Alumnus Awards

Shri. Satish Pai graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1985. He took over as the CEO of Hindalco’s Aluminium Business in August 2013 and his main focus was the ramp-up of the three mega Greenfield projects that took alumina capacity to 2.7 MT and aluminium capacity to 1.3 MT. In February 2014, he became the Dy. Managing Director of the company and was entrusted with Hindalco’s copper business as well. Satish took over as the Managing Director of Hindalco in August 2016, a responsibility which includes the Novelis business.

Prior to joining the Aditya Birla Group Company - Hindalco, Satish worked with Schlumberger based out of Paris. Over the course of his illustrious career of 28 years with Schlumberger, where he was recruited from campus to begin his journey as a Field Engineer in 1985, Satish held various important positions, including “Executive Vice President - Worldwide Operations”, and was responsible for all aspects of operations for Schlumberger globally, including HSE, people management, input to R&D, and P&L performance.

Satish serves as a Director on the boards of Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd. and ABB, Zurich. A life member of the Indian Institute of Metals, he is part of CII’s Task Force on China and is the Vice President and Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee of the Aluminium Association of India.

Satish is a passionate person who likes to participate and involve himself with the activities of his alma mater, having played a key role in the Silver Reunion fund-raising by his Class of ’85. His trail blazing work in the areas of leadership, people management and transformative growth has resulted in multiple forms of recognition and accolades.

For his exemplary leadership and commitment to excellence in industry, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Shri. Satish Pai.

Shri. V. Shankar graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1981. He went on to obtain his Post Graduate Degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta in 1983. He founded India’s largest Mutual Fund platform – CAMS – and is presently focused on his public and angel investments.

Shankar’s career journey began in Pond’s India Ltd. (now a part of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.) in 1983. Shankar founded CAMS (Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd.) in 1988 with the objective of providing platform-based services to the Indian financial industry, and was its CEO and thereafter on the Board till 2014. CAMS totally re-imagined Mutual Fund services delivery and developed a platform that remains, till date, the largest such in India. The company employs over 6000 staff and is today co-owned by NSE and HDFC. Shankar also serves as a Board member on several other Companies.

Shankar is acknowledged for his knowledge and rich operational experience of the Financial sector. Apart from being a voracious reader, Shankar is also interested in travel, music, angel investing/mentoring, and in charitable activity. His work in the areas of finance, leadership, people management and social activities has resulted in recognition including the Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year award by TiECON in 2012 and the Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIM Calcutta. In the last few years Shankar has also become involved with the promotion of Entrepreneurship through The Chennai Angels and TIE Chennai. Shankar is involved with charities for the old, health initiatives for the disadvantaged, education of the underprivileged, and higher education.

For his exemplary commitment to excellence in the finance industry and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Shri. V. Shankar.

Shri. Venkat Viswanathan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from IIT Madras in 1992, and with a postgraduate degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta in 1995. He is the Founder and Chairman of LatentView Analytics, founded in April 2006 along with co-founders Ramesh Hariharan (a fellow IITian) and Pramad Jandhyala. LatentView is now one of the world’s largest and fastest growing digital analytics firms. It provides a 360-degree view of the digital consumer, enabling companies to predict new revenue streams, anticipate product trends and popularity, improve customer retention rates and optimize investment decisions. Venkat’s career journey began as an Analyst, Chairman’s Office in Essar Group in May 1992 after which he worked as a Senior Consultant for 3 years at ICRA Limited. He then moved to Cognizant Technology Solutions where he was part of the Leadership team for 7 years with their Communications Practice, before founding LatentView.

LatentView Analytics, headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, works with Fortune 500 companies, analyzing data of all sizes and formats to arrive at actionable insights that aid decision making. Doubling in scale year on year, the company has offices in four countries, with a state-of-the-art Center in Ramanujan IT City, Chennai.

LatentView has consistently been in the spotlight for its exceptional growth and quality of work. It has the unique distinction of being featured in the “Deloitte Technology Fast 50” for eight consecutive years. Frost & Sullivan named LatentView the “Company of the Year” in Analytics in 2015. It is the only firm from India to be on the exclusive list of Advanced Consulting Partners to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Venkat mentors budding entrepreneurs on business and data analytics, and on entrepreneurship. He has won numerous awards and accolades including the "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2014 by CII and “CEO of the Year” in 2014 by INFOCOM. He is a member of IIT Madras Incubation Cell and an active donor member of the IIT Alumni Industry Interaction Centre. He is also a Charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Chennai Chapter.

For his exemplary leadership and commitment to excellence in digital analytics, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Shri. Venkat Viswanathan.

Dr Aravind Srinivasan graduated with a B.Tech. degree in Computer Science from IIT Madras in 1989, before completing an M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1993. Ever since, he has pushed the boundaries of the field with his work in probabilistic methods, algorithms and networks. With its roots in fundamental research, his work has increasingly shifted to the use of computing in the service of society. In the years following his Ph.D., he has held various positions, including with the Institute of Advanced Study (Princeton, USA), National University of Singapore (Singapore) and, more recently, the University of Maryland (Maryland, USA). He also served a brief stint as a Member of Technical Staff in the Mathematics of Networks and Systems Research Department of Bell Laboratories between 1998 and 2001, filing several patents related to innovation in network algorithms.

