About the Institute
IIT Kharagpur is the first IIT to be set up in the IIT system and remains the largest and the most diversified. The Institute is ranked this year by many ranking agencies as the best engineering college in the country. Established in 1951, it has been imparting scientific and technical education of the highest standards to the best and the brightest in the country for more than fifty years. With 19 academic departments, 6 centers of excellence and 7 schools, the institute develops and encourages an environment in which interdisciplinary research and academic activities can flourish. The institute is located in the city of Kharagpur in West Bengal, 120km south-west of Kolkata.
RCGSIDM
The Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management have been started by IIT Kharagpur in the year 2008 as a result of the joint initiative of the institute and Mr. Ranbir (Ron) Singh Gupta, an alumnus (1970 batch B. Arch) of this Institute. Mr. Ranbir Gupta, who is the founder and chairman of the SIGMA7 design group, New York has made an endowment through Ranbir and Chitra Gupta Foundation to promote the initiative. The school of Infrastructure Design and Management is the first of its kind to be set up in the IIT system and also in the country. The School is housed at the Sir J. C. Bose and Acharya P.C Ray Science Block Tower 2: 2nd and 3rd Floors with new laboratories like Social Infrastructure Laboratory, Physical Infrastructure Laboratory, Advanced Infrastructure Simulation and GIS Laboratory. Over the last ten years, RCGSIDM has produced three outstanding PhDs, over 100 M. Tech students and put on record two International Symposiums and workshops with international collaborations with esteemed world universities like Columbia University, MIT, Georgia Tech, Lawrence Tech, University of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Curtin University and so on.
NatSymSCM
The NatSymSCM intends to bring together professionals and researchers—working in the field of urban planning, urban transport, urban sciences and engineering and other related fields—who are working within different cities across the country or around the world. This symposium thus hopes to promote free flowing of ideas generated from the latest results of research, successful case studies, and interaction among the contributors. NatSymSCM is supported by TEQIP (Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme) and is also a part of a research project entitled “Smart & Integrated Pedestrian System” funded under the Uchhatar Avishkar Yojna (UAY) scheme.
SYMPOSIUM CONVENORS
Mr. Arkopal Kishore
Goswami Ph.D.
Mr. Arkopal Goswami is an Assistant Professor at Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management (RCGSIDM), IIT Kharagpur. He joined the institute in 2015. His research areas are transport infrastructure planning and management.
Ms. Ankhi Banerjee Ph.D.
Ms. Ankhi Banerjee is an Assistant Professor at Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management (RCGSIDM), IIT Kharagpur. She conducts research in Residential location choice, Peri-urban dynamics, Urban planning: Utilities, Services, Sustainable community planning and Housing affordability.​
SYMPOSIUM MENTORS
Prof. Bhargab Maitra, Ph.D.
Prof. Bhargab Maitra is currently Head of Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management and Professor in Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and DAAD Fellow. He also received Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award from the Indian Roads Congress. His research interest includes travel behavior, public transportation system, traffic management, traffic control at the intersection, traffic safety, etc.
Prof. Joy Sen, Ph.D.
Prof.Joy Sen is currently a Professor at the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur. He served as Head of Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management (RCGSIDM), IIT Kharagpur. His areas of research are Community and Regional Planning Analyses & Programming and Architecture and Planning related Heritage Studies and Documentation. He has a long working experience with the various Environmental Design.