On this occasion when we embark on our academic session 2012-13 and celebrate 71 years of excellence of this great institution, let us get a renewed inspiration from our distinguished alumni and also from all those who have provided this institution the vital strength to stand among the tallest in the community of engineering institutions in India and have enabled us to earn a high recognition and repute abroad. And let this inspire us to march forward on the path of professional excellence and scale new frontiers of engineering & technology education & research in the years to come.

The illustrious march on the path of excellence of this premier institution began in 1941 at Kashmere Gate when the founding fathers of this great institution put together the concept of a model institution of higher learning in which engineering and technology excellence would flourish in a seamless environment of Arts and Sculpture, Town Planning and Architecture, commerce and Management and Pure and Applied Sciences. Such was the conviction of the founding fathers that all these streams of reaming and scholarship flourished under one roof, enriching a fuller understanding of engineering as a multifaceted discipline supported by a rich and profound understanding of humanities, social sciences, business and management and together serving the interest of the society and nation through Applied Engineering, Applied Arts, Planning and Management. It is also a matter of great satisfaction that the Delhi Polytechnic offered at that time engineering and technology programs of Certificate Level, Diploma Levels and the National Diploma equivalent to Degree levels, all from the same institution. Such a noble tradition is, however, today nonexistent even in the best institutions of this country.

It is also a matter of great pride that the famous Delhi Polytechnic within the same campus had a Technical School to sensitize and nurture that vital engineering and technology instinct in its budding engineers while providing the thrill and excitement of India's rich and profound heritage, a legacy of excellence in design and town planning as was Kashmere Gate and the Old Delhi area then being the hub of India's great magnificence.. No wonder, this institution produced some of the tallest personalities in engineering and technology, commerce and management, arts and sculpture and town planning and architecture. The only institution in the neighborhood at that time was the Thompson College of Engineering at Roorkee. Together these two institutions in the northern India were the torch bearers of India's excellence in engineering and technology education.

The historic campus at Kashmere Gate bore testimony of India's great heritage of education and scholarship. It is the same Kashrnere Gate campus which was the home for the famous St. Stephen's College and Hindu College. This historic campus has witnessed the epoch-making events such as the rise of IIT Delhi at Hauz K has, School of Planning and Architecture at L.P. Estate near ITO., College of Arts at Tilak Marg opposite Supreme Court of India and later the rise of Delhi Institute of Technology which later became NSIT.

The transformation of Delhi Polytechnic into Delhi College of Engineering in 1965 was a historic event when the institution became a College of Engineering under the then Delhi Administration. The academic programs were affiliated to Dcliii University ever since 1952. This historic change was made to provide the necessary vertical growth in engineering and technology education by offering degrees at the level of Degree, Post Graduate Degree and later at the Doctoral level, The core disciplines of engineering namely Mechanical and Electrical were further added by newer disciplines such as Electronics and Communication in the 70's and Computer Engineering in the 80's. Having transferred the Textile Technology and Chemical Engineering to IIT Delhi with Lock-Stock and Barrel (Faculty. Technical Staff, nooks, and Laboratory Equipment), the institution was feeling a vacuum in respect of these Applied Engineering disciplines. This was later bridged to some extent by adding Polymer Science and Technology in BO's at the Master's level. By that time, the Delhi College of Engineering at Kashmere Gate was already offering Master's program in 7 other disciplines including Thermal, Production, Controls and Instrumentation, Electronics and Communication, Hydraulics and Hood Control, Environmental Engineering and Structural Engineering. A Master's program in Computer Technology and Application was also added in the 90's to strengthen the Mathematical base of Modern Computing as also to produce industry-relevant manpower for the Computer and Software industry. Further expansion required its shifting to the new campus at Bawana Road adjoining Sector- 17 of Rohini. The historic Kashnnere Gate campus bear the footprints of a number of celebrated technical educators which include Prof_ W.W. Wood and Prof. R..G.P.S. Fairbairn the founder and the Second Principals of the erstwhile Delhi Polytechnic, Prof. 5..C. Sen, the first Indian Principal of Delhi Polytechnic later Delhi College of Engineering, prof J. N Moudgill" former Principal, DCE and Founder Programme Director of IIT Delhi, Prof_ S.F. Luthra, Vice Principal, DCE and later Director, IIT Prof. N. M. Suva n i, Professor Textile Engineering, DICE later Director, IIT Delhi, Prof. A. Dasgupta, Professor of Commerce at Delhi Polytechnic and Pounder Dean of Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University, Prof. Bhimra, Prof Y.V.S.R. Sastry and Prof Sachdeva of Mechanical Engineering, Prof P. Kundu, Prof C.L. Wadhwa and Prof. J.K. Das of Electrical Engineering, Prof JC, Bhatia of Applied Mathematics, Prof. VP. Bhatnagar of Applied Physics and Prof. BA. Mishra and Prof, A.K. Sinha of Electronics arid Communication, Prof. A.F.S. Aowal, Prof. S. K. Selot, Prof. S.K. Majumdar and Prof. Arun Kumar of Civil Engineering and Prof, D. Roy Chou d h iffy of Computer Engineering.

