Novel “BITSAA-Silicon Valley Miles Program” helps BITS student present at IEEE Nano Conference

Arwind Pavan's personal account of how he won the BITSAA Miles Program last year...

It was a lazy saturday evening when I resorted to my most-repeated activity of the day - check email. And there it was! My paper to the 9th IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology to be held in Italy had been accepted. This was followed by franctic calls to my guide, friends and family to convey this news. However, once the initial bubble had burst a few days later, realization dawned. These international conferences, inspite of the prestige it garners, comes at a hefty price. The registration alone costed me close to $500. It was in this predicament that I contacted BITSAA. Everything was stacked against me - I was not on campus to get the signatures of Dean, SWD on the forms, it was only a month before I left for the conference while the official deadline for these issues is a minimum of two months, and to top it all, the prices of the flight tickets and accomodation kept increasing by the day.Notwithstanding these stumbling block, BITSAA did come forward in a genuine effort to help me not miss this golden opportunity. And I definitely owe Dilip from BITSAA, who took much pains to arrange for my tickets to Genoa, a travelogue of my experience.

Needless to say, IEEE NANO 2009 saw some of the best brains in the world presenting their research ideas and breakthroughs. It covered a whole range of topics including nano-biomedicine, issues in nm feature size fabrication, the latest fad on graphene and nanowire devices, organic materials and terahertz nanoelectronics to name a few. All of the sessions that I had attended had been a true cornucopia of learning and interesting research themes that were of immediate concern to current day problems of energy and security. At this juncture, I would definitely give it to BITS for the brilliant idea of offering the dual-degree scheme. With a background in Physics and EEE, I was able to fully appreciate the problems and their solutions in cutting edge areas of technology. I was able to seamlessly integrate what I learnt in Physics with the plethora of applications that Electronics engg. emphasizes on. What BITS offers in these two degrees is often partial to students who would like to take up nanotechnology as their research area. By the end of last week, I stood enchanted, Physics being the enchantress and for this, I definitely have a lot of professors at BITS to thank.

Having been brought up in an environments surrounded by our own folk, it was refreshing and exciting to meet new people and along with it, new ideas and differing view-points. I had the good opportunity to meet a lot of eminent faculty and industry barons in this field. Notable among them were my discussions with Prof. Steven Goodnick, Programs Chair for the conference, and Director of the Centre for Nanotechnology in Arizona State University. He told me he had been to BITS Pilani and was vocally happy that our work is among the best in the world. I could also meet up and network with a lot of Indians, students and professionals, including BITSians from abroad working in different areas. The numerous discussions I had with all the professors and graduate students gave a lot of inside information on how research happens around the world. It probably taught me the most improtant thing that I would need all my life- the art of networking. On a lighter note, it was a classic case of culture shock in the first few days of my trip. The food they eat, the etiquette they follow, the customs they believe in - all of them affect the way they run their lives in a very profound way. And when we are one among them, I realized it becomes very essential to realize this and adapt to the new surroudings.

I certainly believe that an institution derives its strength from its alumni group. And in our case, it cannot be more than true. If we are able to enjoy the benefits of night-out sessions of counter-strike on LAN, the design assignments in ADVD, almost paid trips around the world for conferences, a sounding board for Ph.D / MBA aspirants to name a few, we have only BITSAA to thank for. For me, and so many others whose lives have been touched by BITSAA, it had been truly defining moments. Without the help from the BITSAA SVC miles program, it might have been almost impossible for me to make the trip of my life. Another three months and I would become a previleged member of the BITS Alumni Association, ready to take on the world, and help fellow BITSians nurture and realize their dreams...

May the BITSian spirit live on...


(Refer prlog.org/10356734-novel-bitsaasilicon-valley-miles-program-helps-bits-student-present-at-ieee-nano-conference.html)

Arvind Pawan represented BITS Pilani at the prestigious 2009 IEEE Nano Conference held in Italy. The only undergraduate student selected to present, he fully credits BITSAA-Silicon Valley Miles Program in making this unique opportunity a reality.

Oct 02, 2009 – Silicon Valley: “This has been an amazing experience! It was exciting to meet eminent academicians like Professor Steven Goodnick, Programs Chair for the conference & Director of the center for nanotech at the Arizona State University and gain new perspectives and ideas. It was a rich experience, not just from an academic point of view, but also from a cultural viewpoint. I thank BITSAA-Silicon Valley for providing me with the travel scholarship in a timely fashion”, said Arvind Pawan, class of 2010, BITS Pilani.

Arvind Pawan was the only undergraduate student invited to present at the IEEE Nano 2009. The BITSAA Silicon Valley Miles Program enabled Arvind to travel to Italy, present his paper at the prestigious IEEE conference and interact with leading researchers in Nanotechnology, his field of study at BITS Pilani.

In 2006, a student from BITS Pilani was invited to present his paper at the ACM conference held in Milan but he had no means to pay for the air ticket. That was the impetus for establishing BITSAA-Silicon Valley Miles Program, an initiative by BITS Alumni Association - Silicon Valley (BITSAA-Silicon Valley), to support the international travel requirements of students and faculty from BITS Pilani. This is a very unique program that is funded by donated airline miles, which may otherwise expire and be wasted. Besides supporting travel requirements to renowned international conferences, BITSAA-Silicon Valley Miles Program opens new opportunities for both students and faculty of BITS Pilani to interact with the best in the world.

Arvind Pawan, a dual degree, electrical engineer and M.Sc Physics, student from the class of 2010 was the very first recipient of this program. His story is a testimony to the success of BITSAA-Silicon Valley Miles Program and its objective to enable BITS Pilani to be more active globally.

“We are extremely happy with the success of our first award in this program; it is one more way to further the potential of BITS Pilani at the global level. We are even more delighted to learn that Arvind’s paper co-authored with his Professor V.K. Chaubey and his class mate has been accepted at the IEEE International nanoelectronics conference to be held in Honk Kong in January 2010”, said Jayan Ramankutty, Founding President, BITSAA Silicon Valley.

About BITSAA Silicon Valley Miles Donation Program
The program was launched in April 2009 with a seed fund, provided by some members of BITSAA-Silicon Valley and sufficient for first few travel awards. The mission is to create a sustainable program funded through donated airline miles to support international travel requirements of both faculty and students from BITS Pilani to actively participate in reputed conferences. BITSAA-Silicon Valley has established a relationship with Rotary International to consolidate donated Airline Frequent Flyer Miles and award travel tickets to the selected candidates. Currently, the program is accepting United Airlines Frequent Flyer Miles.

More details are available at bitsaa.org/?page=Miles (BITSAA Silicon Valley Miles Donation Program) or you can send an email to milesadmin@bitsaa.org .

About BITSAA Silicon Valley
BITSAA, Silicon Valley Inc., is a not-for-profit alumni association of BITS incorporated in Silicon Valley, USA with a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status and Tax Id 82-0587411. Its mission is to enable alumni to initiate and participate in activities for the general development of BITS Pilani, its faculty and students. Additionally, it aims to strengthen the ties among alumni, faculty and friends of BITS through such initiatives.

What is BITSAA Graduate Application Scholarship?
See: bitsaa.org/?gradappscholarship