Meeting in UC-Berkeley, Emerging career opportunities in the IITs, Friday April 13, 4:45PM

Opportunities for Postdocs at IITs in India - Friday, 13th April, 4:45 pm
- Prof. S K Jain, Director, IIT-Gandhinagar

Opportunities and Challenges of Building a World Class IIT from the Ground
Up: The IIT Gandhinagar Story

Prof Sudhir K. Jain, Director, IIT Gandhinagar director@iitgn.ac.in Venue:
434 Barker Hall, University of California, Berkeley
Date: Friday, 13th April 2012
Time: 4:45 pm (NOTE: Barker closes at 5 pm, so please be on time or
contact us in advance to be let into the building
Please RSVP to sharmistha@berkeley.edu or at
https://www.facebook.com/events/244647525632709/

Abstract: The talk will put in perspective the new initiatives towards
higher education in India. It will focus on developments at IIT
Gandhinagar and its future vision and plans. Started in 2008, IIT
Gandhinagar seeks to establish itself as a centre of excellence in
research, teaching, and community engagement. The talk will cover some of
the exciting novel initiatives taken by the Institute in its quest to
achieve this target and lay out some of the challenges we face
going forward. As we grow in size, the Institute is looking for
outstanding and enthusiastic young faculty members who share the
Institute vision and values. The talk will provide a good opportunity to
those interested in building a teaching and research career in
India to gain first hand perspective on the opportunities and
possibilities that lie ahead. The talk will be followed by a
discussion and a question & answer session.

Bio: Sudhir K Jain received his Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from
University of Roorkee in 1979, Master of Science from California Institute
of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, USA in 1980, and Doctor of Philosophy,
also from Caltech, in 1983. He joined Civil Engineering faculty at IIT
Kanpur in 1984 and in June 2009 moved over to IIT
Gandhinagar as its first Director. At IIT Kanpur, Professor Jain
taught earthquake and structural engineering and has also mentored young
researchers in earthquake engineering and has published more than 150
research papers.

Professor Jain has been the Head, Civil Engineering Department
(2001-2003); Chairman, Student Placement Committee (1995-96);
Coordinator, Quality Improvement Programme (1997-1999); Coordinator,
Centre for Development of Technical Education (1997-1999), and the Dean,
Resource Planning and Generation (2005-2008) at IIT Kanpur. He serves on
the Board of Directors of the International Association for Earthquake
Engineering (2000- ) and is currently its Executive Vice President (2008-
). Professor Jain was elected a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of
Engineering in 2003.