A Legacy of Innovation:
Remembering Prof. M. N. Faruqui
Some teachers leave behind lessons. Others leave behind a way of thinking. At IIT Kharagpur, the legacy of Professor M. N. Faruqui belongs firmly in the latter category.
Prof. Mohammad Naseem Faruqui joined IIT Kharagpur's Electrical Engineering Department in 1958, after earning his B.Tech., M.Tech. and Ph.D. from KGP. He went on to become a professor and Deputy Director of the Institute. His academic interests reflected the rapidly changing world of technology—from digital communications and computer networking to image processing, office automation, and video and speech compression. He later served as Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.
Among the students whose lives he influenced was Arjun Malhotra ’70, who would become one of India's pioneering technology entrepreneurs and the co-founder of HCL. Decades later, Malhotra recalled Prof. Faruqui as one of the three IIT Kharagpur professors who had a major influence on his life. He chose to honor that influence in a particularly meaningful way: by creating a center at KGP dedicated to innovation.
The M. N. Faruqui Innovations Centre was established to give students something that traditional classrooms cannot always provide—the freedom and facilities to experiment. Supported by Malhotra, the Centre was designed to encourage students from different disciplines to work together on real-world technical challenges, turning ideas into prototypes and, ultimately, usable products.
Its original facilities included electronics and mechanical fabrication equipment, 3D printers, design tools and workspaces where students could build, test and refine their ideas. The underlying philosophy was simple but powerful: innovation should begin early, and students should have the opportunity to learn by making.
Malhotra's support went beyond creating a physical space. A $1 million endowment was established to support student innovation projects, providing a continuing source of support for interdisciplinary teams. In doing so, he transformed a personal memory of an inspiring teacher into an opportunity for generations of students.
That vision continues to resonate at KGP. The Centre remains part of the Institute's innovation ecosystem, and in 2026 it is collaborating with the Innovation and Incubation Cell on student programs such as VibeBuild, a 36-hour innovation sprint that takes teams from ideas and rapid prototyping toward working minimum viable products. The Centre has also been associated with student projects spanning engineering and emerging technologies.
There is something especially fitting about the journey. A young professor encouraged his students to look beyond the boundaries of conventional thinking. One of those students became an entrepreneur who helped shape India's technology industry. That alumnus then returned to KGP to create a place where today's students could experiment, build and imagine what comes next.
The name M. N. Faruqui now represents more than a distinguished professor's contribution to IIT Kharagpur. It represents a chain of influence: teacher to student, student to innovator, innovator to institution, and institution to the next generation. That may be one of the most enduring forms of giving back—not simply remembering the people who shaped us, but creating opportunities for others to discover their own path.
At KGP, Prof. Faruqui's legacy continues every time a student takes an idea off the page and begins to build.
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The IITKGP Foundation