ROURKELA : As many as 1,988 students including 457 females and 82 international students in UG and PG engineering programmes besides PhD, B Arch, MBA, MSc, Integrated MSc programmes were conferred degrees at the 21st convocation ceremony of the National Institute of Technology - Rourkela that concluded on Saturday.
Coal India Ltd (CIL) chairman-cum-managing-director (CMD) Polavarapu Mallikharjuna Prasad who graced the occasion as chief guest said the time is exciting for the graduating students amid diversified opportunities with the country moving as the fastest growing economy and there is information and communication explosion, rapid technological advancements, globalisation, digitalisation, skill development and ever-expanding business avenues.
Prasad added, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently said that the world looks at India as a pillar of stability, a trusted friend and a global growth engine. India’s power sector is growing exponentially with increase in capacity addition. So is renewable energy sector with solar and wind as twin growth engines. With the continuing structural reform and globalisation, India is accelerating its growth rate.”
Due to availability of vast and highly talented human resource, India has become a favourite destination for MNCs to set up their production lines in the country, he said adding, “The future is bright and you are part of that future in India.”
NIT-R director Prof K Umamaheshwar Rao spoke on how the institute has successfully implemented reform aligned with NEP 2020, received 73 sponsored research projects worth Rs 42.59 crore in 2022-23, got 22 patent rights, while Stanford University listed 25 faculty members of NIT-R as most influential scientists.
“NIT Rourkela takes pride in nurturing more than 50 startups incubated at the Foundation for Technology & Business Incubation FTBI,” Prof Rao said.
As many as 1,988 degrees including 17 B Arch, 961 BTech, 38 Dual Degrees (BTech & MTech), 54 Integrated MSc, 168 MSc, 520 MTech, Three MTech (by research), 21 MA, 39 MBA, and 167 PhD degrees were awarded on the day.
Eight students were awarded the Gold Medals and five presented the Endowment Gold Medal.