Prof Nagarajan did it all: boosted alum ties, reimagined Heritage Centre & got a Mills & Boon award!

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

October 17, 2025

Duration

1h 5m

Channel

Best Place To Build

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Meet the IIT Professor Who’s Done It All! From building the Heritage Centre at IIT, to strengthening alumni relations, and winning award-winning short stories, Professor Nagarajan R. of IIT Madras shows how leadership, creativity, and vision can leave a lasting impact. In this episode of the Best Place to Build Podcast, discover how he transformed alumni engagement, led heritage projects that celebrate IIT’s legacy, and balanced his academic achievements with creative excellence in writing. Whether you’re passionate about higher education, alumni networks, campus development, or literature and short stories, this story will inspire and motivate. Learn how dedication, strategy, and creativity can change institutions—and lives. ✅ Key topics in this video:

• Heritage Centre at IIT: Design, impact, and legacy
• Alumni relations strategies that strengthen networks
• Award-winning short stories and creative writing tips
• Leadership, innovation, and balancing professional & creative pursuits

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more inspiring stories of educators, innovators, and changemakers shaping the future of education and culture. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:01:05 - Welcome to the Best Place to Build Podcast 00:01:45 - Introducing Prof Nagarajan 00:02:34 - What is Unique About IIT Madras? 00:04:30 - CFI's Motto: Idea to Prototype 00:08:00 - The Startup Pipeline 00:10:25 - The Shift from Studying Abroad to Indian Entrepreneurship 00:14:15 - CFI Integration: Projects as Academic Credit 00:17:39 - Launch of the IIT Madras Research Park (RP) & Rise of Opportunities 00:26:00 - The Importance of Alumni Giving Back to the Alma Mater 00:28:44 - Alumni Relations: Association vs. Institutional Advancement 00:30:01 - Growth in Alumni Fundraising and Global Engagement 00:40:00 - Professor Nagarajan’s Personal Journey and Advice for Aspiring Students 00:45:37 - Chemical Engineering: A Versatile Process Discipline 00:56:20 - Redesign and Impact of the IIT Madras Heritage Centre 01:00:00 - Closing Thoughts & Reflections

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Nagarajan R.

  guest

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Best Place To Build, featuring Nagarajan R., Prof Nagarajan did it all: boosted alum ties, reimagined Heritage Centre & got a Mills & Boon award! explores how IIT Madras built innovation, alumni power, and campus heritage IIT Madras’s distinctive edge is a vertically integrated innovation pipeline that moves ideas from student tinkering at CFI to pre-incubation (Nirman), entrepreneurship readiness (GDC), incubation, and scaling inside Research Park.

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