IIT Bombay honours its women alumni through a first-of-its-kind initiative

:Mumbai, September 23, 2022

IIT Bombay honoured and celebrated the remarkable achievements of 30 of its women alumni with a special event, ‘IIT Bombay Gen Zero Women Initiative.’ The initiative saw the launch of a coffee table book, ‘Her Story- IIT Bombay Gen Zero Women,’ written by Ms. Rashmi Bansal (author of the best-selling book Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish), and a podcast series on September 23, 2022, at the IIT Bombay campus.

All of the Institute’s 30 women alumni, who represent the initial years of IIT Bombay since its establishment in 1958, were felicitated at this occasion, including two Padma Shri awardees – Dr. Rohini Godbole [Distinguished Alumna (2004); M.Sc., 1974, Silver Medallist]; Ordre national du Mérite; Honourary Professor, Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and Dr. Sharada Srinivasan [Distinguished Alumna (2022), B.Tech., Engineering Physics, 1987), Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.

The distinguished alumna also included Honourary Fellow, University of Exeter, UK, as well as Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) Dr. Marlene Kanga [Distinguished Alumna (2012), B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1976); Non-Executive Director at Sydney Water Corporation, Air Services Australia and Standards Australia; Past President, Engineers Australia and World Federation of Engineering Organisations; Past Board Member, Innovation Australia; 2012, Member of the Order of Australia.

Several of the other high-achiever alumni who were also felicitated at the event include:

Dr. Anuradha Narasimhan, (B.Tech., Civil Engineering, 1990); Professor of Practice and Head, Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE), IIT Bombay; Director, Africa Improved Foods, Rwanda; Director, Frontier Nutrition, Bangladesh
Dr. Aruna Joshi, (B.Tech., Mechanical Engineering, 1985); Vice President, Model Risk Management at Visa; Adjunct Faculty at the University of San Francisco
Ms. Damini Kumari (B. Tech., Material Science Engineering, 1991); Leadership, Performance and Life Coach; Mindfulness Trainer
Dr. Geeta Narlikar (M.Sc., Chemistry, 1992); Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics; Lewis and Ruth Cozen Chair, University of California, San Francisco
Ms. Girija Sudhakar Ram, (Masters, Dual Degree, Chemistry, 1980); Executive Director at Newgen Digitalworks; Founders’ and Promoters’ Group Member, Mastek; Trustee/ Director, Bhavitha Foundation
Dr. Jayshree Kalpathy-Cramer (B.Tech., Computer Science, 1992); Chief, Division of Artificial Medical Intelligence, Department of Opthalmology, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus; Associate Professor of Radiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Kavita Bala (B.Tech., Computer Science, 1992); Professor, Cornell University and the Dean of the Cornell Ann Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
Dr. Kavita Ramanan (B. Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1992); Roland George Dwight Richardson Professor and Associate Chair at the Division of Applied Math at Brown University; Associate Director at the Institute of Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM), Brown University
Ms. Leja Hattiangadi (B. Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1971), Adjunct Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay; Independent Director on the Board of Alkyl Amines Chemicals Ltd., Artson Engineering and Aether Industries
Dr. Meena Mahajan (B.Tech., Computer Science, 1986); Professor, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
Dr. Mukta Farooq (B.Tech., Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science, 1983); Heterogeneous Integration Leader at IBM Research; IBM Distinguished Research Staff Member; IBM Lifetime Master Inventor with 224 granted US patents
Ms. Neera Adarkar [Industrial Design Centre (IDC), 1974]; Architect, Urbanist, Adarkar Associates; Founder, Trustee, and Chairperson, School of Environment and Architecture, SEA
Dr. Prakriti Tayalia (B.Tech., Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, 1999); Associate Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay
Dr. Preeti Rao (B.Tech., Electrical Engineering, 1984); Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay
Dr. Radha Nayak (B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1991); Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at LAM research
Ms. Rekha Koita (B.Tech., Metallurgical Engineering and Materials science, 1992); Co-Founder, Koita Foundation; President, CMU, Mumbai Alumni Network
Ms. Revathi Kasturi (B.Tech., Electrical Engineering, 1980); Founder & CEO, LAQSH Job Skills Academy
Dr. Rinti Banerjee (Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, 2000); Madhuri Sinha Chair Professor at the Department of Biosciences & Bioengineering at IIT Bombay
Dr. Roopa Ramamoorthi (B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1989); Senior Associate Director for the Catalyst Program and Innovation Ventures (Invent) Philanthropy Fund at the University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Sarita Adve (B.Tech., Electrical Engineering, 1987); Richard T. Cheng Professor of Computer Science at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Ms. Shalini Govil Pai (B.Tech., Computer Science, 1990); VP and GM, TV@Google
Ms. Shivani Govil (B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1992); Chief Product Officer, CCC Intelligent Solutions
Dr. Surya Mallapragada (B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1993); Associate Vice President for Research at Iowa State University, Anson Marston; Distinguished Professor and Carol Vohs Chair Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Dr. Susan Thomas (B.Tech., Civil Engineering, 1989); Research Professor of Business, Jindal Global University; Senior Research Fellow and Co- Founder at XKDR Forum, Bombay
Ms. Svati Bhogle (M.Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1981); CEO, Technology Informatics Design Endeavor (TIDE); Founder, Sustain Tech India; President, Clean Energy Access Network, an industry association of distributed renewable energy enterprises in India
Dr. Veena Srinivasan (B.Tech., Engineering Physics, 1995); Director, Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation; Senior Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)
Dr. Vijaya Korwar Gallagher (B.Tech., Electrical Engineering, 1976); Chief Architect, Space Segment, Globalstar Advisor, Sky Quantum

