CUSAT under the initiative of Prf.Dr.Sumam Mary Idicula& Alumni Associations has started an endowment in memory of Alooparambil Prof. Dr. A.K. Menon, the founder and first Head of the Department of Computer Science in April 2021. Dr.A.K Menon Memorial Lecture series and Dr. A.K. Menon Memorial Endowment Scholarships are the main activities of this endowment scheme.

In the early 1980s, Cochin University of Science and Technology wanted to start a postgraduate program in Computer Science. Dr. A.K. Menon, who was a Professor of Computer Science, at the University of Concordia, Canada, was requested to take up the responsibility. Dr. Menon joined CUSAT in 1982 . He took up the challenge of setting up the Department of Computer Science. The task included formulating the course-structure including the selection of subjects and syllabus, and setting up the Computer Laboratories. He used his Canadian expertise to create an advanced course-structure relevant to the nascent Information Technology industry. CUSAT was the first University in Kerala to start a postgraduate programme in Computer Science. The first batch of M.Tech. in Computer & Information Science was started in 1985. Fifteen students were selected on all-India basis, based on their GATE score.

In 1986, Defence Research and Development Organisation collaborated with the Computer Science Department of CUSAT for conducting an M.Sc. programme in Computer Software to create Computer Science Experts& Scientists for their various research labs across the nation. This department was one among the top five centers selected for such a prestigious program by the Ministry of Defense. A total of 5 batches over a period of 10 years were trained and majority of them are occupying key positions in DRDO labs today.

The department has also played the pivotal role in the establishment of CUSAT Computer Centre in 1990. The Computer Science Department has received grants to the tune of many crores from various national agencies for various research and development programmes.

Dr. Menon developed strong bond with his students and took keen interest in the success of each student. Dr. A.K. Menon was an uncompromising genius. After serving the university for ten years, Dr. Menon left CUSAT in 1993. In the following years, he served as the Dean of Foreign Affairs with Rajagiri College of Engineering. Dr. Menon’s native place was North Paravoor and he passed away in August 2015.

In order to honour Dr. Menon and acknowledge the key role played by him in launching their professional career, some former students of Dr.A.K.Menon have mooted the idea of starting an endowment in his name. His former students today occupy senior positions in various research and development organizations, multinational IT companies , universities and other technical institutions across the globe. Department of Computer Science Alumni Association unanimously agreed to the endowment idea and a corpus amount of twenty one lakhs was contributed by his direct students.

The annual interest from the endowment fund will be be used for the following activities:

• Conducting “Dr A K Menon memorial lecture” biennially, meeting all expenses incurred in connection with the conduct of the programme.
• Providing a sum of Rs. 40,000/- as “Dr.A.K. Menon Memorial Endowment scholarship” to one student from each of the two M.Tech programmes namely (1) M.Tech in  Computer Science & Engineering with specialization in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence and (2) M.Tech in Computer Science &Engineering with specialization in Software Engineering which are offered in the Department of Computer Science, CUSAT based on the criteria listed below
  • The student is not availing any salary/sponsorship/scholarship/fee concession/other financial assistance during the period of the programme.
  • From among the students who are eligible according to the criteria 2.(a), the one who has scored the highest CGPA for the first year ( 1 st and 2 nd semesters put together) shall be selected from each of the M.Tech programme mentioned above.
  • Scholarship is to be given in the second year of the course and the student is eligible only once during the entire duration of the M.Tech programme.

The activities of the endowment will start from July 2022. Scholarship scheme applicable from 2021 M.Tech admissions onwards.