Alumni of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) from the batch 1969 and an American industrialist, Shalabh Kumar, visited the PEC campus first time since graduation for an alumni meet as chief guest Saturday. Advertising Kumar was at PEC campus with his wife to attend the alumni meet especially from USA. At the event, he talked about his days at the campus and his interest in practical works in the field of electronics. “I was deeply interested in practical works in electronics. In the final year, I was working on a project which was to design a circuit. Typically, it was to be done on paper and then to be submitted further. But I wanted to see whether practically that design of phase meter will work or not. For this, I kept myself engaged in the design work in lab. One night, I happened to be there till 4 am, when suddenly a dog attacked me. I somehow escaped and later saw my college principal coming inside the lab. My principal left his dog on me because he thought I was a burglar, who had broken into the lab in wee hours. The next day, the principal narrated the incident to the whole college and it got very popular”, told Kumar, while speaking to Chandigarh Newsline. After passing out from PEC, Kumar got married and moved to United States and started his first job with a firm named Nanofast, which developed electronics for NASA. Kumar, is currently the CEO of AVG company at USA, which designs and manufactures electronic components and products. During his address, he credited his professor, Dr J S Bajwa and PEC lab, for his success in the field of electronics and technology. Kumar, who is a Bachelor in Electronics from PEC, is listed amongst the top 100 electronic engineers in the world. With his campaigning skills and influence in the capitol, he was successful in cutting down US supplies to Pakistan. He was a front- runner in turning down anti-Indian immigration bills in the US. He is also chairman of the Republican Hindu Coalition, a political party that represents Indians in America. The party played an important role in Trump’s victory as President of USA. Speaking on Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India, Kumar said he recognised in 2012 itself that Modi could be elected as PM. Appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his works, Kumar added, “The policies and decisions of Modi, like demonetisation, have been wonderful.” Meanwhile, another PEC Alumni, Ashok Gupta (65), who passed his Bachelor of Electronics in 1975, recalled the time he was called ‘Paratha Champion’ at PEC hostel in Kurukshetra. Gupta told Newsline, “I won a paratha competition by eating 21 parathas. Every moment of being in PEC and living at the hostel has a memory which can never be forgotten.” Gupta, after passing out from PEC, joined the Merchant Navy. Gupta’s batchmate, Anil Walia, also came to attend the alumni meet from Canada. Walia is a real estate investor in Canada. He joined the Indian Navy after passing from PEC and later retired as Commodore from the Indian Navy. Advertising Three batchmates from the 1968 batch, Ashok Bhandari, Dinesh Puri and Lajpat Rai Goyal, met after 50 years at the alumni meet.

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