Chicago, Illinois _______________________________________________________________

"A tryst with excellence- in the Midwest" – these were guest-speaker Subhash Tantry’s opening words to address the kick-off meeting of IIT-Bombay Alumni Association’s Midwest Chapter. Mr. Subhash Tantry, who flew in from the Bay Area, describes the successes of the Bay Area chapter and shares with the goals of the IIT-B alumni association.

This first get-together was a grand success. In a great show of support for this nascent chapter, about 55 people attended the get-together, including about 45 alumni and their families. Alumni spanned the entire range of graduating years, from the sixties to the late nineties, bringing with them a wealth of experience and a multitude of perspectives. Quite a few alumni also came in from out of town, from cities as far away as Nebraska and Detroit. Mr. Subash Tantry, an alumnus of IIT-Bombay, who is now settled in the Bay Area and who is co-founder of Vigilance Inc., flew in from San Francisco to be with us especially for this occasion.

When Prof. Sukhatme last came to the US, he talked about our Tryst with Excellence. His dream is to make IITB a world class institution. All world class institutions like MIT, Harvard and Stanford are more renowned by what their Alumni have done in their own lives while helping each other. They are also well known for having given back to their alma mater in their own ways. Such attributes will reflect on the character of our beloved Institute and its products. And this is where we, as alumni of IIT-Bombay which is a world class institution in its own right, can come in.

The graduates of IIT Bombay are dispersed all over the world and hold eminent positions in industry and academia. Recent estimates show that there are over 6,000 IIT-B alumni in the US with over 1,000 of them residing in the Midwest region. As a group, we are influential people who could derive a lot of strength and value by building a network for our mutual good. We are also ambassadors of IIT Bombay, laying the groundwork to enable future generations of graduates to gain prominent positions in industry and academia. The Alumni Organizations and the IIT-B Heritage Fund are designed to provide a forum that will nurture this network of graduates through mutual guidance, advice, and support. Our alma mater, IIT Bombay, will also be able to derive value from its alumni by virtue of the alumni organization's ability to garner resources as needed for meeting its own objectives. Last, but not least, the alumni association will fulfill the social function of bringing together alumni from various graduating years to meet, reminisce about the good ol' times, and make the network stronger.

A lot of excellent issues were raised at the event. Some of the most pressing needs seem to be centered around: (i) How to increase IITB-AA membership in the Midwest region, (ii) Possible future events for the chapter, (iii) How to provide a quick and efficient means of communicating and disbursing information to alumni in the Midwest region.

Some of the solutions that the chapter intends to work on to meet the above needs are: (i) Build a database containing the names of all the alumni in the region. The goal is to link up to the iit-bombay.org website to enable easy entry or update of database information by the alumni themselves. (ii) Contact alumni who are currently in the region’s database and get them to ask other IIT-B alumni in the region to contact the chapter and put themselves on the database. (iii) Design and maintain a web-page for the Alumni Association’s Midwest Chapter. This web-page can then be periodically updated.

Lastly, given the fact that this chapter is still in its nascent stages, there is a burning need for people who can donate time and effort toward the following activities: (i) Provide motivation, direction and leadership for the organization, (ii) Interface with the Bay Area Chapter to borrow ideas and keep them updated on our progress, (iii) Help us organize future events for this year, (iv) Help in calling their alumnus friends and acquaintances for the database and events.

Mr. Gopi Sethu (Class of 92, Chemical Eng.) can be seen above welcoming everybody to the chapter kickoff. Gopi gave everybody an overview of the chapter’s objectives and what the kickoff meeting hoped to achieve.

Looking Ahead

In summary, this event would not have been possible without the enthusiasm of our alumni in the Midwest region, the hard work of our volunteers, and the whole-hearted support of Subhash Tantry and Bay Area Chapter.