Launching Bridges to the Future Campaign.. What happens when 25,000+ BITSians take up a cause? The desire to give back to BITS has been growing stronger with time, especially among the older batches. We heard this loud and clear at our first ever BITSAA Global Meet at New Delhi in Jan 2011. John Kennedy’s inspirational words, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" are a very apt application to our beautiful microcosm. Around the world, BITSians are coming together in unprecedented numbers to better BITS, our network and our community. With BITS Strategic Plan (Mission 2012/Vision 2020) and 'Parivartan', BITS is taking steps in the right direction to further develop a well defined strategy to realise its dream of being one of the leading universities in the world. With this vision in mind, BITSAA, in collaboration with BITS, Pilani is kicking off the "Bridges to the Future” fundraising campaign... The Future is NOW!
BITS' Growth Plans - Message from the Vice Chancellor From administrative to pedagogical changes, BITS, sure is taking steps in the right direction. Read on!
Friends, I wish to share with you details about BITS’ plans to grow the academic programmes it offers at its three campuses in India, together with the resulting growth in number of students in BITS. This growth comes soon after BITS opened its three new campuses in Dubai (in 2000), Goa (in 2004) and Hyderabad (in 2008), a move that resulted in a three-fold growth in student strength from 3,500 in 1999 in Pilani to 10,500 across its four campuses in 2010.
Where should the next BITS Alumni Global Meet happen? In your city? BITSAA Chapters are bidding to bring the next-BGM near you. Show your support. A bidding war is on.. BGM2011-New Delhi was a block buster hit. Contact and connect with your chapter leaders, pledge your support in organizing, strengthen the bid they can make on your behalf. The next BGM is scheduled for late 2013/early 2014. Deadline for bidding for the next "Lead Chapter" and location is - January 30, 2012. Announcement-February 15, 2012.
On the last day of BGM2011-Delhi, a small committee consisting of SP Kothari, CS Goel, Raju Reddy, Sudeep Jain, Sarath Kolla, Aalap Tripathy under the Chairmanship of Kris Ramachandran was created by the chapters with a mandate to decide dates and announce the next "Lead Chapter" of BGM2.0. The Committee has decided on the dates after due deliberation with all stake-holders and wishes to undertake a bidding process to select the next "Lead Chapter". As has become precedent, BGM shall be conducted as a joint effort between BITS Pilani, BITSAA Chapters, BITSAA international with a "Lead Chapter(s)" driving the organization on the ground. Who will it be? Who shall bring the next-BGM to their city? Learn more at http://www.bitsaa.org/next_bgm BITS announces the first-ever Alumni Advisory Council A 15-member body of Distinguished Alumnus has been created to advise the BITS Leadership
BITS Pilani Leadership is receptive of the alumni voice and forward-thinking. Following the BITSAA Global Meet held in Delhi in January 2011, Vice Chancellor Prof. BN Jain and the Director's of the BITS Campuses have decided to deepen their engagement with BITS’ alumni in various ways in response to enthusiasm amongst the alumni to contribute to BITS’ march towards excellence in teaching and excellence.
In addition to bold moves to usher in "Parivartan" at BITS Pilani, the Vice Chancellor on October 4th, 2011 has announced the creation of the first-ever Alumni Advisory Council. This body (created with BITSAA's inputs) will meet at least twice a year and will advise and provide consultative inputs to the Vice Chancellor and the BITS Leadership on issues such as: (1) Academic curriculum, (2) Practice School/WILP Program, (3) Research Directions, (4) Infrastructure modernization and provide an independent view of BITS's standing among Global Universities.
The following eminent alumni in Academia and industry captains will form the first BITS Pilani Alumni Advisory Council: Distinguished Alumnus Award Winner Prof. Goverdhan Mehta (1955), Distinguished Alumnus award Winner Prof. D Balasubramanian (1955), Prof. Ashok Agarwal (1960), Prof. AP Mathur (1965), Prof. Krishna Saraswat (1963), BITSAA International Chairman-Emeritus Prof. SP Kothari (1974), Prof. Reena Garg (1974), Prof. M Balakrishnan (1972), BGM2011 Co-Chair Prem Jain (1968), Anurag Jain (1988), Madhu Kannan (1988), Ashish Bhinde (1989), Dilip D'Souza (1976), BITSAA International Chairman Raju Reddy (1976) and Advisor to the Chancellor Kris Ramachandran (1967).BITSConnect2.0: Promo Connecting students, faculty and alumni globally
Learn how BITS Alumni through BITSAA and BITS Pilani are making history. BITSConnect2.0 is an ambitious $2Mi project to enhance tele-teaching, web-based learning, virtual classrooms, remote placements, desktop collaboration into the University ecosystem. "Connect, Contribute, Collaborate.." Building Bridges to the Future of BITS Pilani - Straight Talk from the Trustees The Stars are aligning, the tide is turning, the BITSAA-BITS MoU, New Projects, Focused Goals
Chapters are coming together globally. BITS Pilani has under-taken bold moves to usher in "Parivartan". BITS and BITSAA Leadership have signed a document of understanding to bring transparency, governance for alumni contributions. For the first time, an Alumni Advisory Board has been created at BITS Pilani to advise the BITS Leadership on Academic curriculum, Practice School/WILP, Research Directions, Infrastructure modernization - essential give BITS an independent view of its standing among world Universities. Hear it straight from the Chairman of the Board Raju Reddy and Global Fundraising Chair Viggy Mokkarala as they explain - "What's new? How should we respond?" to a group of Distinguished BITSians in the Silicon Valley. BITS Alumni and BITS Pilani sign historic MoU BITSAA-BITS MoU clarifies fundraising governance. Creates a sound, fiscally transparent responsible relationship between BITSAA and BITS Pilani. Huge potential to strengthen the alumni bond with BITS Pilani
