In The Spotlight
BITS-RMIT Higher Education Academy
The BITS-RMIT Higher Education Academy is a unique partnership between BITS Pilani in India and RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. This program allows students to spend the first two years of their degree at BITS Pilani and the final two years at RMIT, providing a global perspective and diverse cultural immersion. The Academy combines the strengths of both institutions, offering state-of-the-art facilities, inspiring faculty, and a wide range of extracurricular activities, making it an ideal launchpad for academic and professional careers.
The Academy offers four undergraduate engineering programs with a dual-degree pathway in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics and Communication Engineering, as well as a joint PhD program with co-supervision of candidates.
Inaugural Immersion Program: A Milestone Experience
Starting May 18 to June 1, 2024, over 90 engineering students from BITS Pilani participated in a two-week immersion tour at RMIT University. This visit marked a significant milestone in the Academy's mission to provide world-class education and global exposure.
The immersion program began with an inspiring meeting with our BITS alumni, where the students engaged with accomplished professionals who shared their invaluable experiences and success stories. This interaction fostered a strong sense of community and belonging, reinforcing the enduring BITSian spirit.
Academic and Cultural Enrichment
During the immersion, the students were introduced to the vibrant BITS-RMIT culture, characterized by excellence, innovation, and camaraderie. They participated in various academic and cultural activities, which helped them gain a well-rounded perspective on their fields of study and the world beyond the classroom. The students' schedules were packed with exciting activities that showcased different aspects of life as Melbourne-based RMIT students.
One of the highlights was visiting the MCG and Australian Sports Museum. Rachit Soni, a mechanical engineering student, expressed his enthusiasm: “I’m a massive fan of sports, so being able to visit the MCG, Rod Laver Arena, and Albert Park Circuit... it’s been an amazing experience. After these two weeks, I feel like I discovered a lot about the city and how it functions".
Collaborative Learning Environment
Vaibhavi Pandey, an electrical engineering (honours) student, highlighted the collaborative environment at RMIT: “I’m excited to come to RMIT because every student and every academic I have spoken to here has been so passionate about their work. There’s a big collaborative environment here, instead of a competitive one, which is a major difference to academic settings back home"
Faculty Endorsements
Professor Ian Burnett, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the STEM College at RMIT: “This partnership between BITS and RMIT delivers world-class education and training, providing students with a unique global perspective and essential skills for priority industries in both India and Australia.”
Professor Sudhirkumar Barai, Director of BITS Pilani, Pilani campus: “This program is designed to provide international exposure, transforming students into true global citizens.”
Professor Srinivasan Madapusi, Director of BITS Pilani, Dubai campus: “The Melbourne experience will encourage students to promote the program, acting as brand ambassadors for the Academy.”
A Foundation for Future Cohorts
The BITS-RMIT Higher Education Academy is not just any other academic program; it’s a transformative journey that equips students with a global outlook and prepares them for future challenges.
We are extremely proud of our students and grateful to our faculty and alumni for their steadfast support. This immersion program has established a strong foundation for future cohorts, and we look forward to other successful collaborations with RMIT Australia.
BITS Exclusive
Young Entrepreneurs’ Boot Camp (YEB)
The latest edition of the Young Entrepreneurs’ Boot Camp (YEB) took place at the BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus. This six-day residential program, designed for school students (Grades 9 to 12 or equivalent), offers a glimpse into the technology-driven innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem at BITS Pilani.
Esteemed guests included Mr. Manish Dave and Mr. Deepak Joy Cheenath, who served as the chief guest, along with Mr. Omkarnath Surabhat Rath as the guest of honour. Eminent professors, entrepreneurs, scientists, innovators, and distinguished alumni delivered insightful talks throughout the program. The institute's leadership, including Prof. Suman Kundu and Prof. Meenal Kowshik, also graced the event with their presence.
Students showcased their innovation and entrepreneurial skills through the "BITS Pilani YEB Innovation Pitching Challenge." Additionally, the program featured a variety of fun and cultural activities, enriching the overall experience. A total of 150 students from various parts of the country benefited from this engaging and educational YEB program.
