Best Place To BuildDr. Mahesh Panchagnula |"An individual in their professional life gets paid in 2 currencies"| Ep. 22
CHAPTERS
- 0:39 – 1:21
Show premise: meeting IITM “builders” at the Innovation Hub
Host Amrut sets up the podcast’s goal: understand what people are building at IIT Madras and why it’s considered a uniquely fertile place to build. He introduces the setting (Sudha & Shankar Innovation Hub) and frames the conversation as a tour through real institutional mechanisms, not just anecdotes.
- •Podcast mission: understand “what makes IIT Madras the best place to build”
- •Innovation Hub as the physical and symbolic setting
- •Focus on builders: faculty, alumni, and ecosystem enablers
- 1:21 – 5:57
Sports Excellence Admissions: what it is and why IITM introduced it
Professor Mahesh explains the Sports Excellence Admissions program and the philosophy behind it: diversify student talent beyond the conventional JEE-only evaluation. The program admits a small number of JEE-qualified students whose branch allocation is guided by sports excellence, aiming for a campus-wide culture shift toward fitness and performance.
- •Two seats per UG program earmarked for sports excellence (with JEE Advanced qualification)
- •Branch choice influenced by sports excellence
- •Director Prof. Kamakoti’s intent: diversify the student and alumni profile
- •Expected “trickle effect” on health and sports culture across campus
- 5:57 – 11:49
How IITM decisions get made: approvals, stakeholder debate, and rollout
Addressing the perception that IITs are bureaucratic, Mahesh describes IITM as institutionally independent with internal academic governance. He walks through the multi-stage approval pipeline—from faculty discussions to Senate and Board of Governors—and emphasizes that implementation also includes support systems so student-athletes can balance academics and training.
- •IITs operate with substantial autonomy despite government funding
- •Approval path: department committees → Board of Academic Courses → Faculty Senate → Board of Governors
- •Debates covered merit, long-term value, and student fit
- •Student-athlete support planned as part of rollout, not an afterthought
- 11:49 – 13:02
Early outcomes of the sports program: first cohort and sports mix
The program’s first year intentionally started small due to novelty and initial uncertainty in the applicant pool. Mahesh shares that five student-athletes were admitted in the first round and are performing well, spanning multiple sports disciplines.
- •Program capacity vs. reality: 32 possible, but 5 admitted in the first intake
- •Student-athletes are currently balancing academics and sport successfully
- •Sports represented include swimming/water polo, table tennis, squash, volleyball, tennis
- 13:02 – 13:47
CESSA: building a Sports Science & Analytics center at IITM
Mahesh introduces the Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA) and its founding idea: bring high-end engineering rigor to athlete performance. He positions CESSA as a “vehicle” to deliver technology—sensors, analytics, biomechanics, psychology—into elite Indian sport through partnerships with federations, SAI, and teams.
- •CESSA’s goal: apply engineering-grade rigor to sports performance
- •Support areas: sensors, data analytics, biomechanics, psychological edge
- •Deep collaboration with Sports Authority of India, federations, and teams
- •Focus on actionable performance improvement, not just entertainment metrics
- 13:47 – 15:25
Smart Stats with ESPN Cricinfo: AI for fan engagement and match “value”
The conversation zooms into the ESPN Cricinfo ‘Smart Stats’ project, developed at IIT Madras, as a landmark example of sports analytics. Mahesh explains how AI reframes scorecards by contextualizing runs, wickets, and counterfactuals (what-if scenarios), enriching how fans interpret games.
- •Smart scorecard: contextual value of runs/wickets (not all runs are equal)
- •AI-based “what if” scenarios (dropped catches, umpiring calls, match states)
- •Fan engagement as a legitimate and scalable sports-tech application
- •Project served as a springboard toward building CESSA
- 15:25 – 18:10
Aligning sports-tech work with India’s Olympic ambitions
Mahesh connects CESSA’s agenda to national priorities like the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). While acknowledging cricket’s global pull (and Olympic inclusion), he highlights IITM’s R&D alignment with medal-focused sports such as boxing, archery, and shooting, with more to be added.
- •TOPS as a guiding framework for prioritizing sports investment
- •Current focus sports: boxing, archery, shooting (plus cricket and others)
- •Future expansion to wrestling, judo, and more
- •Objective: measurable medal potential via technology-backed performance gains
- 18:10 – 22:17
Core research identity: fluid mechanics applied to crowds and lungs
Shifting from sports, Mahesh outlines his broader research arc as a mechanician working on data-rich problems. He explains how tools from fluid dynamics extend to understanding dense crowds (stampede onset and prevention) and aerosol/lung function—highlighting the universality of underlying math across domains.
