup helping energy companies accelerate digital transformation for energy sustainability. Before Tachyus, he worked for Chevron and Schlumberger. He lives in Danville, California, and loves being active, particularly hiking and playing badminton and poker. He also loves world music and likes playing the guitar. He had a PhD from Stanford University in Energy Resources Engineering.

President’s Note

May 16, 2022 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

Dear ISMAANA members:

At the start of this year, we had changes at the ISMAANA board. Dipak Sarkar who for the past so many years had been the President of ISMAANA moved on to assume the responsibilities of the Presidency of the IIT(ISM) ex-student’s association. For those of you, who are unfamiliar with this organization, it is setup at IIT(ISM) to coordinate the activities pertaining to IIT(ISM) of all the IIT(ISM) alumni chapters worldwide. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Dipak good luck in his new assignment. I would also like to thank him for doing an outstanding job in making ISMAANA the best IIT(ISM) ex-student chapter. With the help of some of our generous members, large amount of funds was collected and sent to IIT(ISM), to award 56 merit cum means scholarships per year to the needy students. Naresh Vashisht Center for Tinkering and Innovation was built at IIT(ISM) and is now fully operational. Six classrooms have been updated to become smart classrooms with the latest audio and video capabilities. Two recording studios are also operational. In addition, ISMAANA alumni are setting up prizes for the IIT(ISM) students to come up with innovative ideas and products that could be patented.

I have assumed the Presidency of ISMAANA. The treasurer- ship and the ISMAANA funds management responsibilities have been assumed by Shivaji Dasgupta. This year has started well for ISMAANA, four additional merit-cum-means scholarships have been sponsored for the students at IIT(ISM). This brings to a total 60 scholarships/yr. that are now being offered by the ISMAANA members. This is in addition to the 8 merit scholarships that ISMAANA gives every year to the topmost student in the eight major departments at IIT(ISM).

ISMAANA’s online seminar program for the students at IIT(ISM) is going well under the leadership of Dr. Ganesh Thakur. So far this year Dr. Mrinal Sen of UT has given a seminar on “Artificial Intelligence”. Dr. Sidharth Mishra of TAMU just finished a seminar on “Signal Processing and Machine Learning”. Both seminars were well received by the students and the IIT(ISM) faculty.

Please let us know if you wish to participate in any of the ISMAANA’s existing programs or have ideas to initiate any new program to help the students at IIT(ISM). Additionally, if you have any ideas as to how ISMAANA could be more useful to you, please send an email to the ISMAANA Secretary Dr. Hemanta Mukherji (ipoinoil@gmail.com).

ISMAANA now offers Internships, under which a student interns online with one of the mentors in US. These mentors are chosen by ISMAANA based upon their expertise in a given field. Dr. Anil Kumar is heading this program. So far seven IIT(ISM) students are interning under this program. The interns are not paid for attending this program. Dr. Anil Kumar is starting an award, to be given every year to an outstanding intern. In the coming academic year ISMAANA intends to expand this program to many more departments at IIT(ISM)

ISMAANA’s online seminar program for the students at IIT(ISM) is going well under the leadership of Dr. Ganesh Thakur. So far this year Dr. Mrinal Sen of UT has given a seminar on “Artificial Intelligence”. Dr. Sidharth Mishra of TAMU just finished a seminar on “Signal Processing and Machine Learning”.

Dr. Ganesh Thakur has initiated Faculty Research Award, to recognize an outstanding faculty member at IIT(ISM). In addition, ISMAANA members are giving 7 Innovation & Invention prizes per year to the students at IIT(ISM). For the year 2021 Dr. Piyush Dutta Innovation prize of $1500, was won by two students (Saswata Som and Shweta Kumari). The detail of this award is given later in this issue of Patrika.

Please let us know if you wish to participate in any of the ISMAANA’s existing programs or have ideas to initiate any new program to help the students at IIT(ISM). Additionally, if you have any ideas as to how ISMAANA could be more useful to you, please send an email to the ISMAANA Secretary Dr. Hemanta Mukherji (ipoinoil@gmail.com). ISMAANA is your organization, please check with your IIT(ISM) friends in US, if they are not receiving this newsletter they need to register at the ISMAANA Web Page (www.ismaana.org). If they have any problem with the Website, they can send email to the ISMAANA board member, Gaurav Seth (smile.gaurav@gmail.com).