            Prof. Sharma is a fellow of World Academy of Productivity Sciences, Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Fellow of Aeronautics Society of India and also a Fellow of ISTE. A crusader for synergy between science and engineering, Prof. Sharma’s vision is to create the “Power of Science” and “Might of Technology” in institutions of higher learning such as the technical university like DTU. During his long tenure at DCE, a good number of innovations have rolled out on the strength of inter-disciplinary engineering, generally drawn from the innovative genius of UG student community. Supported and supervised by the learned faculty these include India’s first Hybrid Car, Super Mileage Vehicle, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Robotic Submarine and Unmanned Aircraft System. All these participated in international competitions and have received high international acclaim.

The development of the new campus at Bawana Road on a plot of 164 acres provided a unique opportunity for innovations and design of the institutional campus and to create an environment in which education, research and innovations could flourish in a largely residential campus, where the students and teachers would have hours of interaction beyond the working hours and motivated to return to their iaboratories and Library after a short break in the evening and on holidays. A major fillip to the expansion of educational and professional activities took place once the college shifted to its new campus from August 1996 onwards. The Under Graduate intake which was at 320 at Kashmere sate {prior to shifting to the New Campus) rose to 670 in 2008 with the addition of new disciplines of Information Technology, Bio Technology and Polymer Science and Chemical Technology at Under Graduate Levels.

It is all the more a matter of great pride that the magnificent new campus was designed by one of our illustrious alumni, an eminent architect Shri Ajoy Choudhury" 19S8 Architecture who has excelled globally for his architectural design innovations. The campus was constructed under the professional command and quality supervision of our country's one of the most illustrious technocrat Shri Bhishma Kumar Chugh" known for his missionary zeal and firm resolve for excellence, who later rose to the eminent position of the Director General of CPWD and currently working as Special Advisor on Innovative Technologies arid Systems for Government of NCT Delhi. The construction work of the new campus was also supported by a number of eminent alumni which included Chief Engineer Shri.M. Singh, Shri P.S. Chadha, Project Manager who later became Additional Director General, CPWD" Shri Rajesh Banga and Shri Gajendra Kumar, young Assistant Engineers at that time.

I had the privilege of being associated from conceptualizing the design to its final implementation and shifting the institution from its Kashmere Gate Campus to the lush green magnificent New Campus designed for innovation and energy efficient building designs.. Prof. J.N. Mudgill, the Doyen of Technical Education who himself has been the toughest Principal of DCE and the man who planned and built Ill Delhi was also associated in finalizing the designs and supervision of the construction work along with senior members of the faculty of the institution, namely Prof, M. Pal Das, former Principal and Professor of Civil Engineering, Prof. Y.V.S..R.. Sastry" the then HoD, Mechanical, Prof. J.K. Das, the then HoD., Electrical, Prof. V. K. Mahana, the then Dean (Academics) and Shri Satyanarain, the then OSD-cum-Project Officer who all provided their valuable time in the development of this new campus. The new campus owes its share of gratitude to the Government of NCT Delhi for its generous financial outlay and support for the rapid construction of the new campus. This enabled shifting from the historic Kashmere Gate to the New Campus in August 1996.

