CFI Floors IIT-M 1989 batch alumni

CHENNAI: Alumni of IIT-Madras at the reunion of the silver jubilee batch of 1989 were floored by the Centre For Innovation (CFI) student lab of the institute on Friday.

The CFI offers students the freedom and infrastructure to ‘realise’ their ideas along with necessary guidance from faculty and peers. Many among the 120 from the 89’ batch, including the Senior Vice-President of Google Inc Sridhar Ramaswamy, who were shown a presentation by Professor Mahesh Panchagnula on CFI, were left awestruck at the facility as it provided the necessary outlet for the oozing creativity in budding engineers.

“The CFI is surely the one thing that stood out for most of us at the meet. Most of us were wishing that we had that facility while studying at IIT,” said CP Madhusudan, secretary of the alumuni association.

“The CFI does a great job of encouraging budding entrepreneurs,” said a visibly impressed Ramaswamy during a media interaction later.

Incidentally, the CFI was started with funds donated by the 1981 batch during their silver jubilee reunion. The lab has the informal slogan of ‘ Walk in with an idea, walk out with a product’.

Students also have the option of doing their final year projects at the CFI subject to approval by their professors.

Meanwhile, IIT-Madras announced the list of 10 pass-outs who would receive the ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’ for 2015. The awards are given for outstanding accomplishments in academics, research, technology, business, management, entrepreneurship, and in other walks of life.