1st International Conference on Healthcare and Technical Research at MU applauded by the research community.

1^st International Conference on Healthcare and Technical Research at MAHE applauded by the research community.

A remarkable three day International Conference on Healthcare and Technical Research, ICHTR 2015, was inaugurated on 22^nd December 2015 in Manipal Academy of Higher Education. The conference was organised by Manipal Academy of Higher Education Students’ Research Forum (MAHE-SRF) and constituent research groups of Manipal under the aegis of Directorate of Research, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. The occasion became auspicious with the presence of chief guest Padmashree awardee Dr YS Rajan, distinguished professor at ISRO and Dr H Vinod Bhat, the honourable Vice Chancellor of Manipal University. The guests of honour were director of MIT, Dr GK Prabhu and dean of KMC, Dr Poornima Baliga. The conveners of the conference, directors of research, Dr N Udupa and Dr Satish Shenoy, were also present. Mr. Prateek Jain, organising chairperson of ICHTR 2015 and president of MAHE-SRF, welcomed all the dignitaries. They all appreciated the teamwork, leadership, and organisational abilities of the student committee. Dr GK Prabhu instigated the appreciation trail by pointing the connections built among the students of KMC and MIT campuses. Dr. Poornima Baliga mentioned the way MAHE-SRF has been taken to new level of collaborative work under the leadership of Prateek. The chief guest Dr Rajan gave his blessings to the student fraternity while Dr Vinod Bhat was ecstatic with the performance of his young students. Dr Bhat summarised the journey of the research forum in the past two years and mentioned a few key events organised by students. This was followed by the keynote speech of Dr YS Rajan, co-author of the book India 2020, who presented the Indian culture in the past, present and future according to his vision. The scientific talk by Dr Sudipta Maiti was catalytic enough for the two day expansive scientific sessions to follow. The evening ended with a beautifully cultural program Aarohan and dinner for the participants.