The three day meet will see power-packed discussions on ways of transforming the landscape of Indian higher education. World reputed entrepreneurs like Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail, Mukesh Chatter of Nexabit Networks and other fellow BITSians will share their success stories with budding entrepreneurs.
BITSians have always believed in giving back to the society. BITS social engineering initiatives like BITSConnect (gigabit campus network backbone), BITSunami (rehabilitation programme), BITS.aid (community development projects) have set an example for other technical institutes to follow. Talking about BITSConnect, Prem Jain, Senior Vice President, Cisco Systems (BITS ‘68) said, “Sharing knowledge is a part of BITS culture. We believed that each of the four BITS campuses have tremendous potential to bring the overall effort of BITSians together. With BITSConnect, we ensured that BITSians not just share research ideas but also work together in transforming the society through innovation in technology.”
The Founder of BITSsunami and the winner of the Guinness World Record for planting the maximum number of trees in twenty four hours, Sudeep Jain (BITS ‘86) said, “We believe in giving back to the society. The satisfaction of helping the ones in need was overwhelming. BITSians have been instrumental in utilizing their technical knowhow by transforming the district of Nagapatnam in Chennai and making it more habitable. Ever since Tsunami struck the coastal district of Tamil Nadu, BITSians have contributed not only in cash but also in kind to ensure that the smiles are returned to the faces of the inhabitants.”
Founder of Sustainable Innovations and the winner of Lemelson MIT Award for Sustainability 2010, Dr BP Agrawal (BITS ‘60) had a similar vision. His innovations Akash Ganga and Arogya Ghar have transformed barren lands of Rajasthan into water reservoirs as well as provided primary care to many villages in Rajasthan and have been rapidly expanding to other villages in the region.
BITS Global Meet will witness many such eminent speakers sharing their ideas of transforming society, enterprises and academics through innovation. Mr. CS Goel, CEO of BITSAA Global Meet 2011 and General Secretary of BITSAA Delhi Chapter, which is the host chapter for the meet said, “It is a defining moment for over 30,000 alumni of BITS Pilani, Dubai and Goa campuses who are spread across 80 countries. The first BITSAA Global Meet Jan 7-9 marks beginning of a new era wherein the world alumni will meet together every year to give back to the alma mater and contribute in transforming the world in “innovative” BITSian way.”
Apart from panel discussions and plenary sessions, the meet shall present to the attendees interactive workshops, mesmerizing bullet talks to inspire and amaze one and all, unveil initiatives taken up by BITS Pilani & BITSAA apart from serving as a platform to network with alumni and students from batches spanning over five decades of success that BITS Pilani has gifted the world.
Speaking on the BITSAA Global Meet, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group said, “This homecoming shall bring BITSians back to their alma-mater with the objective to strengthen the BITS brand globally, support new initiatives taken by the institute and reminisce their memories of BITS”.