# Cognizance, IIT Roorkee

Cognizance is the annual technical festival of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Asia's oldest and one of India's most premier technical institutions. Established in 2003, Cognizance has grown to become Asia's second largest student-run technical festival, attracting students, professionals, and enthusiasts from across the globe.
Held over three days in March, the festival features a diverse array of over 200 events, including technical competitions, workshops, exhibitions, guest lectures, and cultural performances. Cognizance serves as a vibrant platform to foster innovation, collaboration, and knowledge exchange, embodying the spirit of technological advancement and creativity that IIT Roorkee stands for.

## History and growth

Cognizance started in 2003 as a part of the Hobbies Club of IIT Roorkee with the vision to collaborate with young technical minds to produce a synergic technical mélange. With each edition, the factors kept adding on to make Cognizance what it is today - a technical extravaganza known for its thrilling competitions and mind-boggling exhibitions. Initial versions of Cognizance witnessed the participation of over 1000 students from more than 100 colleges. With each edition, the factors continued to grow into what it is today.
Cognizance 2005 saw the inauguration with the chief guest Arun Seth, chairman, British Telecom Ltd. (India and SAARC) and had A. K. Sinha, chairman and managing director, BSNL, was the chief guest for the valedictory function. The guest of honor was Ravi Sharma, managing director, Alcatel, India. Events like Encuesta - the online quiz drew participation from other countries as well. Companies like BSNL, TATA Motors, CISCO Systems, and Ericsson showed interest in the institute's activities by sponsoring the festival.
Cognizance 2008 invited Rajiv Kumar, General Manager for business and office team MSIDC, Padmabhushan "Late Dr. Yash Pal", India's well-known scientist, Mr. Sean Blagsvedt, CEO of Babajob.com, Mr. Manish Tripathi, Director of Mumbai Dabbawala, and Dr. H. C. Verma, the well-known physicist as guest speakers. It had SuperUber, a Brazilian interactive media company, which created a wall where people interacted with their shadows. The title sponsor was Reliance Industries Limited. The fest was co-sponsored by Microsoft IDC. Wipro sponsored Mechasoft, a programming challenge.
Cognizance 2009 was based on the theme ‘Think Energy, Go Green’ and was attended by many students from renowned foreign technical institutes, including the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University (US), Technical University of Crete, Greece, Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto, Portugal, RIBA North-west Liverpool (UK). Dr. Chandra M Kintala, director of Yahoo! Labs (India) inaugurated the fest and top-class experts delivered guest lectures during the fest. These experts include Dr. Sylvester J Gates, a physicist from University of Maryland, USA, Dr. John C Mather, Noble Laureate Physics, 2006 (via video conferencing), Dr. MC Mehta, environmentalist (Magsaysay Awardee), Dr. John R Ockendon, Director, Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics and BL Chawla, father of Lt. Kalpana Chawla among many others.
Cognizance 2010 dubbed as the Dream Cognizance, witnessed whopping participation of 3500+ from over 900 technical and management colleges across the nation, not only became the largest technical festival of North India but also earned an unsurpassed position as a model landmark in the successful organization of technical festivals, successfully crossing all barriers. Apart from Indian institutes, many students of renowned foreign technical institutes, including the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University also submitted entries with great enthusiasm.
Cognizance 2011 recorded a participation of over 2500 students for 160 events, which included centre stage events, departmental events, workshops, exhibitions, and guest lectures, which were based on the theme "For a Better Tomorrow". This edition was also ISO 9001:2008 certified. The website of Cognizance saw 10 Million hits from 107 countries.
Cognizance 2012 had a participation of more than 3000 students for over 180 events. That year Cognizance started Student Partner Programme (SPP), which aimed to make student ambassadors in different colleges. Cognizance made SPPs in over 150 colleges.
Cognizance 2013 was based on the theme "Aim Conclusion" and was attended by over 3000 students of various colleges from India. The confluence hosted more than 180 events which included center stage, departmental events, workshops, exhibitions, and guest lectures. The title sponsor was CAIRN.
Cognizance 2014 was organized on the theme "Engineering Change" and was attended by over 3000 students. The 12th version was an assemblage of more than 150 events. The 12th version also witnessed more than 12 million hits on its website.
Cognizance 2015 was the 13th edition and witnessed an attendance of more than 3500 students from all over the country who came to attend an assemblage of more than 180 events.
Cognizance 2016 It was for the first time that the country's defence minister inaugurated the IIT festival. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's arrival on the campus to inaugurate the fest on March 18 was the highlight of the event.
Cognizance 2017 was based on the theme "Eureka 2.0" and recorded an attendance of over 2700 students from all over the continent. There were more than 200 events which included 12 workshops, 8 guest lectures, 2 panel discussions, and 9 exhibitions.
Cognizance 2018 was attended by over 3500 students. The confluence hosted more than 200 events that consisted of 13 workshops and 9 exhibitions which were all based on the theme "dreaming Discoveries".
Cognizance 2019 was the latest version and was the second largest technical festival in Asia. The fest witnessed an attendance of over 2500 students from various colleges of Asia. With the participation of 22 departments of IIT Roorkee, the organizing team hosted over 200 events that consisted of 15 workshops, 4 guest lectures, and 3 panel discussions.
Apart from all this Cognizance has hosted many edutainment nights in which many of the prominent performers have performed. A few of them are KK, Papon, Coke Studio, Zakir Khan, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Sachin–Jigar, AronChupa, Diego Miranda, Guru Randhawa, Eluveitie, Mohit Chauhan, Harsh Gujaral, Amit Trivedi and many more.

