Welcome to the South Asian Alumni Association!
We are the MIT South Asian Alumni Association and our mission is to build community and celebrate our shared experience. This website is your gateway to activities and news for South Asian Alumni Association, a way to find out what your fellow alumni are doing and stay connected.
Check back here periodically as we update the site with new events, stories about volunteers and alumni, and information about ways to participate.
Come join fellow MIT South Asian Alumni for a laid back after-work mixer over cocktails at the Social Bar in NYC before we disperse for the holidays. Great chance to meet old friends, make new ones and reconnect over IHTFP nostalgia.
Venue: Social Bar, 795 8th Ave, New York, NY 10019
Time: 7pm
Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008
Reservations are under "MIT Alumni". Please tell the bouncer at the door that you're attending the "MIT Alumni" event on the 3rd floor, and you'll be directed there.
More info about the venue, the Social Bar in NYC, can be found here: http://www.socialbarnyc.com/
If you can make it, please get in touch with the local organizers:
Amit Gupta: akg "at" alum.mit.edu
Anindita Dutt: anindita.dutt "at" sloan.mit.edu
Sunday, November 23, 2-5pm
Graduate Community Center, Stanford University, Havana Room
750 Escondido Road, Stanford, CA 94305
MITSAAA has partnered with the American Association of Bangladeshi Engineers and Architects, Silicon Valley Chapter (AABEA, http://www.aabea.org/) and the Stanford Graduate School of Business South Asian Students' Association (GSB SASA) to present an insider view of the why, when and how of getting an MBA.
Come join other MITSAAA members and local young professionals who are thinking of attending business school, either after a few years of work experience, or considering a transition across disciplines at a more mature stage of their careers.
Student panelists include current students and recent alumni of both full time and executive MBA programs. Join us for a frank and open discussion on various business schools' admission criteria, tips on getting in and thoughts on getting an MBA. Panel discussion focus will also address MBA opportunities and challenges in todayıs economy, as well as a detailed look at the pros and cons of the different types of MBA programs (full time vs executive, local vs long-distance and program specializations).
Even if you are not actively considering business school, this event will be a fantastic opportunity to get together with other local MIT South Asian Alumni of the San Francisco Bay area! Following the event, depending on how much momentum there is, there is always the option of breaking off into smaller groups and exploring downtown Palo Alto for dinner options!
If you would like more information or would like to be involved more closely, please contact Naina Ahmad at naina "at" alum.mit.edu
MITSAAA Panelists confirmed:
Hassan Alam, '78, Course 6, Alumni 1992, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Arifur Rahman, '00 PhD, Course 6, current student, Santa Clara University
Shahid Rashid, '07, Sloan BA
Other panelists confirmed:
Arvind Jain, current student, Carnegie Mellon West Coast, Tepper School of Business
Asif Zaman, current student, second year, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Hasib Ahmed, current student, Graduate School of Management, UC Davis
Monica Khan, current student, HAAS School of Business, UC, Berkeley
Samira Rahmatullah, current student, second year, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Upa Hazarika, current student, first year, Fuqua School of Business
Event agenda and panelist biographies
Together with MIT Bangladesh Students' Association, Colby College Oak Institute and Drishtipat, MITSAAA is presenting a day-long Climate Change Justice event. From 9am-5pm, there will be a photo exhibition in the Student Center Lobby highlighting the personal stories of impact of Climate Change in Bangladesh as well as the Sunshine Walk in Canada - several environmental activists walked from Toronto to Ottawa over 15days to raise awareness of the issue of climate change in general and in Bangladesh in particular.
If you can not make it back to the Institute during the day, join us in the evening. At 5:30pm, the photo exhibit will be moved to the Stata Center, and we'll gather in room 32-141. Shortly thereafter, at 6:30pm, we will screen a documentary, titled, "Who Cares if Bangladesh Drowns?" Come prepared to be provoked and stimulated.
The documentary producer, Afsan Chowdhury, currently an Oak Institute Fellow at Colby College, with lead the panel discussion following the screening. He will be joined by Professor Sajed Kamal from Brandeis University, and Albelee Haque from the Bangladesh Environmental Network (BEN). Please check our events page for updated panelist biographies.
What is Climate Change Justice? What are "agricultural crimes against humanity"? Discuss the repercussions of climate change that donıt always strike us at first blush - rising oil prices, food scarcity, impact on trade, migration - and how all of these can become disruptive forces in geopolitics, international relations and peace.
Talk is not all that we will do though. This full-day event is designed to be part of a campaign series, designed to kick-off a year long action plan to lead up to the Fifteenth Conference of Parties at Copenhagen in 2009, where the negotiations on strengthened international action on climate change are set to conclude.
What can we do to ensure that these talks and negotiations take into account the interests of all types of different stakeholders ı including those whose voices remain unheard: the rice farmer in Vietnam, the fisherman in Bangladesh and the wheat farmer in Australia? In addition to awareness raising campaigns, there is a need for structured and targeted alignment of various interest groups to influence their representatives, governments, and leaders in technology, innovation and business.
There is a need for involvement. And YOU can make a difference.
Join us to brainstorm, discuss, and come up with the start of a plan. As this campaign series concludes towards early February (with the teams visiting other North American cities throughout January 2009), we will track the outcomes of our discussions and build on your contributions.
Be the change you want to see in the world!
Entrepreneurship in the US-India Corridor
Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 5:00pm - 9:00pm,
Learn about opportunities in the US-India corridor and how you can avail of them.
