1,338 Students Awarded Graduation during the 23rd Convocation of IIT Guwahati

NE SCIENCE & TECH BUREAU
GUWAHATI, JULY 16

A total of 1,338 students received their degrees in various disciplines today (16th July 2021) during the 23rd  Convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, which was held virtually, says a release from the institution.

This included four students who received Joint Degrees with Gifu University, Japan. The graduating students include 649 BTech and BDes students, 175 PhD students and 518 Master degree students. As many as 45 dual degrees have been already awarded. Considering that the duration between previous convocation (September 2020) and the present is just above 9 months, the number of graduating students, especially PhD is highly notable.

IIT Guwahati attracts the brightest students from the country for its Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral programmes. In the 27 years of its existence, more than 16,000 students have graduated from IIT Guwahati.

The Institute adapted rapidly to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Online classes were held for as many as 448 courses, the assessment and grading also being completed using online methods for the ensuing semester.

Delivering the Convocation address virtually, Chief Guest N.R. Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys, said, “The only instrument you have to remember is performance, performance leads to recognition, recognition leads to respect. I have hope that 50 years from now, this country will have 70-75 years old who have achieved their aspirational dreams. I have confidence they will create a developed India, an India that is not held back by problems of poverty, sickness, and malnourishment”

Further, Narayana Murthy said, “Indians will get respect for their accomplishments wherever they will go and people from other countries would want to come and study in India. Let me tell you such a transformation will not be an easy task, undertake this as a responsibility, it is because of the difficulty, you will have an opportunity.”

“It will only happen, if India becomes an economic power through aspiration, discipline, good values, hard work, and sacrifice. It will only happen if India becomes a moral leader in science, technology, and medicine. It will only happen if India becomes the land of good and fair governance, open-mindedness, plurality, tolerance, meritocracy, and honesty. It will only happen if every Indian regardless of religion and economic class becomes a happy, enthusiastic, optimistic, confident, and hopeful as committed partner in this march,” added Narayana Murthy.

Supporting the nation in the fight against the pandemic, IIT Guwahati established a COVID-19 testing centre, quarantine centres, isolation centres, covid care centers (operational presently) besides a large vaccination centre. Throughout this period, IIT Guwahati also initiated multitude of measures to contain COVID-19 cases within the campus while serving the district, State and the nation on a mission mode on various projects, thereby demonstrating its strong commitment to local, national and global problems.

The Ph.D and Postgraduate Admissions for July 2020 and December 2020 Sessions were also completed in online mode. Short duration multiple online continuous assessments were held during regular periods. The components of evaluation and weightage were decided by instructors and announced to students at the beginning of the Semester.

Congratulating all the graduating students and presenting the Annual Report, Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati, said, “IIT Guwahati has set a goal to be recognized as one of the world’s top Institutes/Universities within the next three years. IIT Guwahati is trying to leap forward by embracing the rising demands of newer and interdisciplinary areas of research and technology development by incorporating NEP2020 policies, including industry interaction and participating in offering courses in futuristic areas, providing thrust to startup culture, Entrepreneurship at all levels and creation of jobs in the North East.”

Further, Prof. Sitharam said, “In a renewed drive towards collaborations, IIT Guwahati has signed MOUs with many institutes across the nation to bring together the best resources and moving from tower of excellence to network of excellence. In the years to come, IIT Guwahati, with a multidisciplinary focus and specialized centers to attract talent, we hope, would become the ultimate destination of scholars and scientists from the world over.”

“Even during the pandemic, a significant number of full-time students from different countries such as Bhutan, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cameroon, Germany have registered for different programmes at IIT Guwahati. Semester exchange/research internships with partner universities from IITG also happened with Japan and Canada. 14 students had outbound interactions with Kyoto University, Japan, Ecole France, Gifu University Japan, Carema Mediterranean France,” said Prof. Sitharam.

IIT Guwahati has also established Centre for disaster management and research (CDMR) and Center for Intelligent Cyber-physical Systems with Master’s and PhD programmes supported as part of DST – Technology Incubation Hub activities, Center for Indian Knowledge System with PhD programme.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Rajiv I. Modi, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Guwahati, said, “I want to compliment all the faculty for being open to collaborate and to assimilate new ideas. As a consequence rapid development in the academic excellence at IIT Guwahati is visible. It is also important for me to mention that IIT Guwahati has stood steadfast with its immense courage and determination to face adversity. We have ensured our students learning proceeds uninterrupted, even by way of virtual studies, placements and internships have achieved great success. Above all, we remain committed to our students, staff and faculty’s safety and well-being”.

Addressing the students, Guest of Honour Prof. Hisataka Moriwaki, President, Gifu University, Japan, said, “We successfully carved three international joint degree programs that spur and embody the true concept of globalization. The Joint master’s degree program, includes Science and Technology, being awarded is a test to that. It is our conviction that this program will force the highly skilled professionals with the Science and Technology expertise design thinking skills and global mindset. This program has distinguished itself as a channel to virtue of graduates who are expected to become leaders, in relevant industries in both India and Japan, identifies reason for sustainable society and benefit both regions”.

During the reporting year, IIT Guwahati created four new schools: Mehta Family Foundation School of Data Sciences and artificial intelligence –supported by Mehta Family Foundation from Houston, TX, USA philanthropic support; School of Health Sciences and Technology, Converted Center for Rural technology to School of Agro and Rural technologies – received funding from Cadila Pharma- Thanks to IITG Chairman, BoG, Dr. Rajiv Modi; Center for Energy has been upgraded to School of Energy Sciences and Engineering with new plans for offering Bachelors, Masters and PhD programme with an interdisciplinary focus.

IIT Guwahati achieved a QS World Ranking of 41 in ‘Research Citation per Faculty’, which was second best in India, while the number of Research Publications as per Scopus 2020 was 1,965.

At present, 279 research projects are under progress with a total sanctioned amount of Rs. 291.79 crore. During the reporting year Rs. 62.33 crore was sanctioned for 79 new projects by different funding agencies. The major sponsoring agencies include the Ministry of Education, DST, SERB, DBT, BRNS, DRDO, and ICMR, among others. During the year the Institute received 168 Consultancy projects with a sanctioned cost of Rs. 13.13 crore.