## Patronages and recognitions

Over the 22 years of its growth, Cognizance has received associations from various recognized campaigns and banners. The most remarkable ones being "UNESCO" (for the ‘Empowering Uttrakhand’ initiative in the 2020 edition), "UNDP" (for ‘TBT Productathon’ in 2019 edition), "UREDA" (for the ‘Let’s Eliminate Darkness’ initiative of the edition 2018), "Digital India Campaign" (The Digital India Initiative in 2016 Cognizance was undertaken under the Digital India initiative by the Ministry of Communications and IT). More associations include "UNEP", "International Year of Pulses", "Centre for Environment Education (CEE)", "SAYEN", "Startup India", and "Make in India".

## Events
### Robotics

Robotic events of the Conclave are particularly well known across India and grab the attention of most visitors. Armageddon or Robo-war is an exciting competition where teams battle with weaponized armoured bots. Power Drift also known as RC nitro buggy racing, is a competition wherein RC buggy's race off on a specially designed race track which requires the buggy's to perform stunts and drifts to win. Cyborg Breakin challenges the participants to take complete control of every action of their bot to clear multiple hurdles, transferring blocks of different sizes from one end to another. Aeronave (RC Plane race) and Poseidon (Aquatic Robot race) are relatively new additions to the robotics events but the participation in these events over the last two editions has been overwhelming.

### Technology

During the three days of Conclave, various technical events are conducted each year, which include case studies on the trending social issues and technological advancements, hackathons and cypher competitions. In the 2019 edition, various case studies were conducted on topics such as the revival of rivers which focused on seeking a technical solution for the concern of excessive pollution of Kosi and Rispana. Wheelelectrifying was another case study that was conducted to know the impact of hybrid vehicles on the automobile industry and the future of the industry. Error 404 was conducted to find a solution to save the endangered species from getting extinct and protecting the environment. Various coding competitions are held for students across India including Mindsweeper, where the students prove their mettle in mathematical analysis and coding. Artboard is a UI/UX-based competition that is conducted to give budding designers an opportunity. Various other technical events like Schlumberger Day, Tech skill, and Insomnia are conducted in collaboration with various MNCs across the three days of the festival.

