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Jibaben Patel Chair in Artificial Intelligence

IIT Gandhinagar has setup this faculty chair in Artificial Intelligence in honour of Smt. Jibaben Patel through a donation by his son Dr. Jagdish Patel.

Dr. Jagdish Patel, former Chairman and Medical Director at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, has established the Jibaben Patel Chair in Artificial Intelligence and the Jibaben Patel Faculty Chair at IIT Gandhinagar. He has also established a major endowment at the Institute to develop the Jibaben Patel Memorial Auditorium.

The Jibaben Patel Memorial Auditorium is a 300 seat auditorium at IIT Gandhinagar, which is used for classes and to host major events at the Institute.

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Smt. Jibaben Patel

Smt. Jibaben Patel was born in 1910 in a small village near Khambhat. She barely had the opportunity to finish her primary schooling. She was married at the age of 15 and soon left for East Africa in a dhow, a small sailboat, with her husband.

Since they were one of the early Gujarati pioneers, she and her husband welcomed numerous Gujarati immigrant families to their home, providing free lodging and assistance until the Gujarati immigrants could find jobs to support themselves. Many of them were very grateful for the unconditional support provided by her during those difficult years. This desire to help the less fortunate was also apparent through her donations to numerous charity organizations. Nobody left her home on an empty stomach.

A spirited and friendly woman, she raised six children who were all very successful. She always inspired others to work hard, be fair, and kind. She was a person for all ages, child with a child and an adult with an adult. She emigrated to USA in her sixties in 1974, where she passed away in 1999.

Dr. Jagdish Patel
Endowment

Dr. Jagdish Patel was born in Kampala, Uganda of East Africa to parents whose roots lied in small villages surrounding the town of Khambhat. He went to M.S. University of Baroda and graduated from Baroda Medical College in 1967.

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Jagdish Patel

Jagdish Patel was born in Kampala, Uganda of East Africa to parents whose roots lied in small villages surrounding the town of Khambhat. He went to M.S. University of Baroda and graduated from Baroda Medical College in 1967. He returned to Kampala where his family lived and interned at a local university hospital. He emigrated to USA in 1970 for his internship and residency in radiology. He did a fellowship in Ultrasound in Philadelphia and was assistant professor of radiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He went into private practice in radiology, starting with the Memorial Medical Center of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., in 1978. His radiology group, through mergers, became the largest radiology group of almost 95 radiologists in California covering nine hospitals and multiple imaging centers in Los Angeles. He became Chairman and Medical Director at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, a large medical center of nearly 660 beds. During his active professional carrier, he was involved in several other successful business ventures and continues to do so post retirement.

He is currently dedicated to improving the quality of health and education in India. He has adopted some schools in India, visits them frequently, spending time in schooling activities. He also stresses non-academic aspects, such as personal cleanliness, public hygiene, public speaking and communications, women empowerment, etc. He has also contributed to the efforts of broadening the scope of services provided at Cardiac Care Center Hospital of Khambhat.

He is married to Harsha and has two daughters, who are attorneys, and a son, a radiologist, who all live in the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

Current Occupant

Dr. Shanmuganathan Raman
Jibaben Patel Chair in Artificial Intelligence
Associate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering

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Shanmuganathan Raman

Shanmuganathan Raman (Shanmuga) obtained his MTech (Biomedical Engineering) and PhD (Electrical Engineering) degrees from IIT Bombay. He is currently serving as an Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering jointly with Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Gandhinagar. His research interests include Computer Vision, Deep Learning, and Computer Graphics. Shanmuga was a recipient of the Microsoft Research India PhD Fellowship for the year 2007. He obtained an Excellence in PhD Thesis Work Award at IIT Bombay in 2012. He has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles in journals and conferences of repute in the areas of Computer Vision and Signal Processing. He is a recipient of several sponsored research projects including SERB Core Research Grant, SERB IMPRINT-2, ISRO RESPOND, and SERB MATRICS. He was the course coordinator for 3D Digitization for Cultural Heritage at IIT Gandhinagar which inaugurated the GIAN program across India. Shanmuga is an avid reader and had served as a member of the Senate Library Committee. He is an enthusiastic instructor who has been teaching a wide spectrum of courses in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering. He works towards making even the most complex concepts accessible to every student in the classroom.

Shanmuga had served as the Coordinator of Summer Research Internship Program (SRIP) which provides an opportunity for students from both IIT Gandhinagar and other institutes to perform high-quality research with IIT Gandhinagar faculty. He was responsible for setting up initial advisories and guidelines for SRIP which has grown to become one of the most sought after programs for undergraduate research. Shanmuga has been serving as the Coordinator of Internships in Career Development Services and also as the faculty advisor for Industrial Relations and Projects student council. He works towards facilitating the students of IIT Gandhinagar to undertake internships in other institutes and organizations. He holds the responsibility for establishing new associations and sustaining existing associations. The internship program has benefited hundreds of IIT Gandhinagar students over the past few years while the program itself has grown significantly in both quality and quantity. He presently serves as the Coordinator of Institute Management System (IMS).