Dear Fellow Members,
At the outset, my warm regards and greetings to the esteemed members of the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) Baroda chapter! It is a great privilege and honour for me to take over as Chairman of this esteemed institution. IIM is an organization with a proud past and an exciting future, being one of the largest and most prestigious associations of scientists, engineers, technologists, academicians, managers and industrialists in the field of metallurgy and materials engineering in India. And as I refer to its proud past, I wish to acknowledge the endeavors and achievements of the past chairmen and other office bearers. Their persistent, passionate and pragmatic leadership of the Institute combined with a clear vision of the path has brought the IIM to its current position of eminence amongst global metallurgy institutes and industry bodies. In the face of considerable short-term volatility across multiple industrial sectors and a global economic slowdown, India has set a daunting target of becoming a US $ 5 Trillion economy by FY2024, requiring a steady growth rate of 9% over five years. Within the realm of India’s domestic developmental imperatives, poverty alleviation through universal access to education and vocational training and employment generation is of paramount importance, as is infrastructure development which keeps pumping adrenaline into the economy. In the rush for development we can also not afford to ignore climate-change minimization / reversal goals. These apparently conflicting imperatives need innovative science-based solutions through technological self-reliance, and, human resource and skill development.
The Institute, through its educational initiatives, and through its strengths in networking amongst the industry-academia-research troika, has much to offer to the nation in this regard. We have a lot to offer to the Government, Industry and to the broader society as they wrestle with the issues of the progressing economy and, if we do it right now, I know our contributions will be welcomed and appreciated.
In the present scenario, most of the countries in the world being worst hit owing to the novel Corona virus, COVID- 19, the cases of outbreak being increased exponentially in the last few weeks, costing significant economic loss due to lockdown situations and maintaining social distancing. During such a traumatic hour, IIM as an Institute vows for its stakeholder’s safety and wellness: physical, psychological and emotional. In order to keep our employees motivated and engaged and to cater to the needs of the fraternity. As the Chairman of the Institute, I believe that the true credibility of an organization lies in how it is able to support its stakeholders, at times of a crisis. This is the time to find out innovative & alternative ways to roll with the punches; by revisiting the ways to operate & function for adjusting with the pandemic. We wish to adapt to the changing environment fast & build up a robust action plan for initiating normal operations at the earliest.
This is necessary as we are at home safely, but communicating with each other via online resources. I am happy to inform you that IIM Baroda chapter had organized two webinars during lockdown,(i) National Webinar for Graduate Students & Post graduate students on the topic entitle Challenges and Strategies for students to Get Jobs in the face of COVID-19 on 19th May 2020 jointly with Yuva Kaushal Bharat Foundation (YKBF) (ii) National Webinar : 'Corporate Social Meet : Challenges & Strategies for Business Growth in the phase of Covid 19' jointly with Yuva Kaushal Bharat Foundation (YKBF) and in association with Vadodara Chambers of Commerce & Industry (VCCI), Baroda productivity council (BPC) and Madad Foundation , India on 3rd June, 2020. We will go to conduct various webinars / training session / expert talks’ online platform such Jio meet or Google meet etc. to keep chapter active.
Our Institute will attain a significant landmark in 2021 when IIM Baroda Chapter reaches Golden Jubilee of its functioning. It is my proud privilege to kick-start our preparations for a year-long series of events including a Golden Jubilee Lecture Series, Special publications, Technical gatherings, Media events, Student competitions, Commemorative postal stamp and first-day cover, and many other events culminating in the International Conference 2021 mega-event at Vadodara. We owe it to our founders to make this a truly memorable milestone and I look forward to working with each of office bearers, council members, institutional and individual members.
Through this coming year, we will thus be involved as volunteers in a number of events and actions designed to take this Institute forward to greater heights in relevance and impact to society and nation. In all these endeavours, I look forward to the whole hearted support of all members making IIM a truly global association in the field of metallurgy and materials engineering.
With best Regards,
Dr.Sunil D.Kahar
CHAIRMAN