$5-mn boost for research at IIT

Alumnus donates for work in biosciences and bioengineering


Research and innovation in the area of biosciences and bioengineering at IIT Bombay is all set to get a major fillip, thanks to the Wadhwani Research Centre in Biosciences and Bioengineering (WRCBB) which is soon to be established at the institute. IIT-B signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with the Wadhwani Foundation to initiate the set up of WRCBB on Wednesday.

Romesh Wadhwani, founder of the Foundation and an IIT-B alumnus of the class (electrical engineering) of 1969, said, “I hope that my gift of $5 million will be a catalyst for accelerating IIT-B’s progress in becoming a world class centre for research and innovation, so that in time it can be viewed as the best worldwide.”

It was during the IIT-B Golden Jubilee conference 2008 at New York in July that Wadhwani had announced his gift of $5 million to his alma mater. The cheque was handed over to the institute on Wednesday.

 Currently, the School actively pursues research in areas like genetics, cancer, anti-bacterial treatments and malaria, and has 12 research groups and 95 PhD students. “The initiative will help us establish strong contacts with leading bio-researchers globally,” said IIT-B director Ashok Misra.

Emphasising that a great country needs to be a leader in innovation fueled by world class research, Wadhwani said there are few involved in this kind of research in India.
“Hence, I felt that Wadhwani Foundation could take up the mission of driving world-class research in India. And I chose IIT-B because of my association with it and because I trust it,” he said.

Terming the association as ‘forever’, Wadhwani said that the endowment could be increased to $10 million or $15 million with the help of contributions from other sources in the future.