- 12 student projects and four studio projects recognised for excellence in teaching and learning
- Three students win CEPT Gujral Excellence Awards with Rs 1 lakh cash prize each
- Winning works span hand-drawn filmmaking, innovative product design and AI-powered construction-site safety
- Award-winning projects to go on public exhibition at Lilavati Lalbhai Library till October 11
NE EDUCATION BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, SEPT 26
Can a hand-drawn film become a story of everyday freedom, a folded-mesh chair redefine structural elegance, and artificial intelligence help make construction sites safer? At CEPT University, these very different ideas have emerged as some of the most distinctive student works of the Spring 2026 semester, earning top honours at the CEPT Excellence Awards.
CEPT University felicitated the winners of the CEPT Excellence Awards Spring 2026 on Friday, recognising outstanding student and studio work across its undergraduate programmes in Architecture, Urban Design, Civil Engineering and Design.
The awards are designed to raise the standards of teaching and learning at the University while celebrating exceptional academic work that demonstrates creativity, rigour, innovation and relevance to contemporary challenges.
This year, 12 student projects and four studio projects were selected for recognition following an assessment by a distinguished jury appointed by CEPT University. The winning works will be exhibited at the Lilavati Lalbhai Library on the CEPT campus from September 26 to October 11, 2026, providing students and visitors an opportunity to engage with the ideas and processes behind the projects.
Three ideas rise above
From among the selected student projects, the review panel chose Mukta Shireesh Anjal and Shefali Patnaik from the Faculty of Design, and Gajjar Kirtan Prashant from the Faculty of Technology as the three winners of the CEPT Gujral Excellence Awards.
Each winner received a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
The awards were presented by Prof. Barjor Mehta, President, CEPT University; Prof. Tridip Suhrud, Provost, CEPT University; and Feroze Gujral, Founder and Director, The Gujral Foundation, in the presence of faculty members, staff and students.
Three winners, three very different questions
Mukta Shireesh Anjal won for “Dhun – The Rhythm of Everyday Things”, a hand-drawn short film that portrays a grandmother’s quiet rebellion for freedom. The project explores how ordinary moments and everyday rhythms can become a powerful language for personal expression and emancipation.
Shefali Patnaik was recognised for “O-Rest”, a folded-mesh chair back that combines visual delicacy with structural rigidity. The project examines how material behaviour, form and structural performance can converge in a thoughtfully designed everyday object.
Gajjar Kirtan Prashant won for “SAFEGUARD: Eyes That Never Blink”, an AI-powered site-surveillance prototype aimed at addressing India’s construction-site safety challenges. The project demonstrates how emerging technology can be applied to a critical real-world problem involving worker safety and site monitoring.
Together, the three projects reflect the breadth of contemporary design education—from storytelling and human experience to material innovation and technology-led problem-solving.
Jury brings diverse professional expertise
The winning projects were selected by a five-member jury comprising Steven Smith, Director, Urban Narratives; Suranjana Satwalekar, Founder, Satwalekar Design Studio; Apurva Parikh, Director, Multimedia Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (MMCPL); Biju Kuriakose, Co-founder, architectureRED; and Niki Shah, Director of Urban Design, HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd.
The jury evaluated the projects and identified the works that demonstrated exceptional quality during the Spring 2026 semester.
The broader CEPT Excellence Awards encompass student work from the University’s undergraduate programmes, bringing together diverse approaches to architecture, urbanism, engineering and design.
Ideas move from campus to public view
With the exhibition opening on September 26, the University is taking the award-winning work beyond the classroom and studio, allowing visitors to experience the projects and understand the thinking, experimentation and processes that shaped them.
The exhibition at the Lilavati Lalbhai Library will remain open until October 11, turning the campus into a showcase of emerging ideas and demonstrating how student projects can engage with questions of society, technology, materials, safety and everyday life.
For CEPT, the awards thus represent more than a celebration of academic achievement—they offer a window into how the next generation of architects, designers, urbanists and technologists are imagining solutions to human and societal challenges.
