From Shibpur to Moon: The Inspiration Journey of IIEST Alumni on Chandrayaan-3

By Manas Dey, 95MET, Atlanta, USA

In the thrilling space race to the moon Saheb Para won decisively over Muchipara. Interestingly, except one day scholar, every single BEC Junta can trace their roots back to one of these hostels – 14, 15 or 16 and spent their hushed busy nights walking down the corridor of Sen or Sengupta Hall. Those are the distinguished alumni from our alma mater in the remarkable Chandrayaan-3 webinar, graciously provided us another compelling reason to swell with pride. We had the privilege of inviting them to our inaugural webinar Sep-30, 2023 as part of our alumni networking initiative. Let me quickly introduce our esteemed panelists:

1)Debajyoti Dhar – H-15/SEN, 1987 CST, Outstanding Scientist and Deputy Director of Signal and Image Processing in ISRO.

2)Dr. Rintu Nath – H16/SENGUPTA, 1995 EE, Principal Scientist in the Department of Science and Technology, an expert in Data Acquisition Systems (DAS).

3)Sumitesh Sarkar – H16/SEN, 1987 ETC, Outstanding Scientist and Deputy Director of Satcom and Navigation Payloads.

4)Jayanta Laha – Day Scholar 2009 ETC. Scientist/Engineer, ISRO

Goutam Chattopadhyay, a Senior Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a Visiting Professor at Caltech, Pasadena, USA was humble enough to play the role of moderator. In his own words he is an” apadomostok bangali, BE college a mora” (the purest form of Bengali, carrying the full legacy of BE College).

Debajyoti and Jyanata found themselves in the heart of ISRO war room on that momentous day. Chandryaan-2’s setback and failure of Russian Mission just two weeks prior fresh in mind made the situation tense in the control room much like a nerve wrecking Indo-Pak ODI in the knockout stage of WC. But Vikram with a huge payload of one hundred and forty crores of dreams and the hope of an entire nation, finally touched down like a feather in the southern side of the moon without any manual intervention. The entire nation was watching them, and in their own account the feeling was once in a lifetime.

According to Rintu, the day symbolized a grand celebration of science everywhere including social media which surely would inspire and motivate an entire young mind across the country. They all recounted how profoundly their alma mater shaped them and played an enormous role for their success. It is their teachers who imparted the knowledge which helped them build the fundamentals in engineering and technology. It was also the camaraderie forged in the hostels, collaborative experiments in the labs and shared laughter in canteens and “Bakultala” had ingrained the essence of teamwork into their character.   

Sumitesh’s advice to budding engineers or scientists of IIEST is to pay enough attention to fundamentals. Debajyoti stressed on being truly passionate and professional about what we do and that’ll propel us forward relentlessly. Rintu had few words of advice to the current faculty members on how to tap the funds for their projects. He suggested the students unlock the potential of available fellowships in the country and abroad. In Jayanta’s opinion, space is a place where AI/ML is used more than any conventional industry and ISRO, with its boundless potential, should not just be an option but a prospective career filled with limitless possibilities.  

They also delved into how the space economy is shaping up and the dynamic influence wielded by private sectors in the country. They also underscored how ISRO is undergoing transformation, how the burgeoning start-up ecosystem is being built where innovation sprouts like cosmic seeds, how space technology is going to be a catalyst for the welfare of the nation.

Their odyssey from humble beginnings in Shibpur to the landing of Chandrayan-3 on moon’s soil is an awe-inspiring one. These remarkable individuals, who hailed from ordinary middle-class families with all the odds against themselves, can touch the moon, why can’t you? India is on the ascent and is in dire need of young engineers like you. Let’s come together as an IIESTian community to build the nation, let’s be part of fulfilling yet another dream and let’s make every heart swell with pride including your cherished alma mater.

The event kicked off with a warm welcome from Kalpana Majumdar, 87CST, extending heartfelt greetings to our beloved students, faculty, staff, and cherished alumni of our beloved Alma Mater. She proudly introduced the IIEST Shibpur Alumni Networking project.

As the program concluded, she extended a cordial invitation to all alumni to join the upcoming Alumni Day scheduled for December 30, 2023, organized by GAABESU on our campus. This event presents a wonderful opportunity for attending alumni to meet with our panelists in person, fostering meaningful connections and reminiscing about the shared experiences at our Alma Mater.