### Innovation Conclave

Cognizance under the banner of Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA), Uttarakhand conducted the events Drones, WEbbED and Rural Internet Stability. Drones was an event aimed at encouraging the participants to think of innovative ideas to use drones for government agencies. The event WEbbED required participants to design and develop a new website for the State Data Centre of the Uttarakhand government (conducted under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)). The event Rural Internet Stability was aimed at finding a new product or technology, or advancement in the existing technology that can be helpful in the smart village concept for the two villages Ghes and Himni, of Uttrakhand. Another event, TBT Productathon conducted under the banner of UNDP was aimed at solving problems or issues prevailing in the society that requires input from young technological minds. UNDP India works to achieve sustainable development goals by customizing traditional models to include new methods. This collegiate event on the same pitch is providing a platform to rectify these issues.

### B-Street

B-Street or Business Street is a category of events conducted during the Conclave in collaboration with the Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee. Alankan is an analytics competition that gives value to the participant's problem-solving skills and how they manage to tackle the case study provided to them. The EntrepreneurMind is a multi-level challenge designed to bring out the entrepreneur ability in a candidate. Another event, Markastic focuses on contestants' problem solving and analytical skills. Social media has become a crucial aspect of everyone's lives in the modern age. Under Opstruct students have a chance to participate in a supply chain simulation game, known as the "Beer game". This will be a simulation game played by a group of 4 people, where participants have to manage the inventory. Recognizing this fact, The Brand Master event was designed wherein the participating teams submit a business plan to promote and digitally market the given venture. Karyaneethi is another major event where the business personalities of participants are judged on the basis of their innovative ideas and presentation skills.

### Finfest

FinFest Valuation Challenge is a stock-pitching competition where the participants are expected to present a buy/sell recommendation on a stock of their choice from the BSE 200 companies.
FinFest Case Challenge, a case-study competition, revolves around the overall sectoral analysis of the FMCG sector. The 2019 edition was organized in partnership with The Money Roller.
The Credit Crisis of 2007 changed the whole outlook of the financial world. The most reputed credit rating institutions lost all their ethical grounds and the largest investment banks were given a big punch on their faces. BearAble is a video-making competition where participants make a video explaining the factors and causes of the financial crisis. CogniStreet is a virtual stock-trading competition where participants get the opportunity to live the life of a trader. 2019 edition was conducted in partnership with ICICI Bank.
AF (Literature and Arts Festival) Lit. AF, Literature and Arts Festival conducts events in literature. Quizzotica was a quiz competition that presented a collection of questions to test participants' intellectual capabilities and creativity. There were three categories of quizzes. A workshop, on microfiction writing, was conducted by "The Scribbled Stories", which is a storytelling platform on the social web. It taught the participants scribbling, sharing and writing their own stories and presented the world of flash-fiction and micro-tales. In the end, participants were to write a micro tale and the best of them was published on The Scribbled Story platform. Another event Yin Yang was about presenting two interconnected endings to the same story. The aim of the game Shortify was to write given statements using the least number of characters that your friend can understand. A Pictionary event was also conducted. Pictures were presented to participants and they had to weave a story supporting the picture.

### Departmental events

Apart from the various centerstage events, departmental events are also conducted in collaboration with 22 departmental groups during the Conclave. Each department conducts two events, namely:

#### Ideaz

Ideaz is an international level paper/poster presentation competition aimed at tapping the infinite potential of the human mind to generate ideas, which can transform into a path-breaking discovery when given a proper platform. This contest aims to recognize and encourage student involvement in research and development. Original ideas are invited to be presented in a genuine and comprehensive way. Ideaz ensures the coverage of the entire spectrum of Science and Technology.

#### Spectrum

Spectrum is a department-centric event that is designed and judged by professors of IIT Roorkee and is based on the concept of motivating specialized studies in students. The events conducted under Spectrum change every year and all the information regarding the events are available on the official website.

### Gaming
#### Chaos

The event is a platform for all the gamers out in the country to showcase their talent at e-sports. Gaming competitions include Esports like FIFA 19, NFS, DOTA 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and prove their mettle in this field. Besides, there was also a first-time inclusion of the PUBG Mobile Gaming Event in 2019.

