We would like to thank the Class of 88 for their generous contribution.
The class decided to fund the following initiatives through these donations:
EE Department Laboratory Fund: The batch contributed to the EE department to specifically support the activities of the innovation laboratory of the EE department.
Scholarship – Legacy of 1988: The batch created an endowment, the interest of which goes towards supporting the financial needs of underprivileged students.
We are in the process of reaching out to the batch leaders to utilize or repurpose the funds that remain from the batch contribution.
The Class of 1990 had its silver jubilee Reunion in December 2015. The batch initiated various projects with the funds collected as part of their Legacy Project over and above the regular projects covered by the Legacy batches. These projects are listed below:
- IIT Bombay Vaccination Drive: In the institute’s effort to secure the campus by vaccinating all campus residents, IIT Bombay had to raise funds for staff that could not afford the vaccines. Class of 90 responded immediately to the call and funded the vaccination of more than 100 of the staff on a very urgent basis.
- IDEAS: The innovation, Development & Entrepreneurship Program with Alumni Support was initiated to provide resources and to foster innovation at IIT Bombay for furthering entrepreneurship.
The IDEAS program has come into full force since August 2018. Students have benefitted in finding their entrepreneurial drive, learned to choose an idea to pursue, and figured out the right steps to create the venture. 19 teams have participated in two cohorts of the Level 1 program, and 10 teams were selected in the first cohort of Level 2. 10 teams out of these are still actively pursuing their ideas. In total, the teams have so far raised more than Rs. 12 Crore in grants, prizes, or equity financing beyond the IDEAS program. We see that there are many noteworthy startups out of IDEAS that decipher a real problem and have become even more germane in the post-COVID world. For example, ‘HelpNow’ which is a med cab/ambulance provider reducing the exigency response time, ‘Apli.AI’ which provides a platform for companies to appoint from nationwide campuses digitally, ‘AiRTH’ which has prospered with a quirky and highly coherent filter to purify the air and many more. The work done by IDEAS is extremely commendable and is like a beacon of light that clears the vision and path of IITB students.
- Clean Green Campus Program: The objectives of the Clean Green Campus Program are – to facilitate the creation of a Model Clean, Green Campus at IIT Bombay that will be the Benchmark of every other academic institution in India and to institutionalize a legacy project that is inspiring and sustainable for every future batch to contribute.
Bio-Gas Plant: As part of the Clean Green Campus Program, a 2-tonne Bio-Gas plant was set up to utilize food waste from a set of hostels and to increase the green energy footprint of the campus.
The plant will reduce energy costs and drive sustainability. As IITB had one precedent of a poorly functioning earlier bio-gas plant, and the Class of 1990 had to work twice as hard with the Dean – IPS to ensure that this plant was in the right place, had affordable setup and running costs and had the appropriate resourcing and systems to ensure that it functioned to capacity. The site is just off H-12/13/14. It is fed food waste from five to six hostels, and the energy generated is piped to the 12/13/14 kitchen; With over two tons of organic waste fed to the plant each day, the plant generates around 144 Cubic Meters of Biogas daily, which is enough to supplement 3 – 4 industrial scale LPG cylinders daily. Apart from repurposing the waste, the project saves more than 15 Lakh Rupees in LPG costs every year, effectively paying for itself over the span of four to five years.
Energy Efficient Bulbs and Fans: Apart from the biogas plant, energy-efficient LED Bulbs and BLDC fans were fitted into Hostels 12, 13 & 14. The bulbs consume 30% less electricity compared to normal bulbs, while the fans save up to 40% more energy compared to normal fans for the same output. This has significantly worked towards reducing the energy consumption of these hostels and reducing their carbon footprint. We hope the other batches and hostels will follow suit, which will be the norm in all buildings across the campus.
With the precedent set up by the class of 1990, such biogas plants and energy-efficient light bulbs will become a part of every new hostel at IITB.
- ARTS@IIT Bombay: As part of the class project, various art projects were installed at some of the most prominent locations on the campus. These will serve as a reminder of the contributions of our alumni to the institute.
We would like to thank the Class of 88 for their generous contribution.
The class decided to fund the following initiatives through these donations:
EE Department Laboratory Fund: The batch contributed to the EE department to specifically support the activities of the innovation laboratory of the EE department.
