1. NEWSLETTER
UDCT Alumni Association
YEARS OF
EXCELENCE
November, 2013
From the President’s Desk
Dear Alumni,
As we usher in the festival of lights, I am pleased to
introduce this newsletter, which we propose to bring to you
once a month. This will be a capsule that will keep you posted
on what is happening in your Alumni Association.
Office Bearers:
Dr. Vijay G. Habbu
President
Prof. Aniruddha B. Pandit
Imm. Past President
Mr. Yashwant H. Jhaveri
Snr. Vice President
Mr. Ravi Raghavan
Vice President
Dr. Parag R. Gogate
Secretary
Mr. Vijay Y. Sane
Treasurer
Members:
Mr. Lalit R. Chadha
Mr. Nitin J. Deshmukh
Prof. Padma Devarajan
Dr. Sandeep B. Kale
Prof. Prakash A. Mahanwar
Prof. Alpana Mahapatra
Dr. Sanjay V. Mehendale
Dr. Prasad M. Nabar
Dr. M.G. Palekar
Mr. Rajeev S. Panse
Dr. Pariti Siva Rama Kumar
Mr. Vinay D. Patil
Mr. Koteswara Rao
Dr. Virendra K. Rathod
Mr. Virendra D. Sanghavi
Mr. Parth Shah
Dr. Parasuveera Uppara
Mr. Rajan K. Vaidya
Mr. Sharad S. Vengsarkar
As said in my last message, we have embarked on several
new initiatives and with your active support, we will bring them
on board very swiftly.
Throughout our tenure, this BOG will strive to ENHANCE the alumni network.
For this, we do solicit your participation, be it at the Dhirubhai Ambani Lifetime
Achievement Award (Wed, 13th Nov 2013) or for the Annual Day (Sat, 21st Dec
2013).
And, it will be great if you could register (with your photo) in our website www.
udctalumni.org.in Registration is independent of your Life Membership status, and
is free and simple.
Happy Diwali to you and your family!!
Best regards.
Dr. Vijay G. Habbu
Message from the Vice-Chancellor, ICT
Dear Alumnus,
Greetings from ICT on the occasion of Deepawali!
I am delighted to be in touch with you through the UAA and
hope that you have joined as a Life Member and be part of a
family to which you belong. Our Alma Mater has been granted
the status of a deemed University in recognition of its accomplishments, which would not have been possible without the
contributions of students, faculty, support staff, alumni, wellwishers, philanthropists, donors and industries. If you glance
through the pages of the history of technological advancement of
modern India, ICT stands out as the best example for others to emulate. On April 20,
2012, the Maharashtra Assembly granted us status as ‘Elite Institute’ and ‘Centre of
Excellence’ on par with IITs, IISc and IISERs.

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Your Alma Mater has undergone a sea change. This
is reflected in the following statistics:
No. 1 in India and No. 4 globally in publications in
Chemical Engineering.
9 UG, 16 PG, 29 PhD programmes & 1 PostGraduate Diploma in Chemical Technology
Management
Several new courses: MTech (Green Technology
& Food Biotechnology); MSc (Chemistry, Textile
Chemistry, Material Physics & Engineering
Mathematics); Green Chemistry as a course in
Chemical Engineering (since 1998)
708 PhD (full time with fellowship), 451 Masters
(with fellowship) and 1,100 UG students
325 UG Scholarships; 20 Endowment Chairs; 46
Visiting Fellowships; 10 endowments for library
407 papers & 104 Industrial projects in 2012-13;
191 Patents in last 10 years
More than 500 first generation entrepreneurs
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UAA NEWSLETTER
YEARS OF
EXCELENCE
BOG members speak
We will soon have a ‘Research and Innovation
Park,’ a separate campus and new Centres of Excellence.
We have now completed 80 years and in ICT’s
honour the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers have
organized its Annual Congress from Dec. 27-30, 2013
at our campus (www.chemcon2013.org). This will be
inaugurated by Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab
Mukherjee on Dec. 27 at 5.00 pm. The Governor of
Maharashtra, Shri K. Sankaranarayanan and the Chief
Minister, Shri Prithviraj Chavan will be the Guests of
Yashwant Jhaveri
Honour.
