The Kunal Roy and Neelam Roy Fellowships were instituted in 2023 by alumnus Kunal Kanti Roy and his wife Neelam Roy through an endowment to IISc. The fellowships will be awarded annually in the following categories.
- The Kunal Roy and Neelam Roy B.Tech Fellowships will be awarded to four B.Tech students (one each in all years) in the Undergraduate programme.
A selection committee will nominate the awardees based on merit.
Entitlements of the Fellowships
- B.Tech Fellowship of Rs 7000 per month for 12 months.
2023-2024 Winner
About Mr Kunal Roy
Fifty years ago, Kunal was a B.E student (1969 – 1972) at IISc Bangalore. He graduated in 1972 in Metallurgy. At that time, the IISc Director was S. Dhawan. He studied under professors Dr KP Abraham, Dr Mallya, Dr Vasu to name a few distinguished faculty members. During 1969-72, he was a recipient of TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Co.) scholarship for 3 years.
He received many state and national scholarships during his lifetime through Grade 8th, High School, Intermediate Science, and B.Sc from Kanpur. He was also awarded TISCO Scholarship at IISc, and a Graduate Assistantship at Stevens Institute of Technology in the USA. These scholarship awards gave pride, confidence, and determination to advance in his career. Therefore, it remained his heartfelt longing to create a lasting endowment in awarding fellowships to the IISc students in their formative stage.
In 1973, he came to the USA and did his M.S. in Materials Science/Metallurgy from Stevens Institute of Technology. He worked in many esteemed semiconductor and telecommunication industries. He worked in many technologies and product lines, for example, CMOS, Bipolar, digital cellular, DirecTV and satellite communication for voice, video, and data. At Philips-Signetics and IBM, he held various senior positions in engineering in the area of process and product development. Thereafter, he went to engineering management. He was a Manager at Raytheon, Director at Raychem, and Asst. Vice President at Hughes in the field of operations.
During his career, Kunal travelled extensively to the Asia Pacific Rim, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines; Europe, and South America in support of operations and customers. He retired from Hughes several years ago.
About Ms Neelam Roy
Neelam Roy did her M.Sc in Biology from Lucknow University. She came to the USA in 1974 and worked in various companies but found most satisfaction in teaching children with autism in schools. She spent most of her life raising her two daughters. She has been very active with various charity organizations, supporting and volunteering in many institutions.
Kunal Roy and Neelam Roy, both were born and raised in Kanpur, India. Their parents were successful businessmen/industrialists in Kanpur. Kunal and Neelam have been married for nearly 50 years. They lived in many cities in the USA but mostly in Silicon Valley and San Diego California. San Diego has been their home for the last 30 years. They are blessed with two daughters, who also live in San Diego. They enjoy traveling worldwide. Both are fond of reading, gardening, volunteering, and engaging in various community and charity activities.