Lucknow: The dean of students welfare and head of mechanical engineering department at IIT-Kanpur, Professor Sameer Khandekar, died of cardiac arrest while delivering a speech, ironically on a health related topic, at an alumni meet on the campus on Friday evening.
The last words of 53-year-old Khandekar reportedly were, “Take care of your health…”, after which he collapsed on the dias. He was rushed to Laxmipat Singhania Institute of Cardiology, where he was declared ‘dead upon arrival’. According to IIT-K sources, had been grappling with cardiac health issues since 2019.
Cardiologist Dr Neeraj Kumar, who attended to Prof Khandekar, said by the time the patient was brought to the hospital, he had already passed away. “He died of cardiac arrest or cardiac block,” he said.
Sharing the news on X, IIT-K director Prof S Ganesh said the institute was mourning “the loss of a humble soul”.
The senior professor is survived by his parents, wife Pradyanya and son Pravah. His body has been kept at the health centre of the institute and the last rites will take place after his son, who is studying at Cambridge University, arrives from the UK, said sources.
An IIT-K alumnus himself, Khandekar was also associated with the ‘Shiksha Sopan’ programme in association with Padma Shri awardee and Physics professor Harish Chandra Verma. ‘Shiksha Sopan’ is run by the IIT-K faculty and students to impart value-based education to members of economically weaker sections of society.
Born in Jabalpur, Khandekar did BTech from Government Engineering College there in 1993. He completed MTech in Thermal-fluid Sciences from IIT-K in 2000 and then did his PhD from University of Stuttgart, Germany, in 2004.
The same year, he joined IIT-Kanpur as an assistant professor and was promoted as associate professor in 2009 and as professor in 2014. In 2020, he became head of the mechanical engineering department.
Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology and former IIT-K director, Abhay Karandikar, shared a photograph of his with Khandekar on X and expressed deep shock and sadness at the sudden and untimely death of his “friend and cherished colleague”.
Karandikar said Prof Khandekar was very popular in the scientific community as well as among students.
“He was an accomplished scientist in the area of heat transfer with very high quality research, and also an outstanding teacher. He was very popular among students due to his mentorship and teaching style. Socially, he was involved in a large number of outreach and social work activities. He was also teaching the underprivileged children through the Opportunity School at IIT-Kanpur. He and his wife had diverse interests in art and music and were regular organisers and performers at such events with students,” said Karandikar.
