Sudarsan Babu, a 1988 graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. was appointed to the United States of America’s National Science Board on Monday. He is the third alumnus from the institute to currently occupy the Board. The members are appointed for a period of six years.
The other two alumni are Sethuraman Panchanathan and Suresh V. Garimella. Mr. Sethuraman is tipped to become the director of another prestigious institution, the National Science Foundation. One of his predecessors is Subra Suresh, another alumnus of the Institute who is currently the president of Nanyang Technological University.
Mr. Babu completed B.Tech from PSG College of Technology and graduated with M.Tech in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the IIT Madras in 1988. Mr. Sethuraman completed M.Tech in Electrical Engineering in 1986. Mr. Garimella graduated in 1985 in B. Tech Mechanical Engineering.
Institute director Bhaskar Ramamurthi said, “Our alumni have done us proud in India and abroad, and have been a great pillar of support to their alma mater.”
Research culture
Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean of International and Alumni Relations, IIT-M, said: “Having three alumni on the Board is a first for the institution. It speaks of the academic research culture that we had established even a long time ago and continue to foster.
“This is a direct validation of the institution’s ecosystem as a whole, as a research institution going back to the early eighties. All of these people we talk about today were students here in the mid-80s.
“The ecosystem has created these superstars and we have continued to grow from strength to strength. That is in essence why we talk about these achievements.”
He added that the alumni were “deeply involved in advising the institute on its activities.”