The magnificent geometric forms such as Semi-circular library. TriangulaT. Administrative Block, Circular Hospital Building, High Rise "Y" and 'True V' shaped columns supporting the structure at 3rd storey in the Academic Blocks, Maintenance Free Buildings of the impressive circular academic plaza where radial blocks are for Laboratories, front semi-circular buildings, housing talented faculty and lecture theatres embedded in the inner circle together represent the academic might of this great institution. The campus is water secured, provided with underground storm water drainage system, wide road network, adequate parking spaces, adequate green cover all were designed to glow their eminence for several decades and inspire the budding engineers for an environmentally benign planning and development. The impressive Main Gate of the campus is equipped with Cantilever Arches resembling the "Wings of Knowledge" while at the same time the entire campus glowing the "Power of Innovation' from this temple of engineering excellence, the seat of learning and scholarship of India's most illustrious engineering institution.

            Prof. Sharma is a fellow of World Academy of Productivity Sciences, Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Fellow of Aeronautics Society of India and also a Fellow of ISTE. A crusader for synergy between science and engineering, Prof. Sharma’s vision is to create the “Power of Science” and “Might of Technology” in institutions of higher learning such as the technical university like DTU. During his long tenure at DCE, a good number of innovations have rolled out on the strength of inter-disciplinary engineering, generally drawn from the innovative genius of UG student community. Supported and supervised by the learned faculty these include India’s first Hybrid Car, Super Mileage Vehicle, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Robotic Submarine and Unmanned Aircraft System. All these participated in international competitions and have received high international acclaim.

The transformation of Delhi College of Engineering into Delhi Technological University in 2009 through the Delhi Act 6 of 2009 marks a historic milestone in the march of this premier institution from strength to strength, nurturing excellence all along. This premier institution as a non-affiliating Teachingcurn-Research Technological University is equipped with the necessary academic and administrative autonomy which gave the opportunity to excel beyond the milestones of achievements already accomplished. During the last 3 years of functioning of DCE as DTU it has been our endeavor to ensure that the growth with quality becomes the guiding principle besides pursuing new frontiers of knowledge and innovations in emerging and new areas of engineering and technology. New Master's Programs in the area of Microwave and Optical Communication, Nano-Science and Technology, Bio-Informatics, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Geo-Tech Engineering and VLSI Design and Embedded System have been added, in addition to new Under Graduate programs in areas of Automobile Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Software Engineering, Engineering Physics and lately Mathematics and Computing. Here again, the major focus has been on nurturing the vital synergy between science and engineering as also to foster inter-disciplinary and trans-departmental approaches. This has further enhanced our focus on industry-relevance and renewed our quest for excellence in an era of knowledge creation and innovations.

We have also established Delhi School of Management in DTU to nurture managerial excellence in a campus full of thrill and excitement of engineering and technology. The purpose here is to create a niche advantage in management education in areas of Technology Management, Knowledge and Innovation Management, Info-System Management and Supply Chain Management all requiring a technology temper and scientific bent of mind_ The establishment of the Management School in the campus also equipped the institution with the necessary professional connect with the corporate and the world of business.

The year 2011 for Delhi Technological University has been a year of great achievements and growth. The university achieved a new height of its glory with its ranking in Top 10 Best Engineering Institutions in India in reputed independent surveys carried out by Outlook and India Today. DTLI was ranked at No. 7 by India Today and at No. 8 by Outlook among the Top 10 Best Engineering institutions in India. The University also achieved the distinction of being ranked overall at No. 3 in the country in Campus Placements in the Best Engineering Institutions including the 175.. The highest salary in campus placements for Undergraduates has gone up to Rs. 55 lakhs p.a. while the domestic salary rose to Rs. 16 lakhs p.a. Shri .Ajir Behari and Shri Abhishek Gupta had the honor of receiving the highest paid job offers of R.s. 40 lakhs plus from EPIC this year. while Priyanshu Jain received placement in google for Rs. 55 Lakhs p..a., the highest ever job offer at DTU.

