April 27, 2024
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TRIBUTE TO DR. RAM GOPAL GUPTA, PAST CHAIR IEEE DELHI SECTION AND PAST CHAIR INDIA COUNCIL

By Rajendra K. Asthana, Chair for IEEE R10 Life Member Committee.

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Dr. Ram Gopal Gupta was a Doctorate from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Popularly known as RGG, he retired as Senior Director (i.e., SAG / Joint Secretary Rank of Government of India – GOI) from the then Department of Information Technology/Electronics. In this department, among other activities, he was known for organizing an exhibition of electronics annually at an all-India level.

Dr. Gupta was a Senior Member of IEEE & Fellow and Life Member of the TEB for the technical publications of the Largest Professional Body in India, the Institution of Electrical and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE). He was a member of the nomination committee for an international award for techno-entrepreneurship development instituted by the TAKADA FOUNDATION, Japan and initiated Electronics and IT Expositions (ELITEXs) etc. He made numerous reports to enhance the vision on the “Role of United Nations and Specialized Agencies for Developing IT”. Dr. Gupta, an IEEE volunteer became Chair of the Joint Chapter IEEE AES COM LEO Society of the India Council.

In 2007, he was appointed as a Member of Board of Governors for IEEE Technology Management Board and Editorial Board Member of the Open Aerospace Engineering Journal published by Bentham Science Publishers. He also served on the Board of Governors of IEEE AES Society and the Board of Governors of IEEE Photonics Society.

He popularized IEEE in the Government. These innovative efforts led to the sharp increase in IEEE Student Branches in India and the overall membership growth. After taking over as Chair, he retrieved the IEEE AES COM LEO Society of India from IEEE Disqualified Chapters and achieved the Best Chapter Award from IEEE ComSoc for more than five years. His major contributions and initiatives included a series of International Conferences on Personal Wireless Communications (IEEE ICPWC) as Conference Chair in India since 1996 with participants from 22 to 25 countries. In the early stage of development of the concerned technology, Dr. Gupta supported Prof. Vijay K Bhargava (of UBC, Vancouver, CC, Canada / University of Victoria). He was also a member of TPC of the world’s largest IEEE Communication Conference: GLOBECOM and ICC. Other activities undertaken by him were:

⮚Popularizing IEEE technical activities for students, academia, and industry;
⮚Initiating two major IEEE Conferences in Communications and ATM;
⮚Major push in new Students Branches in engineering

After being at the helm of affairs of IEEE Computer Society, Delhi Chapter for a couple of years, in 2007 he was appointed IEEE Delhi Section Chair for the two one-year terms in 2007 and 2008. As Chair for IEEE Delhi Section, he continued his earlier initiatives.

At a time when IEEE India Council was struggling for its survival for over 2 years due to lack of initiatives & activities, Dr. Ram Gopal Gupta was elected as the Chair for IEEE India Council in May 2011. The challenge that he faced was to revive the Council’s survival and its lost glory earned during earlier years. Immediately on taking over, he took the following bold decisions and corrective actions to rebuild the lost image/glory of the dormant India Council.

1.Modified the Council Bylaws framed in 1976, which were outdated. New Bylaws duly vetted by MGA were approved in a special GBM held on 17th December 2011 and was adopted with immediate effect.
2.The new Bylaws stipulated the minimum eligibility qualifications for electing a Council Chair.
3.The most important inclusion was that the Chair-Elect will automatically take over as “Incoming Chair” from the next (coming) 1st January even if full ExCom is not finalised. Under no Circumstances the present Chair will continue beyond 31st December of the current year.
4.The officers and various committees were clearly spelled out.
5.Under no circumstances the elections will be held for Chair (no petition permitted) unless Chair-Elect refuse to take up the post of Council Chair. This was a bold amendment to the Council Bylaws.
6.Strict time frames for nominating slate & elections were redefined.

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Many other important decisions were taken during these 2 years and the Council regained some of its lost glory. He continued his previous initiatives to popularize IEEE technical activities for students, academia, and industry and gave push to new Students Branches in engineering, India Council Conference (INDICON) etc. Based on the solid foundation laid by Dr. Gupta, subsequent Council Chairs contributed tremendously to take India Council to newer heights, which were quite visible year after year.

As a dynamic IEEE Volunteer, Dr. Gupta was honored by the following IEEE awards:

⮚Outstanding IEEE ComSoc/AESS Chapter Award in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006.
⮚Outstanding IEEE AESS Chapter Award in 2005.
⮚Best Region IEEE Communications Society Chapter Achievement Awards in 2005.
⮚Region 10 Outstanding Volunteer Award in 1999.
⮚IEEE MGA Leadership Award in 2011 for IEEE AES with the citation “distinguished leadership and outstanding contributions as a volunteer, at the Section and Regional levels, serving the IEEE for the benefit of its members and the engineering profession by popularizing IEEE in local industry and common engineering students”.
⮚Region 10 Academia-Industry Partnership Award in 2012 for “outstanding contribution in dissemination of information about indigenous R&D and promotes interaction & commercialization among users, industry and R&D institutions”. 

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Dr. Ram Gopal Gupta passed away on 24th April 2021. We all in IEEE pray to God to grant salvation to the departed soul and give strength to the family members to bear the irreparable losses. Om Shanti!!

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