#### Let’s Cube

Solving the ultimate puzzle with more than 43 quintillion possibilities was never as rewarding. Participants showed their talents in all 7 formats of the game, i.e. 3 x 3, 2 x 2, 4 x 4, 5 x 5, 3 x 3 (one-handed), Pyraminx, and Skewb.

## Social initiatives

Since its initiation in 2003, Cognizance has taken up several social initiatives to help society develop technologically rather than being consumed by the social norms and issues. The major initiatives taken up by Cognizance over the past 17 years are:

### LED - Let’s Eliminate Darkness

Lighting a room is the first step to ignite a life
The process of rural electrification, which in simplest terms means bringing electricity to rural and remote parts, is very important for our developing nation. In a mutual association with UREDA, Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency, Cognizance launched the campaign LED - Let's Eliminate Darkness with the use of the most advanced and efficient technology LED - Light Emitting Diode.

### Clean Ganga Campaign

Aviral Ganga: Reinstate. Rejuvenate. Retain
Ganga, a river once synonymous with serenity and sanctity, has now become a symbol of degradation. The path of the river gradually deteriorates as it moves downstream, banking the major industrial towns of the nation. Cognizance, sustaining itself on the banks where Ganga descends from the Himalayan heavens, acknowledged the issue to be an immediate cause of concern and strives to work for the rejuvenation of our revered lifeline.

### Aviral Ganga 2.0

Reinstate. Rejuvenate. Replenish.
In order to spread awareness among the people about the overly deteriorating condition of the holy waters of Ganga despite so many actions being taken by the government as well as local NGOs and groups to clean it, Cognizance launched the second version of its clean Ganga campaign which is initiated in 2017. An NGO named ‘Shuddhi’ works on the arenas covering Waste management, sanitation, digital India, child education, women empowerment, and environmental protection. Shuddhi has come up with many environmentally benefitting advanced technology products under the Swachh Bharat Products, one of them being Bio-Toilets. The Conclave featured a felicitation program to recognize "unsung heroes" working to clean the Ganges - but those who had not received the recognition they deserved. They were: Vikas Chandra, founder of the Ganga Bachao Andolan 2000; Jaiprakash Dabral, founder of the Himalayan Chipko Foundation; Akash Sinha, founder of Omni Present Robot Tech; Ankit Agarwal, co-founder of Help Us Green; and Siddhant Aggarwal, co-founder of Veditam Ganga.

### BDC - Blood Donation Camp

Donate Blood, Save Life
You are definitely someone’s type
Blood donation is the most gentle and selfless deed that any individual can do beneath the sunshade of social service. Donating blood connects the donor to the acceptor in a relationship adhering to humanity which is beyond every blood relation. Cognizance had come up with the initiative of BDC with a chief intention of inculcating the spirit of social responsibility amid the youth of the nation.

### GDP - Growth and Development Program

Unskilled labor is like a plague to our country that can swipe its fate away
Cognizance has consistently provided a podium for engineering innovations and raw ideas to emanate, develop and create an impact. Thus, Cognizance has undertaken this initiative to promote skill development in the unskilled youth of our country in association with the non-profit organization Pratham. Under our initiative GDP (Growth and Development Program), we intend to work for individuals between 18 and 35 years of age who could not complete their education due to some financial constraints.

### Cashless India Campaign ₹-efined

Weightless Wallets
The sudden disruption in the supply of currency in the aftermath of the much-highlighted demonetization was very hard for the commoners to digest. Compelled by this, Cognizance 2017 took the initiative to spread mass awareness about how one could transit to a Cashless Economy. The effect of the initiative can be seen in the IIT Roorkee campus which has been entirely digitized. We strongly believe that promoting a Cashless Economy is the need of the hour especially in a state like Uttarakhand where the majority of the terrain remains remote and isolated. Cognizance believes that these efforts are just stepping stones to redefine the Indian Economy and make the wallets weightless.

