Speech for Indian Institute of Technology foundation day
1. Introduction
Thank you so much for your kind introduction and that wonderful welcome.
It is a great privilege to speak on the Institute’s Foundation day.
It is an even greater personal honour to receive the Honoris causa doctorate.
I am flattered and humbled to join a pantheon that includes Industrialists,
national heroines, world class academics and innovators.
It is also wonderful simply to be at my alma mater.
For me, to arrive at Kharagpur is to come home.
Kharagpur and the Indian Institute of Technology have played a huge part in
my life, as a child, as a student and now as an academic.
I do not exaggerate when I say that the Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur changed my life.
For a long time, it was my life.
I first came to Kharagpur at the tender age of ten, when the site of Hijli
detention camp was being transformed from an infamous penal colony into
India’s first Institute of technology.
As a boy, I was amazed to think that this place, so full of optimism, energy
and life, had for many years held Mahatma Ghandi and many other freedom
fighters in confinement.
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It was a mark of the leadership of Nehru, Maulana Azad and Dr B C Roy that
they chose not to make Hijli detention camp a mausoleum of the past, toured
by generation after generation of dutiful schoolchildren, but to take the site
and build a workshop for the future.
My father was one of the founding members of the Academic staff, one of only
forty academics who taught that first class of students.
In fact, fifty-seven years ago today, on August the Eighteenth Nineteen FiftyOne, my father was present when Maulana Azad inaugurated the first Indian
Institute of Technology.
Since that inauguration in nineteen fifty one, IIT Kharagpur has always been a
centre for world class scientific education and research.
Yet it is more than just that.
Kharagpur was, and remains, a statement of intent.
The creation of IIT Kharagpur was a mark of belief in the future.
A display of faith in the capabilities of India.
The success of IIT Kharagpur, and of the institutes that followed it, is a
vindication of that faith.
It is also a challenge to those of us facing the problems of today.
Your success, In fact, as a graduate, I should say our success, demands that
just as the founders of the IITs anticipated the needs of a new nation, we must
accept the challenges of a new world.
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2. Challenges of the Past, Challenges of the Future.
I left Kharagpur and India in 1960 in order to embark on engineering and
manufacturing research in the UK.
The journey from Bengal to Birmingham took me twenty-one days by land and
sea.
The length of the journey emphasised the differences between the two
countries.
The gulf in academic priorities and practical application between the two
research communities was enormous.
India viewed engineering as a route away from the grinding poverty of
subsistence agriculture.
It saw technology as a way of creating prosperity for thousands of workers
and establishing a still youthful independent nation at the front rank of global
innovation.
As a result, research in India was forward looking, optimistic, and driven.
On the other hand, resources were severely limited. It was hard to attract
funding and other priorities were a constant issue.
While IITs in Kharagpur and across the country led the way in technological
and scientific research, other parts of the Indian economy were not performing
as well.
The “License raj” approach led to Indian industry being isolated and inward
looking, Ultimately it stifled the growth of the Indian economy.
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This slow growth period lasted until the nineteen nineties restructuring led by
Manmohan Singh.
In contrast to India’s battle to develop both new industries and new markets
Britain had domination of global markets after the second world war.
Yet the British economy stagnated as other nations re-equipped themselves,
helped by programmes like Marshall Aid.
The British economy suffered from an inward looking approach to technology
and innovation, little support for enterprise and poor labour relations. As a
result the British economy foundered as others grew.
Yet when it came to scientific research, Britain was second to none.
Britain had an incredible quality of engineers; an active and flourishing
research base and the ability to attract skilled people from around the world,
It wasn’t until the nineteen eighties that the British Economy was restructured.
The UK then became one of the most powerful economies in Europe, with
strong growth rates, low inflation and high employment.
That success meant more could be invested in education and in the last
decade the science budget more than doubled.
In the last two decades the UK and India have both benefited from the results
of this restructuring.
Embracing global competition has allowed both economies to develop
strengths in emerging sectors like computing, pharmaceuticals and advanced
automotive.
Of course, not everything is perfect.
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The UK faces significant economic challenges, and India does not match
China when it comes to foreign Investment, economic growth or advanced
manufacturing, though I am confident the gap will narrow.
Because of what I had experienced here at IIT, I have always believed that
the only way to prepare for the future is to systematically invest in research,
learning and technical innovation.
So in the nineteen eighties, I developed Warwick Manufacturing Group to
show British Business how it could work. I wanted to show that the way to
deal with challenges is to embrace their lessons.
If the vision behind IIT Kharagpur was to give India the scientific and research
base that could help pull an emerging nation’s manufacturing and engineering
industries into the future, then the role of WMG was to show the British
manufacturing community that it was vital to research, be open minded and
focussed on the future in order to prosper.
So two similar institutions. Two very different situations.
I dwell on these differences of the past because they emphasise the contrast
between then and now.