Sr. Vice-President, BOG
We have been trying to reach our graduates,
I have enriched myself
associates, teachers and well-wishers to join us in the
through exchange of thoughts
process of institution building. We cannot do it without
& ideas with ICT alumni,
you. Please join this great family of UAA, tell us your
derived inspiration from their
experiences and advise us as how to be in the forefront
achievements and how they
of knowledge creation and propagation. Leading
overcame challenges.
universities in the western world are great because their
alumni care, participate and advise. Reach out to your
I look forward to the
classmates and acquaintances and create an occasion
formal and informal meets and
to visit. Bring your family and show how the portals of
urge more and more members to join us in our activiexcellence changed your destiny.
ties.
Pledge support to the institute and mentor young
students and faculty, if you can afford to do so!
Vijay Sane
Hon. Treasurer, UAA
With best regards,
G.D. Yadav
Email: gdyadav@gmail.com
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For the first time, we have been able to break the Rs.
2-crore barrier in terms of Fixed Deposits. This gives
November, 2013

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scope to increase the support to
ICT and for various programmes.
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UAA NEWSLETTER
YEARS OF
EXCELENCE
and wanted interactions with the first generation
entrepreneurs. They have also sought guidance on
activities like acting and photography.
The first term of the new
academic year is coming to a close
Placement cell: With the help of UAA, the
Placement Cell has started a website. BOG
and we were happy to assist a
member, Dr. V.K. Rathod, who is the Co-ordinator
major student event – Vortex 2013
of the Placement Cell, is pleased with the response
(17-23 Oct).
received from companies. On Oct 21, the Placement
Cell organised ‘Chem Careers’ – a workshop for
The UAA also supported a number of factory visits
preparing students for interviews and for providing
for students.
information on opportunities in the chemical
industry.
With Diwali vacations around the corner followed
by end semester exams, I wish all shubh deepawali and
urge our student friends to study well.
UAA activities
UAA – Website: registrations off to a flying start
The newly launched UAA website (www.udct
alumni.org) has been launched and registrations have
been coming in. The total number of registrations has
crossed 600.
The website has several modes of interactions for
BOG initiatives
alumni – not just members of UAA – including the
Your BOG is implementing a number of novel recently launched section that allows for posting job
initiatives to reach out to alumni, students, faculty and opportunities.
other wellwishers.
Visit the website to learn more and interact with
Interaction with HOD/Faculty of various your colleagues!
Departments: The objective of these meetings will
be to understand their requirements and decide on Informal get together of SE Chapter in Singapore
a plan for networking. A start was made in October [Sep. 28]
The South East Asia Chapter of UAA had an
with a fruitful interaction with the faculty of
informal get together at the residence of Mr. Akhil
Pharma Department.
Kulkarni in Singapore. This coincided with the visit of
Interaction with Chapters: BOG Member Mr. Mr. Ravi Raghavan, Vice-President, UAA to the city.
Rajeev Panse has made an enthusiastic start by
reaching out to all Chapters – 9 in India and 6
abroad. Interactions are planned with each of them,
possibly starting out with the Pune Chapter.
ICT Alumni Hubs at companies: The BOG has
identified a number of companies employing
significant number of ICT alumni. It is proposed
to create alumni hubs at these places. Companies
identified include Clariant, Rubicon and Aditya
Birla R&D Centre.
Assisting student ativities: BOG member, Dr. M.G.
Palekar has had a few rounds of discussions with
the General Secretary, Mr. Soham D’souza and
other student representatives. The students have
sought guidance for jobs and higher education,
November, 2013
Informal get together of South East Chapter of UAA in Singapore on Sep. 28:
Seated (L to R): Akhil Kulkarni, Ravi Raghavan, H.V. Bhawe, Dr. Girish Tilak
Standing: Omkar Kanse, Shilpa Kote, Harshita Wardhan, Anay Chaube
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The Chapter has contributed Rs. 2 lakhs to institute
merit-cum-means scholarships to needy students and
has assured further contributions of the same amount
for the next four years.
