CHENNAI: “The word ‘engineer’ is not just a noun describing a profession, but also a verb where people engineer solutions to the world’s challenges,” John Vivian Wood, secretary-general of the Association of Commonwealth Universities told the graduating batch of B S Abdur Rahman University at its fourth postgraduate convocation.
The occasion marked the graduation of 518 postgraduate students and five doctoral students, and the conferring of Doctor of Engineering Sciences (Honoris Causa) on Wood at the university.
With a doctorate in metallurgy, Wood began his career as a lecturer in material science at Open University and rose to the office of the dean, following which he was in various academic positions.
“Learning is a lifelong process. I find it depressing when students think that finishing their degrees is the end of formal study,” he said. “We face mounting challenges of global warming, scarce water, energy shortages and health care, which all require new ideas and innovation. To achieve them, we must reorganise and create a truly open research area marked by free movement of people and ideas.”
“Over 30 per cent of our faculty are PhD holders and we hope to reach 100 per cent in the next five years,” said J A K Tareen, the vice-chancellor of the university.