Chennai: Sunil Wadhwani, a distinguished alumnus of IIT Madras and the co-founder of IGATE and Mastech Digital, has made an endowment of Rs 110 crore to establish the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI at his alma mater. The school aims to be among the top AI-focused schools worldwide, focusing on responsible AI and advising the government and policymakers on data science and AI-related policy areas.
The MoU was signed on January 30, 2024 between Sunil Wadhwani and Professor V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, in the presence of faculty, students, alumni, and researchers. The school will offer various academic programs, research projects, and industry collaborations in the fields of data science and AI. The school will also work closely with the Wadhwani Institute of Artificial Intelligence (WIAI), a non-profit research institute founded by Sunil Wadhwani and his brother Romesh Wadhwani, to address social challenges using AI.
Sunil Wadhwani, who graduated from IIT Madras in 1975, said that he was inspired by the vision and leadership of Professor Kamakoti and the excellence of the faculty and students at IIT Madras. He said that he hoped that his gift would help create a world-class institution that would contribute to the advancement of data science and AI in India and the world.
Professor Kamakoti expressed his deep gratitude to Sunil Wadhwani and his family for their generous donation, which he said was one of the largest gifts given by an alumnus to create a school at an educational institution in India. He said that the school would be highly interdisciplinary, involving faculty from many departments joining hands to work on niche areas, including responsible AI. He also said that the school would leverage the existing strengths and facilities of IIT Madras, such as the Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and AI, the Centre for Computational Brain Research, and the Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI is part of the larger initiative of the Ministry of Education, called Innovate India, which aims to foster a culture of innovation and creativity among the students. The initiative also includes online activities and quizzes on the official website, where the students can participate and win exciting prizes and certificates.