In all, 961 job offers have been received from 176 companies for the graduating batch of 2011. This included 140 double job offers for under graduates. All eligible post graduates also were placed through campus placement marking a unique departure from previous years. This also shows that the industry in India is now graduating to new product development for which it is now recruiting postgraduates and PhD holders. The companies which visited DTIU includes Microsoft, Facebook, Google, EPIC, Yahoo, Oracle, IBM, Alstom, Samsung, McKenzie, Deloitte, Freescale, Mentor Graphics, Texas Instruments, 11,47. Maruti, Tata Motors, 81-1EL, NTPC, EIL, GAIL, Indian Oil, CSC, C-dot. India Railways for the first time visited DTU for the campus placement. By the close of the year, in this academic year (2011-12) 725 job offers have already been received from 165 companies that have visited the campus so far.

On innovation front, DTU and its predecessor DCE had the honor of designing and developing the first Formula Student Car of India, the first Hybrid Car of India, the first Super Mileage vehicle of India and Lately the first Solar Car this year (October 2011) which participated in the World Solar Challenge held in Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. All these innovations participated in the International Design Competition in US, UK, Australia and South Africa. The DTU team has also developed the Next Generation Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for urban applications in collaboration with Lockheed Martin of US and earned the 3rd place in the AUVSI international competition at Maryland in June this year,

Another major achievement of the University has been to strengthen its interface with the industry and with the world class universities. DTU entered into MoU with Samsung Electronics (India} alongside with MoUs with LaTrobe University., Australia, MoU with National University of Singapore, MoU with National Physical Laboratory, MoU with Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun., An M.Tech program in Software Technology for 20 Samsung Professionals has also started by DTU thus marking the beginning of a new era of academia - industry partnership. An MoU with Solar Energy Centre of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has also been signed for Solar R&D.

DTU celebrated its 70 years of excellence and organized Global Alumni Conclave 2012 on January 7th - 8th, 2012 at which its Global Alumni Power congregated at DTU Campus. A Pan DCE D7U Portal has also been launched by DTU to provide the vital alumni connect to its alma-mater. The great alumni power of this premier institution has a unique opportunity to pool together their brainwaves to envision their support to shape their alma-mater as an institution of their dream, a world class technological university in fact a global knowledge enterprise such that it not only provides the necessary academic and professional ambience to produce engineers of tomorrow but is equipped with the necessary knowledge infrastructure, technology incubation and innovation support mechanism to give rise to student and faculty startups, training and shaping them as highly successful techno-entrepreneurs of the new knowledge age. Towards this end, we expect our alumni to support the rise of highly specialized centers of research and development in areas of high relevance such as solar energy technologies, tomorrow's digital technologies, new and smart materials and composites, nano devices, nano machines and mechanisms and to foster newer vistas of engineering related to tomorrow's medical engineering, sports engineering, music engineering and mind engineering.

The great alumni power can also pool its resources together to create their permanent foot prints In the form of new building blocks and academic and research facilities in their alma-mater. Above all their constant engagement with their alma-rnater in providing the vital thought power and learned council for future planning and development is of utmost importance. It is hoped that this "Celebration of Excellence" inspired one and all in this Temple of Engineering Education to devote themselves unconditionally to the cause of excellence in design and development and above all in service to the society.

Well the year 2012-13 must be the year of professional enlightenment and hope for taking DTU to scale newer heights of glory by our distinguished contributions to education, research and innovations. This is also the year which shall provide a formidable thrust to the new infrastructure development for which planning has already taken place. During 2012-13 we wish to engage our faculty and students in a whole lot of activities to create the joy, thrill and excitement of engineering and technology and thus inspire them to serve the interest of the industry and community as also to support the growth of tomorrow's engineering.

''With its focus on industry relevance and its sustained quest for excellence, Delhi Technological University, NU is marching ahead to become a global leader in engineering and technology education, research and innovations and we look forward to upsurge of the ever rising spirit of innovation and commitment to march on the pathways of excellence_ Let me close by adding that ''Pursuit of excellence demands unconditional commitment and fullest dedication while at the same time paying greatest attention to minutest details,

I invite the aspiring budding engineers to commit to creating engineering and technology excellence by their unconditional commitment and fullest dedication to their studies and their engagement in research and innovations.