Batch Year: 1991-2000

The generous funding from the class of 1998 has supported Chair Professorship in Quantum Computing. Prof. R. B. Sunoj  (2020-2023) from the Department of Chemistry currently presides as the chair. 

The class of 1998, as part of their reunion, set up a travel fund for students to be able to travel abroad to publish and present their research. This initiative has been undertaken in an attempt to incentivize quality research and provide international exposure to our students while at the same time improving the IITB brand name. The batch set up a travel fund in 2019. But unfortunately, due to the pandemic and subsequent travel lockdown, the fund is largely unutilized.

The Class of 1997 is meeting for the silver jubilee reunion this year in December. The batch is collectively working on raising funds, and post-reunion, we will be in discussion with the batch leaders for fund utilization.

The Class of 1996 met in December of 2021 for the silver jubilee reunion this year. Along with funding the young faculty awards and retired faculty wellness fund, thus continuing the tradition of support to these alumni-led initiatives, the class of 1996 has also decided to introduce two novel initiatives:

1. Funding Student Tech Teams: Over the years, the number of tech teams in IIT Bombay has increased significantly, with most of them creating spectacular submissions for competitions both locally and abroad. The quality of their work and the competitions they can participate in are currently restricted by the funding available to them. Hence the class of 1996 has decided to create an endowment that will be used to fund such student tech teams and help them shine both at home and abroad.
2. Endowment for Entrepreneurship: Over the years, the institute has also seen an increase in the number of startups incubated as part of SINE, which is the IIT Bombay Incubator for tech-based startups. To help SINE in its journey to attract the best startups and promote newer and innovative technology, the batch will set up a fund that will be used for the benefit of SINE.

Arena 95 – Class of 1995 Basketball Court:
IIT Bombay honoured the class of 95’s generosity by renaming its famous basketball court on campus as the ‘Arena 95- Class of 1995 Basketball Court.’ The class of ’95 are thorough team players who exemplify the true meaning of team spirit. Their generous philanthropic pledge has invigorated the Institute and set a strong example of giving back to their alma mater.

IIT Bombay Covid Vaccination Drive:

IIT Bombay needed to secure the campus by vaccinating all campus residents but could not raise funds for staff members that could not afford the vaccines. During this critical period, the class of 1995 responded immediately to their alma mater’s call and funded the vaccination of more than 200 of the staff on a very urgent basis.

The class of 1994 has undertaken several initiatives as part of its Legacy Project. These include: 

IIT Bombay Covid Vaccination Drive

Even as the world battled with the pandemic, IIT Bombay faced an extremely difficult situation when it had to raise funds to secure the campus by vaccinating all its campus staff and residents that could not afford the vaccines. The Class of 94 responded immediately to their alma mater’s call for help and funded the vaccination of more than 200 of the staff on a very urgent basis.

Growth India Telescope

GROWTH-India is part of the “Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen” – an international collaboration spanning sixteen institutes across nine countries. The focus of the interdisciplinary project is to undertake continuous studies of cosmic sources that have rapidly varying properties, like emission from gravitational wave events, young supernovae, and near-earth asteroids. 

The Growth India Telescope is a robotic telescope set up in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Ladakh, and is one of the few such facilities outside of Europe and the US. It has helped conduct interdisciplinary research work at the UG and PG levels and is instrumental in the research carried on by IIT Bombay as part of the Growth India Project. Recently, IITB students made a stunning discovery by using this telescope when they realised that asteroid 2020 QG flew extremely close to Earth without impacting it. 

Unfortunately, the Institute was running out of time, and for IIT Bombay to retain access to this telescope, it needed immediate funding support with a minimum commitment of Rs. 50 lakhs. The class of 1994 generously agreed to utilise one portion of the donations collected as part of their Silver Jubilee Legacy Project towards maintaining access to the telescope and ensuring the continuation of ongoing research. 

Growth India Telescope in Ladakh.

IT Hardware Scholarship (Covid – 19 support)

Another significant impact of the pandemic was when offline classes went virtual. This meant that students needed access to computers and/or laptops and broadband connections. Unfortunately, a number of students were financially constrained and could not afford the hardware needed to continue with their education. 

Once again, the class of 1992 came to their alma mater’s rescue. Even though it was not a part of their Legacy Project, the class of 1992 agreed to reallocate the amount to support this unanticipated but critical requirement faced by their beloved alma mater. Around 266 UG and PG students at the Institute benefitted from the IT Hardware Scholarships and were provided with a laptop and broadband connection which helped them attend online classes, pursue virtual projects, and complete their coursework on time. 

Please click on the link below featuring a compilation of testimonial videos that were voluntarily shared by the recipients of the scholarship. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QnOO8sUR6YfQ7fpA5e2GlwzVQrOt7tx6/view?usp=sharing

While the class of 1993 contributed generously to regular IIT Bombay initiatives like scholarships and the Young Faculty Awards, they also wished to focus on the building and maintenance of infrastructure at their alma mater. To that end, they decided to contribute towards the maintenance of a 240-seater lecture hall on campus. Their generosity has resulted in the space becoming a globally competitive state-of-the-art lecture hall and has been renamed the “Class of 93 Lecture Hall” to honour the generous contribution made by the 1993 batch. The commemoration event included the unveiling of the signage that has been installed outside Lecture Hall 102.

