Daijiworld Media Network – Chennai (MS)
Chennai, May 13: IIT graduates from India are preferred by renowned Indian and international companies. However, it is very rare for IIT graduates to have the opportunity to serve their own institution in a senior capacity. Dr Preeti Aghalayam is one such rare individual who made history by becoming the first female alumna of IIT to serve as the campus director of IIT Tanzania, recently established by IIT Madras.
The IIT campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania, currently has 35 undergraduate and 15 postgraduate students. Dr Preeti serves as the director-in-charge of the Zanzibar campus. Before assuming this position, she had worked as a professor at IIT Madras.
Dr Preeti earned her BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1991. She then completed her MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester in New York. Furthermore, she obtained her PhD in 1996 from the University of Massachusetts. She also served as faculty at IIT Bombay and as a postdoctoral researcher at MIT in Cambridge.
Dr Preeti is also a blogger and marathon runner. She has authored several articles on diesel oxidation converter performance using CFD. She is one of the 75 women in STEM who has been recognized by the Principal Scientific Advisor’s Office.
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Dr. Shivakumar Bhat, Senior Scientist, Bantawala, IN/Sapporo,JP
Tue, May 14 2024Dr. Preeti Aghalayam's success story is an inspiration to many. She completed her school education up to XII at Demonstration School in Mysuru. She hails from a family of academicians: her father, Dr. Janardhan, was a chemistry professor at the Regional Institute of Education in Mysuru but had retired by the time I started my Bachelor's degree there in 2004. Her mother is a retired linguistics professor, and her grandfather was a renowned historian. Academia is a promising career field to explore, but very few from our region or state pursue academia beyond a Bachelor's or Master's degree.
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Eulalia D'Souza, Bejai / Mangalore
Mon, May 13 2024Many Congratulations dear Dr. Preethi. Proud of your achievements. Truly fascinating to read your achievements and to hear that you are the first lady to lead an IIT. Well, forgive me for saying this, it was possible only because it is outside India where qualification and ability counts, gender is secondary. You have made us women proud. Congratulations again and wishing you all the very best in your new tenure. Stay Strong & stay blessed.
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Jossey Saldanha, Raheja Waterfront
Mon, May 13 2024BETI PADAVO, BETI BACHAVO ...
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