- •Background: sprays in aircraft engine contexts; applying tools across fields
- •Crowd dynamics: modeling dense gatherings like fluid/slurry flow to prevent stampedes
- •Applied work with temple administrators and Kumbh analysis
- •Aerosols and lungs: lungs as protective filters, not only oxygen exchangers
- 22:17 – 26:35
Returning from the US: why India became the best place to reinvent academically
Mahesh describes how the decision to return began around 2008 and was driven more by professional opportunity than personal reasons. He contrasts the depth of the US academic ecosystem with India’s emerging advantage: greater room to re-engineer oneself across fields due to growing funding and fewer people competing for bold, new ideas.
- •US pros: mature ecosystem with extreme niche depth
- •US cons: harder to pivot across domains in a mature system
- •India’s advantage: world-class funding with fewer claimants for new idea spaces
- •IIT Madras as the chosen home among multiple IIT offers
- 26:35 – 32:02
The ‘two currencies’ of a career: salary vs. social goodwill for professors
The discussion turns to respect, compensation, and the lived experience of being IIT faculty in India. Mahesh argues that professionals are paid in two currencies—money and societal goodwill—and emphasizes that the second is powerful, non-fungible, and unusually strong for IIT faculty within India, alongside improving pay and benefits.
- •Claim: Indian faculty (especially IIT) receive uniquely high societal respect
- •Salary growth over decades; industry still outpaces academia globally
- •Quality-of-life benefits: campus housing, security, and ecosystem privileges
- •Core idea: two currencies—bank salary and ‘social investment/goodwill’
- 32:02 – 35:47
Why IIT Madras is ‘the best place to build’ a faculty career: multidimensional excellence
Mahesh explains IITM’s faculty model as intentionally multidimensional, referencing a seven-axis framework (teaching, research, industry/government/societal engagement, entrepreneurship, advisory). He highlights concrete institutional incentives—especially patent monetization, startup support, and faculty-friendly consultancy policies—as mechanisms that reward diverse forms of excellence.
- •Seven axes framework enables faculty to choose their “axis of excellence”
- •Strong rewards for patents: large share of upside flows back to inventors
- •Startups and industry consultancy supported by globally competitive policies
- •Institutional culture values both blue-sky and translational work equally
- 35:47 – 41:35
IITM then vs. now: campus DNA, consultancy roots, hostel life, and the abroad trend
Reflecting as an alumnus (late 80s/early 90s), Mahesh traces enduring institutional traits—freedom to define excellence and early industry attachment influenced by German mentorship—alongside changes like increased scale and reduced student closeness. He adds personal color (Ganga hostel, nickname) and explains why going abroad was once the dominant choice compared to today’s stronger Indian opportunities.
- •Industry consultancy is part of IITM’s foundational DNA (since 1960 office)
- •Campus then: smaller, closer student community; excellence defined individually
- •Personal memories: Ganga hostel, nickname ‘P.V.’
- •Why 80%+ went abroad in the 90s vs. India’s stronger job/startup options today
- 41:35 – 49:33
Incubation at IITM: how the incubator enables startups (inside and outside IIT)
Mahesh describes the IITM Incubation Cell as an enabling platform that helps founders leverage the campus deep-tech ecosystem. He clarifies eligibility (not limited to IITM students), typical equity terms, and why even alumni/outsiders choose IITM—citing examples and arguing IITM has created outsized value due to early start and culture that respects translational work.
- •Incubation Cell provides services + ecosystem access for small equity (often 2–6%)
- •Outsiders can apply if they articulate why IITM’s ecosystem is essential
- •Examples of incubated/associated companies and alumni-founder leverage
- •IITM advantage: early start + culture that doesn’t devalue translational research
- 49:33 – 1:04:57
Alumni relations, fundraising, ASK IITM, and building credible guidance for parents/students
As former dean of Alumni & Corporate Relations, Mahesh breaks down IITM’s fundraising numbers, distinguishing philanthropy from consultancy/contracts. He then explains how ASK IITM emerged to address information gaps in admissions decision-making, emphasizing the need for credible, continuously updated frameworks—culminating in a look at how departments evolve and new programs get launched.
- •Fundraising context: large gifts vs broad donor base; CSR and philanthropy vs contracts
- •Where philanthropy goes: scholarships, fee support, and Centers of Excellence
- •ASK IITM origin: responding to why NIRF rank doesn’t always translate to student preference
- •Need for credible, digestible (‘cooked annam’) information for parents/students
- •Department evolution: growth in faculty breadth enabling new, industry-relevant programs
