Introduction

Remote learning and virtual learning environments took a centre stage as most educational institutions remained closed across the world. Making learning personalized became more crucial as inequitable access to mobile phones, geographical barriers, and learning disabilities, limited learning opportunities for many. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized learning by making it more individualistic. It can have a far-reaching impact on how teachers teach and students learn. The technology has the potential of increasing inclusivity in different levels of education. The immense potential of AI fuelled with the challenges that heightened post-pandemic, led select organizations in the industry and academia in India to support educational institutions and schools.

The June session of the Innovation & Science @Bharat series will bring two such speakers from industry and academia to talk about AI’s application in the education sector.

Webinar Date: 18 June 2021 at 03.00 PM

Speakers

Industry

Prof. Ajit Kembhavi, IUCAA and Pune Knowledge Cluster, Pune
Professor Kembhavi is a distinguished astronomer who works on galaxies, quasars, and other extragalactic objects, various areas of high energy astrophysics, X-ray and radio pulsars, and the application of AI to astronomy and biology. Professor Kembhavi is involved in many national and international collaborations and for several years and is one of the key persons responsible for India joining the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project as a partner and taking up the LIGO India project.  He is now on the Apex Committees of these projects and a member of the LIGO USA Oversight Committee. He has to his credit research papers and several books in English and Marathi. Ajit is Professor Emeritus and former Raja Ramanna Fellow at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. He is one of the founder members of IUCAA and played a major role in setting it up and developing it into a world-class institute. He has a Ph.D. from TIFR, Mumbai and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, of the University of Cambridge. He led the Virtual Observatory-India project for 15 years, which has made important contributions to data management, analysis, visualisation and the development of tools for statistical analysis. The project was carried out in close collaboration with Anand Deshpande Persistent Systems. He headed a Big Data project supported by the National Knowledge Network (NKN), and works on applications of Deep Learning to astronomy and biology.

Industry

Dipakshi Mehandru, Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Dell Technologies India
Dipakshi is a Corporate Affairs and Advocacy professional with almost a decade and a half’s experience across policy advocacy, government affairs, corporate social responsibility, and policy research. Passionate about the role that technology can play in bridging the divide as well as improving quality of life, Dipakshi is a keen advocate for reforms in Education, Healthcare and Building a Sustainable Tomorrow. Dipakshi joined Dell in 2016 as a part of the Global Government Affairs team and has led engagements with various government departments at the Centre and in States. She represents the firm at various industry fora focused on education, manufacturing and digital transformation and leads Education policy discussions to connect the dots of learnings between different regions.

Rajesh Saha,  CEO and Co-founder of Quiklrn
Rajesh is the CEO and Co-founder of Quiklrn, which is a Dell Technologies Solution Partner. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the IT Industry, and is currently conceptualizing and building a new generation learning experience app and platform services integrated with AI-enabled tools. Quiklrn platform has been recognized by leading autonomous education institutes and central government institutes for its unique capabilities on adaptive learning. 
AICTE (Ministry of Education India) has selected Quiklrn to be part of the NEAT 2.0 initiative for driving personalized learning and improving learning outcomes.