### Mental Wellness Campaign

I’m FINE: Fine is the new escape
Of late, ignorance about the term Mental Health has engulfed the Indians. The issue is critical and alarming in the extreme and needs to be stressed highly to avoid dire repercussions. Taboos, social stigmas, and misinformation have made people reluctant to ask for help. Students, quite often, constitute a fair fraction of people affected by mental health illness and find catastrophic remedies to get rid of their ailments. Cognizance acknowledged the severity of the issue and has taken the initiative to help people get rid of their traumas.

### Digital India

Envisaging E-India
This initiative focused on integrating the concepts of Digitisation to the rural sector and further making India digitally empowered on all fronts. Cognizance 2016 in association with Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan Campaign by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had organized a Digital Empowerment Campaign cum Workshop on Digital Locker at Chharba, a village of Dehradun in Uttarakhand. A Science Exhibition for the school children from nearby villages, along with the Digital Empowerment Campaign under the Digital India initiative by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was undertaken by Cognizance 2016. This initiative aimed at further digitizing a model village in India fully through Case Study Events and the presentation of innovative ideas through online forums.

### Accessible India Campaign

Aim Inclusion
This initiative focused on aiming towards making India an accessible place for the specially-abled people and is the culmination of dedicated efforts to achieve a fully accessible campus through case study events directed towards disaster mitigation for the disabled, Appathon to technologically assist the disabled, achieving a fully W3C Compliant Website and a Workshop of Barrier-Free access to technical education for people with disabilities along with an exhibition on prosthetics and orthotics. The Initiative Talk featured the distinguished leader of the Accessible India Campaign, Mr. Mukesh Jain (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment).

### Women Empowerment

Abhishapt
Cognizance Women Empowerment campaign received patronage from the HeForShe campaign of United Nations and Farhan Akhtar's social campaign MARD. It called for every single human being, irrespective of gender, to stand up for equal rights. It urged every man to respect his female counterparts, protect their aspirations and nurture their dreams. It will be a dream come true – the day when there is a global radical change in the attitude towards women and when the world fully realizes the capacities and capabilities of women. That day is not far ahead when women will raise the bar and surge ahead conquering heights never scaled before. Let's take a step back, open our eyes and mend our ways.

### Clean Environment

SAAF: Scrupulous Act Against Filth
As a part of our Initiatives inspired by Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, we officially launched the Cogni- Social Initiative under the name of SAAF: Scrupulous Act Against Filth with the entries of the Online Sketch making Competition Limn: Towards Immaculate India by answering the question of eradication of the filth through simple meticulous acts by we, the citizens of India.

### HASI - Health and Sanitation Initiative

Spreading smiles, Diminishing taboos
With the goal of "Spreading smiles, Diminishing taboos" and a mission to create awareness about viral Hepatitis, female health and menstrual hygiene, Cognizance rolled out the Health and Sanitation Initiative (HASI) in 2019. Hidden behind this initiative was a will to unshackle the diseased youth of our century as a healthy youth is a key to accredit the evolution of the global residency that we all are a part of. This initiative spans across awareness drives regarding Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, and sanitary napkin distribution drives for women in association with the Rann Bhoomi Foundation, and a dedicated curtain-raiser conclave on "Women Empowerment" containing an information session on viral Hepatitis B. To extend the impact of our efforts we organized an exclusive pre-fest show on Women Empowerment as the Curtain Raiser of Cognizance 2019 on March 6, 2019. The event started with the expression of an intent to bring about a change of goodwill through Guest Talks by the Leading Ladies of our country. Maya Vishwakarma: The Pad-woman of India, Mamta Saikia: COO, Bharti Foundation ignited young minds by sharing their stories. This was followed by a Poetry Confluence where the esteemed artists of The Social House Poetry, Sangita Yaduvanshi, Aman Chugh and Shivani Thakur, enkindled the audience with their striking pieces. The very famous and intense poet, Pooja Sachdeva also graced our event as a performer. A fundamental part of the event was the Felicitation Ceremony to recognize the efforts of the activists who have been actively involved in the journey of improving female health and menstrual hygiene: The Rann Bhoomi Foundation and Stree Sanman. The Sanitary pad vending machines were also inaugurated in this ceremony.

