INAE Annual Convention 2019

The INAE Annual Convention 2019, hosted by Birla Institute of Scientific Research (BISR), Jaipur, from December 12 -14, 2019 and coordinated by Dr Purnendu Ghosh, Vice – President, INAE and Executive Director, BISR, Jaipur was held at BISR, Jaipur. All INAE Fellows and Young Associates had been invited to participate in the Annual Convention 2019. The Convention commenced with the INAE Governing Council Meeting on December 12, 2019 followed by the Award Lectures by the winners of Life Time Contribution Award in Engineering 2019 viz Prof EC Subbarao and Mr AS Kiran Kumar; Prof Jai Krishna Memorial Awardee – Prof KT Jacob; Prof SN Mitra Memorial Awardee- Prof RK Shevgaonkar and the INAE Outstanding Teacher Awardee- Prof BS Murty. After the Award Lectures, the INAE Fellows Dinner was held which provided an excellent opportunity for networking of Fellows.

The Inaugural Session of the INAE Annual Convention 2019 was held on December 13, 2019, which commenced with the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries on the dais, followed by the rendition of a melodious invocation by the BISR team. The Welcome Address was delivered by Dr Purnendu Ghosh, Vice – President, INAE and Executive Director, Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur. Dr Sanak Mishra, President, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) in his Presidential Address, gave an overview of the Academy and the major activities of the last one year. The highlight of the event was the inspiring talk delivered by the Chief Guest – Mr SK Roongta, Chairman, BALCO to the august audience. The book “Mind of an Engineer Volume II” edited by Dr Purnendu Ghosh released during the Inaugural Session is the second volume of a series of books featuring articles by INAE Fellows about the reminiscences, inspirations, challenges and opportunities in their professional journeys. The next feature of the Inaugural Session was the release of the Report on “Urban Transportation: Challenges and Way Forward” edited by Prof Prem Krishna, former Vice-President, INAE and Chairman, INAE Forum on Civil Infrastructure. The report comprises of an analysis of the challenges faced in the modernization of Urban Transportation and suggests solutions to overcome the same. This was followed by the Special Induction Ceremony of INAE Fellows from Industry wherein two stalwarts of industry viz. Mr SS Mohanty, Vice- Chairman cum Managing Director, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited and Dr Ramachandra Naidu Galla, Founder & Chairman, Amara Raja Group were inducted as Fellows of INAE. The Inaugural Session concluded with the proposing of the vote of thanks by Prof Indranil Manna, Vice-President, INAE.

Release of book “Mind of an Engineer Volume II”

Release of Report on “Urban Transportation: Challenges and Way Forward”

Three Plenary Talks were delivered during the Annual Convention by eminent personalities as per details below.

First Plenary Talk on “Hydraulic Design of Water Resources Structures- Role of Model Studies” by Dr. (Ms.) Varsha V. Bhosekar, Director, Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune on December 13, 2019
Second Plenary Talk on “Disruptive Innovations in Iron & Steel Industry” by Mr. Manoranjan Ram, Associate Vice-President, SMS Group, Paul Wurth India Pvt Ltd., Gurgaon on December 13, 2019.
Third Plenary Talk on ‘Ecologically Yours: Tagore’s Empathy with Environment’ by Ms Pramita Mallick, renowned vocalist and exponent of “Rabindra Sangeet” (the music of Tagore) on December 14, 2019

Technical Sessions were held on December 13, 2019 in which newly elected Fellows (whose Fellowship is effective from November 1, 2019) and INAE Young Engineer Awardees 2019 made presentations relating to their own significant engineering contributions.

The Grand Award Function was held on the evening of December 13, 2019, wherein Prof EC Subbarao and Mr AS Kiran Kumar were conferred the Life Time Contribution Award in Engineering 2019. Prof KT Jacob and Prof RK Shevgaonkar were conferred the Prof Jai Krishna Memorial Award and Prof SN Mitra Memorial Award 2019 respectively and Prof BS Murty was conferred the INAE Outstanding Teacher Award 2019. The awardees for INAE Young Entrepreneur Award 2019 were Mr. Suteerth Tripathi and Ms. Shivani Gupta, Inochi Care Private Limited, New Delhi and Mr. Prakhar Jain and Mr. Usama Ahmed Abbasi, MicroX Labs Pvt Ltd. Fifteen Young Engineer Awards 2019 were conferred to brilliant engineers below 35 year of age. The Innovative Student Project Awardees 2019 comprised of ten awards at Doctoral level; five at Master’s Level and ten at Bachelors Level who were presented for innovation in their project/thesis work. The Innovative Student Project Awardees 2019 and the team leaders of the INAE Youth Conclave 2019 competition award winning teams were also inducted as INAE Student Members during the Grand Award function. After the vote of thanks proposed by Dr Pradip, Vice- President, INAE a Cultural Programme was organized prior to the Dinner. The artists enthralled the audience with their entertaining performance.

Prof EC Subbarao being conferred with the Life Time Contribution Award in Engineering 2019

Mr AS Kiran Kumar being conferred with the Life Time Contribution Award in Engineering 2019

Prof KT Jacob being conferred the Prof Jai Krishna Memorial Award 2019

Prof RK Shevgaonkar being conferred the Prof SN Mitra Memorial Award 2019

Prof BS Murty being conferred the INAE Outstanding Teachers Award 2019

Dr Poulami Chakraborty being conferred the INAE Young Engineer Award 2019

Mr Suteerth Tripathi & Ms Shivani Gupta being conferred the INAE Young Entrepreneur Award 2019

Dr Gaurav Goswami being conferred the Innovative Student Project Award 2019

The session on lectures by the INAE Young Entrepreneur Awardees 2019 was held in the morning of December 14, 2019 wherein Mr Sutheerth Tripathi delivered a lecture on “High performance multi-functional wound healing technology” and Mr Usama Ahmed Abbasi delivered a lecture on “Portable, efficient and affordable blood cell counter”.

The Annual General Meeting of Fellows was held on December 14, 2019 wherein during the Induction Ceremony, the newly elected Fellows and Young Associates were formally admitted into the Academy by the President, INAE. The was followed by the Special General Meeting of Fellows and the event concluded with lunch. A scenic tour of historical places, in and around Jaipur, was organized for the interested Fellows and Young Associates on December 15, 2019.