Varun Arya has taken over as president of the IIT Delhi Alumni Association. In this capacity, he has also been made the alumni representative on the Senate, the highest decision-making forum of IIT Delhi and a member of the consultative committee of FITT (Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer), the institute-industry interaction wing of IIT Delhi.

Arya has worked for over 16 years in senior positions with reputed companies like Indian Rayon, Reliance and DuPont. His work experience has been primarily in sales and marketing, business development and profit centre (SBUs) management. Also, as a DuPont certified trainer, he has conducted over two dozen training centres for DuPont at all levels up to the directors all over India.

Bansal is director, Dalmia Industries

Ravi Bansal has recently joined Dalmia Industries Ltd as director-marketing and sales. His earlier appointments were with Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd, SarabhaiChemicals Ltd, Glaxo Lab Ltd, Ranbaxy Ltd, Food & Pharma Ltd, Consolidated Medicaments and Vital Pharma Ltd, Nigeria.

Prestigious award for Kakoli Banerjee

Kakoli Banerjee has been awarded the `Best Student Designer of the Year' by the Confederation of Indian Apparel Exporters (CIAE). In 1998 she was one of the thirty students selected from over 2000 entries sent from 13 Asian countries to participate in the Makuhari Grand Prix held in Japan.

Subsequently, on the basis of her merit in academic performance, she was sent by NIFT to attend a workshop organised by Polimoda, the Fashion School of Florence, Italy.

Recently, she was the only Indian whose designs were selected by an international jury for the Mittlemoda Award '99, held in Italy in May.Banerjee has represented India with five ensembles inspired by the monsoon moods of the country, combining Indian silks with an international look. The strength of this collection lay in the innovative use of fabric to create surface interest. Thecollection has subsequently been displayed at the Milan and Rome Fashion Weeks.

She has also participated in the Admirality Needle Contest held in St Petersburg. Her collection of three ensembles for this presentation drew its inspiration from the work of Abstract Expressionist and Romantic Artists.At Confluence '99 which brought together the best selections from all the six NIFT centres, Banerjee's collection `Zen -- a living experience' was selected for the `Best of the Best' award.