Lastly ISMAANA depends upon the financial contributions from the IIT(ISM) alumni in North America. We are constrained in expanding several our programs and initiating new programs to help the students at IIT(ISM), due to lack of funds. All of us have done well from the education that we received at very little cost, at IIT(ISM). Please help ISMAANA in making IIT(ISM) a leading educational institution in India. You can send your tax-deductible contributions to ISMAANA. Please make your checks payable to “Indian School of Mines Alumni”. Mail your check to the ISMAANA treasurer, Shivaji Dasgupta at “2303 Bayou Mist Court, Houston, TX 77077”

Sincerely

Atul Kumar

President ISMAANA (67 PE)
atuloky@gmail.com

Letter from Dean Rajni Singh

May 16, 2022 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

Our Dear Alumnus,

Best greetings of the day!

The newly designed IIT (ISM) website is now up and running. I am happy to state that the design you see is the result of the combined efforts of the Media & Branding Team, Student Volunteers, Automation Centre, and Computer Centre.

Please visit the institute website at https://www.iitism.ac.in/iitismnew/

The new website is now available to you, and we eagerly await your suggestions and feedback. Kindly share your feedback at mbc@iitism.ac.in

The Institute’s Face is its website. Please provide us with suggestions and feedback so that we can make it better.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Regards,
Rajni Singh
Dean (Media & Branding)
IIT (ISM) Dhanbad

18 New Merit-Cum-Means Scholarships

May 16, 2022 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

ISMAANA received the recommendation for the award of 18 merit cum means (MCM) scholarships for the academic year 2021-22 from IIT(ISM). Table below shows the names of the students along with pertinent data about those that have qualified for the award. For the current academic year 52 MCM scholarships were available for award, 34 of which are for the students that had received them in the past years and are continuing to receive them for the current academic year. ISMAANA funded these scholarships back in November 2021. The current recommendation for the 18 scholarships is for the students that are going to receive them for the first time.

These scholarships were possible because of generous contributions from Avinash Ahuja, Naresh Vashisht, Mohinder Gulati, J. K. Tuli, Vijay Banthia, Suresh Chugh, Dipak Sarkar, and Sriram Muralidharan. The scholarships totaled $20,400.00.

OFFICE OF DEAN (STUDENTS WELFARE)
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (INDIAN SCHOOL OF MINES), DHANBAD
ISMAANA SCHOLARSHIP 2021-22

Dr Pramod C. Thakur (’61 Mining Eng) Inducted in the West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame

May 16, 2022 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

Congratulations to Dr Pramod C. Thakur (’61 Mining Eng) for induction in the West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame. This is a great news for IIT(ISM) around the world. We are all very proud of his accomplishments and achievements and wish him continuous success in his future endeavors.

Dr. Pramod C Thakur is currently the president of Expert Solutions for Mine Safety, LLC in Morgantown, WV, and an Adjunct Professor at the West Virginia University. He served the coal industry for 50 years before retirement. He received a B.SC (Hons) and AISM degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) (1961). He joined Penn State University in 1969 for graduate studies. He graduated Suma Cum Laude in 1974 with 3 degrees, MS (Mining Engineering), MA (Math) and PH.D. (Mining Engineering). He immediately joined CONOCO, the parent company of CONSOL Energy based in Morgantown, WV. He has lived here ever since with his wife, Meera and raised two sons, Dr. Gautam C Thakur (a Neuro-Radiologist) and Dr. Anand C. Thakur (an Anesthesiologist and Pain Expert).