Student Spotlight
Shreyansh Sharma - National Winner of IndiaSkills 2024
We are proud to announce that Shreyansh Sharma, a second-year Chemical Engineering student at BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, has emerged as the National Winner in the Chemical Laboratory Technology skill at the IndiaSkills 2024 Competition. The event, held from 15th May to 19th May 2024, concluded with a grand felicitation ceremony where Shreyansh was honored by prominent dignitaries including Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary - Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO - NSDC, and Dr. Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, Chairman - National Council Vocational Education and Training. Watch the felicitation here.
As the national winner, Shreyansh will represent India at the WorldSkills 2024 in Lyon, France, this September, joining a 60+ member Indian contingent. This prestigious event highlights the exceptional skills and talents of youth on an international platform, selected from over 2.5 lakh candidates nationwide. IndiaSkills, the country’s largest skill competition, provides a platform for young talents to showcase their abilities and achieve excellence at both national and international levels.
Alumni Spotlight
Anuj Srivastava
Anuj Srivastava, a visionary entrepreneur, and BITS Pilani Goa alum of 2020.
He is the Co-Founder and CEO of OnFinance AI, a pioneering company at the intersection of generative AI and the banking sector. With a passion for fintech, startups, generative AI, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence, Anuj has dedicated his career to revolutionizing financial services through technological innovation.
Under his leadership, OnFinance AI has embarked on a mission to transform the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) industry by enhancing productivity, time efficiency, and data inference with NeoGPT, the company's flagship product. NeoGPT is designed to serve as an AI copilot for research, sales, relationship managers, and customer support teams, driving customer-centric workflows in wealth management and insurance sectors.
His professional journey is marked by significant achievements and contributions to several leading firms including Barclays, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Worldquant, Anthem, Accern, IIFL, and AT&T. His work has spanned across quantitative finance, investment banking, and artificial intelligence, demonstrating his versatility and deep expertise in both finance and technology.
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Mrinmoyee Basu
Dr. Mrinmoyee Basu, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, has been recognized by the Indian National Science Academy - INSA for her outstanding work on semiconductors, especially on nanomaterials for photoelectrochemical reactions like water splitting, CO2 reduction, and sensing, and vertically grown nanomaterials to enhance light-matter interaction and charge carrier properties
In Prof Basu's work done as a group, they have focused on developing efficient and robust photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, essential for sustainable energy. They utilize methods like hydrothermal, sol-gel, and microwave techniques to create UV and visible light-active semiconductors. Enhancements include sensitizing photoelectrodes with quantum dots and plasmonic nanoparticles, adding cocatalysts, and doping with heteroatoms to improve PEC activity.
The group also developed heterojunctions for better light absorption and charge separation. Recently, they've expanded to photoelectrodes for dopamine and glucose sensing, showing promising results with TiO2-based materials. These efforts aim to advance both fundamental understanding and practical applications in photoelectrochemistry.
Research Stories
Novel Deep Learning Technique Using Calculus Enhances Road Detection in Satellite Images
A recent study by researchers from BITS Pilani and Bournemouth University, led by Prof. Trilok Mathur and Prof. Kamlesh Tiwari, introduced a groundbreaking method for accurate road segmentation in satellite images. Published in Neural Networks, their approach uses fractional optimal control to combine local and global cues, enhancing the precision of deep learning models. This technique outperforms existing methods by accurately connecting road segments, even in obstructed regions, and reduces noise impact, ensuring generalisability. Tested on the Massachusetts and Ottawa Road Databases, the model showed superior performance, offering potential applications in urban planning, traffic management, and disaster response, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 for sustainable urban environments.
Suhane Pal
𝐀𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐢'𝐬 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐒𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐂𝐄𝐎𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭!
