S P O T L I G H T S S T O R I E S U P D A T E S I N I T I A T I V E S
Life at Plaksha blends learning and reflection
just like mathematics does for an inquisitive mind!
Christened ‘1729’, after Srinivas Ramanujan’s fascinating discovery of
the mathematical theory of cubes, the Plaksha newsletter is designed
to bring you interesting news and inspiring stories from our vibrant
community of learners, leaders, innovators and problem solvers. Staying
committed to learning for impact, 1729 is your window to life in the
thriving, inter-connected and learner-centered environment at Plaksha.
01
NEWSLETTER
Plaksha mirrors the idea of the University
as a tree, from which a river of learning
flows endlessly, nourishing everything it
touches. Each day we aspire to uphold
the core vision of Plaksha with the highest
standards. We are delighted to share the
highlights of our achievements. With this, it
gives me great pleasure to introduce you to
the first edition of 1729.
Scholarly and creative contributions by
our students and faculty have brought to
life the University's mission to be at the
forefront of futuristic creations and
technological advancements. Our desire
to nurture a new generation of thinkers,
innovators and entrepreneurs who will
serve humanity with all their might is
gradually being brought to fruition. The
nascent achievements of Plaksha University
are indeed the evidence of our ambitious
efforts.
Prof. Rudra Pratap
FOUNDING VICE CHANCELLOR
Plaksha University
Each day we aspire to
uphold the core vision
of Plaksha with the
highest standards.
MARCH 2023VOL 01 - ISSUE 01
NEWSLETTER
REFLECTIONS: FROM THE VC's DESK
After five years of being the Chair of
our Academic Advisory Board, it is
our honour to welcome Prof. Shankar
Sastry as the Founding Chancellor
during the Founders Day celebration
on December 17, 2022 at the Plaksha
campus. Prof. Sastry epitomizes the
idea of reimagining higher education.
You can learn more about his vision
in this freewheeling podcast.
SUCCESS SPOTLIGHT
AGMitra for Sugarcane Farmers
Our faculty, Dr. Amruta R Behera and
Dr. Shashank Tamaskar's startup AGMitra
won the STPI's Smart Farm Grant Challenge
for making digital solutions to predict
optimum time of sugarcane harvest, estimate
sugar content, and identify mature plots.
Plaksha faculty are not only
gifted educators, but also
world-class researchers
who want to solve societal
problems.
STORIES OF IMPACT
Innovation Mission Punjab
Two teams of BTech students,
Suhani Jain, Tanisha Saraf and
Anushka Desai as well as Shivank
Joshi and Rachit Gupta, pitched their
startup ideas to a jury during the
Innovation Challenge at Innovation
Mission Punjab and both the teams
won a cash prize of I10,000 each.
Diana Award 2022
YTS scholar Vaishnavi Jaiswal won
'The Diana Award 2022' for gathering
over 100 volunteers and significantly
impacting the lives of more than
55,000 students from 45 countries.
By organizing support, resources,
mentorship, and workshops, she
empowered girls and women to pursue
education and careers in traditionally
male-dominated fields.
Grace Hopper Celebration Student
Scholarship
Noyonica Chatterjee from the founding
BTech cohort was selected for the
prestigious Grace Hopper Celebration
Student Scholarship offered by
AnitaB.org to participate in the largest
virtual gathering of women in
technology across the globe.
Anushka Desai (L) and Suhani Jain (R) got rewarded
for their virtual reality app on immersive workout
experience.
02
NEWSLETTER
S P O T L I G H T S S T O R I E S U P D A T E S I N I T I A T I V E S
WELCOMING OUR FOUNDING CHANCELLOR
(L-R) Neeraj Aggarwal, Prof. Shankar Sastry and
Prof. Rudra Pratap at the Chancellor's Investiture
Ceremony.
Making NOx harmless
Dr. Chaitanya Lekshmi Indira,
Associate Professor at Plaksha,
has been awarded a patent for
developing a catalyst series that
can reduce toxic NOx gas (nitrogen
oxide) to harmless products. This
innovation is significant because
the catalyst does not require the
use of toxic and expensive heavy
metals as its components.
Cool Roofs
Prof. Vishal Garg, Dean of Research and
Director of Indorama Ventures Center
for Clean Energy has been actively
working with the Telangana government
to create India's first Cool Roof Policy.
