Pearl Reunion of the Class of 1978

B.Gautham [1978-BTMT]

The Class of 1978 celebrated their Pearl Reunion from December 28 to 30, 2008. Following the usual pattern, the Class spent the first day at IIT and after lunch on the second day, proceeded to a beach resort, GRT Temple Bay, Mahabalipuram and stayed there until lunch on the third day. The first day’s programme included introductions, cricket at the stadium and the 70s hit Hindi movie, “Aradhana”, starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, screened at the OAT. The second day’s programme at IIT featured tree planting and photo session and presentations by Sant (B Santhanam, Class of 1978), who spoke on a study of alumni (across all IITs) that was conducted by PANIIT and Prof. K. N. Satyanarayana who explained the IIT Madras Growth Fund.

The Class enjoyed their stay at GRT spending the time playing beach volleyball and cricket and just relaxing, soaking in the ambience of the place. After dinner (29th), there was entertainment by wives and children and a very interesting ‘couples’ game, which revealed perception versus reality vis-à-vis what each partner thought of the other. All in all the Reunion was a very enjoyable and memorable experience.

As part to their Pearl Reunion Celebrations, the Class of 1978 sponsored a Music Festival that was organized by The Music Club, IIT Madras. The Music Festival was held in August 2008 and featured four programmes:

1. violin duet by Lalgudi Sri G. D. R. Krishnan and Smt. Vijayalakshmni (Aug 8)
2. vocal concert by Malladi brothers (Aug 9)
3. vocal concert by T. M. Krishna (Aug 11) and
4. flute recital by N. Ramani (Aug 12)

The Class of 1978 also organized talks by two eminent scientists. On September 15, 2008, Prof. M. S. Swaminathan, Chairman, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, spoke on ‘Management of Climate Change for Sustainable Food Security’ and on October 31, 2008 Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Madras spoke on ‘Nuclear Energy and Climate Change’.

The Class of 1978 chose ‘Water’ as its theme for their Pearl Reunion and identified four initiatives.

1. Shaastra 2008 Drinking Water Filter Competition: This completion, open to all college students (up to four members a team), involved the development and fabrication of a drinking water filter that is ‘innovative, unique, widely applicable and of low cost.’ The contest was announced during Shaastra 2007 (by putting up posters and distributing flyers) thus giving students a full year to work on their models.
   
   Since a lot of interest was shown in the contest, students were asked to submit a preliminary report based on which 30 teams were shortlisted. These teams were invited to Shaastra 2008 and were asked to demonstrate their models. Seven teams that were a cut above the rest were chosen for the final evaluation. The team from BITS, Pilani bagged the first prize of Rs 3 lakhs, while the team from BHU-IT secured the second prize of Rs 2 lakhs. The third prize was shared by two teams, interestingly from the same college – AC College of Technology, Chennai (a UG team and a PG team), each receiving Rs 50,000. The other three finalists received Rs 10,000 each as a consolation prize. The Environmental and Water Resources Group, Dept. of Civil Engg. played a major role in the entire process, the faculty being the judges and the laboratory being used to analyse the water samples. It is the fond hope of the Class of 1978 that at least a few of these water filters become viable, commercial products sold all over the country.
2. Research project at IIT Madras: The Class of 1978 has sponsored a research project – Development of carbon nano tube-based (CNT-based) water filter. Nano materials are providing novel opportunities to develop more efficient and cost effective nano structured and reactive membranes for water purification and desalination. The project aims at the investigation of the following three aspects to develop a suitable CNT-based water filter:
   1. to develop CNT and CNT-metal oxide supercapacitors for removal of NaCl from salt water
   2. to develop high-performance nanoscale catalysts dispersed CNTs for removal of low-level contaminants in water and
   3. to develop CNT-based ceramic membranes and study the effective removal efficiency of biological pollutants from water.
      The project is being managed by Prof. Ramaprabhu of the Physics Dept. A PhD. research scholar and a research associate have been assigned to this project.
3. Enumeration of surface water bodies along the IT corridor – Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Chennai: The Class of 1978 has commissioned a study to enumerate the surface (fresh) water bodies along the IT corridor. The study has been entrusted to DHAN Vayalagam (TANK) Foundation, Madurai, a professional, grassroots, and service organization with decades of experience in rejuvenating water bodies. The study has been completed and should serve as an eye-opener regarding how we are managing our water resources. The study covered 153 water bodies present in the area. Thirty-four water bodies are polluted due to domestic sewage, solid waste dumping and industrial waste disposal and 51 water bodies are under different phases of encroachment. In about 90 water bodies, the catchment has been converted to residential areas. The study makes the following recommendations: classify the water bodies in the region as urban wetlands and declare them as water sanctuaries with special policies similar to the policies enacted for forest protection and management, sensitize and involve the various stake-holders (who are the direct beneficiaries of the water bodies) including the corporate and educational institutions in the region and rehabilitate the water bodies with their support, introduce rain water harvesting structures inside the water spreads and prevent or minimize pollution caused by solid and liquid waste.
4. Creation of a website of water projects: In association with DHAN Vayalagam (TANK) Foundation, the Class of 1978 has created a website www.waterindia.in that is essentially a data base of water projects. Any organization, charity, philanthropist can visit the website and choose and sponsor a water project. Presently a ‘bare-bones’ website has been set up listing seven water projects close to Chennai. The website itself needs to be spruced up and more water projects added. It is the fond wish of the Class of 1978 that each class of IIT (Class of 1965, 70, 75, etc.) and the alumni in each region (Chennai, Bangalore, Washington DC, Silicon Valley, etc.) each sponsor a water project.

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