These photographs by Gouri Patil, a PhD student at IISc, capture the different physical locations that the department has inhabited Photos 1, 2 &3: Mechanical Engineering first took formal shape at IISc in the form of the Department of Power Engineering. The “PE building”, as it is still referred to today, was inaugurated in 1951 […]
Category: Campus Chronicles
One Disc to Rule Them All
The story of SlipDIISc, IISc’s Ultimate Frisbee club It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Bangalore. The Gymkhana cricket ground was crowded with heavily sweating fitness enthusiasts, some of whom jogged all around the field in circles while others walked. Some exercised under the shade of the trees, and some played in groups. The […]
Why Are Indian Archives Coming Together?
“Milli”, a group of people interested in archives, organised a series of events for International Archives Week for a second year running. What does it aim to achieve? “I belong to River Teesta, and I belong to Mount Khangchendzonga,” said Minket Lepcha, a filmmaker and former teacher in Darjeeling, before narrating river folklore told […]
44 years at IISc and counting
K Nagarathna joined IISc in June 1977 at the age of 23. She was the only daughter of her parents, with five brothers who studied science and engineering. Nagarathna dreamed of joining the Institute ever since one of her brothers pointed out to her IISc’s ‘tower’ on the horizon from a temple in Basavanagudi. […]
Dancing with Cells, Surfing the Laminar Flow
Ahead of Satish Dhawan’s birth anniversary on 25 September, his daughter Jyotsna writes about her childhood on the IISc campus, life beyond, and her father’s indelible presence In the 1960s, while our parents (mostly fathers) worked away in labs and offices, libraries and classrooms, the children of IISc staff (mostly barefoot and unsupervised) explored that […]
From Glassblower to Technologist
Dwarakanathan R, a former glassblower, has worked at IISc for 47 years. Now officially retired, the 71-year-old self-proclaimed “workaholic” maintains machinery at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE). In this interview, he talks to CONNECT about what it’s like to be a glassblower, his love for the artistic possibilities of glasswork, and his […]
The Facility That Runs 365 Days a Year
A peek into the Central Animal Facility, which supports research in almost 70 labs Prashant and his three colleagues set out for work in the small hours of the morning. Gauribidanur, their hometown, is 80 km from Bangalore, and the train ride and the short walk after that to reach the Central Animal Facility […]
It Takes a Village
Lab techs and project assistants, toolmakers and maintenance crew make invaluable contributions to research projects Sandeep Eswarappa, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry in IISc, works with small, almost microscopic animals called tardigrades. As a young investigator setting up a new lab with an unfamiliar model system, he needed all the […]
Behind The Scenes
A photo story on the people that provide crucial services to the IISc community Girigowda PS has been a security guard for four years. Prior to that he worked at a garment factory, and moved here at his family members’ insistence. Some of them work here as well. Annapoorna CS has been a hostel […]
Roddam Narasimha: A Tribute
An eminent fluid dynamicist reminisces about her mentor’s many distinguishing qualities On a bus journey long ago, I fell into a chance conversation with the enthusiastic high school student sitting next to me. She confided her dreams in me: she dearly wished to be a pilot. If this didn’t happen, she had a […]