A few short decades ago, we saw economic and scientific challenges
primarily as national or regional issues.
The needs of nations like Britain and India were localised and differentiated.
Each country’s research priorities were dependent on its state of
development, their structure of political beliefs and their ideology..
In the sixties, if I had wandered the streets of my new home of Birmingham
and explained that the problems people faced were the same as the
challenges faced by a resident of Bangalore, I would have been laughed at.
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The Communist East and Capitalist West were concerned with establishing a
lead in industrial and economic output, with winning the cold war, and dealing
with the problems of consumer based economic expansion, inflation and
unemployment.
On the other hand, the “third world” as it was then always termed, was
concerned by issues of food provision and of ending or dealing with the
aftermath of colonial status.
As they achieved those aims, the “under-developed” countries, as they began
to be called, had to create key indigenous industries while dealing with the
question of where control of these new industries should lie.
The responses to these pressures were often political rather than scientific.
It was politicians who decided whether to adopt a “Zaibatsu” approach, a “free
market” or “socialist” approach or a “license raj” approach to these questions.
It was governments who decided whether to put resources in agri-technology
or manufacturing or primary education.
Countries developed in very different directions, with contradictory solutions.
To the outside world, countries like China, India and South Korea were
defined by these different approaches and unique challenges and as a result
the impact of their progress was largely ignored by the rest of the world.
For four decades, our world was primarily defined by conflicts between
systems, and only secondarily by competition for resources. Tensions
emerged between political systems, between ideologies, and allegiances.
Few thought that as these economies grew, became intertwined in the global
economy and increased the size of their domestic markets, that the
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challenges they and the west faced would also become intertwined and interdependent.
3. Nature of challenges
That assumption seems a world away from the challenges of today.
After the collapse of Russian Communism, Francis Fukuyama declared that
we had reached the end of history.
The issues of political ideology had been answered decisively and the only
question left was the management of responses.
A decade later it is clear that we have not reached the end of history, but
instead entered an era where history is defined by responses to shared global
challenges.
I believe these challenges are overwhelmingly scientific, research oriented
and technological.
In fact, Fukuyama himself recognises this, writing his most recent book on the
question of how biotechnology will impact the very question of what it is to be
human.
So it is the success or failure of the scientific and technological response to
shared challenges that will define the course of human events over the next
generation.
So IIT and my own WMG fare at the cutting edge of the issues facing the
global community.
It is to you, and to us, and to the whole scientific community that the gauntlet
falls.
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Fifty years ago, countries and economies were defined by the huge
differences in the challenges they faced.
Research institutes like IIT or WMG were developed in order to meet those
specific national needs.
Our priorities were as different as the challenges we faced.
But today we are defined by the challenges we face together,
So we must meet them together.
We must take a multi-disciplinary approach.
We must create global partnerships.
We must take work together, across institutions, across sciences and across
academia and business to apply the solutions we need.
If we look at the biggest challenges we face today, we can already see how
bringing together our shared knowledge to develop common solutions will
help us make great strides.
5. Healthcare
The first of the great technological challenges of the twenty-first century is
health care.
As we grow more prosperous, the ability to extend and preserve life will
become available to billions more.
This also brings the potential for huge costs and pressure on scarce
resources.
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So we must make surprising multi-disciplinary moves, like incorporating
leading edge digital technology and engineering expertise in healthcare
process management.
The initial focus when I founded WMG over 25 years ago was on two
industries automotive and aerospace which were, and still are, key to the
British economy.
In the last few years I have seen that many of the problems faced in providing
healthcare worldwide can be addressed by this same understanding of
technology and processes.
So WMG has diversified into sectors like health care where a clear
understanding of emerging technology and effective business processes can
make a difference.
As medicine is a profession which is understandably concerned primarily with
quality patient care it can be a slow journey.
But it is a vital one.
The fundamental challenge for hospital managers is to maximise the effective
utilisation of costly healthcare equipment and optimise the throughput of
patients.
Engineers and mathematicians have been modelling problems like this in
manufacturing plants - models that can now be adapted for hospitals and
triage systems.
We are doing just that at WMG.
In one application we found that a typical blood test sample was looked at by
21 different people, each time introducing a risk of error and time and cost
spent.
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In another we applied the type of simulation modelling used in laying out new
factories to look at the flow of patients in an emergency department.
Applying these principles meant we were able to provide exactly the right
number of doctors and nurses to meet patient demand.
There is the potential for further change too.
Consider the problem of ensuring patients are in the right place in hospital for
their treatment at the right time, a logistical issue that currently consumes the
time of nurses, doctors and hospital porters.
We are researching systems where patients manage their own movement
around a hospital with robotic guidance.
This frees up human resources to focus on treatment and care.
So in healthcare, we can utilise the robotics and computer knowledge of
modern manufacturing.