Dr. Srinivasan has held various positions of responsibility. He has held visiting positions at various institutions including IIT Madras, MIT and Cornell (USA), Max-Planck Institute (Germany), University of Melbourne (Australia), University of Venice (Italy), Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (Netherlands). His commitment to guidance of research scholars is evident in the multiple awards and accolades received by his doctoral students at various international forums.

As a researcher, Dr. Srinivasan is an academician par excellence. With over 175 papers in various forms including refereed journals and conferences, book chapters and invited articles, his mastery in the ever-evolving field of Computer Science is unquestionable. He has been named an ACM Fellow, AAAS Fellow, and IEEE Fellow in recognition of his contribution to research in the field. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the 'ACM Transactions of Algorithms' (TALG), Managing Editor of 'Theory of Computing', and an Associate Editor of 'Networks'. His algorithm for hypergraph colouring has been hailed as having "...a number of subtle and beautiful steps that took more than thirty-five years to find."

In recognition of Dr. Aravind Srinivasan's sustained and path-breaking research in the field of Computer Science, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer on him this award.

Dr. Chandra R. Bhat graduated with a B.Tech. degree in Civil Engineering from IIT Madras in 1985, and proceeded to receive a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University. His Ph.D. dissertation won the inaugural Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award for best North American transportation dissertation. He is currently the Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor and a University Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). He also serves as the Director of the Center for Transportation Research and as Adjunct Professor of Economics at UT-Austin.

As a researcher, Dr. Bhat has to his credit more than 180 refereed journal publications and more than 25 book chapters. He has made fundamental contributions in examining the inter-linkages among human behavioral dynamics and activity-travel choices, transportation systems, and built environments. At the same time, he has also been a pioneer in the formulation of innovative analytic methods that are widely used in many different fields. He is among the most highly cited researchers in the field of transportation and Civil Engineering. Dr. Bhat has won several teaching awards, and was inducted in 2010 into UT-Austin's Academy of Distinguished Teaching. He has mentored numerous students over the course of his academic career, many of whom now hold leading positions in the transportation field.

Dr. Bhat's recent research awards include the 2013 Humboldt Award from Germany and the 2015 Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has received both the top engineering research and teaching awards at UT-Austin. Dr. Bhat has also held (and continues to hold) leadership positions in such organizations as the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research, the Transportation Research Board of the United States, and the American Road Transportation Builders' Association (ARTBA)'s Research and Education Division

Dr. Bhat is a dedicated educator, mentor, and researcher, who has made a definite and profound impact on transportation education, research, and practice. In recognition of his pioneering contributions to the field of transportation and urban policy, and for his steadfast commitment to producing the next generation of leaders in his profession, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Dr. Chandra Bhat.

Dr. Chandramouli Visweswariah graduated with a B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1985 before going on to complete an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in Carnegie Mellon University in 1986. Following this, he completed his Ph.D. from the same University in 1989. After the completion of his doctoral thesis, he has gone on to work in the field of Design Automation for high-performance integrated circuits, and today is considered a pioneer in the field of circuit analysis and optimization. His techniques have significantly impacted three generations of processors, gaming and ASIC chips. Currently working as the Director of the Smarter Energy Research Institute (SERI), and as an IBM Fellow in Smarter Energy and Environmental Science, he is one of only 95 active IBM Fellows (out of 400,000 employees) and one of only 267 employees in the history of the company to be awarded the Fellowship.

Perhaps best known for perfecting the technique of statistical timing analysis, Dr. Visweswariah invented a method to reduce pessimism in chip performance prediction, influencing the consumer experience of thousands of end-users of IBM chips. For this, he was recognized as the 'Innovator of the Year' by EDN magazine (2006). Academically, he has held visiting and voluntary posts at various institutions including Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands), University of Coimbra (Portugal) and Carnegie Mellon University (USA). His continued innovation and creativity is evident in the 94 patents to his name. Furthermore, he has authored over 100 publications in refereed journals, and as book chapters and invited articles. Apart from the numerous 'Best Paper' awards and accolades, Dr. Visweswariah is also an IEEE Fellow, and has chaired various panels and sessions on a range of subjects in the field.

Dr. Visweswariah is actively involved in social work. Selected for the IBM Executive Service Corps in 2010, he volunteered to provide consulting to the City of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on the needs of urban sustainability. This association with community service reverberates throughout his work in education, healthcare, accessibility for the disabled, environmental efforts and child nutrition.

In recognition of Dr. Visweswariah's dedication to academia, revolutionary work in industry and commitment to social causes, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer on him this award.

