Challenges

"Past meets the present and creates the future"

SASTRA has grown to become a technology institute with advanced research programmes. I am happy that TIFAC had chosen SASTRA for establishing the first TIFAC (Centre for Research and Excellence in Information Technology) specializing in advanced computing and information processing. During the last five years, this TIFAC-CORE has provided over thousand post-graduate technologists to the IT industry. In addition, SASTRA has a reputed bio-technology centre which has been able to question the validity of Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) articles on metallic contents in Indian herbal products. This expertise has been recognized by Harvard and Boston school and these institutions have shown their interest in becoming partners of SASTRA in carrying out studies on metallic contents.

Most important ingredient for realizing a knowledge society is the ignited minds of the youth using science and technology as a powerful tool. I realize Science is linked to technology through applications. Technology is linked to economy and environment. Economy and environment are linked to technology, which promotes prosperity to the society.

During the last 1 year, I have visited and interacted with students and faculty members of 19 foreign universities (10 in America, 6 in Europe and 3 in Asia). During these visits, I found that all these universities are concentrating on research. For example, Waterloo University, I saw a solar powered car developed by the students which has been driven many parts of the world. The famous Black Berry is the product coming out of Waterloo research. Carnegie Mellon University had developed a robotic car which has participated in an International Competition. Arkansas University and Rice University have realized a solar photovoltaic cell using carbon nano-tube in the laboratory with 50% efficiency against the present 20%. The research and development in these universities has enriched the quality of teaching and the quality of teaching is enriching the research and development. Wherever I went, I saw that research teaching research each is re-enforcing the other.

Good teaching emanates from Research. The teachers' love for research and their experience in research are vital for the growth of any institution. Any Institutions is judged by the level and extent of the research work it accomplishes. This sets in a regenerative cycle of excellence. Experience of research leads to quality teaching and quality teaching imparted to the young in turn enriches research.

New Paradigm for Science and Technology: Many challenges are going to be thrown on the sea, under the sea and above the sea. Scientists and researchers will also have challenges in bringing back a clean environment by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy from sun, wind and nuclear systems. Some of the future research tasks are:

1. Evolution of clean atmosphere by replacing fossil fuel by cost-effective renewable energy systems, leading to energy independence;
2. Exploring the human body, particularly gene-characterization through the proteomics project for developing gene-based drugs;
3. In the area of communication, a big revolution is setting in. High-bandwidth mobile wireless is in the offing. This could result in the mobile phone becoming a convergent system for multi-media applications for meeting the needs of communication in the office, home and on the move.
4. Particularly for India, having 1 billion plus population, enhancing the food-grain output from the present nearly 230m tonnes to 380m tonnes with reduced land, water and number of people working in the farms through the use of technology could be a role model for the rest of the population in the world
5. A sustainable Rural Development through provision of urban amenities in rural areas (science and technology as the focus) will need innovation, research leading to products, systems and services in physical, electronic, knowledge and economic connectivities.
6. Understanding precursors for phenomena like earth quake and tsunami which damage decades of development and put humanity into misery
7. Evolution of Unified Field Theory, which may be the ultimate of physics, by revealing how the universe is born and how we are born;
8. Evolution of an alternate habitat among the system of our galaxy for humanity by the scientific community of today and tomorrow;
9. Evolution of earth, moon, mars complex to bring to the earth new material like helium-3 and other rare materials for the generation of solar power;

These are the some of the major areas of research and innovation, which need the joint research and development efforts of multiple nations based on their individual core competence. Certainly SASTRA University can work on certain specific missions which are of our national interest.

I have in the last ten years have met more than 3 Million University students and faculty from more than 150 universities in India and 50 universities in abroad. Based on this spirit, I wish to formulate a 21st university vision for your consideration.

o The universities have to prepare citizens of the future with a global outlook and be capable of serving his/her nation or nation of his/her choice.
o Science and technology and public policy are interrelated for mutual benefit and ushering in human kind's development. This link has to be solidly built in the university education
o Good teachers can be in any part of the world. The university has to bring in this resource through innovative content generation in virtual class rooms.
o Technological connectivities among universities have to be pursued on a war footing using cost effective virtual class rooms.
o Cost effective continuing education possibilities are essential for citizens to be in tune with time.
o Can university education lead to sustainable development of the nation?
o With the world population increasing and resources dwindling, a mindset has to be developed for conserving and sharing the resources and look for new research for abundant resources. This calls for a "noble spirit" as well as a "research spirit"

In summary, the 21st century university education is about developing enlightened citizenship for a knowledge society for peace and prosperity of nations and the world. 21st century University has to be the incubator of world knowledge powerhouse. Based on my interaction with Indian and foreign universities, I have detected certain dynamics. Wherever there is research intensity, it has enhanced quality teaching and also the university has got a great name in the world of teaching. Universities from developed world with their vast experience of a century, have realised the significance of research as a foundation for the university. This is one dimension. The other dimension is that the student community with research focus will most aggressively ask questions. The third dimension is that the sharp gradient and accelerated development processes can give a platform for research for sustainable development. There is a large student community in the developing countries and there is an urge for higher education. Hence, we should see how we can empower them through university to university collaboration, student ' faculty interaction, lab to lab collaboration, reaching out the world class quality teaching and research through a virtual reality environment with the excellent content generated.

