Silicon Valley (US): The significant contributions made by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduates, India's "hottest" export to the world, not only helped improve Indian economy but also benefited the US and many other countries enormously.

This was recognised by all the speakers at the 50th anniversary celebrations of IIT, including Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

Describing IIT as a "world-class institute", Gates said the computer industry has benefited greatly from the tradition of the IITs.

The two-day event, which ended on January 19, witnessed the speakers expressing the similar sentiments.

In a message, John Chamber of Cisco said the IIT system was one of the best in the world. "I want to thank you (IIT) for Cisco employers that are approaching 1,000."

Terming IIT as a "world treasure", Jeff Bezos of Amazon also recognised the contribution made by IIT engineers to his company, saying, "IIT, thank you, bless you and keep on going," drawing a resounding applause from the audience.

US Ambassador to New Delhi Robert D Blackwill said India's "hottest" export to the world, the IIT graduates, has become a reputed global brand name.

"If indeed we can think of India today as a technological force in the world, a rising great power and a strategic partner of US, that vision is owed greatly to the contribution that the IIT has made towards the Indian scientific and technological achievements during the last 50 years," he said.

Blackwill said what was great for India has been good for the US as well.

The audience of some 2,000 people included Rajat Gupta, managing director of McKinsey, Vinod Khosla, general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and co- founder of Sun Microsystems, Kanwal Rekhi, chief executive officer (CEO) Ensim, Founder TiE, Victor Menezes, senior vice chairman of Citigroup, Arun Sarin, CEO- designate of Vodafone, and Narayana Murthy, founder and chairman of Infosys.

The IIT Golden Jubilee celebration was held in Silicon Valley not only to increase awareness about the successes of the last 50 years but to strengthen the alumni network and foster a dialogue about innovation, leadership and community value creation, the organisers said.

The celebration was designed to be a launching pad for many far-reaching initiatives that would transform the IITs into a research powerhouse with globally leading competency in appropriate technology, said Dilip Venkatachari, an IIT graduate and one of the main co-ordinators of the event.

These would involve joint research programmes with leading US and international universities, Venkatachari, president and co-founder of California-based CashEdge, said.

PTI