The policy attempts to make the state
heat resilient as it is now mandatory to
install cool materials, such as reflective
paints, tiles or sheets, on roofs across
the state.
PLAKSHA UPDATES
03
NEWSLETTER
S P O T L I G H T S S T O R I E S U P D A T E S I N I T I A T I V E S
ConfAI 2023
The second edition of Plaksha's
flagship Conference on Artificial
Intelligence has a topical focus in
the broad range of applied and
theoretical areas within
computational intelligence and
machine learning. This invite-only
3-day academic conference
brought together leading
academicians, scientists, thought
leaders, and practitioners working
in AI and Data Science to find
effective solutions to societal
challenges. It included insightful
talks, panel discussions, and demos
on data science in practice. Exciting
talks were given by Dr. Rohini
Srivathsa (National Technology
Officer, Microsoft India), Dr. Vivek
Raghavan (Chief Architect of
Aadhaar Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI),
Dr. Rajeev Rastogi (VP Machine
Learning, Amazon), Dr. Partha
Talukdar (Google Research), and
many other experts.
04
NEWSLETTER
Teaching Studio
The Teaching Studio is a space for
pedagogical innovation. It is a creative
space for faculty to tinker with their
own teaching styles in order to create
high-quality learning experiences.
The studio also creates a repository of
future e-learning programs for all their
students.
GCSP at Plaksha
Plaksha is proud to join the Grand
Challenge Scholars Program (GCSP)
network this year. Nine students from
Plaksha have enrolled on the program.
By engaging in research, social
consciousness, interdisciplinary thinking,
entrepreneurship, and multicultural
competencies, our scholars seek to
impact the world. The program’s goal is
to prepare tomorrow’s engineering
leaders to solve the grand challenges
facing society. Students who complete
the program will achieve the distinction
of Grand Challenges Scholar, endorsed
by the National Academy of Engineering.
S P O T L I G H T S S T O R I E S U P D A T E S I N I T I A T I V E S
Young Creators League (YCL)
Plaksha launched a unique initiative
called the Young Creator's League for
high-school students. It was an
opportunity for them to convert their
ideas into solutions that will bring
about a positive change to their
immediate surroundings. Over 500
students submitted their projects
based on UN SDGs problem
statements. The final event was held
at the University's Mohali campus and
witnessed 150 school students from
17 states across India, presenting
their prototypes. The top 33
prototypes were showcased at the
Grand Exhibition organized by
Plaksha University.
Panel discussion with Prof. Bill Oakes of Purdue University
during the launch of GCSP at Plaksha.
The Teaching Studio is equipped with advanced cameras,
the latest editing platform & a fully automated lighting
system.
05
NEWSLETTER
Student Body
86 96 10
41
BTech
Class of 2025
BTech
Class of 2026
PhD
PLAKSHA AT A GLANCE
33
Full-time
Faculty
233
Students
103
Executives
10
Research
Fellows
29
Visiting
Faculty
S P O T L I G H T S S T O R I E S U P D A T E S I N I T I A T I V E S
Tech Leaders
*
Program
*1-year masters-level program co-designed
and co-delivered by UC Berkeley
Center for Thinking, Language and
Communication (CTLC)
By curating tech narratives, the CTLC
seeks breakthrough value creation and
innovation in the field of Thinking,
Language and Communication for
academia, industry and government.
CTLC's unique pedagogy is driven by
personalized tutorials and an experiential
learning approach that buttresses
Plaksha's commitment to building an
ecosystem of academic excellence. The
highlight was a 4-hour Write-a-thon by 14
engineering students which waspublished
into the book, Campus Lore: An Anthology.
Office of Corporate Partnerships and
Careers (CPC)
Plaksha has formally instituted the
Office of Corporate Partnerships and
Careers which will look at internships,
placement opportunities, and trainings
for career advancement for students,
as well as consulting opportunities and
industry collaborations for Plaksha
community. Companies such as
Amazon, Arcesium, Boston Consulting
Group, Cisco, Fractal Analytics, Info
Edge (India) Ltd., and Walmart Labs
have recruited through the office.
NEW INITIATIVES
Plaksha University
Alpha, Sector 101, IT City Road, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab 140306