Dr. Kumar Ganapathy graduated with a B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1987, receiving the Siemens Gold Medal for his work. He went on to complete an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1989, then a Ph.D. in the area of novel computing architectures for Digital Signal Processing from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994. After receiving his doctorate, Dr. Ganapathy served as a Rockwell Fellow and Distinguished Engineer at Rockwell Semiconductors, working with technologies such as the 56K bit modem, GSM baseband processors, DSP processors and ADSL modems. By 2013, he had co-founded two successful start-ups (VxTel and Virident), which were both acquired for a combined net worth of over .2 billion. Following the acquisition of VxTel by Intel, Dr. Ganapathy served as the Director of Architecture in the Ultrawideband Networking Operation and Edge Access Division, as well as in the Chief Technology Officer at Intel. After the acqusition of Virident by Western Digital, Dr Ganapathy served as Vice-President of Products and Strategy for Flash Platforms Group at HGST (a WD company).

Apart from his career in industry, Dr. Ganapathy also has over fifty patents along with twelve research articles. This rich academic background, coupled with his expertise in subjects such as cloud computing, SaaS, flash memory, enterprise storage and ASICs, is reflected in more than 20 years of entrepreneurial and leadership experience across start-ups and larger organizations.

Both as a student and as a successful entrepreneur, Dr. Ganapathy has shown an active interest in professional networking, participating in societies associated with fault tolerant computing, digital signal processing, computer architecture and high-performance storage. As a business leader, he is dedicated to the idea of start-ups for disrupting large markets, using the platform of entrepreneurship to create global impact.

For his multifaceted and illustrious career and commitment to technology and innovation as the driver of change, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Dr. Kumar Ganapathy.

Dr. Ramarathnam Narasimhan graduated with a B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1982 before going on to complete an M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics from California Institute of Technology, USA in 1983 and 1986, respectively. Since the completion of his doctorate, Dr. Narasimhan has been involved with teaching and research, holding positions at his alma mater, California Institute of Technology, as well as at IIT Bombay before joining the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in 1991. He has also been visiting faculty at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, Institute for High Performance Computing (Singapore) and National University of Singapore.

Over the course of his academic career, Dr. Narasimhan has made pioneering contributions to the fields of theoretical, computational as well as applied mechanics, specifically in Solid Mechanics, Fracture Mechanics and Mechanics of Materials. His research interests span the areas of nonlinear fracture mechanics, dynamic fracture initiation and crack growth, mechanics of indentation, and deformation and fracture behaviour of bulk metallic glasses, amongst others.

Dr. Narasimhan's illustrious journey as a researcher is reflected by the more than one hundred journal articles to his credit, along with many publications in conference proceedings. In recognition of his work in Fracture Mechanics, Dr. Narasimhan was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, in 1999. He is a member of the Editorial Board of many leading international journals on subjects of his expertise, including International Journal of Fracture, and Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Through the last few decades, Dr. Narasimhan has also been an inspiring teacher, mentoring more than 25 doctoral and post-graduate students personally. His students have gone on to excel in academia as well as in industry. Dr. Narasimhan has additionally been associated as the Principal Investigator with various research and development projects, successfully managing funds from government as well as corporate sources.

For his commitment to teaching and his continued excellence in research, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Dr. Narasimhan.

Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from IIT Madras in 1996. Prior to this, he completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in the field from Guru Nanak College, Chennai in 1988 and 1990, respectively. He secured the second rank at University level during his post-graduate degree. Following his doctoral studies, he pursued an education in Management, graduating from the Management Development Program in IIM Ahmedabad in 2002. Based on his doctoral work, he was awarded the 'Best Project Presentation' on Colloid Science by the University of Bristol, UK in the summer of 1997.

Dr. Dhruva joined BASF soon after the completion of his doctorate, entering as a Research & Development chemist in the Polymer Research Laboratory. In the years that followed, he also received training at the organization's offices at Ludwighafen, Germany and began climbing the corporate ladder. He held positions of Deputy Plant Manager and Product Development Manager in Germany before returning to India as Product Manager, later being named CEO of BASF Coatings. Between 2008 and 2012, he also served as the Regional Vice President (Asia Pacific) for the Automotive and Industrial Coatings business. This gradual ascent in his career trajectory has culminated in his position today as the Senior Vice President at BASF Asia Pacific. In this position, he is responsible for the newly created monomer business of the organization spanning countries such as India, China, Korea, Japan, and other parts of South Asia, employing more than 1200 personnel.

Over the years, Dr. Dhruva has also held various positions of responsibility within the organization, including as member on multiple Boards of Directors, as Global Key Account Manager for numerous leading brands including Tata and Jaguar, and as the representative of the organization at the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (FICCI) for two years. He was also an invited member of the Bureau of Indian Standards CED 41 Committee, responsible for setting standards for waterproofing materials.

Dr. Dhruva's journey at BASF has been one of tremendous growth, each step bringing with it larger teams, higher sales and increased responsibility. Time and again, he has delivered, growing from strength to strength within the organization, thriving in intercultural teams and business environments. For his pursuit of growth and excellence, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer upon him this award.