Science in India 2047

Science in India 2047
Wednesday, 06 July 2022 7:30-9:00p.m. IST/ 10:00-11:30a.m. EDT

Adventure and skepticism: Building scientific temper in India

Gagandeep Kang, Professor, The Welcome Trust Research Laboratory Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore

Gagandeep Kang has worked on the development and use of vaccines for rotavirus and typhoid, conducting large studies to define burden, test vaccines and measure their impact. She is the first Indian woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and a member of several advisory committees for the WHO, mainly related to research and use of vaccines.

Transforming science education towards innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability

Sonam Wangchuk, Founding Director, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh

Sonam Wangchuk is an award-winning scientist, engineer, innovator, and a prominent education activist. A pioneer in building alternative education spaces for marginalized children and youth in India, he co-founded the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), and the Ladakh-based education reforms initiative, Operation New Hope. His notable innovations include low-cost solar heated buildings, and Ice Stupa artificial glacier technique that conserves winter water for re-use in the spring. Wangchuk is a Magsaysay Award winner (2018) and was the UNESCO Chair for Earth Architecture for India in 2014, among others.

Science, state and the citizen

Jahnavi Phalkey, Founding Director, Science Gallery Bengaluru

Jahnavi Phalkey started her academic career at the University of Heidelberg, following which she was based at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, France, and Imperial College London. Jahnavi was Fellow, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (the Institute of Advanced Study, Berlin). She was also external curator to the Science Museum London and has been a Scholar-in-Residence at the Deutsches Museum, Munich. Jahnavi Phalkey held a tenured faculty position at King’s College London. In 2018, she became the inaugural Director of the Science Gallery. Jahnavi is the author of Atomic State: Big Science in Twentieth Century India and has co-edited Science of Giants: China and India in the Twentieth Century. She is the producer-director of the documentary film Cyclotron.

Moderator: Julie Vale

Associate Professor, School of Engineering, University of Guelph

Julie Vale is also Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Engineering at the University of Guelph. Originally trained in electrical engineering as a systems and control theorist, her current research focuses on engineering education. Current projects focus on improving problem solving skills, changing engineering student and faculty mindsets regarding the role of social justice in engineering, and eliciting values in engineering design capstone courses. Vale is actively working to embed values-based design thinking and social justice principles in the engineering curriculum.

Presented by: Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) with support from:

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
• College of Social and Applied Human Sciences
• Guelph Institute of Development Studies
• Guelph Institute for Environmental Research
• International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation
• Office of International Strategy and Partnerships
• One Health Institute
• Ontario Veterinary College