Graphene, a ‘wonder material’ derived from graphite, promises new revolutions in the field of electronics, computers, solar panels, optics, bioremediation etc. These new horizons in various fields are, however, halted by the low and costly production of graphene. A team of scientists from IIT-Madras has now developed a low-cost method for production of graphene nanoplatelets clearing a major roadblock in the application of graphene in various industries. Graphene is a single-

The elevator probably counts itself amongst the world’s most pitiful objects, for it flies up and down for miles without ever having gotten anywhere. Today, it flew with a lady. “Hmm”, jabbing a button that read four, Claire mumbled into her phone. “…and how’s Albert doing?” “Great!”, a male voice replied on the other side of the phone. “The little devil seems to have calmed down.” “And the dentist said…” “No sweets for a long time. Otherwise, it’s going to be cavities all ov

Swaminathan (Sam) Sivakumar is an Intel Senior Fellow in the Technology and Manufacturing Group and Director of Lithography in the Portland Technology Development organization at Intel Corporation, leading the definition, development and deployment of Intel’s next-generation lithography processes. He is also responsible for developing resolution-enhancement technique s and optical proximity correction technologies in support of Intel’s leading-edge patterning solutions. Chenn

She stood proudly at the centre of the gallery, admiring the throng of visitors streaming through the doors. She warmly greeted her patrons with a polite smile. “My dear, you’ve outdone yourself this time- how realistic this one! Is! I almost cowered under its gaze,” exclaimed Nita, an aristocratic octogenarian who stubbornly refused to acknowledge her age. She smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yes, this took a while to perfect,” she said, running her fingers

Surya Srini just released his first original single “Kadhal Aadhirai” while also working in a corporation. He graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of IIT Madras in 2019. In this interaction with Chennai36’s correspondent Sujay Srivastava, he opens up about his unconventional career choices and a lot more. When and how did you start developing an interest in music? I was in 1st grade when my mother enrolled me in a keyboard class because she was a busy worki

The Other Side is back with a brand-new podcast series, From Insti & Beyond, in collaboration with the Alumni Relations Cell of IIT Madras. Here, they aim to talk to distinguished alumni of IITM to enable young graduates and students across IITs to make better and more informed decisions regarding their careers and lives. In the first episode, The Other Side hosts Mr. Shiv Shivakumar, a leader who needs no introduction. Shiv Sir, a distinguished alumnus of both IIT Madras and

The journey to founding his startup started in the second year of his insti life, when he began tutoring students as a part of the Acad Buddy program. Taran Singh, an alumnus of the 2019 batch of the dual degree program of the Aerospace Department, tells us his story on founding Melvano. Besides Acad Buddy, Taran had begun to home tutor students nearby, who were preparing for JEE, and realized his passion for teaching. He understood the core problems faced by students who wer

We talked to three of our alumni – Kaushik, Tanya and Shreyas – currently working at Bain and Company. They share their experience at Insti and fundaes about consulting and Bain in specific. Here are some of the excerpts from their conversation. 1. What exactly is your work as a consultant, and how does a typical day at work look like? Kaushik: We are staffed on different projects and for various clients in varied industries. Each client has significant problems they want to

As Bain & Company has opened for internships this year, we sat down with the final-year students placed at Bain the previous year. Read on to find about their preparation, experience at Bain, and more. 1. What exactly does the work of a consultant entail? Rohith: In management consulting, a consultant gets access to problems & scenarios businesses and corporations face across industries. As part of a large team, you try to arrive at a diagnosis and solution for these issues/s

In March 2020, when students left the campus, they thought they would be back in 2 weeks; but it has almost been a year and a half now. Since then, an entire batch of students graduated, a new batch joined (but are yet to see their campus), and several college activities, fests, and an internship, as well as a placement season, were conducted online. As it appears we are set for yet another online season, we figured it would be a good time to contrast and compare the online s

