Author: External Communications

Disabled Friendly IITGN Campus: tête-à-tête with Amit Srivastava

“I wish for a world that views disability, not as a hindrance but as unique attributes that can be seen as powerful assets if given the right opportunities.” – Oliver Wolf Sacks, neurologist, naturalist, science historian, and author I recently met Amit Srivastava, who hails from Mathura, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh (India). After completing his 4-year undergraduate degree program in Engineering Physics from IIT Madras and working there on his startup for some time, he joined IIT Gandhinagar a few days ago. He is highly appreciative of the disabled-friendly approach of this Institute (as compared...

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IKS: Exploring India’s Knowledge Traditions

“India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition.” – Mark Twain, renowned writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer India is famous across the globe for its rich scientific, intellectual, and artistic knowledge traditions. To inculcate among students a deeper understanding of the classical thought-practices and cultures of Indian civilization through the perspective of an insider, the Humanities and Social Sciences discipline at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar initiated in the year 2016 a semester course titled Introduction to Indian...

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Promoting Women in Computer Science Research

“Women are both talented and innovative thinkers and tend to use computer science as a tool to solve larger problems.” — Kimberly Bryant, electrical engineer and founder of the Black Girls Code (a course that teaches basic programming concepts to black girls) The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar understands that girls and women holding the leadership positions and collaborating on teams in science and technology, in the present times, have an extraordinarily positive impact on the growth and development of a nation. Hence, the Institute is an active promoter of educating them in a manner that they can confidently...

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Indoor Air Pollution: A Bigger Problem than Pollution Outdoors

Were you aware that indoor air pollution can potentially be up to ten times more harmful than outdoor air pollution? According to the World Health Organization, approximately half of the cities with the worst air pollution are in India. Moreover, the Indian cities also occupy the major positions in the top-ten list of the most air-polluted cities worldwide. Every year, around two million people die in the country because of high particulate matter (PM) concentrations, and this number surpasses all other health-risk factors such as smoking, diet, and high blood pressure. A crucial point worth mentioning here is that...

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Air Pollution and Solar Power Generation — How are they related?

Did you know that air pollutants, especially dust and particulate matter, are estimated to reduce the solar power generation by as high as 40% in the regions of their high concentrations? Many cities of India are the top rankers in the World Health Organization’s list of the most polluted cities around the world. This air pollution is highly dangerous, not only causing ill-effects on our health but also standing in the way of India’s ambitious 100 GW solar energy production by the year 2022. Recent studies have shown that poor air quality negatively affects the solar (electrical) energy production,...

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