### Think Before Throwing (#TBT)

Never refuse to reuse
Every year, the World Environment Day revolves around a pressing concern of the environmental need and for 2018, the theme "Beat Plastic Pollution" aimed to mobilize the environmental delegates and every worthy citizen of the world and called for an action plan to beat the problem of trash pollution and waste mismanagement. On the pathway of the United Nations, the 2019 edition of Cognizance undertook a wonderful initiative of #TBT "Think Before Throwing" showcasing a throwback to greener and less polluted Earth. TBT was a strategy, effectively planned and coordinated by the team of Cognizance 2019 to combat the problem of plastic trash pollution. Cognizance 2019 organized plastic collection drives at different places on the campus and collected more than 30 kg of plastic waste in a single day which was further recycled into a usable product.

### Uttarakhand Talent Search Examination (UTSE)

An initiative to scout academic excellence in Uttarakhand
Complying with the theme of Cognizance 2019, "Unwinding Chaos", we strongly believe that small steps towards the development of our youth can lead to a big wave of goodwill in the future. Thus, with an ambition to scout the academic excellence in the state of Uttarakhand, Cognizance took up the stride of conducting the Uttarakhand Talent Search Examination for the very first time across 14 schools of Uttarakhand in affiliation with the government under the patronage of Uttarakhand Science Education & Research Centre (USERC).
Uttarakhand Talent Search Examination 2018 was a huge success. The competition's success was not overnight but an outcome of months of hard work. This could have never been possible without the pertinent efforts of our organizing committee who traveled across different cities of Uttarakhand and gave their level best to expand the participation. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Nautiyal and Dr. Anuradha for being with us at every point in time and help us in successfully organizing this examination.

### Revival of Rivers

The care of rivers is not a question of rivers but of the human heart
The revival of rivers was a social initiative by Cognizance IIT Roorkee under the banner of Uttarakhand Science Education and Research Centre (USERC). This initiative aimed at rejuvenating the two tributaries of Ganga flowing in Uttarakhand Rispana and Kosi, both of the rivers are on the verge of dying. The revival of rivers was a technical event seeking technical solutions to solve the problem of the two dying rivers.