He began his career with Andrew Yule and Co in India designing mine ventilation for 20 coal mines (1961-1969). He worked for CONOCO/CONSOL Energy for almost 40 Years (1974-2014) before retirement. He also worked with erstwhile Murray Energy for a few years by invitation but completely retired in 2016. His life-time accomplishments are as follows:

  1. He chaired the Industrial Advisory Committee for the Generic Center for dust control based at WVU and Penn State Universities (1984-96).
  2. Governor Underwood of WV made him a commissioner for writing the best diesel regulations for coal mines. Working with industry and Labor representatives the task was accomplished and diesel engines began to replace trolley wire haulage improving coal mine safety. He served on the Committee for 15 years.
  3. Working with mainly CONOCO, he developed four degasification techniques for Mine Degasification. These techniques are in use in USA as well as many countries overseas. It minimized the risk of mine explosions and vastly improved coal productivity from 14 to 40 tons/man-day in some mines.
  4. He has been awarded the Hartmann and Howard Eavenson Award for excellent work in Mine Ventilation and mine Health and Safety by SME.
  5. Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute awarded him Donald Kingery Award for mine degasification work.

Dr. Thakur condensed all his works into 4 books. He uses Advanced Coalbed Reservoir and Production Engineering (2016) and Advanced Mine Ventilation (2018) to teach graduate courses.

Dr. Thakur condensed all his works into 4 books. He uses Advanced Coalbed Reservoir and Production Engineering (2016) and Advanced Mine Ventilation (2018) to teach graduate courses. WV Coal Mining Institute has now inducted him into WV Coal Hall of Fame.

2022 ISMAANA East Coast Picnic on August 6

May 16, 2022 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

The 2022 ISMAANA EAST COAST picnic committee decided the location & made reservations for Saturday, August 6, 2022. Please check out the location map enclosed and mark your calendar regarding this event. As usual they need headcounts with food preference in advance for planning purposes.

Liberty State Park Picnic Pavilion – Confirmation
Pavilion Hours 9 AM to 9 PM
Pavilion GPS Location 5 Theodore Conrad Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305

Pradip Gangopadhyay, ISMAANA Board Advisor informs that as the event date approaches, the committee will provide pertinent information. It will try to book the sit-down dinner restaurant location first, and then decide the location of the nearest hotel. He has been informed that some of the volunteers would open their homes to accommodate a few out of state participants; just feel free to let them know your needs ASAP.

The committee consists of Debashish Chatterjee, Sneharthi Roy, Shishir Agarwal, Prabudha Gupta, Amit Roy, Buddhi Prakash Gupta, Ajaya Kapoor, Bharat Saraswat, Amit Kumar and Mihir Sinha. Debashish Chatterjee can be reached at dchatsg@yahoo.com or 484-321-1897 (cell).

BASANT AWARDS – February 06, 2022

May 16, 2022 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

IIT(ISM) recognizes the significant contribution made by distinguished personalities from Industry, Academics, and Research in the momentous function of IIT(ISM) Alumni Reunion “BASANT”, normally held on the first Sunday of February every year. This year’s BASANT event was held on 6th February (Sunday) through an online virtual session. Three IIT(ISM) Alumni from ISMAANA were recognized this year at the Basant Awards.

Pradip Kumar Gangopadhyay

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to his alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad is privileged to honor Shri Pradip Kumar Gangopadhyay with Nagendra Kumar Memorial Award for the year 2021.

Shri Pradip Kumar Gangopadhyay graduated in Petroleum Engineering with First Class Honors from the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad in the year 1970. Later, he earned a master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1981.

Before arriving in the USA in 1979, he worked with ONGC from Feb 1971 through December 1976 and in IRAN from January 1977 to Dec 1976. Shri Gangopadhyay worked with Bechtel Petroleum Corp, Houston as Senior Engineer & Towner Petroleum Company, Houston as District Engineer. Once the oil & gas industry took downturn in 1980s, he received an opportunity to work with AT&T and ended with North Carolina State Govt Information Technology Systems [ITS — now named as Dept of Information Technology (DIT)]. From 1987 to 2018 he worked in computer industry in almost all areas starting from physical layer, datalink, network, transport, session & application layers and carried on assignments in project management, systems engineering, computer networking, statistical analyses & evaluation.

Ashutosh Ashish’s (’94 PE) msg to Pradip Gangopadhyay
My heartiest congratulations on being the IIT(ISM) 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient! Having worked with you to restart ISMAANA in early 2000s, I have experienced firsthand your passion for ISM. It was a pleasure working with you, knowing that I could always reach out to you to bounce ideas, guidance, and any help we needed in reaching out to any member. Your email signature says it all: CONNECT > COMMUNICATE > COOPERATE > COLLABORATE > CONTRIBUTE. No one does it better than you.

