S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Guwahati graduation ceremony turned centre of attraction as the students got valuable message from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
IIT Guwahati conducted its 22nd graduation day ceremony where 1,803 students have received their degrees.
IIT Guwahati graduation 2020
Addressing the 22nd IIT Guwahati graduation ceremony, Prime Minister Modi said convocation is a special day for every student.
But this year, it is a different experience for them in the time of pandemic. The pandemic has changed the way convocation is conducted, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
‘But still it is as special as it was before. I congratulate students for their bright future. The future of the nation is in what youth think today.’
Your dreams will shape the reality of India in the future. This is time for you to be Future-Fit and Future-Ready, said Narendra Modi speaking at IIT Guwahati graduation day.
Speaking further during the 22nd IIT Guwahati graduation day he said during the pandemic, the Institute has developed several COVID-19 related kits as a first educational institute, which includes the Viral Transport Media (VTM), viral RNA extraction kit and RT-PCR kits to fight COVID-19 and has proved its mettle.
Conducting the academic sessions, to continue your research work during the pandemic must have been a difficult task but you have succeeded and your efforts are steps in direction of making an Atmanirbhar Bharat, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also appreciated IIT Guwahati for being the first IIT to introduce a two-year research programme on e-mobility and for leading the integration of science and engineering in all B.Tech level courses.
Speaking further during IIT Guwahati graduation day, he said IIT Guwahati must start a centre for disaster management and risk reduction.
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The Centre should provide expertise to deal with disasters in the region, said Narendra Modi. ‘I also request IIT Guwahati to start a Center for promotion of Indian Culture at IIT Guwahati.’
Out of the total 1803 graduates who received degrees during the 22nd IIT Guwahati graduation ceremony 641 were B.Tech students. About 46 B.Des students got degrees.
A total of 610 students got M.Tech degrees during the 22nd IIT Guwahati graduation ceremony.
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said IT Guwahati is one of the best institutes in different sectors like research, innovation and rankings.
IIT Guwahati has also worked towards the idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat during COVID-19 pandemic.
Convocation is not end of education but a new beginning. You came to the Institute as a student but now you will enlighten the world.
You are the ambassador of the country. The key to success is positive attitude and positive aptitude, said Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
Presenting the director’s report, IIT Guwahati director Professor T.G. Sitharam said it is noteworthy to mention that the research dimension of IIT Guwahati is broadening significantly and the same is now reflected in terms of multiple industrially funded collaborative research with close cooperation with Industry partners.
There are 291 research projects in progress with a total sanctioned value of about Rs. 437.00 crore.
In the year under report, we received 131 new projects with a sanctioned value of Rs. 183.00 crore. A total of 153 new consultancy projects were carried out during the year.
The total value of consultancy projects undertaken during this year is Rs. 10.76 crores and Rs. 11.27 crores was received for all consultancies, said Sitharam.
IIT Guwahati director further said The faculty members of the Institute have been actively publishing research papers in international and national journals.
The number of publications during the past one year is 2112 (Scopus 2019).
In the previous year, 1853 (Scopus 2018) research papers were published by the faculty of the Institute. The increase in research papers in journals is encouraging.
The Institute has applied for 31 patents in 2019–2020, said IIT Guwahati director.
Addressing the gathering during IIT Guwahati graduation ceremony, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said IIT Guwahati has become known for its environment of academic excellence in the entire country with its quality of technical education over the years.
The Institute has produced globally competitive human resources and carried out research that has significantly benefited the society, he said.
This shows the commitment of the faculty and students of the Institute. Today the society is going through a very difficult time.
Assam has also been affected due to COVID-19 pandemic. Right from the initial stage, we have been striving hard to prevent and contain the spread of this pandemic, said Assam Chief Minister.
IIT-Guwahati has played an important role in assisting the state government in fighting this disease.
‘I acknowledge and thank IIT-Guwahati team for their contribution in developing the COVID-19 kits and other infrastructure help, said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.’
To make IIT Guwahati graduation ceremony more special and to celebrate the achievements of graduates, the institute had created a virtual reality-based award distribution where one could experience an avatar of the recipient of the award collecting a medal from Director’s own avatar surrogating him, from the comfort of their home.
The Institute had also created a photo-booth, with an option of different backgrounds, for students to take pictures at some selected locations on the campus.
IIT Guwahati’s faculty and students had developed a telepresence module for a virtual visit to the institute.
Gold medal winners in this IIT Guwahati graduation ceremony were Tushar Yadav of Civil Engineering who received Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal for the Academic year 2019-2020 and Shubham Goel from Computer Science and Engineering who won President of India Gold Medal.