Professor Abhay Karandikar, the director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has been appointed secretary of science and technology (DST), succeeding Dr Rajesh Gokhale, who also served as secretary of biotechnology.
S. Chandrashekhar, the previous secretary of DST, left his position early to return to his parent organisation for personal reasons.
The official notice read, “Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has been approved for appointment to the post of Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) from the date of assumption of charge of the post until the date of his attaining the age of 60 years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
In 2018, Karandikar was chosen to lead his alma mater, IIT Kanpur. He is an electrical engineer who has made significant contributions to the nation’s telecommunications industry. His areas of interest in research are affordable 5G and rural broadband. He was a founder member and chairman of Telecom Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI), the nation’s telecom standards body.
In addition, he is serving as a consultant for BharatNet, the government’s initiative to bring broadband connectivity to rural India. The government is also able to offer services like tele-consultations from qualified doctors in distant regions because of improved connectivity in the nation.
He has also worked with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing’s (C-DAC) high-performance computing group, which is implementing the nation’s National Supercomputing Mission, which calls for a grid of more than 70 supercomputers spread across India’s academic institutions. He has received more than 20 patents.
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Source: The Indian Express