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UAA NEWSLETTER
YEARS OF
EXCELENCE
celebrations of UAA in 2013, as well as other projects
for upgrading infrastructure at ICT, supporting students
with scholarships etc.
Dr. G.V.G. Rao, President, Colors Division, Atul,
read the letter received from Dr. Vijay G. Habbu,
UAA-President, and urged ICT alumni to visit the new
website, register their details and support UAA.
Prof. Sharma formally inaugurated the ICT Alumni
Group @ Atul, and dwelt on the long association
between ICT and Atul. He urged the Group to meet
once a month to discuss & share latest developments.
Prof. Sharma enlightened the group on his distinguished
career at UDCT and the pivotal role played by the
institute in developing numerous technocrats serving
the chemical industry worldwide. He urged ICT alumni
in Atul to serve as ambassadors to bring in more talent
into Atul to meet the company’s ambitious target to
reach US$1-bn turnover in 3-4 years.
ICT alumni and their families get together in
Bangkok [Sep. 29]
The Thailand Chapter of UAA organized a family
get together at the Amari Atrium Bangkok over lunch. Support given to Vortex [Oct 18-20]
The meeting was attended by six alumni and their
UAA extended financial
families and facilitated by Mr. Rajendra Jain, President,
support to “VORTEX: The
UAA Thailand Chapter.
ChemFest, 2013” – the annual
students festival combining
ICT alumni group formed at Atul [Oct 7]
three events: Exergy, YICC
Nearly 40 ICTians at Atul, the diversified
(Young Innovators Choice
speciality chemicals company, got together to form
Competition) and YRC (Young
the ICT Alumni Group @ Atul. The inauguration of
Researchers Conference). 75
the Group was graced by Professor Padma Vibhushan colleges from 35 cities across India participated in the
M.M. Sharma and hosted by BOG member Dr. Deepak event.
Palekar (President, Pharmaceuticals & Intermediates
The concluding day of the event was addressed
Division, Atul).
by Professor Padma Vibhushan M.M. Sharma, who
urged students to consider academics as a satisfying
professional career, as he did.
Support given for Factory visits
The UAA assisted the following factory visits.
The activity was spearheaded by Mr. Vijay Sane, Hon.
Treasurer, UAA, who personally accompanied the
students on the trips:
Aug 31: Third Year B.Tech (Pharma) & Third
Year B.Pharm to Rubicon (Ambernath) and Mehk
Chemicals (Navi Mumbai). (Coordinated by Dr.
Vikas Telvekar)
Dr. Palekar provided details of the recently
launched UAA website, the forthcoming Silver Jubilee
Oct 26: Second Year B.Tech (Dyes) to Amogh Chemi4
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UAA NEWSLETTER
YEARS OF
EXCELENCE
cals (Badlapur) and Metropolitan (Dombivli).
(Coordinated by Dr. Ganapati Shankarling)
Oct. 5-6: Third Year B.Tech (Dyes) to Shreyas
Intermediates, Gharda Chemicals and Chromatic
Dyes (all in Lote). (Assisted by PG students Amruta
Joglekar and Shailesh Vajekar)
Forthcoming events
UAA Dhirubhai Ambani Lifetime Achievement
Award to be conferred on Prof. George
Stephanopoulos [Wed, 13 Nov 2013]
The ‘UAADhirubhaiAmbani LifetimeAchievement
Award’ sponsored by Reliance Industries Ltd. will be
conferred on Prof. George
Stephanopoulos, A.D. Little
Professor of Chemical
Engineering, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, at a
ceremony to be held at ICT
on 13 November at 5.30 pm.
The Indian Chemical Council’s ‘D.M. Trivedi
Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution To
Indian Chemical Industry (Education & Research)’ for
2012, was presented to him at the hands of Mr. Nikhil
Meswani, Executive Director, Reliance Industries Ltd.
The Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE)
conferred upon him the ‘Dr Burjor P Godrej Life Time
Achievement Award for 2013’ in recognition of his
monumental contributions to the chemical engineering
profession and for guiding the profession by missionary
zeal and selfless service. This award will be presented
on December 27 at the hands of President of India in
Mumbai.
