IIT-Kanpur alumnus signs $2.5 mn MoU with institute for medical school on campus

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth $2.5 million with the institute for the setting up of a medical research institute on the campus.

With the MoU, Muktesh Pant, founder, Micky and Vinita Pant Charitable Foundation, made the first such donation towards the development of School of Medical Research and Technology (SMRT) at IIT-Kanpur. Pant got his BTech in Chemical Engineering from the institute in 1976.

SMRT, an initiative by IIT-Kanpur,aims to revolutionise medical education in India by bridging the gap between medical and technology disciplines. It will bring together the expertise of engineering technologies, biomedical research and clinical set-up to create a world-class medical school in the country, IIT-K director Abhay Karandikar said.

“The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur) on Sunday announced the signing of a MoU with the Micky and Vinita Pant Charitable Foundation,” said Karandikar, while taking to the social media.

“We pride ourselves on our alumni, who have received national and international recognition and success, but always feel connected to their alma mater. In the spirit of giving back, they nurture the institute through their generous contributions,” he said.

“SMRT will produce outstanding medical professionals trained in state-of-art engineering technologies who can meet the future healthcare needs of our country. We hope that Mr Pant’s contributions will motivate others also to contribute to create a legacy,” the director said.

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Pant said, “The vision of a world-class medical school at IIT-Kanpur is extremely exciting. The current team, under the able leadership of Prof Karandikar, inspires great confidence. IIT-Kanpur has always been renowned for leading the way in engineering education and this focus on bringing engineering excellence to medical technology has the potential to create many healthcare miracles in future. Vinita and I are delighted to be able to help in starting this exciting new chapter.”

The first phase of the project will include setting up of various centres of excellence (CoE) oriented towards cutting-edge medical research and innovation along with a 500-bed super-specialty hospital.

The CoE will work with the core clinical departments of the hospital and biomedical expertise of various engineering departments of IIT-Kanpur.

In his career spanning over 35 years, Pant has held various senior positions in multinational companies.