Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan (“Balki”) has spent over five decades at IISc. Upon completing his BE (Hons) from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology, he pursued his PhD from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc, where he continued as a faculty member. He contributed to diverse areas, including aerospace electronics, computational electromagnetics, and information security. He also played […]
Mariadasan Anthony Decroos (known as MA Decroos) dedicated more than 40 years of service to the Institute from 1965. He worked with five Directors, handling sensitive, confidential, and strategic planning assignments that contributed significantly to the Institute’s growth. When CONNECT reached out for an interview, the 85-year-old promptly agreed to reflect on his life and […]
Faculty members in academia want more than what a lucrative corporate package following a conventional career path has to offer. The modest income compared to industry jobs is just a known feature of their decision to join academia and not a problem that they’re trying to solve. It’s the call to heed something bigger than […]
Nihar B Shah is Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, where he leads a research group exploring how human-AI collaboration can lead to more trustworthy research publications and fairer evaluation systems. He completed his ME from the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering (ECE) at IISc in 2010, and also received the Young Alumnus Medal […]
A day in the life of Assistant Registrar Mithun Nair Mithun Nair’s day usually begins at 5.40 am. He goes for a morning walk, reads the newspaper, then gets ready and goes to work. On this day, Mithun arrives at his desk at 9 am. He is back after a weeklong vacation and has […]
Anindita Bhadra, Professor at the Behaviour and Ecology Lab, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, does not believe in glorifying women as multitaskers. A former PhD student at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, Anindita studied hierarchy in social wasps and later shifted to researching the behaviour of stray dogs in India. […]
Faculty member Arpita Patra is on a loft quest When Arpita Patra woke, it was pitch dark. It took her a minute to gather her senses. As she slowly realised where she was, excitement rushed through her. She jumped up, put on her gear, and ran out of the tent. It was D-day at […]
A day in the life of hostel warden Chikka Gangamma In the early morning hours, when most of the campus is still stirring from sleep, a familiar figure makes her way through the quiet streets of IISc. With a gentle smile that has become her trademark, Chikka Gangamma begins another day of guarding not […]
Beginning in the 1980s, Dhanalakshmi M, was one of the many dedicated telephone operators at IISc for over three decades. She was born on 13 May 1957 in Bangalore, and completed her BSc in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology from Maharani’s College. After a diploma in ‘Reception and Bookkeeping’ from Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic, Bangalore, she […]
Yadati Narahari leans over his desk, turning his computer screen around as he shows an image. It shows a group of people standing side-by-side staring into the camera. It is an image that Narahari holds with great regard, one – he feels – encapsulates his time at IISc. “This is six generations of researchers and […]