Shri Gangopadhyay contributed significantly to the ISM Alumni Association of North America (ISMAANA, a non-profit organization), and began constructing a database along with Manoj Choudhary & Ashutosh Ashish (both ’94 Petroleum Eng) and Pasupathi Sah (’98 Petroleum Eng) in late 1990s when he actively involved with ISMAANA. Subsequently, in addition to gathering the US domestic alumni data, he populated the database with all our ISM alumni around the world in which each pers on is uniquely identified with complete name, year of graduation, and major. He worked with all the ISMAANA presidents including Dr Ram Gopal Agarwal (’61 P. Tech), Mr. Jagjit Singh Yadav (’65 P Tech), Prof. Raja V. Ramani (’62 Mining Eng), Dr Ganesh C. Thakur (’70 Petroleum Eng) & Mr. Dipak K. Sarkar (’67 P Tech) and other ISMAA satellite/sister organizations for establishing the global communications, but he never held any officially elected, selected or appointed positions; simply performed communications duties so that ISM alumni from all around the world may communicate freely on a single platform on matters related to alma mater, her alumni, faculty members including higher administrative officials.

Once Shri Gangopadhyay received the Golden Jubilee Commemoration Volume (1926-76) from Mr. Rohini P. Sharma (’67 Mining Eng.), he converted into a PDF and distributed extensively among alumni around the world, for which he received great appreciation. Most of his work was done while Professor Emeritus Raja V. Ramani was Chairman and President of ISMAANA.

The first eight scholarships were instituted for the original four branches of studies, viz. Mining Engineering, Applied Geology, Applied Geophysics & Petroleum Engineering during the time when Dr Ganesh Thakur was the President and later many other scholarships and other fundraising activities expanded during the time of Mr. Dipak Sarkar as the President for common good of all. It may be worthwhile to mention that Shri Gangopadhyay met with almost all the individuals who sponsored scholarships &/or donated large philanthropic to our alma mater.

Shri Gangopadhyay is a life member of the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad ISMAA organizations. Last year, former NGRI Director Padma Shri Prof. Harsh Gupta (’63 Applied Geophysics) presented him with an award for his outstanding alumni services at the ISMAA-Hyderabad Chapter’s annual gathering/general meeting in Hyderabad on February 13, 2020.

Shri Gangopadhyay is a life member of the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad ISMAA organizations. Last year, former NGRI Director Padma Shri Prof. Harsh Gupta (’63 Applied Geophysics) presented him with an award for his outstanding alumni services at the ISMAA-Hyderabad Chapter’s annual gathering/general meeting in Hyderabad on February 13, 2020.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to his alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad is privileged to honor Shri Pradip Kumar Gangopadhyay with Nagendra Kumar Memorial Award for the year 2021.

Avinash Ahuja

IIT(ISM) is pleased to inform that Mr. Avinash Ahuja was selected for the Distinguished Alumnus Award under the category “Entrepreneurship Award” for the year 2021. Please accept our heartiest congratulations.

Mr. Avinash C. Ahuja is President of Magnum Producing, LP, an oil and gas exploration and production company based in Texas. Prior to founding the company in 1987, Mr. Avinash Ahuja held key management positions in two oil and gas companies located in Texas and Louisiana.

Through ISMAANA Mr. Avinash Ahuja has been a generous supporter of multiple programs at IIT(ISM). He is currently awarding 10 merit cum means scholarships per year of $1000 each. He has also funded conversion of one classroom into a smart classroom with a donation of $25,000.

Mr. Ahuja is very active in local, National, and international organizations, including: Pratham USA, Magic Bus USA, Miracle Foundation, The Art Museum of South Texas, Christus Spohn Health System, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center of Corpus Christi, YWCA, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society, MD Anderson Cancer Center and World Affairs Council of South Texas. He also serves on the advisory board for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi College of Business.

Mr. Ahuja received a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Indian School of Mines in 1967 and an MS from the University of Houston in 1970. He has two grown children Ranika (late Dr. Ruben Cohen) and Rajan (Callie), three grandchildren (Lia, Ellie, and Avinash), and lives with his wife Peggy in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Anil Ambastha

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to his alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad is privileged to honor Shri Anil Ambastha with Research and Academic Excellence Award for the year 2021. Please accept our heartiest congratulations.