The importance of transforming healthcare through applied multi-disciplinary
technology is also recognised here at IIT Kharagpur.
You are researching the application of grid technologies from e-science to
enable the exchange of medical images between hospitals and their doctors.
This provides effective access to high quality healthcare to patients in remote
areas.
When data from hospital images is captured in a mass digital form, doctors in
distant locations can see how diseases develop and to look for early signs to
make timely interventions.
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This progress leads to other challenges.
As hospitals go "digital" and doctors share their expertise with colleagues
around the world, computer scientists will need to support the fast, accurate
transmission of complex, life saving data, as you are researching here.
At the same time we will need cryptographers to ensure security of patient
records and data as we are researching at WMG.
This is an area of major opportunity which my Group will be exploring further
with IIT.
In training too, technology can help.
At WMG we are looking at how Haptics 3-D visualisation and physical
feedback technology might allow trainee surgeons to see how a new
procedure works, while also “feeling” the relative tension of muscle versus
bone as an experienced surgeon performs a procedure.
So we can see how the demands of twenty-first century healthcare requires
the talent of engineers, computer scientists and mathematicians, as well as
doctors.
6. E-security
After preserving life, providing security will be a key element in ensuring the
growth of the global economy.
We all live in the shadow of modern terrorism.
Terror has become the great destabilising force in democratic societies, the
knowledge that a small group of people with murderous intent can cause
havoc anywhere and to anybody.
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Researchers and scientists are playing a full role in the development of tools
to prevent terrorism.
The massive flows of data and people that make international terrorism so
threatening also mean that security of information is not an issue restricted to
intelligence services.
As information is centralised and stored electronically it becomes vulnerable
to those that wish to access it for malicious purposes, for example identify
theft and financial fraud.
This means data security affects every one of us, from the credit card user at
risk of identity theft to the musician who discovers that their life’s work is now
available for free on the internet.
To fight this we can draw on the power of applied mathematics.
I have recently created a new e-security group at Warwick which combines
mathematicians with expertise from the defence sector to highlight the
problem and focus on helping companies, large and small.
This team is undertaking research on enabling and simplifying the process of
giving and revoking consent for the storage and use of personal data, with the
ability to provide support to small companies in protecting themselves.
This is also an area where graduates of the IIT have excelled.
I have been impressed by the rapid growth of the IVIZ Techno Solutions
Company set up by computer science graduates Bikash Barai and Nilanjan
De in 2005.
IVIZ has developed innovative automated end to end penetration testing of
systems and attracted $2.5m of investment by IDG Ventures.
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Our common recognition of this global problem shows that the way forward
has to be one of global partnerships.
4. Climate change and resource demand
The final and the biggest challenge I wish to talk about today are the twin
issues of climate change and globally increased demand for energy.
We know that we will need more energy to ensure our economies grow.
We also know that the energy we produce now has an unacceptable impact
on the environment.
That tension creates a double role for scientists.
First we need to develop ways of maximising energy efficiency.
Second, we need to find new sources of energy.
Take cars.
To meet the new “Euro four“ and “Euro five” emissions standards, which are
being matched in India by Bharat stage four and five standards, petrol cars
will be allowed to produce only one gram of carbon per kilometre, less than
half of the two point three grams allowed under “Euro three”.
The challenges don’t stop there.
Allowable particulate matter emissions are to fall tenfold from Euro Three to
Euro Five, while Nitrous Oxide emissions must fall from point one five of a
gram to point zero six of a gram.
Meeting those challenges will be tough for all car manufacturers.
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To help with that process, at WMG we are looking at Low Carbon Vehicles
from the bottom up.
From materials technology to new power sources we are looking at the total
redesign of cars.
For example the in-mould painting process, developed and patented at WMG,
has been applied by companies worldwide, including in India.
In mould painting removes the need for paint shops, which consume 40% of
the entire energy used in vehicle production.
Yet even with those step changes, greater solutions will be needed in the long
term.
The new generation of cars, like the Tata Nano, meet the tough new
emissions regulations, but as the global economy grows the number of cars
purchased will also grow.
That requires research that looks at new ways to build and run cars.
Lightweight materials are an area where IIT has made a major contribution
including Professor Chakraborty’s innovative work on aerospace materials.
There are parallels here with what we are doing at WMG.
In a programme which started out as a pure research programme working
with plant scientists we have been able to demonstrate how a wide range of
natural origin plant based materials can replace oil based plastics. Using for
example cashew nut shells and starch from potatoes.
These have been brought together in a racing car platform.
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This year we will be racing a Formula 3 car built from natural origin materials
and running on biofuels.
Bringing together Lightweight materials and new sources of materials could
transform car weights and environmental impacts.
All this underlines the importance of collaboration.
To make the necessary major impact requires coordinated effort at both a
national and international level.