Ankur Tiwary, Graduated 2021, Dept. of Engineering Design who recently got placed at Cruden BV talks about his job search in Amsterdam with Sujay Srivastava. Read on to find out about his international summer internship & dual-degree project in the Netherlands. When did you realize you were interested in your domain – Virtual reality? In my second year, I was presenting our Virtual Reality-based project at an Autodesk event. It was 2018, and very few people at that time had t

Interview with P M Siddharth, from the Department of Chemical engineering who secured an off campus internship as an Analyst at Vedantu in conversation with Swati B. What were your impressions on the internship season as it approached in your pre-final year? When I went through the internship bluebook, the first things that I noticed were the stipend and the available profiles. Most of the companies hire for coding, machine learning, data analyst and software development-rela

Since my childhood telecommunication technologies have fascinated me. I always wanted to be an engineer, specifically a Telecommunications engineer.My parents wanted me to be a doctor, and I did my best to ensure that I score passing marks in biology in 12th, after which, I was allocated a seat in Civil engineering and was quite depressed till I got a seat into E&C. After B.E, I came to IITM to do my M.Tech in Digitial Communications. After M.Tech , I worked with many compa

“Passion is the genesis of genius”. This beautiful and motivational line seemed very true as soon as we started our talk with Dr. Ramani Ramakrishnan, a man of immense talent and experience in his field of expertise. A member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario (1984), he is an amazing person to talk to. Very humble and self-effacing, he finished his pre university from Loyola College and B. Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Madras in 1970. He is currently a full profes

Prof R Nagarajan (1981/ B.Tech/ Chemical) is currently a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dean, International and Alumni Relations. Below is an excerpt of his interaction with the Chennai36 team. Sir, what is you first memory of the institute? My initial memory was the counselling session that lasted 10 seconds. They simply asked me whether I would prefer to study at Madras. I nodded. I had no clue which branch I wanted and picking out Chemical Enginee

Umesh Malhotra (BTech, MM/1990) is the founder of Hippocampus which is a network of libraries and schools that is attempting to change the face of rural education in India. He is an entrepreneur, a philanthropist and a Godavite at heart. Read on to know more about his vision behind Hippocampus, on occupying the all-powerful post of Quark Manager and the eternal feud between Saras and Godav. Q.1 After 4 years in IIT, you took up a managerial position at Infosys. How did this d

Dr Arumugam Manthiram is one of the Distinguished Alumnus Awardees of the year 2015. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from IIT Madras in 1981, and currently directs one of the largest and most productive research groups at the University of Texas at Austin. We ask about Dr Arumugam’s path from Madurai to Austin. How did it happen? Dr Arumugam explains that his path was not a straight line, and that he had no idea what his future would hold. He tells us that he didn’t plan or wo

“The best period of my life, in a sense” , says Prof Suraishkumar GK (name changed from Suresh to Suraish, credits going to mailing issues in IIT Bombay) while taking a bite of his Chilli Cheese Sandwich (which didn’t turn out to be as expected, CCD’s absence clearly felt) when asked about his stay in IIT Madras. GK( that was how people referred to him in insti, sadly no interesting funda, just initials) a man of great simplicity and clear thoughts is an Alumnus of IIT Madras

The Classical Music club  has been one of earliest and longest standing club at IIT Madras. One of the pillars and a mainstay in this club that has churned out some great musicians and attracts the top performers, is Professor T.T. Narendran. In a candid interview with the Professor who’ll never turn down an opportunity to interact with a student, Prasanna Venkatesh, an editor of Chennai36, attempts to trace the history of the illustrious club. How active was the classical mu

Shaastra Spons and PR Core The journey begins Krishna (who also goes by as AKT) still remembers the date; it was the 11th of July 2017. He was too scared to check his own JEE rank that his parents had to do it for him. The moment he realised he was getting into his dream college, he was elated but, more importantly, relieved. Entering the campus felt like entering a forest – nothing but trees, grass, and animals all around and he would often be lost in the campus during his e