Dr. Anil Ambastha is a Chevron Fellow and Senior Principal Simulation Engineer for the Field Development (International) Chapter at Chevron Technical Center in Houston. In this role, he is responsible for providing technical guidance to assigned Chapter members carrying out reservoir simulation assessments. He has been with Chevron for 23 years and has held positions of increasing responsibilities over the years. Prior to joining Chevron, Dr. Ambastha worked as a faculty member in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Alberta (1988-1996) and a Staff Reservoir Engineer at Shell Canada Limited (1996-1998). He completed BTech, MS, and PhD degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), University of Tulsa, and Stanford University, respectively, all in Petroleum Engineering. He also completed an MS degree in Operations Research from Stanford University.

Dr. Ambastha has authored or coauthored more than 80 papers in various areas of applied reservoir engineering/simulation, pressure transient analysis, and improved / enhanced oil recovery. Dr. Ambastha has been a Technical Editor since 1992 for SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering (SPEREE) and its predecessor journal, including being Executive Editor for SPEREE journal from 2008-2011. He was also a SPE “Distinguished Lecturer” for the 2015-2016 tour season. Dr. Ambastha has received SPE “Lester C. Uren Technical Excellence” (2009), “Distinguished Membership” (2009), “Distinguished Service” (2010), “IOR Pioneer” (2018) and “DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal” (2020) awards. He has been honored with “A Peer Apart” award for having reviewed 100 papers by SPE in 2007 and has also received “Outstanding Technical Editor” award 14 times from the SPE Editorial Committee. In 2021, Dr. Ambastha was also a recipient of “Career Achievement Award” from the US-based Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers.

Dr. Ambastha was inducted as a Chevron Fellow in 2021 which represents the “highest technical recognition” Chevron bestows on an employee.

List of 2022 Awards

Rising popularity of Mineral and Mining Engineering

May 16, 2022 0 comments ISMAANA Admin

At the recent QS World University Rankings by Subject, three Indian institutions made it to the top ranks for Mineral & Mining Engineering. While the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad [abbreviated as IIT (ISM)], became the second highest ranked university at 26th rank, two public Institutes of Eminence (IoEs) made it to the top 50 with IIT Kharagpur securing 37th rank and IIT Bombay pegged at 39th position. Despite being a conventional discipline, Mineral & Mining Engineering managed to edge past the more contemporary branches of Computer Science and Electrical & Electronic Engineering for which IIT Delhi bagged 65th position and 56th rank respectively, sharing its 56th rank with IIT Bombay.

QS judges institutions in this category on the following metrics and weights: Academic Reputation 40%, Employer Reputation 30%, Citations 15%, H-Index 15%. All three institutions score above 80 in our citations per paper metric, highlighting the impact that the research is making in the discipline. IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay also benefit from high Employer Reputation scores (82.7 and 87 respectively), showing how well connected those institutions are to industry. Particularly in a subject like Mining Engineering, which assumes a vocational progression into relevant work postgraduation, it is vital that institutions in this area remain connected to the main industrial players, and enjoy recognition from the industrial sector, thus allowing opportunities for work experience and placements.

While the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad [abbreviated as IIT (ISM)], became the second highest ranked university at 26th rank, two public Institutes of Eminence (IoEs) made it to the top 50 with IIT Kharagpur securing 37th rank and IIT Bombay pegged at 39th position.

In case of IIT(ISM) its success is because of a strong Academic Reputation score in the field, more than its Employer Reputation. As this indicator accounts for 40% of the weight, this alone contributes to its high position in the ranking. AK Mishra, HoD Mining, IIT (ISM) believes it is the institute’s multi-disciplinary research culture following a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model in which Computer Science, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, etc. is utilized to broaden the research horizon that was a key factor. “That apart, students’ exposure to modem simulation & planning software, cyber physical systems, industry internships to gear them towards responsible mining of the earth and its resources which worked in the institute’s favor, he adds. Presently, the institute offers open electives, minor subjects, and dual degree programs with courses on Data Analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in mineral sector, mine automation, deep sea and asteroid mining to make the students future ready.