Join us for a conference dedicated to commemorating the accomplishments of IC-IMPACTS and strategizing the future of collaborations between Canada and India.
About the Conference
The IC-IMPACTS Annual India Week conference took place from December 9-11, 2024, Celebrating 12 years of Canada-India Collaborations in Science & Technology at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.
The conference was chaired by Dr. Vasant Matsagar Head of the department, Civil, IIT Delhi and Co-Chaired by Dr. Sanjeev Varshney Ex Global Head Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and by Dr. Nemy Banthia, CEO and Scientific Director IC-IMPACTS.
Acting Canadian High Commissioner Ms. Jennifer Daubney inaugurated the event, attended by dignitaries from various Indian government departments. Nemkumar Banthia, CEO and Scientific Director welcomed the guests and announced the100thCanada-India Project.
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Ms. Jennifer Daubeny and Dr. Ravindra Goel, Principal Executive Director, Bridges at Indian Railways were Guest of honour speakers. University leaders Dr. Joy Johnson Preside Simon Fraser University, Dr. Arvind Gupta, Professor and Academic Director, Professional Programs, University of Toronto and Institute Leader Dr. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT-Delhi gave their praising remarks for IC-IMPACTS. Dr. Venkatesh Kodur, Distinguished Professor, Michigan state University and Dr. Pramod Narayan, Director, Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti were the keynote speakers.
After tea break Parallel Sessions on Water and health projects and Sustainable &safe infrastructure and food and security were presented by PIs.
The second day started with the talks of all the four theme leads followed by the talks of various very remarkable young innovators funded by IC-IMPACTS for their projects in all the four themes.
Despite geopolitical challenges, the conference had a strong attendance, with presentations from Project Investigators and Highly Qualified Personsonals from Canada and India.
On the last day of the conference, panelists discussed collaborating with private universities and industries in Canada and India
Organizing Committee
Dr. Vasant Matsagar, Conference Chair
Dr. Vasant Matsagar is currently serving as Professor, Dogra Chair, and Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. Professor Matsagar is Founding Director and Fellow of the Council of Vibration
Specialists (CVS), and incumbent Vice-President of the Indian Society of Earthquake Technology (ISET). He is also serving on code-development committees in the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Indian Roads Congress (IRC), and International Standards Organization (ISO). He is National Coordinator for Civil Engineering and allied subjects in the Swayam-Prabha DTH Channel. Currently, he is serving as a core member of the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) – Civil, Infrastructure, and Transportation Engineering of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India.
Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Varshney, Conference Co- Chair
Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Varshney is a Dehradun based Science facilitator and promoter. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy and has more than 33 years of experience promoting research and connecting scientific groups across the nations. He was Head of the International Scientific Cooperation in the Ministry/ Department of Science & Technology, Government of India till January 2024. From 2017 till January 2024, he was the Indian Co-Chair, Governing Body of the bi-national Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC) and the binational U.S-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF). He was also a Member of the Governing Council of the International Advanced Research Centre of Powder Metallurgy (ARCI) a R&D lab of DST, Govt of India.
Dr. Nemkumar Banthia, Conference Co-Chair
Dr. Nemkumar (Nemy) Banthia is a University Killam Professor at The University of British Columbia. Prof. Banthia spearheaded the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS)—a Research Centre of Excellence—as its Scientific Director and CEO. A mentor to many, Dr. Banthia has graduated over 75 doctoral and post-doctoral students. He holds 9 patents, has published over 525 refereed papers, and has edited more than 20 volumes. He serves on the Editorial Boards of six international journals and is the Editor-in-Chief of the J. of Cement and Concrete Composites— a journal with a 2023 Impact Factor of 10.8 (CiteScore of 18.7). This is the Journal with the highest impact factor in the field.