Knowledge must be applied to solve real life problems for benefit of society: Guv

Raipiur, Nov 27: IIIT-NR held its 2nd Convocation on November 27, 2021 at its campus. Governor of Chhattisgarh and Chancellor of the institute, Miss AnusuiyaUikey, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest, while Minister of Technical Education, Chhattisgarh, Umesh Patel was the Guest of Honour. Professor Damodar Acharya, former Director of IIT Kharagpur and Ex-Chairman of the AICTE, was also present in virtual mode, as the Guest of Honour.
Saurabh Srivastava, Chairperson (Board), IIIT-NR, in his welcome address, welcomed all the dignitaries and participants. He mentioned that he was pleased to note the vision that the institute has carved for itself and the progress made by the institute in a short span of few years under the mentorship of the Board and the support of the State Government. He further said that the county needs to create 10 million jobs per year. Hence, entrepreneurship being essential for India, he plan to strengthen the entrepreneurship activities at IIIT-NR so that it can also produce job creators in the future. Addressing the graduating students, Governor said that “The aim of obtaining quality education and getting a degree should not be limited to getting a well-paid job, but the knowledge so gained should be applied by the students to solve real life problems for the benefit of the society and generating new job opportunities,”. She also motivated the students to work for the development of the two villages adopted by the institute and engage in more research activities for the benefit of the State. She also suggested to do research on the reasons behind the pollution of major rivers of the State. She congratulated the students and their parents for earning their degrees through their dedication and sacrifices and motivated them to work for the development of their state and the nation.
Minister of Technical Education, Chhattisgarh, Umesh Patel said, “I was pleased to note that even during the pandemic, the academic activities of the institute were carried out uninterrupted via online mode. He added that the students of the last two batches, who are being awarded degrees in this convocation, not only graduated in time, but also got their targeted jobs in industries, and many secured admissions in institutes for higher education in India and abroad.”He also talked about the latest report issued by Cisco,according to which by the end of 2023, a total of 66% of global population will have access to the internet. The current year’s YouTube stats show that about 7 in 10 users use YouTube platform to help them with an issue they are facing related to work, studies or hobbies. Video is becoming a de-facto medium for learning purposes. In the coming years, higher education institutions are likely to invest in building educational videos which are interactive to make learning more interesting. Video-based learning is also scalable and it can be easily used repetitively. Thus, a student can watch the same video many times until he/she understands the concept properly.
Professor Damodar Acharya advised the students to focus on coding and concentrate on being a good human being and to become a positive contributor to the society. He congratulated the students and motivated them to move further in the field of research. He also motivated the students to work for the upliftment of the two villages adopted by the institute, work for its cleanliness and education, so that living standards can be improved.
The first Ph.D. batch of IIIT-NR was conferred degrees in the convocation along with B. Tech. and M. Tech. students. 223 B. Tech., 11 M. Tech. students, and 4 Ph. D. students were conferred with degrees, and the students with outstanding performance in studies as well as in other activities were conferred with gold medals. The institute also awarded gold medals to the students with best innovation capability in B. Tech. The institute awarded silver medals to those who achieved the highest CGPA in their respective programs.
The B. Tech. students of 2020 batch who were awarded medals in different categories are Vedant Khandelwal, Gold Medal for All-round Performance, Divya Krishnani, Gold Medal for Innovation in B. Tech., Khushwaha Ravi Shrimali, Gold Medal for Transformational Leadership, and Salona Choudhary, Silver Medal for highest CGPA in Computer Science and Engineering.
Similarly, the B. Tech. students of 2021 batch who were awarded medals in different categories were Rajiv NayanChoubey, Gold Medal for All-round Performance, Anurag Shukla, two Gold Medals for Innovation in B. Tech. and for Transformational leadership and Arnab Roy, Silver Medal for highest Best CGPA in Electronics and Communication Engineering.
On this occasion,Dr. Pradeep K. Sinha, Director IIIT Naya Raipur said, “It is worth mentioning on the occasion of the 2ndConvocation that the Institute is continuing its 100% placement record since the first batch. All the degree recipients of the convocation who were interested in jobs were placed in top-rated companies like Microsoft, Amazon, etc, with the highest package of 43 lakhs per annum (twice the previous year’s highest package). Many undergraduate degree recipients are pursuing their higher studies (MS, M. Tech., and Ph.D.) in India and abroad. The Institute awarded its first Ph. D. and M. Tech. degrees in this convocation. The Institute has managed to achieve its Vision 1.0 by establishing state-of-the-art technology laboratories and by creating a team of good faculty.
Today, the institute has three branches of B. Tech., four M. Tech. disciplines, and multi-disciplinary Ph. D. Programs. The Institute has also signed MoUs with several premier academic institutions and industries. The institute has always been sensitive to its responsibility towards the upliftment of Chhattisgarh, which includes, adoption of nearby villages, proposing projects for tribal and rural development, conducting awareness programs for polytechnic institutes and schools of the State, conducting summer camps for school children, developing an app for National Health Mission to spread awareness among citizens about prevalent diseases in Chhattisgarh, and developing a Radio App for Gondi language translation. The sponsored projects are funded by the Govt agencies such as Meity, DST-SERB, NBHM, etc.
The growing popularity of the institute was clearly visible during the B. Tech. admissions process every year, which is visible with improvement in the institute’s opening JEE rank.
The institute has carved its Vision 2.0, which focusses on making IIIT-NR “A Living Research Lab for Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development”. While the focus of Vision 1.0 was to create a world-class institution with advanced labs and highly qualified faculty for teaching to achieve 100% placements, the focus of Vision 2.0 is on research and innovation.