Dear young friends, now I would like to share the uniqueness of five great minds, some of them are Nobel Laureates and scientists, each one having unique traits which symbolize Value of Science; Science as a Life time mission; Birth of Creativity in a difficult situation, A genius well ahead of time, and Scientific Magnanimity. Friends, if you acquire any of one of them or few of them or all of the traits, you will be heading towards becoming a Nobel Laureate or you will make a difference to our Planet. Let us go into details.

Value to Science: Since I am in the midst of Scientists, Technologists, research scholars and students, I thought of sharing with you an incident about Sir CV Raman 'a Nobel Laureate in Physics for discovering Raman Effect. Raman gives the view that the color of sky is blue due to molecular diffraction which determines the observed luminosity and in great measures also its color. This led to the birth of the Raman Effect. Raman was in the first batch of Bharat Ratna Award winners. The award ceremony was to take place in the last week of January, soon after the Republic Day celebrations of 1954. The then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote to Raman inviting him to be the personal guest in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, when Raman came to Delhi for the award ceremony. Sir CV Raman wrote a polite letter, regretting his inability to go. Raman had a noble reason for his inability to attend the investiture ceremony. He explained to the President that he was guiding a Ph.D. student and that thesis was positively due by the last day of January. The student was valiantly trying to wrap it all up and Raman felt, he had to be by the side of the research student, see that the thesis was finished, sign the thesis as the guide and then have it submitted. Here was a scientist who gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest honour, because he felt that his duty required him to be by the side of the student. It is this unique trait of giving value to science that builds science. Next, let me highlight how science becomes a life time mission for Chandrasekhar Subramanyan.

Science as a Life time mission: Chandrasekhar Subramanyan's most famous discovery was the astrophysical Chandrasekhar limit. The limit describes the maximum mass (~1.44 solar masses) of a white dwarf star, or equivalently, the minimum mass for which a star will ultimately collapse into a neutron star or black hole following a supernova. The limit was first calculated by Chandrasekhar while on a ship from India to Cambridge, England. The Chandrasekhar Limit led to the determination of how long a star of particular mass will shine. In 1983, Chandrasekhar Subramanyan got the Nobel Price for this discovery.

Two of Chandrasekhar’s students in 1947 were the doctoral candidates Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang in Particle Physics research. Even though Chandrasekhar Subramanyan maintained his office at the Yerkes Observatory in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, he would regularly drive the one hundred miles to Chicago to guide and teach Lee and Yang and others many a times in difficult weather conditions. In 1957, these two of his students won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in particle physics research. This also brings out Chandrasekhar Subramanyan's commitment to science and there by to his students. Science indeed is a life time mission for Chandrasekhar. It is this characteristic which makes youth to become passionate towards science.

Mario Capecchi had a difficult and challenging childhood. For nearly four years, Capecchi lived with his mother in a chalet in the Italian Alps. When World War II broke out, his mother, along with other Bohemians, was sent to Dachau as a political prisoner. Anticipating her arrest by the Gestapo, she had sold all her possessions and given the money to friends to help raise her son on their farm. In the farm, he had to grow own wheat, harvest; take it to miller to be ground. Then, the money which his mother left for him ran out and at the age of four and half years, he started sometimes living in the streets, sometimes joining gangs of other homeless children, sometimes living in orphanages and most of the time hungry. He spent the last year in the city of Reggio Emelia, hospitalized for malnutrition where his mother found him on his ninth birthday after a year of searching. Within weeks, the Capecchi and his mother sailed to America to join his uncle and aunt.

He started his 3rd grade schooling afresh over there and started his education, interested in sports, studied political science. But he didn't find interesting and changed into science, became a mathematics graduate in 1961 with a double major in Physics and Chemistry. Although he really liked Physics, its elegance and simplicity, he switched to molecular biology in graduate school, on the advice of James D Watson, who advised him that he should not be bothered about small things, since such pursuits are likely to produce only small answers.