- Hear about the size and scope of the opportunities, the big picture and the specific challenges from people on the ground in both countries.
- Sectors that are booming, those that are nascent, and ones running into headwinds.
- Learn about practical, innovative approaches to leverage opportunities for venture capital and private equity in the US-India corridor
Fee: TiE, MIT, Princeton Members, Alumni & Staff - $20, Non-members: $40
The event is being co-sponsored by the MIT Club of Princeton, TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs - the world's largest association devoted to entrepreneurship) and the Princeton University's Keller School of Engineering. We have opened up the registration to the MIT Clubs of New York, Northern New Jersey and Delaware Valley besides IvyPlus alumni.
Entrepreneurship in the US-India Corridor
Sunday, Dec 09, 2007:
Vijay Vaitheeswaran (Course 2, 1990) will discuss the proposal in his latest book, "Zoom: The Race to Fuel the Future".
Come see what Vijay recommends to the US Government and to the US auto industry to remain competitive in our changing world while addressing the energy issues that are becoming ever more important.
Please cut and paste the following link in its entirety to register (we'll have light refreshments, so want to plan accordingly): http://alum.mit.edu/smarTrans/user/Register.dyn?eventID=18502&groupID=146
Come join the discussion! Students are free, Alumni and guests are $5. You can order a copy of Vijay's book (to pick up at the event) at the registration link below for $20 (normally $27.99). All preordered books MUST be collected at the event. Vijay will be signing books at the end of the event.
Note that Vijay also has a facebook group to discuss his book--you can weigh in ahead of time, or arm yourself for the talk. Check it out at:
http://mit.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5150569937&ref=share
This event is co-sponsored by the Club of Boston and the MIT Energy Club.
The talk will be held in the Stata Center's Kirsch Auditorium (32-123).
The event schedule is:
4:00pm - 4:30pm - networking
4:30pm -5:30pm - discussion
5:30pm - 6:00pm - Q & A, book-signing
MITSAAA has reserved 10 tickets ($10 each) to the release of Rafiq Dossani's "India Arriving: How the Economic Powerhouse is Redefining Global Business". This event is organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Consulate General of India and the Asia Society.
Consulate General of India, New York
3 East 64th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues
6:00pm−Registration; 6:30pm−Program; 7:15pm−Reception
From the country's thriving film industry to its burgeoning high-tech industry as well as its attempts to stabilize its economy, India Arriving offers a fascinating glimpse into the real India, with all of its assets and all of its faults. Dossani goes beneath the veil surrounding India and explores the many ways it has begun to emerge onto the world stage. He explores its birth as an independent nation and forces like political shifts, social reform, and education that have helped to shape a new India. Honest and revelatory, India Arriving provides a deeper understanding of a country that promises to be the next major player in the world economy.
Dr. Rafiq Dossani is a senior research scholar at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center of Stanford University.
Please RSVP with Gurumurthy Kalyanaram (GK) and/or (214)-675-9458 no later than Monday, November 12th, 12 noon.
MITSAA has been allotted only ten (10) invitations for the event. So the first ten respondents/registrants will be invited to purchase tickets to the event.
GK will send you a confirmation e-mail on Monday, November 12th evening. Tickets can then be purchased through our website's event registration page.
MITSAAA members will enjoy free admission, so please RSVP fast! Non-member alumni from the past 10 years receive a subsidized price of $5, and all other non-member tickets are $10.
MITSAAA Invitation to the Rafiq Dossani Book Release
On Tuesday, November 06 2007, PaksMIT and MITSAAA jointly presented a panel discussion on Climate Change, and the impact and implications on development in the Developing World, particularly in South Asia.
The event was organized to celebrate the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded jointly to Al Gore and the IPCC "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/
Over 80 participants attended the panel discussion, with about 50% representation from South Asia. Attendants gathered to hear two leading Pakistani scholars discuss climate change, sustainable development, and what does the awarding of this Nobel Prize mean for the developing world, particularly South Asia.
For detailed speaker profiles and their presentations:
Adil Najam, Ph.D. (IPCC Convening Lead Author)
Tariq Banuri, Ph.D, (former IPCC Coordinating Lead Author)
Nov 08, 2007 - check back soon!
(1) We will upload the speakers' presentations in their profile pages as soon as the files are available.
(2) We plan on uploading a video and some pictures from the event soon!
MITSAAA luncheon with Ambassador Nazareth:
On October 06, 2007, MIT South Asian Alumni gathered together for a very well-attended, but intimate, Luncheon Meeting in New York City in honor of Ambassador (Retired) Alan Nazareth.
We met for almost three hours -- except for one person, almost every one stayed and stayed and conversed. We had representations from Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lanka.. It was a lively and fun lunch.
See full event details and a biographical profile for Ambassador Nazareth: http://alumweb.mit.edu/groups/mitsaaa/BrowseWeb.do?webSiteId=SI000781&webPageId=P008&eventId=10081
To see the full album from the event, please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/mitsouthasianalumni
Please click on the "News" tab from the top navigation to find the Meeting Minutes from our September 2007 MITSAAA Board Meeting.
Join us for an evening of networking and learning! Come hear stories of alumni accomplishments and contributions to private industry, the public sector and academia. Discover how careers were built, learn about the challenges faced, the opportunities discovered and take away professional lessons and career building strategies. This event is designed to allow plenty of opportunity to network with alumni, students and faculty.
Broad Institute Lobby
7 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142
Agenda
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Reception, Refreshments
7:15 PM - 8:00 PM Panel Discussion, Q&A
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM Networking
