Techfest Presents

lecture Series

Glean wisdom from some of the most brilliant personalities of our time!

About Lecture Series

Always a crowd favourite, the Techfest Lecture Series is one of the gems of the festival. Year after year, Techfest puts together a stellar lineup of speakers from diverse walks of life, speaking on pressing world issues: a commentary on history, as it unfolds. An annual constant since our initiation in 1998, the series has inspired millions of minds till date. Listen to and interact with eminent personalities from diverse fields, glean insights from their profound wisdom and bear witness to their sheer mental prowess right here, at Techfest, IIT Bombay. Come, join the next generation of thinkers, innovators and leaders from 3rd to 5th January at the Techfest Lecture Series.

Previous Lecturers

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Known for his words of wisdom about Buddhist teachings, he is recognized as one of the "Children of Mahatma Gandhi" as Gandhi's spiritual heir to nonviolence

Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

Former President of India

Known as the Missile Man of India for his pivotal role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests, he is the recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award

Sophia

World's First Robot Citizen

The first humanoid robot to receive citizenship of any country, Sophia uses AI and visual data processing to make smart conversations and get smarter every day

Jimmy Wales

Co-founder, Wikipedia

One of the most prolific Internet entrepreneur, he was recognized as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time Magazine in 2006

Vint Cerf

One of the Fathers of Internet

An American Internet pioneer, Prof. Vint Cerf is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards such as the Turing Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Gaur Gopal Das

Motivational Guru, ISKCON

He is known for having his distinctive way of explaining spirituality to the youth through his powerful oratory, logical reasoning and subtle form of humour

Simon Taufel

Member of the ICC Elite Umpire Panel

A retired Australian cricket umpire considered as one of the best umpires in the game, he was the recipient of the "ICC Umpire of the Year" award 5 times in a row

Bjarne Stroustrup

Inventor of C++

Noted for the creation and development of the C++ programming language, he won the Computer Pioneer Award of the IEEE Computer Society in 2018

Jaap Haarsten

Inventor of Bluetooth

With a diverse profile of being an electrical engineer, researcher, inventor and entrepreneur, he was inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2015

David J Griffiths

Physicist and Renowned Author

Regarded as the author of three highly influential textbooks for undergraduate students, he is extensively cited for his outstanding contributions to physics education

Ada Yonath

Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry

Recognized for her pioneering studies on the structure and function of the ribosome, in 2009, she became the first Israeli woman to win the Nobel Prize

Late John Nash

Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences

Acknowledged as the only person to be awarded both the Nobel Prize and the Abel Prize, he made fundamental contributions to game theory and differential geometry

Randy Schekman

Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology

An American cell biologist at the University of California, he shared the Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking work on cell membrane vesicle trafficking in 2013

Amartya Sen

Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences

An Indian economist and philosopher, he is the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and India's Bharat Ratna Award for his work in welfare economics

Jay Vijayan

Former CIO, Tesla Motors

Currently the CEO of Tekion Corporation and Former Chief Information Officer of Tesla Motors, he is known for his leadership in building scalable software for businesses

Mark Papermaster

Chief Technology Officer, AMD

He is currently serving as the CTO and executive vice president of Technology and Engineering at AMD. He also served as the Senior Vice President at Apple Inc.

Jocelyn Goldfein

Former Engineering Director, Facebook

An American technology executive and investor, she was recognized as one of the "43 Most Powerful Female Engineers” by Business Insider in 2017

Tanmay Bakshi

Youngest IBM Watson Developer

A 15-year-old author, AI Expert, TED speaker and Honorary IBM Cloud Advisor, he has addressed over 200,000 executives, developers and intellectuals worldwide

Late Manohar Parrikar

Former Chief Minister of Goa

An IIT Bombay Alumnus, he was recognized as one of the most influential Indian politicians who served as the Defence Minister of India and as the Chief Minister of Goa

Viral V. Acharya

Former Deputy Governor, RBI

The former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, he also served in the Academic Council of the National Institute of Securities Markets