On May 18th, The Leela Palace Bengaluru was the backdrop for a landmark event as BITS Pilani hosted its inaugural gathering of esteemed alumni from the corporate and startup worlds. Group Vice Chancellor, Prof. V Ramgopal Rao, captivated the audience with important updates on BITS Pilani’s latest advancements, future vision, ongoing projects, and a robust plan for alumni support. Prof. Arya Kumar, Dean of Alumni Relations, highlighted the profound impact of alumni engagements and how they will help BITS Pilani reach new heights.
The evening radiated with a shared commitment from our alumni to contribute back and strengthen the vision of BITS Pilani. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined and made this event truly memorable.
Events Gallery
MOU between JKLU Jaipur and Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
We are happy to announce that MOU was signed by Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi, Vice Chancellor, JKLU and Col. Soumyabrata Chakraborty, Registrar, BITS Pilani in the presence of Leadership team of both universities.
The scope of collaboration on academic and research activities in this Memorandum of Understanding includes the following categories:
a) Academic and Research collaboration in areas of mutual interest. It is expected that this collaboration will, in due course, lead to collaborative research projects, joint workshops, seminars, etc.
b) BITS Pilani allows students from home institute for project work, exchange of academic information, scholarly information, materials, and publications.
c) Admission of JKLU students to a PhD programme at BITS Pilani as per the Host Institutions norms.
BITS Tech Fest
As part of BITS Tech Fest, the Microsoft Tech Club and Google Developer Student Club organized the Coding Kombat competition. Teams of three competed in rapid-fire and knockout rounds, coding in 5-minute relays without seeing previous code.
With lively commentary by Nishit Batwal and a Mortal Kombat theme, the event was a thrilling experience. The top winners were Team ACM BITS (Kayan Irani, Ayushi Bhandari, Aakar Mathur), Team JFK (Mohammed Firas Adil, Khirthana Sundaram, Jannath Shaik), and Team Podium (Bhavya Kothari, Laya Shree Elango, Sanvit Katrekar), receiving AED 300, AED 150, and AED 120 respectively.
The Microsoft Tech Club conducted the ‘Quiz Quest’ contest over the course of the second semester on their Instagram page. Every weekend, 7 questions would be posed, and the winners would be awarded 5 AED per week. While there would be only one winner per week, the points were tallied up over the course of the semester on a leaderboard. The winners of Quiz Quest include Tanishq Sujan, Karthik Vishal, Bhavya Kothari, Harshavardhan Nakka and Shreya Doodipala.
BITS Pilani hosted a delegation from the Otto-von-Guericke University
BITS Pilani hosted a delegation from the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg and three esteemed German Institutes – Heidelberg University, University of Cologne, and Freie Universität Berlin India Office – at the Hyderabad campus
This visit prepared the grounds for further engagement and partnership with BITS Pilani and initiated dialogues enhancing collaboration, especially in student mobility, joint research initiatives, dual/double degree programs, and faculty exchanges.
Prof. Soumyo Mukherji, Director, BITS Pilani Hyderabad while sharing his thoughts on this collaboration said, "We are proud to welcome such distinguished delegates from the University of Magdeburg and leading German institutes to BITS Pilani Hyderabad. This will be a major step in collaboration and research, creating a strong bedrock for innovative research and transformative educational opportunities. Moving together, we shall work towards co-creating solutions to some of the world's biggest problems while empowering the next generation of scientists and technologists
The key representatives of Magdeburg University included Prof. Jens Strackeljan, and Prof. Dr. Susanne Schmidt, Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching. In addition, heads of departments, including Heidelberg University, University of Cologne, and Freie Universität Berlin, also attended to provide insightful perspectives to the discussions.
Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, Graces BITS Pilani Initiative
Our Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ramgopal Rao, had the distinguished honor of meeting with the Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhawan on 21st May. This meeting was to present an initiative we are developing for the advancement of BITS Pilani.
Smt. Droupadi Murmu, the 15th President of India, is a beacon of resilience and determination. We are deeply grateful to her for the opportunity to discuss significant actionables for the Indian higher education system. Her support and insights are invaluable as we strive to enhance and innovate within this sector.
Awardee