His objective was to do gene targeting. The experiments started in 1980 and by 1984, Capecchi had clear success. Three years later, he applied the technology to mice. In 1989, he developed the first mice with targeted mutations. The technology created by Doctor Capecchi allows researchers to create specific gene mutations anywhere they choose in the genetic code of a mouse. By manipulating gene sequences in this way, researchers are able to mimic human disease conditions on animal subjects. What the research of Mario Capecchi means for human health is nothing short of amazing, his work with mice could lead to cures for Alzheimer's disease or even Cancer. The innovations in genetics that Mario Capecchi achieved won him the Nobel Prize in 2007. Noble laureate Capecchi life indeed reveals: -

"When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are"

Ramanujan, born and raised in Erode, Tamil Nadu, first encountered formal mathematics at the age of ten. He demonstrated a natural ability at mathematics, and was given books on advanced trigonometry by S. L. Loney. He mastered this book by age thirteen, and even discovered theorems of his own. He demonstrated unusual mathematical skills at school, winning many awards. By the age of seventeen, Ramanujan was conducting his own mathematical research on Bernoulli numbers and the Euler'Mascheroni constant. He received a scholarship to study at Government College in Kumbakonam. He failed his non-mathematical coursework, and lost his scholarship. Srinivasa Ramanujan lived only for 33 years and did not have formal higher education or means of living. Yet, his inexhaustible spirit and love for his subject made him contribute to the treasure houses of mathematical research ' some of which are still under serious study and engaging all-available world mathematicians' efforts to establish formal proofs. Ramanujan was a unique Indian genius who could melt the heart of the most hardened and outstanding Cambridge mathematician Prof G H Hardy. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was Prof. Hardy who discovered Ramanujan for the world. Professor Hardy rated various geniuses on a scale of 100. While most of the mathematicians got a rating of around 30 with rare exceptions reaching to 60, Ramanujan got a rating of 100. There cannot be any better tribute to either Ramanujan or to Indian heritage. His works cover vast areas including Prime Numbers, Hyper geometric Series, Modular Functions, Elliptic Functions, Mock Theta Functions, even magic squares, apart from serious side works on geometry of ellipses, squaring the circle etc. One of the tributes to Ramanujan says that, 'every Integer is a personal friend of Ramanujan'.

Ramanujan used to say "An equation means nothing to me unless it expresses a thought of God". For him the understanding of numbers was a process of spiritual revelation and connection. In his investigations into pure mathematics, he drew extraordinary conclusions that mystified his colleagues, but were usually proven, eventually, to be right. He opened a universe of theory that still today is reaping applications. The landscape of the infinite was to Ramanujan a reality of both mathematics and spirit. His love for numbers led Ramanujan to number theory. So friends you saw, how great creative minds, gave problem to the problem to succeed through the instrument of knowledge.

Scientific Magnanimity: Now, I would like to narrate an incident which took place during a function conferring Nobel Laureate Prof. Norman E Borlaug, a well known agricultural scientist and a partner in India's first Green revolution, with Dr. M S Swaminathan Award, at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on the 15th of March 2005. Prof. Borlaug, at the age of 91, was in the midst of all the praise showered on him from everybody gathered there. When his turn came, he got up and highlighted India's advancement in the agricultural science and production and said that the political visionary Shri C. Subramaniam and Dr. M S Swaminathan, pioneer in agricultural science were the prime architects of First Green Revolution in India. Even though Prof Norman Borlaug was himself a partner in the first green revolution, he did not make a point on this. He recalled with pride, Dr. Verghese Kurien who ushered White Revolution in India. Then the surprise came. He turned to scientists sitting in the third row, fifth row and eighth row of the audience. He identified Dr. Raja Ram, a wheat specialist, Dr S K Vasal, a maize specialist, Dr. B. R. Barwale, a seed specialist. He said, all these scientists had contributed for India's and Asia's agricultural science. Dr. Borlaug introduced them to the audience by asking them to stand and ensured that the audience cheered and greeted the scientists with great enthusiasm. This action of Dr. Norman Borlaug, I call it as "Scientific Magnanimity". Friends, if we aspire to achieve great things in life, we need Scientific Magnanimity to focus the young achievers. It is my experience that great mind and great heart go together. This Scientific Magnanimity will motivate the scientific community and nurture team spirit.

With this background of unique traits of great minds, dear young friends, now it is time to have a great dream in life, dream transform into thoughts, thoughts results into action.

Any scientific task, any path breaking scientific mission as you would have heard from the great scientific minds today accompanies challenging the problems and succeeding. The challenges in S & T will be increasing and would require the best minds to work. There are many leaders in S & T who are our icons today and I wish that the youth derive encouragement and get stimulated from these icons and become the ICONS OF TOMORROW. Besides everything, to succeed in S & T, you need to have dream and have courage to realize it. I have an oath for youth on courage.

Courage
Courage to think different,
Courage to invent,
Courage to discover the impossible,
Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
Courage to share the knowledge
Courage to remove the pain
Courage to reach the unreached
Courage to combat the problems
And Succeed,
Are the unique qualities of the youth.
As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my scientific missions.

With these words, I inaugurate the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of SASTRA University. My best wishes to all the participants for success in their mission of generating quality scientific and technological human resource for the nation.

May God Bless you.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam,
02.09.2008