Kadayam S. Srinivasan Micro-Factory’ and ‘Harivallabh Nagar Micro-Factory,’ have been set up through generous donations by our alumni – Mr. Balaji Srinivasan (B.Tech, Chemical Engineering, 1993) and Mr. Sumeet Nagar (B. Tech, Mechanical Engineering, 1993). The micro-factories form an integral part of IIT Bombay’s Maker Space initiative that intends to provide the students with exposure to state-of-the-art thematic labs and the latest design and manufacturing practices. The objective of this project is to transform the educational experience of students by enabling hands-on learning with the help of advanced facilities akin to those found in real-world industrial setups. The micro-factories are equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, forming machines, electronic lathes, and the latest modeling software to enhance their research. 

IIT Bombay is grateful to its alumni for the thoughtful gesture that will contribute significantly to our students’ learning journey and train them to develop unique solutions to society’s critical challenges.

We are in discussion with the batch leaders to determine utilization of balance funds.

1. Along with their regular projects, the 1992 batch undertook several novel initiatives as part of their Legacy Project which focused on a wide variety of issues. 

Café 92 

2. Some of the fondest moments in any student’s life at IIT Bombay are the ones spent socializing with friends at the various cafes around the campus. More than their classwork, attending labs, or studying hard for their exams, students remember sharing Maggi noodles and chai with their friends at their favourite hangout spots. Keen to provide the same experience to the current group of students at IIT Bombay, the class of 1992 contributed to the building of Café 92 which is located close to IIT Bombay’s main building and is surrounded by lush green trees and nestles amidst a wonderfully scenic locale on campus. Already, Café 92 is a favourite hangout spot for students as they get together and unwind with their friends, sip on hot chai and coffee, munch their way through a scrumptious array of snacks and make long-lasting memories.

BANDHU

If getting into IIT Bombay is one of the toughest experiences a young student goes through, getting into the Institute and studying amidst a high-pressure environment takes its toll on their mental health. As ambitious and high-ranked students from all over India come together, the competition is ferocious, and the expectation to excel increases exponentially. This constant pressure leads to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. The results of a survey conducted showed that more than 60% of students on campus suffered from mental ailments with no recourse. This prompted the class of 1992 to launch Project BANDHU which includes several initiatives like 24*7 online counselling, a self-help website, socio-emotional workshops, and more. Project BANDHU has more than 7.5k users now and over 12 workshops have been conducted so far with 100+ students.  The program has proven to be a tremendous success and beneficial for students and the initiative will go a long way toward prioritising mental health and institutionalizing student well-being at IIT Bombay.

Hostel Study Rooms 

Most of the students prefer to study in study rooms as opposed to their own personal hostel rooms which can be cramped and distracting. Until now, the only study room available for students were in the various departments or the library. It was extremely inconvenient for students given the long commute from their hostels to these study rooms. Not to mention – the number of study rooms available was proving to be insufficient given the increase in student capacity on campus. Therefore, the class of 1992 created air-conditioned study rooms for hostels 3, 9, and 11 which will be highly beneficial for the students in these hostels. As things stand, study rooms will become an inherent feature of all hostels in the future.

Student Travel Fund

The travel grant support extended by the class of 1992 helped 16 undergraduate students present their academic papers at international conferences.

“The conference was a major success in my professional life. It helped me gain confidence and enhanced my soft skills. I interacted with a lot of professionals, both from academia as well as industry, which helped me to improve my understanding of the Core Mechanics field. The travel grant really helped me finalize my career plans. I look forward to doing a Ph.D. in the future and will always be indebted to the selfless donation from the class of 1992.” 

            Hrushikesh Sahasrabuddhe, Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science Department 

SINE Tech Incubator Funding 

Thanks to the generous contribution made by the class of 1992, the tech incubator and accelerator of IIT Bombay, SINE, has incubated more than 190 startups and employs 5000+ people.

SINE was launched in 2004 and is one of the earliest incubators in academia with the potential to create startups focussing on economic growth, strategic value, and social relevance. It gives prototyping grants, provides incubation support to tech startups, and runs accelerator programs with corporate partnerships. SINE has been selected as a “Centre of Excellence” by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, with funding support to scale up its activities.

RISE- Student Rural Immersion Program: 

One of the goals of IIT Bombay is to create talent that will solve societal problems and change society for the better. To be able to solve these problems, it is necessary that our students are exposed to them first so that they get an understanding and appreciation of the problems and issues faced by people. 

With this in mind, the Student Rural Immersion Program (RISE) was started. As part of this program, UG students are embedded in rural areas so that they are exposed and sensitized to the problems being faced by rural India. Anchored by CTARA, this program has been widely popular and successful. 

Unfortunately, due to the COVID pandemic outbreak, the activities of the program had to be stopped. But we hope that we are able to restart the program soon and continue to develop talent to solve the problems of rural India. 

The Class of 1991 had its silver jubilee Reunion in December 2016. The class has generously supported the retired faculty wellness fund, which is being used for the benefit of IITB faculty, which retired without health insurance.

We are in discussions with the batch to figure out the best use of the remaining funds collected as part of the legacy project.