National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela) celebrated its 20th convocation ceremony today, February 4, 2023. As many as 1717 students including 351 female and 1366 male graduated, as stated in a press note released by the institute.
Giving details about the guests, the note read, Smt. Soma Mondal, Chairman, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), graced the occasion as the Chief Guest, with Shri Om Prakash Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), as the Guest of Honor. Prof. K Umamaheshwar Rao, Chairman, Board of Governor, & Director, NIT Rourkela presided over the convocation event.
"Aligning with the vision of Digital India, apart from the hard copies, NIT Rourkela uploaded the graduating students' degree certificates and transcripts on DigiLocker. The Chief Guest launched the Digilocker facility during the 20th Annual Convocation event," the note read. Additionally, this facility helps graduating students to carry their degree in a digital wallet and free of the administrative hassles of a printed copy.
To note, NIT Rourkela is the first NIT and second among ‘Institutes of National Importance’ in the country to implement 'Blockchain-based digital degrees’ for its graduating students. Moreover, the Institute has seen a rise in the number of girl students passing out in different streams.
Giving these details, the note read, "This year a total of 351 (more than 20% of graduating students) female students including 136 in Bachelor programs; 177 in Master programs, and 38 in PhD program have graduated from NIT Rourkela. It is also notable that female to male ratio of the Institute has significantly increased from 1:6 to 1:4 in the recent years," it added.
Gold medalists names include Manish Gadikar for the best Postgraduate (M.Tech.), Swati Kumari for the best Postgraduate with Dual Degree B.Tech and M.Tech, Shreekrushna Mishra for the best Postgraduate with Integrated M.Sc Degree, Hamsaa S.K. for the best Postgraduate (2 Year M.Sc. and MA), Aditya Menon for the best Postgraduate (MBA) and Simran Deep Singh Thakral for the best Graduate (B.Tech and B.Arch.). Additionally, five students from the Institute were also awarded Endowment Gold Medals for academic excellence.
Another key highlight of the ceremony include: Distinguished Alumnus Awards to 9 alumni of NIT Rourkela namely- Prativa Mohapatra - Vice President and Managing Director of Adobe India, Prof. Bhallamudi Ravi - Institute Chair Professor in Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Prof. Pinakeswar Mahanta – Director, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, Prof. Laxmidhar Behera - Director, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Prof. Nikunja Swain - Chair & Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics Department, South Carolina State University, USA, Atanu Bhowmick - Director In-Charge, SAIL, RSP, Rourkela, Rear Admiral Sanjay Chaubey (RETD.) - Ex-CMD, ECIL, Lalit Das – IPS, Government of Odisha.