BITSians have long worked together to better BITS through local chapters and batches, well before BITSAA International was formally registered. In recent years, BITSAA International has given momentum and structure to this unconnected network so that we are now one of the biggest and most active alumni associations in the world. Now, we can truly contemplate and execute grand global projects and make a sustained contribution to the continued success of BITS Pilani. A MoU was recently executed between the BITS and BITSAA leadership to put into perspective the working relationship between the two organizations especially with regard to "Fundraising Governance" - the where, how, who and what? It is hoped that in the long-term this will strengthen the alumni bond with BITS Pilani and perhaps enable alumni as a whole to make a significant impact on the balance sheet of India's premier "Independent University". Learn more at http://www.bitsaa.org/governance Contest - Photo of the Month
Caption it!Announcement of the Distinguished Alumnus Awards 2011
BITSAA International congratulates proud alumni Mr. Baba Kalyani, Mr. Prithviraj Chavan, Prof. Dorairajan Balasubramanian, and Prof. Goverdhan Mehta as the inaugural winners of the "BITS, Pilani Distinguished Alumnus Award." The awards are in recognition of the recipients’ outstanding professional contributions. The awardees are noted for their (a) dissemination or creation of knowledge, (b) enrichment of people’s lives, (c) distribution or creation of wealth, or (d) promotion or establishment of high ethical standards in private or public life, as well as upon their integrity and stature, thereby making their alma mater proud. Read More Prem Jain ('68, EE): retires from Cisco as one of the top-ranked Indians! A look at the illustrious career of this legendary BITSian who has had significant influence in Engineering
On May 20th, 2011, BITSian Prem Jain (’68, EE, Pilani) retired as Senior Vice President of the Server Access and Virtualization Business Unit from Cisco Systems, Inc. Prem Jain was one of the top ranking Indians at Cisco and will continue to be. Jain also served as one of the members on Cisco’s Development Council. He will now become an advisor to the Cisco CEO, John Chambers.
A look at how much Prem Jain – the pride of BITS – means to us:
Raju Reddy (1976-1981) takes over from SP Kothari (1974-1979) as BITSAA's President & Chairman. SP Kothari accepts to become Chairman Emeritus.
BITS, Pilani Alumni Association (BITSAA) International is proud to announce its new President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees - Raju Reddy, an alumnus of the 1976-1981 batch. Raju graduated from BITS, Pilani in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and followed up with an M.S.in Computer Science from Virginia Tech. He worked at Intel for over 10 years in software development, marketing and general management before moving on to create one of the top 75 most Admired companies in Silicon Valley, Top 25 great places to work in India and Top 10 best employers in South China in Sierra Atlantic. Raju also serves on the BITS, Pilani Board of Directors, as a Charter member of TiE Silicon Valley, Board of Trustees for Puente, a Wharton School non-profit program and the India Community Center in the Bay Area (Chair of Sevathon 2010 & 2011). Read More
Come join the Million Miles Campaign
BITSian in the Limelight
Krishna Vavilala ('56 EEE)
Mr. Krishna Vavilala, has worked tirelessly towards spreading Indian culture in the United States since he first came here. He has also been active on the political front. In 1996, he introduced a motion in the Texas State Democratic Party Convention urging for US support to India over China. Mr. Vavilala has also published numerous letters in the national mainstream press such as the Houston Chronicle on a wide variety of subjects ranging from Indo-American relations to Taliban’s tagging of Hindus in Afghanistan.
IFOR - Intelligent Flying Object for Reconnaissance
"IFOR - Intelligent Flying Object for Reconnaissance" is a fully autonomous UAV developed by 8 students of BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus. The team will be competing at the International Aerial Robotics Competition 2011 in North Dakota, USA in August. This is a compilation of the videos taken while testing the alpha version.
Prof. L. K. Maheshwari's Farewell Message to all BITSians
Dear BITSian,
I am completing my term as Vice-Chancellor of BITS on the 31st July, 2010 and will continue to be associated with BITS as Advisor to the Chancellor for a few more years. I have served BITS for about 40 years in various capacities. I came to Pilani as a student at the age of 20 in 1965 and completed M.Sc. (Tech.) and Ph.D. degrees in 1965 and 1971 respectively. I commenced my career as a Lecturer in EEE Group in 1971 and was appointed as Associate Professor in 1976 and full Professor in 1982. I always enjoyed teaching various courses at BITS. I have been fortunate enough to have earned the affection and respect of a large number of students who have always appreciated my efforts in teaching, guiding research and also in motivating the young generation of students. The various e-mails and communications I receive from students from time to time express such feelings.
President & Chairman of BITSAA International Board
On May 20th, 2011, BITSian Prem Jain (’68, EE, Pilani) retired as Senior Vice President of the Server Access and Virtualization Business Unit from Cisco Systems, Inc. Prem Jain was one of the top ranking Indians at Cisco and will continue to be. Jain also served as one of the members on Cisco’s Development Council. He will now become an advisor to the Cisco CEO, John Chambers.
