Indian Institute of Technology Madras organized the Industry Conclave 2022 on 16th and 17th April 2022 to showcase the cutting-edge research and innovations of the Institute to the Government, Industry, and Corporate firms.

A Virtual Space dedicated to exhibiting Research Projects, start-ups and Projects from the Institute's Center for Innovation (CFI) and other projects was also created for the occasion.

The objective of the conclave was to bridge the gap between industry and academia and facilitate Institute collaborations with industries for research projects, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and start-ups. This event was also intended to help IIT Madras students and researchers gain an industry perspective.

Addressing the inaugural session virtually on 16th April 2022, Mr. Kaviraj Nair, CEO of the Office of Institutional Advancement, IIT Madras, said, "The core focus of IIT Madras is science and technology. The institute has some of the best brains in the country engaged in path-breaking research on topics that are socially relevant. High-impact research leading to social transformation, inspires our corporate stakeholders and donors to invest in such projects."

An industry-relevant competition was also held for IIT Madras students, which served as an essential starting point for their venture into the professional sector.

Participating in the event virtually on 17th April 2022, Dr. Gulshan Rai, Chief Information Officer, Prime Minister's Office, said, "From the perspective of cybersecurity, the collaborations between academics, industry, and government play an important role in resolving the weak infrastructure of digital frameworks."

Further, Dr. Gulshan Rai said, "The rapidly growing gap between the digitization and the cybersecurity measures poses a unique situation where technology is moving fast and digital security is weak. Deploying a good secure IT infrastructure does not only entail using firewall and anti-virus due to which 90% of institutions stay vulnerable to digital attacks. It is only with the aid of academic institutes like IIT Madras that we can resolve the issue of unmanaged infrastructure by designing short courses or a dedicated curriculum in cybersecurity"

The Conclave addressed the recent developments in the industrial sector through lectures by industry professionals. It was also intended to facilitate the exchange of recent developments in some high-demand sectors such as cyber security, start-up space, and data science through talks from experts and innovators in respective fields.

Highlighting the Institutes' vision of collaborations with the Industry and various Government Agencies, Prof. Prathap Haridoss, Dean (Academic Courses), IIT Madras, said, "Collaborations between Industry, Academia, and Government institutions results in activities that span both near term as well long term development goals. It brings together different experiences and approaches to addressing problems that require innovation. It helps all of us build on each other's strengths."

Sharing the student experiences in organizing the conclave, Shashwat Jadhav & Srushti Gangurde, the IAR Council Heads of Corporate Relations, IIT Madras said, "Through the means of Tech Exhibitions during the conclave, the IIT-Madras student community showcased the cutting-edge projects in the Healthcare, Augmented Reality, Hyperloop, and sustainability sector which successfully captured the interest and garnered professional commendations from the diverse footfall of investment partners, government officials, corporate bodies, and industry professionals."

Some of the key participants of Industry Conclave 2022:

- Investment Partners: Specialeinveste, ThinQbate

- Industry Professionals: Dr. Sheela Siddappa (Principal Data scientist @ Kyndryl), Dr. Shailesh Kumar (Chief Data Scientist @ Reliance JIO), Vyas Sekar (Chair of Computer Science @ Carnegie Mellon University)

- Corporates & Startups founded by alumni who find relevance in terms of hiring intellectually talented students from IITM to collaborate with Placement teams to iron out the on-campus hiring privileges.