Scholarship – Legacy of 1988: The batch created an endowment, the interest of which goes towards supporting the financial needs of underprivileged students.
We are in the process of reaching out to the batch leaders to utilize or repurpose the funds that remain from the batch contribution.
We would like to thank the class of ’87 for their generous contribution. The class has donated funds to promote academic and research activities, faculty welfare, and student assistance. Their Legacy Project consisted of the following initiatives:
Technology and Development Solutions Cell: This program was initiated as a center under CTARA to enable IITB to carry out academic activities and research as well as accept and deliver projects which will apply technology to solve the developmental problems of rural areas.
Student’s Financial Assistance: The batch initiated this program to support the financial needs of financially constrained students. We are reaching out to the batch leaders to utilize or repurpose the funds that remain from the batch contributions.
Class of 1986 is the first batch to initiate a project for students’ mental well-being. The objective was to create awareness and augment life and productivity skills among the IITB students. They gregariously promoted the importance of Preventive and Positive Mental Health Work through mentor training, professional counseling, workshops, exhibitions and films, parents’ orientation programs, and other outreach activities. Narcotics Control Board complimented IITB on involving students in spreading awareness against substance abuse.
The generous funding from the class of 1985 has supported Chair Professorship in Technology and Sustainable Development. Prof. Parag Bhargava (2021-2024) from the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science currently presides over the chair.
The Class of 1985 has also supported Entrepreneurship Cell: Eureka, Retired Faculty Wellness Fund, and Young Faculty Award.
IIT Bombay’s Class of 1985 supported Eureka by sponsoring events, awarding prizes, helping create a seed fund, and supporting outreach activities. In 2010, THOMSON REUTERS declared ‘Eureka!’ as “Asia’s Largest Business Model Competition.”
The Retired Faculty Wellness Fund (RFWF) is a supplementary medical insurance program initiated by the Class of 1984 as guru Dakshina for their retired teachers. Faculty who retired before 2003 had no medical coverage offered by the Institute. Many of the teachers were well into their 70s and lacked adequate medical coverage at a time when they needed it the most. Thus, the corpus for Retired Faculty Wellness Fund was created with over 150 faculty members as beneficiaries. The initiative provides supplementary medical insurance from ICICI Lombard to all retired faculty members (and spouses) who retired before 2003. The entire annual premium for this closed group policy is paid from the Retired Faculty Wellness Fund. The initiative began as a legacy project by the class of 1984 and is supported by other successive batches. Over the 6 years, this initiative has also witnessed a landmark expansion in terms of the scope of its impact. The program has been instrumental in providing support in terms of health insurance for hundreds of faculties who have now retired from IIT Bombay.
The YFA existing funds need to be topped up on an annual basis to ensure the perpetuity of the program. The class of 1983 generously contributed to the award.
IIT Bombay is undergoing this rapid growth phase, even as other institutions in India and abroad are planning to expand too. This creates significant challenges in attracting faculty to IIT Bombay. The Young Faculty Award (YFA) was established by the Class of 1982 to attract outstanding young faculty and augment current faculty to support IIT Bombay’s pursuit of excellence in research and academics. The YFA has been awarded from 2010 onwards and has now been supported by all batches. It has become one of the most successful alumni-funded projects at IIT Bombay, with each subsequent batch contributing to the YFA fund. Till now, upward of 404 talented faculty have been awarded the YFA.
The Financial Aid Program (FAP) was started in 2007 by the Class of 1981 to provide educational funding to students with social and economic disadvantages.
The FAP scholarship is a peer-to-peer scholarship with the students expected to pay back the scholarship when they are financially stable once they graduate, which will then fund other needy students. All students across all programs and disciplines are eligible for support.
FAP covers the entire registration fee of students, including tuition fees, mess bills, etc. Other value additions added in recent years include mentoring opportunities, industrial visits, etc. Most students donate back the money in timelines suited to their individual situations once they secure a job, thus keeping the endowment perpetual and growing.
Almost each legacy batch adds some money to the endowment pool, thus ensuring that the endowment continues to grow and help students in need.
The class also supported the Mess Workers Incentive Fund, which was used to benefit the mess workers working in the hostel mess. The batch also provided Fellowships to promote research in the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA).
