On Monday, the last day of outgoing director V Ramgopal Rao's tenure, an IIT Delhi startup put up a drone show to bid him farewell. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay professor Rangan Banerjee formally took charge as the new director of IIT Delhi Tuesday.
Banerjee, a Forbes Marshall Chair Professor at IIT Bombay, is a B Tech (mechanical) graduate from the same institute. Later, he obtained a PhD (mechanical), also from IIT Bombay.
On Monday, the last day of outgoing director V Ramgopal Rao’s tenure, an IIT Delhi startup put up a drone show to bid him farewell.
In a note on Facebook, Rao said: “After being the Director, IIT Delhi for close to 6 years, I am handing over charge tomorrow (Feb 15, 2022) to Prof. Rangan Banerjee. Today, BotLab Dynamics (#startup at IIT Delhi which performed at the Beating Retreat ceremony during the #Republic Day) put up a surprise show on IIT Delhi playground.”
“I knew that they are performing, but didn’t realize that they were doing it on the occasion of my handing over charge tomorrow. It was very touching indeed to see myself in the sky,” he said.
The drones arranged to form the face of Rao as well showcased messages such as “Thank you Prof V R Rao” and “We love IIT Delhi”.
“I have always supported startups and understood their pain points. Maybe, it’s because I have gone through some of these struggles myself and can identify with their problems. I believe in the saying that startup founders are our new freedom fighters. If India needs to free itself from poverty, inefficiency and inequality, it’s startups which will have to show the way. Wealth creation happens through technology startups and academic institutions need to play a major role in creating an ecosystem for deep-tech innovation. Leadership and institutional support are very essential for this,” wrote Rao.
“The startups at IIT Delhi always had my ear and approached me whenever they faced issues. We launched multiple schemes such as Faculty Innovation & Research driven Entrepreneurship (FIRE), Student startup action plan, Discover & Learn 1-2-3-4 initiatives etc. to boost the startup ecosystem at IIT Delhi. The results will be visible in due course of time,” he wrote.
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