Leveraging IIT and giving back through innovation

Leveraging IIT and giving back through innovation

Partha Sarathi Chatterjee

As we gather for the IIT 2013 Global conference, I feel it is appropriate that we reflect upon the significance of the year 2013. It is 100 years after two pivotal events - Rabindranath Tagore winning the Nobel Prize as the first Asian and Mahatma Gandhi‘s using Satyagraha campaign as a non-violent movement, which literally means “insistence on truth”. They signify the indomitable human spirit – a spirit which aspires to write about the truth and stand up for ideals, even while living under bondage. A spirit which is not concerned with just self-preservation but about the greater good; a spirit which is not about doing enough but about excellence; finally, a spirit not satisfied with status quo but about breaking barriers and pushing one to his/her limits.

This year’s conference is about that selfless, self-motivated spirit, which drives towards higher goals and about the greater “WE”. I have often thought about the IIT experience – what did it really teach us, why do we fondly remember those years and finally, how can we leverage those lessons learned.

Growing up in India, I always valued the IIT brand. To me, it not only signified brilliance but also, the dedication and diligence required to achieve one’s goals. I was young enough to not know what engineering meant but knew that it was difficult to get into IIT. It was a challenge and it had to be met. What I study and what does it do for my career came next.

Getting to IIT was just the start of a phenomenal journey. The notion of only nerds making it to IIT is one of the glaring misconceptions about IIT. IIT actually brings together a motley crew of people from diverse backgrounds from different regions, languages and cultures. It is a microcosm of the global village we live in. As one travelled away from parents and near and dear ones, there was rarely close supervision. From time management to prioritization of fun vs. funda, we continued the juggling act. That was one of the best and practical real-life management courses I ever had. Time management, relationship building, managing diverse backgrounds and culture, handling stress, wearing different hats, teamwork and leadership, campaigning (sales) and resourcefulness (entrepreneurship?) learned during those years help you in the long run. All of us treasure those four years not solely because of the lessons learned within the classroom but learned as part of many activities of the campus life.

Just like a mathematician, I want to establish that our success in our professional lives can be attributed to the experiences of those four years – we benefited immensely.  Remember, our education and campus existence were subsidized to a large extent by the general public. Also, on an individual basis, we were lucky to be blessed with an IIT education, where we learned fast and we applied ourselves. We count our blessings – brilliance and drive are two excellent building blocks for future success.

So, what now?

It is time to think about giving back – not necessarily through financial contribution but through ideas, innovation, and organization towards a better future for the greater humanity. A hundred years after two extraordinary human beings broke barriers, it is time for us to push the limit, tackle the hard problems of the world – not think about myself but the global we.

As we celebrate ten years after the first global IIT conference, we as IITians should take a moment and reflect on our successes. But, it is more important to look forward and think about ways to give back. Blessed with tools to succeed, supported by a whole nation, we should put our collective brains together to analyze the problems and solve them. I strongly feel that if the conference provides the foundation on which we come up with at least one new idea to address one key issue of the next century, I will consider this a great success.

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nnovation for the future will be the gift from the gifted and fortunate to the less fortunate. That is the legacy of IIT 2013, the legacy of the best and brightest – a contribution for the greater humanity.

Partha, a 1987 graduate of IIT Kharagpur in Computer Science, a Gold Medalist in Computer Science in MS at USC and MBA from Texas A&M University, is the Chair for marketing and media at IIT 2013 Global Conference and a member of Board of Directors at IIT Foundation. He leads the global energy and finance management consulting practice at SunGard as Director of Consulting Services.