At WMG we are developing plans for a major technology demonstrator project
that will bring together global automotive leaders with research scientists and
parts suppliers to look at every aspect of low carbon automotive design.
This project will become more important as demand for energy becomes one
of the defining features of our global environment.
We can see the after effects of increasing energy demand, not just in oil
prices, but in the conflicts today in Georgia, in the debate over the future of
Iran’s nuclear programme, and in the politics of the Middle East.
Many of these social conflicts are ripples caused by the need for economies
to secure their energy future.
So if we can find ways of managing that demand more effectively the long
term consequences will not just be less polluting cars or more efficient
factories, but a less dangerous world.
In short, the more scientific solutions we apply,
The less pressure on resources there will be,
And the lower the risk of human conflict and tragedy.
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7. Importance of collaboration
The issues we face are enormous.
Yet so is the initiative to address them being shown around the world.
The key to success is global collaboration and partnership.
That means equal partnerships at all levels.
Between disciplines.
Between institutions,
Between research teams.
This belief in global partnerships is why I am so delighted that this past year
has seen exciting developments in collaboration between my Group and my
alma mater the IIT at Kharagpur.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed enabling us to explore
opportunities for collaboration in research, education and knowledge transfer
in the three vital areas I have discussed today.
At the heart of the three areas of collaboration are the rapidly emerging digital
technologies including modelling, simulation and visualisation.
These form the core of my new Digital Laboratory at Warwick.
In a fifty million pound first phase we have opened a new five thousand
square metre high technology building with partnerships with the major global
information technology companies.
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This facility builds on the strength of the underpinning sciences such as the
high quality mathematics at Warwick.
The international importance of this work was underlined when British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown opened the Digital Laboratory last month.
Construction on the second £50m phase of the Digital Laboratory will start
shortly.
Here we plan to harness the new opportunities provided by digital media and
the rapid move to on-line delivery of content – be it news, entertainment or
education.
The success of all this work requires top quality global partnership and
collaboration.
That’s why we plan to create physical cells for the IIT in the new Digital
Laboratory at Warwick and for WMG here at Kharagpur.
Through these cells we will actively pursue innovative research in the areas
where we each have complementary strengths and where both our countries
and the world urgently need assistance.
The first is the low carbon economy addressing new lightweight materials for
cars and trucks, advanced control strategies for power including new hybrid
vehicles and a programme to influence improved driver behaviour.
The second is e-security where we combine WMG’s expertise in secure data
and systems with the strong cryptographic and computer science expertise
here at Kharagpur.
The third theme is healthcare where we are combining the multidisciplinary
expertise in the School of Medical Science and Technology, a unique school
in India, with WMG’s leading work in areas including clinical systems
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innovation and telemedicine and our links to the major healthcare equipment
companies.
It is no co-incidence that each of these research areas focus on applied
technology solutions to shared global issues.
That heritage and passion is one both institutes have shared since their
foundation.
Discussions about the programme are currently underway with major
companies in both India and Britain and with our respective governments.
Conclusion
Since IIT Kharagpur and WMG were founded the world has changed.
We have achieved much in that time, yet the transforming world around us
means we too have to change.
Instead of specific national or regional issues, shared global challenges define
our new world.
We face a climate crisis that threatens to change the very structure of the
world around us.
We face pressure on natural resources like oil and coal at the same time as
populations demand ever higher standards of living.
We face a world where the demand for health care will increase even faster
than our population.
We face a world where the failing of a financial system in one country;
Or a leak of technology from one company;
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Can have profound consequences for every country and economy.
These are huge challenges.
I believe the solutions the world seeks are here in this hall and in research
institutions around the world.
This is a huge, unprecedented opportunity.
Our shared challenges can act as an inspiration to scientists and
technologists to work together to deal with the issues facing the global
community.
It is also a huge responsibility.
How can scientists from different cultures, different backgrounds and different
fields possibly find the solutions the world desperately needs?
To resolve these challenges and ensure improving quality of life worldwide will
require scientific solutions, applicable globally.
Our response has to be one of co-operation and multi disciplinary focus.
The risk is that we only travel at the pace of the slowest.
The opportunity is that we bring researchers together and give them the
opportunity to collaborate and create joint ventures to make progress faster
and more effectively than ever.
We have a lot to learn from each other about developing multi disciplinary
collaboration and equal partnerships.
So I wish to announce today that I intend to launch a scholarship programme
for IIT Kharagpur graduates at WMG, which I hope to discuss later today with
your distinguished director.
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These scholarships will allow us to bring together the cutting edge work being
done both here and at Warwick on the vital issues of applied technology.
They will show both our institutions the value of working together and of
exchanging ideas and knowledge as equals.
We all have much to learn about working as global partners on shared
endeavours.
We all have a responsibility to learn, share and grow together.
I am sure that together, we will do just that.
Thank you.
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