Dear BITSian:

We are pleased to announce that Sandeep Mukherjee ('95 Phy Mech) has been unanimously selected to take over the post of Editor for the next two years. He has been closely associated with the magazine since its inception, and is passionate about building a vision for Sandpaper.

Sandeep works at Nationwide Insurance & Financial Services in Columbus, Ohio, as their Manager for Business Process Solutions. As a volunteer with the Columbus Literacy Council he teaches English Language Skills to immigrants from South Vietnam. At BITS, Sandeep was Joint Secretary of the English Press Club and on the Editorial Teams of Cactus Flower and Sandpaper. He also worked in the Department of Publications and Correspondence for OASIS '96-97. He holds an MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University and dual degrees in MSc (Hons) Physics and BE (Hons) Mechanical Engineering from BITS. He enjoys the occasional hiking or skiing trip. Sandeep grew up in Calcutta, but is not doing the Bong clan proud since he is yet to read Arundhati Roy, Bharathi Mukherjee or Jhumpa Lahiri. But he promised us he would get started this winter. He is planning on an MBA, believes his future lies in climbing the corporate ladder. On behalf of the entire Sandpaper 2.0 team, we wish him luck in his new role!

Anuradha Gupta, Dilip D'Souza, Divya Divakaran & Anupendra Sharma
Sandpaper 2.0 Editorial Board

"In order to build and sustain an active, effective global alumni network our goal is to increase communication in the BITSian community and encourage alumni to leverage the resulting exchange of information and ideas, develop collaborative relationships and spawn success stories.

Over the last several months working with the team has helped me build close personal friendships, identify mentors who provide valuable career guidance and feedback and in the process we've created a magazine we can call our very own. Our writers span 4 continents, bring to light ex-BITSians' social, academic and business achievements and know a thing or two about prose, poetry and graphic design. Alumni from few schools in the world are capable of demonstrating diversity in its broadest sense as we do. As we hurtle through our busy lives, we don't often stop to think about BITS Pilani Pride. Yet reading about and working with current and ex-BITSians as part of the BITSAA-Sandpaper Team has, without a shadow of doubt, helped me better appreciate the value of a BITS Pilani education.

I look forward to hearing from you."

Sandeep Mukherjee