IDC Alumni Golden Jubilee Legacy Projects

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As part of IDC Golden Jubilee celebrations, we propose to set up an IDC Alumni Legacy Projects fund starting from year 2020.

We all agree that IDC has been well-supported by the government and IIT Bombay over the last 50 years. This special support has enabled IDC to develop programmes and projects and has built up a conducive environment for creativity, synthesis, education and research. The upcoming new building of IDC is another example to this long-term support. While this overall broad support from the government and the institute has been great, there are always little things that are hard to get in, but could make a huge difference. The IDC Alumni Legacy Projects Fund is one way to fill these little gaps. This is a set of projects that we think will help us be truly thought-leading design school.

We the alumni of IDC have been the direct beneficiaries of the support that IDC got so far. IDC has nurtured us and left us with tools and wearwithall that will last us for our lifetimes. Each one of us has been truly and exceptionally lucky to have been a part of this journey, and has personally benefited from it. It is time to give something back. IDC made a huge impact on us. Let’s all get together and make an impact on IDC.

Legacy Project Ideas

Here are some initial ideas for IDC Alumni Golden Jubilee Legacy Projects. We will discuss and flesh out these ideas, and come up with even more ideas during the event.

1. IDC fellowship programme

   IDC is known around the world and it already attracts collaborators from everywhere. We would like to support and enhance this activity. Like many universities and design schools world-wide, IDC would like to offer a fellowship programme to visitors from around the world. As part of this fellowship programme, we invite experienced designers and design researchers to spend four to six weeks in IDC. The programme will fund airfare and accommodation in the guesthouse. In return we ask the fellow to give a few talks, lead a workshop and engage with faculty members and students in IDC in discussions about design and design research. We hope this programme will attract renowned international designers and design researchers to IDC each year, inspire budding designers at IDC, and will trigger future collaborations between IDC and international universities.

   Funding required: 8 lakhs per year to support up to 4 fellows per year



2. IDC student travel grant

   Each year, IDC students get selected at various conferences and competitions in India or abroad. Often travel support is available for people in developing countries, but sometimes this support not enough or not available. This grant will provide partial funding to cover such shortfalls. Depending on what other grant is available to the student, this grant could support travel (national or international), registration and/or accommodation to attend conferences, competitions or award ceremonies.

   Funding required: 4 lakhs per year to support up to 8 students per year



3. Student Project Support Grant

   Over 240 student design projects happen in IDC each year - about 120 at masters level and 120 at undergraduate level. Other than a few notable exceptions, most student projects are executed by the students themselves. Once in a while, though, a project may require a lot more money than what an individual student might be able to put out of his or her pocket. The purpose of this grant is to support students in a crucial way. Each grant may vary from ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 100,000 per project.

   Funding required: 5 lakhs to support 10 student projects per year



4. Pre-incubation Programme for Early-career Alumni

   IDC would like its students to not only do well in corporate careers, but also as entrepreneurs. This programme encourages IDCians to start up. IDC alumni who have finished their education at IDC within the last 10 years can apply for this programme. Once selected for this programme, the alumnus will be given an office space to work out of IDC and a salary of ₹ 50,000 per month for a period of 6 months. During the 6 months, the alumnus is expected to develop the start-up concept and get incubated. While it is not a requirement, the programme envisages that the programme will encourage formation of start-ups based on the work done at IDC (e.g. a student project or a faculty project).

   Funding required: 7 lakhs to support 2 alumni per year



5. Better India Projects

   IDC alumni with their experience and expertise can contribute to various socially relevant projects that develop India. These projects will require funds as well as time commitments. Both alumni and faculty members can propose such projects. The selected proposal with tentative timeline (one every semester) will be announced for interested alumni to join. Students can also contribute to this by taking it up as an academic project.

   Funding required: 7 lakhs to support 2 alumni per year



6. Infrastructure Focussed Projects

   This one-time funding made for any one or more studios from the following list. Respective faculty members will submit budget proposals. The space will be provided by the department/institute. 70% will be utilised on equipment, 30% will be used for infrastructure and contingency. This fund will not support travel and manpower. Alumni who donates full budget for a particular studio will get an honour for the naming rights, eg. Shenoy innovation studio, RK type design studio.

   • AGR sustainable product development studio
   • UAA Game design studio
   • RK type design studio
   • Material library/studio
   • Material library/studio
   • Rapid prototyping studio (laser cutting/3d printing)
   • Interaction and Usability lab
   • AR-VR studio
   • Design + AI studio

IDC Alumni Golden Jubilee Legacy Projects Fund Management

The following process will be followed to allocate funding to various projects:

• At the start of the academic year, the Head of IDC in consultation with the Departmental Policy Committee will allocate a certain budget to be utilised for that particular year. This will normally be about 50% of the available uncommitted balance in the fund at that time.
• The Head will constitute a Legacy Project Fund Management Committee consisting of six members, including 3 alumni and 3 faculty members. The term of a particular committee will be one year. On constitution, the committee will review the various projects and allocate funding according to areas it considers to be a priority.
• The committee will call for proposals under various projects and set deadlines six times each year for receiving proposals in each of the legacy projects about two weeks before the next meeting. Currently proposed deadlines are the last weekend of August, October, December, February, April, and June. Each proposal will have a “time-out date”, after which it may not make sense to consider that proposal any more (e.g. after a conference is over).
• For a period of two weeks after the deadline, committee members will review the proposals and mark comments. They will independently rate each proposal on a scale of 1-10. Committee members with conflicts with specific proposals will not be asked to review or rate those particular proposals. The committee will make sure that there are at least 3 unconflicted reviews and ratings for each proposal.
• The committee will meet virtually two weekends after the deadline and discuss each proposal and finalise their ratings. Committee members with conflicts with specific proposals will step out while their proposal is being discussed.
• Once all proposals are rated, the committee will decide which proposals it would fund in that round. For example, the committee may choose to fund proposals with top rating in each project category in such a way that one-sixth of the budget for that year is utilised. The committee may ask for clarifications before funding a proposal.
• Proposals that have not timed out will be automatically carried over to the next round of reviews which will be considered along with fresh proposals that will come up in that round. Any unutilised funding in the last round will also be carried over to be utilised in the next round.

The alumni and faculty members of IDC will continuously try to augment the fund available and to add to the legacy projects on an ongoing basis.

Donating to the IDC Alumni Golden Jubilee Legacy Projects Fund

If you would like to make a pledge to the IDC Alumni Legacy Projects Fund, please fill out this form. If you would like to transfer an amount to the fund now, please follow these steps:

• Go to the URL: https://www.donorfindability.com/html/iit/bombay/GoIITB/DonorWelcomePage.aspx?GUI=001f5114-5f66-4568-8e6a-86530e1729ee#
• Click on the “Give One” button.
• Fill out your First Name, Last Name, and email address.
• Fill out donation amount.
• IMPORTANT: Choose IDC Golden Jubilee from the Please Select Project drop down. (If you don't do this, we don't get the money!)
• Fill out the other fields and click Donate

This will take you to the gateway and allow you to complete the transaction. In case you need any assistance with registration, please contact Divya on idcgoldenjubilee2020@gmail.com.

Donating to the legacy projects is voluntary and no amount is too small. We thank all our alumni for their contributions. A limited edition Lamy 2000 (designed in 1966 by Bauhaus designer Gerd A. Müller), an exclusive collector’s item, specially engraved with Prof. Nadkarni's signature is being given away as a gift to the top 20 donors to the Golden Jubilee Legacy Fund who make their donations on or before the 8th of January 2020. Details