## Guest lectures

The Lecture Series is one of the most distinguished parts of the fest and provides a platform to hear keynote lectures from prominent individuals across the globe. The series has been continuously striving to impart knowledge and scholarly experience to one of the largest gatherings across the continent. The sheer volume of enlightenment and ideas that spread through the series is ginormous and astounding. The speakers are eager to impart knowledge and wisdom, sharing their experiences and shortcomings, which will leave a lasting impression on the young audience. Over the years, Cognizance has hosted eminent personalities like:
* Arun Seth (chairman, British Telecom (India and SAARC))
* A. K. Sinha (Chairman & Managing Director, BSNL)
* Rajiv Kumar (managing director, Research and Development, Microsoft India)
* Dr. Yash Pal (Indian scientist, Padma Vibhushan)
* Sean Blagsvedt (CEO, Babajob.com)
* Manish Tripathi (Director, Mumbai Dabbawala)
* Dr. H. C. Verma (Indian physicist)
* Sanjeev Bikhchandani (co-founder and CEO, Naukri.com)
* David Hanson (CEO, Hanson Robotics)
* Rasmus Lerdorf (Creator of PHP)
* Ajay Mathur (Director-General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency)
* Holger Bech Nielsen (Father of String Theory)
* Sam Pitroda (Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations (PIII))
* Suneet Singh Tuli (co-founder, DataWind and Founder of Aakash Tablet)
* William Baker (American Structural Engineer)
* Dr. Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow (Professor, Ig Nobel Prize)
* Dr. Bikash Chandra Sinha (Indian physicist, Padma Bhushan)
* Dr. Pawan Agrawal (Founder and CEO, Mumbai Dabbawala)
* Ravi Sandhu (executive director, Institute for Cyber Security, Texas)
* R.K. Khandal (Former Vice-Chancellor of Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU))
* Dr. Tabassum Jamal (Chief Scientist, National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS))
* Alberto Levy (Founder and CEO, Levytation)
* Shiraz Gidwani (Ambassador-General & Deputy Secretary-General, United Nation Youth Development Programme)
* Gayle Laakmann Mcdowell (Founder & CEO, CareerCup)
* Osamu Hasegawa (Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology)
* Dr. Max Bernstein (SMD Lead for Research, NASA)
* Ajoy Ghatak (Indian physicist)
* Sir David Payne (Director, Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton)
* Ron Eglash (Cybernetics, professor, School of Information at the University of Michigan)
* Vinita Bali (CEO & Managing Director, Britannia Industries)
* Mathew Tombers (Head of New Media and Distribution, Odyssey Networks)
* Prof. C. N. R. Rao (Head, Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, Bharat Ratna Awardee 2013)
* Elizabeth Nyamayaro (Senior Advisor to Under-Secretary-General & Executive Director for UN Women, Head of HeForShe)
* Kamlesh Kumar Sharma (Director, Public Affairs & Communication of India, Coca-Cola Company)
* Satyajit Bhatkal (Indian film director)
* Manohar Parrikar (Former Defence Minister of India)
* Ada Yonath (Nobel Laureate (Chemistry))
* Dr. Anil Kakodkar (Nuclear Scientist, Padma Vibhushan)
* Sir Harry W. Kroto (Noble Laureate (Chemistry))
* Gordon Gill (Leading Architect, Founder of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture)
* Jeff Lieberman (Time Warp Host on Discovery Channel)
* Anil Kumar (Founder, ISB and Former Director, McKinsey & Co.)
* Ashok Soota (co-founder, Happiest Minds Technologies)
* G. Satheesh Reddy (Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister of India)
* Vasu Primlani (Comedian)
* Ira Singhal (Topper of UPSC's Civil Services Examination for the year 2014)
* Bharat Panchal (Head of Risk Management, National Payments Corporation of India)
* Jérémie Lasnier (Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, LiveLike)
* Dr. Prashant Jha (Fellowship Director, Medical Device Innovation Program)
* Dr. A. S. Pillai (Father of BrahMos Cruise Missile, Padma Bhushan)
* Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy (Chief Data Scientist, Halliburton)
* Dr. Kailasavadivoo Sivan (chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO))
* Suresh Prabhu (Former Railway Minister of India)
* Prakash Javadekar (Former HRD Minister of India)
* K K Paul (Former Governor of Uttrakhand)
* Dr. Shriram Revankar (Head, Adobe Research India)
* Dilip Chhabria (Founder, DC Design)
* Tamer Nakisci (Designer, Nokia 888)
* Chris Phillips (The Invisible Man)
* H.S. Puri (Former President of UN Security Council)
* R. V. Guha (Co-Leader, Cyc Project, Google)
* David C. Hilmers (NASA astronaut)
* Dinesh Dhamija (Entrepreneur of the year 2003)
* Amit Phadnis (Vice President, NOSTG at the CISCO R&D Organisation)

## Association and partners

Cognizance has been associated with many multinational corporations of various fields. From IT giants like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Samsung, Adobe, HCL, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), NVIDIA, to banking giants like State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI, Punjab National Bank (PNB), to consumer goods favourites like Bisleri, Nestle, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Cafe Coffee Day, Peter England, Wrangler, to telecom mammoths like Reliance Communications, BSNL, Idea, to automobile giants like Maruti Suzuki, Yamaha, Hero, to Indian Tycoos like Aditya Birla Group, Paytm, RazorPay, Swiggy, Cognizance has had associations with many multinational and national corporations. Apart from these MNCs, Cognizance has been affiliated by UNESCO, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Uttrakhand Tourism, Study in Australia, Australian Government, University of Alberta and the University of Sheffield, Schlumberger, and ONGC.