Sameer Khandekar, a senior professor at IIT (Indian Institutr of Technology)-Kanpur, died of cardiac arrest last Friday while speaking on the stage at the institute. Khandekar collapsed on the stage mid-speech during an alumni meet, news agency PTI reported, quoting institute authorities.
Sameer Khandekar, 53, was the dean of student affairs and the head of the mechanical engineering department.
He was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead upon arrival, the authorities added.
A professor said that Khandekar was diagnosed with high cholesterol levels about five years ago.
According to a Times of India report, he was delivering a speech on a topic related to health and his last words on the stage before collapsing were, “Take care of your health…”.
Khandekar felt severe chest pain and started sweating profusely following which he collapsed on the stage, former IIT-Kanpur Director Abhay Karandikar told PTI.
The professor’s body was kept at IIT-Kanpur's health centre and final rites were to be performed after the arrival of his only son Pravah Khandekar who is studying at Cambridge University.
Khandekar took over as the dean of student affairs at IIT Kanpur in October.
After earning a mechanical engineering degree from Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur, Khandekar did an M.Tech from IIT Kanpur, followed by a PhD from Universität Stuttgart in Germany.
In his career in academia, Khandekar had a long list of achievements which are published on IIT Kanpur’s website.
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