The annual Alumni Awards are an IIT tradition to recognize those who made notable contributions to their communities, professions, and the university. This year, the luncheon ceremony will be held Friday, April 19, 2013 and will recognize 11 winners in eight categories.

Parth D. Amin (BA ’85) is this year’s winner of the International Award of Merit honors an individual whose achievements have strengthened IIT’s reputation on an international scale. International Award of Merit honors an individual whose achievements have strengthened IIT’s reputation on an international scale.

Read on for more about Amin and look for new winner profiles in IIT Today each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until the event.

Degree
B.S. Business Administration (’85), Illinois Institute of Technology

Career
Amin is the founder, chairman, chief executive officer, and managing director of SLK Software Services, which provides long-term IT solutions for companies. A few days after graduating from IIT, Parth returned to his home country, India, to join Kirloskar Oil Engines, where he worked for five years. He then moved to Kirloskar Computer Services in Bangalore and shortly rose to become vice chairman and managing director there. Amin stayed abreast of the IT industry by tracking growth trends of old and emerging IT companies that were making news and headlines in the media. During the 1990s tech boom, he observed that dot-coms seemed unlikely to flourish without sustained revenues, so he sought to start a tech company that would build long-term relationships with large businesses. In 2000, he founded SLK Software Services. He named the company after his grandfather, S. L. Kirloskar, who was one of India’s largest industrialists. SLK Software designs, develops, and builds large applications in the manufacturing and financial sectors. Its customized software solutions have become integral to its clients’ work, and SLK maintains and builds on them as the businesses evolve.

Why Attend IIT?
Amin heard about IIT from his cousin, Sanjay Kirloskar (ME ’78). He wanted to attend a university in a city and thought IIT was the ideal size—neither too small nor too large. Its reputation for graduating accomplished scientists and engineers also drew him because he started out as a mechanical engineering major. However, he did not enjoy the discipline’s course material. With the encouragement of Professor and Dean Emeritus Zia Hassan, he enrolled in IIT Stuart School of Business and found that marketing, sales, and finance were subjects that related to him.

IIT Memory
Amin attributes his business acumen and much of what he learned about risk management to IIT. He fondly recalls reviewing business case studies with classmates in Hermann Hall, where he also had a student job.

Alumni Involvement
Amin stays in touch with the friends he made in his business and engineering courses, as well as his fraternity brothers in Tau Epsilon Phi. He is now involved with the Bangalore chapter of the IIT Chicago Alumni Association India group and is a member of the IIT Alumni Association Board of Directors.