ROURKELA: NITI Aayog member Abhay Karandikar on Saturday urged young engineers and professionals to embrace artificial intelligence and emerging technologies while not losing the fundamentals of science and engineering.
Addressing the graduating students virtually as the chief guest at the 24th convocation of the National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R), Karandikar said, “Embrace AI and emerging technologies, but never lose sight of the fundamentals of science and engineering, or the human qualities of curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and ethical judgment. Keep learning, innovate responsibly, and use your knowledge to solve real human problems and create meaningful social impact.”
He said that India was at a defining moment in its journey towards becoming a developed nation and called upon the graduates to play a key role in shaping its future.
As many as 2,033 undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees were awarded at the convocation. The degrees included 911 BTech, 18 BArch, 42 BTech-MTech Dual Degree, 10 BSc (Integrated Multiple Entry-Exit), 77 Integrated MSc, 514 MTech, 182 MSc, 67 MBA, 19 MA, one MTech (Research), 190 PhD and two Executive PhD degrees. The institute also conferred 11 Institute Gold Medals, six Endowment Gold Medals, eight Endowment Awards and 61 Institute Silver Medals in recognition of academic excellence.
The graduating cohort included 47 international students, 19 from Nepal, 13 from Bangladesh, six from the US, five from Sri Lanka, three from Bhutan and one from Yemen.
NIT-Warangal director Bidyadhar Subudhi, who attended as the guest of honour, urged the students to choose excellence over convenience, integrity over short-term success, lifelong learning over complacency, collaboration over isolation, and purpose over prestige. “The lasting legacy of your work will be measured not by your titles or positions, but by the impact you create and the lives you touch,” he said.
NIT-R director K Umamaheshwar Rao and chairman of the Board of Governors of NIT-R, SN Subrahmanyan were among the dignitaries present during the convocation.