A brief about me – Uday Ladsaongikar

I was born in Nagpur in 1953 and completed my B. Tech in Aero at IIT Bombay and followed up with a Masters in Mechanical specializing in Heat and Power in 1976.

Some of my memories at IIT include funny incidents like when one of the professors caught a back bencher chatting with is neighbor and said, “Don’t try to enlighten your friend’s knowledge with your eternal darkness.” The whole class burst out laughing.  Another exciting moment was bringing a MIG engine that was donated by Hindustan Aeronautics from their factory in Koraput to the Aero Department by truck.

After graduation I worked in the thermal power sector on 500 to 800 MW sized projects, first at Tata and then at Larsen and Toubro Power. My roles included Management, Commissioning, Operation, Simulator training, Environment, Fuel & Performance Management, Business Excellence Model etc. I was nominated as a member on the CII All India panel for 2 years as an advisory role on a project to make Indian Thermal Power Plants World Class. I retired as Joint General Manager from L&T Power in 2012 and settled in Nagpur in 2016.

My other interests include Indian classical music where I learnt classical vocal and classical violin over several years. I have performed on stage in light vocal and violin programmes. In addition, after retirement I worked in the Bharat Vikas Parshad committee for 3 years in Vashi (Navi Mumbai). I am presently Vice President of the Nagpur unit of Sanskar Bharti (an All India Cultural Organisation involved in promoting Indian Arts & Culture.)

Since graduation, I have continued to have a relationship with IIT Bombay. I was a presenter at the Annual General Meeting of the Aeronautical Society of India that was organized by the Aeronautical Department at IIT in December 1993. I helped in the initial days when IIT Bombay Alumni Association was being formed with collecting data on alumni. I had the opportunity to be an external examiner for B. Tech. projects and viva in the Mechanical Department. While working for the Tatas, I used IIT Bombay’s expertise and talents to collaborate on projects of interest. In 2021, we donated my car to the Aero Department combustion lab to use it for R&D and academic purposes. More recently, in 2022 I was invited by the Student Alumni Relations Cell (SARC) to be a mentor to students in their programme.

I am happily married to Smita and have a son, Sumeet, and a daughter, Amruta who are both married and two grandchildren. Our daughter is a graphic designer and our son-in-law is an IT specialist, settled in Pune. Our son is an engineer with an MBA from IIT Kharaghpur and a partner at AT Kearney while our daughter-in-law is an architect. They are based in the UK.