You'd be right to assume that anyone who's serving as IT Alumni Society president has a strong commitment to higher education generally and to the University specifically. When asked why I care so deeply about this institution, I tell a story that begins with my father.
At a time in India when most parents couldn't afford to send their children to school, let alone pay for higher education, my father moved away from his home village to put himself through engineering school. He left because he cherished education and excellence, and he passed those values on to me.
Even as a child I took those values to heart and determined that someday I would go to America and "do science." After receiving an electrical engineering degree in India, I moved to the U.S. and earned a doctorate in electrical engineering from Purdue University.
While on the faculty at the University of Maryland in College Park, I accepted a job offer from Honeywell Systems and Research Center. My colleagues in Maryland had warned me about Minnesota's climate, but I was completely unprepared for the weather conditions on the first day I reported to work. I couldn't see anything through my car's frost-covered rear windshield on August 17, 1977, and when I jokingly protested to my new coworkers, they blithely responded with the Minnesota bromide I've heard every year since: "Oh, don't worry, it's unusually cold this year."
Despite the weather, Minnesota and Honeywell proved to be very warm, friendly places. When Honeywell spun off its defense business to a newly formed company, Alliant Techsystems, I joined Alliant as associate director of research and later went to work for my current employer, Image Sensing Systems.
During my years at Honeywell and Alliant, I witnessed firsthand just how much IT benefits local industry. Both companies recruited many engineers from the University as well as many undergraduate and graduate students, most of them from IT, to work as student aides in our technology areas. The quality of our research and the likelihood of winning competitive research proposals depended on the excellence of our engineers and students, and we were very successful at both endeavors.
I also got to know many IT faculty members and their work. My technology groups collaborated with IT faculty on research projects, and many of our engineers took courses or seminars from IT faculty, either on site or remotely through UNITE Instructional Television.
My family and I have benefited personally from the University. When my son, Robin, was in seventh grade he took advanced math classes through the University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP). He recently graduated from the University with bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and computer engineering, and now works for Intel. My wife, Fern, received her master's degree in food technology, and my daughter, Nina, is completing two undergraduate majors, in accounting and management information systems.
That's why, for reasons professional and personal, I consider the University to be Minnesota's crown jewel, and I believe all of us need to take care of this precious resource. It's a privilege for me to do my share by providing my leadership within ITAS.
As president, my focus will be on enhancing member services, working with
our superb ITAS volunteers, and strengthening ties between the college, its
departments, and our members. All of us must work together to support IT during
this time of fiscal austerity to keep our crown jewel shining brightly.
—Durga Panda
Durga Panda is president of the IT Alumni Society.
You can reach him at 612-626-8282 or by email at itas@umn.edu.