The event was presided over by Ms. Diana Edulji, Padma Shri awardee and the former captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team, and Ms. Falguni Nayar, Founder, and CEO, Nykaa.

The evening culminated with a lively and spirited Q&A session as the young, curious, and bright minds of IIT Bombay interacted with Ms.Edulji as well as the Institute’s women alumni achievers.

‘Her Story- IIT Bombay Gen Zero Women,’ and the podcast series highlight the inspiring journeys of IIT Bombay’s alumnae from diverse fields such as research, business, academia, technology, public service, and more. The book and the podcast also depict the challenges the Institute’s alumnae have overcome, the life lessons they have learned, as well as the critical role their educational and networking experiences at IIT Bombay have played in shaping them into strong and powerful women.

Speaking at the occasion, Ms. Falguni Nayar, said, “It is heartening to see the progress we have collectively made towards true equality – at the workplace and everywhere else. I believe women can do anything they set their minds to. Don’t let others dictate your path. Trust your gut and take calculated risks. Take the plunge into whatever it is you choose to do, at whatever point of your life. No matter what the switch, your previous experience will always bring with it transferable skills and connections that you can use as stepping stones.”

Sharing her thoughts, Ms. Diana Edulji said, “For the longest time, cricket was perceived as a gentlemen’s game. As someone who loved cricket, I had to break many barriers and find my own way to get past that mindset. The ‘IIT Bombay Gen Zero Initiative’ celebrates the power of women, and is a cause that holds a special place in my heart. I firmly believe that more of these initiatives will encourage women to believe that nothing is impossible and allow them to follow their dreams.”

Talking about the ‘IIT Bombay Gen Zero Women Initiative,’ Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay, said, “With their extraordinary accomplishments, our alumnae have inspired the present and future generations at the Institute to break more glass ceilings and we are extremely proud of their dedication, commitment, and resilience. The Institute is dedicated to the cause of gender equality and hopes that more women will be inspired by these trailblazing alumnae and pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields.”

Commenting about the initiative, Dr. Rohini Godbole said, “In these days of raging debates about reasons why the fraction of women students qualifying through JEE is less than that among the applicants, it is refreshing to see this long list of women achievers from IIT Bombay. I am pleased that IIT Bombay has decided to recognise its alumnae! Women may have been small in numbers then but not in their level of contributions and achievements. Let us hope that the tribe continues to increase, succeed and excel! ”

‘IIT Bombay Gen Zero Women Initiative’

The ‘IIT Bombay Gen Zero Women Initiative,’ was conceived to celebrate the accomplishments of women who have graduated from the Institute within the initial years of its establishment in 1958. Through this initiative, the Institute salutes its women alumni for their stellar contributions and makes their personal and professional trajectories heard and seen. The larger objective of this initiative is to empower newer generations, especially young women, to choose IIT Bombay as their go-to educational institution and continue the legacy set by its women alumni. The ‘IIT Bombay Gen Zero Women Initiative,’ has been made possible through the generous grant by the Institute’s alumnus Mr. D.C. Agrawal [B.Tech (Honors), Mechanical Engineering, 1969), and his late wife, Ms. Renu Agrawal.

Learn more about the women and their journeys here: https://alumni.acr.iitb.ac.in/womengenzero/herstory.html

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Source: IIT Bombay

DJM/SC/PK