Ashish Karandikar, US-based alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has donated 200,000 USD, equivalent to Rs 1,60,00,000 to his alma mater, to establish three endowed programmes aimed at fostering innovation, excellence, and academic growth within the Electrical Engineering department at IIT Kanpur.

The programmes have been initiated by signing a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Karandikar, IIT Kanpur, and the IITK Foundation, USA. Karandikar (BT/EE/1995) is the brother of Dr Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India who was also a former director and is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur. 

The three endowments include:

- Smt Lata and Shri KG Karandikar Faculty Chair, awarded to IITK faculty, empowering them to drive ground-breaking research and mentor future generations of engineers

- Karandikar Best PhD Thesis Award, recognising outstanding scholarly contributions celebrating exceptional doctoral theses, and encouraging innovation and academic rigour among doctoral candidates

- Karandikar Student Scholarship, aiming to nurture and support students, providing them with financial assistance to pursue their academic endeavours, and making significant contributions to the field of electrical engineering.

On this occasion, Prof S Ganesh, Director, IIT Kanpur said, “The setting up of these endowed programmes will pave the way for newer avenues of growth for our faculty, researchers, and students of the EE Department alike, thereby also contributing to the flourishing Rreesrach and Development ecosystem at the institute."

Ashish Karandikar, currently Vice-President at NVIDIA, said, “Electrical engineering is my passion and both of us, Abhay and I, wanted to contribute back to the Electrical Engineering Department and IIT, and are thankful for the opportunity to contribute back.”