Prof. Stephanopoulos
The PSN College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu has
will also deliver a lecture on
‘Systems Thinking: The Core of Modern Engineering’ bestowed the “PSN Award for Excellence in Science
and Technology’ on Prof. Yadav.
during the award function.
UAA Annual Day finalized (Sat, 21 Dec 2013)
The Annual Day programme will include
celebrations by ICT alumni marking 10, 25 and 50 years
of their graduation. The UAA Distinguished Alumnus
Awards will also be presented on the occasion in the
following categories: Professional, Research, Academics and Other Achievements.
The Imperial College London, a renowned institute,
has honoured him as a ‘2014 Distinguished Seminar
Speaker’ for his seminal contributions to international
chemical engineering.
Prof. Padma V. Devarajan
Professor Padma V. Devarajan
has been selected for the Professor
Arrangements are being made for alumni to visit C.J. Shishoo Award for Research in
Pharmaceutical Sciences conferred
their sections at ICT and interact with the faculty.
by the Association of Pharmaceutical
Alumni of 2003, 1998 and 1963 are specially Teachers of India (APTI), Bangalore.
invited to register on the UAA website!
Vibhu Sharma
Vibhu Sharma, CEO of Ingenious
Inc, has been awarded the prestigious
“40 Under 40” Award by the Houston
Prof. G.D. Yadav
Business Journal (HBJ). Vibhu
The Vice Chancellor of ICT, Professor G.D. Yadav was recognized as one of the top
has been honoured by several prestigious national 40 business achievers in the city of
awards and international honours.
Houston under the age of 40 for 2013.
Awards & recognitions received
by our alumni
November, 2013
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UAA NEWSLETTER
YEARS OF
EXCELENCE
Vibhu has also been elected by the City of West harvested crops to reduce spoilage and significantly
University, Houston, to serve on the Recycle and Waste reduce the time women spend working in the
Reduction Board. The Board focuses on promoting fields.
environmental awareness and finding “ingenious”
ways to reduce, reuse and recycle for the better of the
community and the planet. Vibhu happens to be the New members
youngest member of this board.
The following members were inducted into the
Vibhu was also recently honored by the Houston
Technology Center (HTC) as a Celebrated Entrepreneur UAA in the months of September & October 2013:
of 2013.
Dr. P. B. Kanade, Ph.D. (Tech), 1989, Foods
Vaibhav Tidke
Dr. D.S. Katti, B.Sc. (Tech.), 1993, PPV
Mr. Vaibhav Tidke, an ICT
Kiran Bhat, B.Sc. (Tech.), 1995, Dyes
student, working under Prof. B.N.
Thorat, has received a grant of
P. N. Kulkarni, B.Sc. (Tech.), 1998, Dyes
US$100,000 from the Bill and
Kiran Kambhampati, B.Sc. (Tech.), 1999, PPV
Melinda Gates Foundation to
M. G. Khandelwal, B.Sc. (Tech.), 2005, Oils
develop a mobile, solar-powered
grain drier. The project is targeted
M. B. Jambre, M.Tech., 2007, Food
at doubling the storage life of
G. N. Khadke, M.E. (Plastic Eng.), 2010
Membership status
Category
The Board of Governors of UAA
Wish you a Happy Diwali
&
a Prosperous New Year
Life
Members
3741
Overseas
166
Wellwishers
219
Patron
Ordinary
32
2
Student Wellwishers
1087
Total
5247
Nominations invited for UAA Distinguished Alumnus Awards to be presented on Annual Day
The UAA confers its Distinguished Alumnus awards in the following categories:
1. Entrepreneur
2. Academics
3. Research
4. Professional
5. Extra-mural accomplishments
All, except the first, will be presented at the forthcoming Annual Day (Sat, 21 Dec 2013).
Nominations are invited from members for this year’s awards and must reach the UAA office on or before 15 Nov 2013.
For more details, including the criteria for selection, visit www.udctalumni.org
UDCT Alumni Association
Nathalal Parekh Marg, Matunga, Mumbai - 400019. India  Phone: +91-22-24141164/24141741  Fax: +91-22-33611020
Email: uaasecretariat@yahoo.in / uaa@ictmumbai.edu.in  Web: www.udctalumni.org.in
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November, 2013