The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on Saturday conducted its 60th convocation ceremony where it become the first national institution to give out more than 400 PhD degrees. IIT Bombay awarded 449 PhDs this year which is a big increase from 378 last year and 301 in 2019. This year, the institute held its convocation ceremony in offline mode after two years of virtual convocations. Aditya Birla Group the chairman of Kumar Mangalam Birla, was invited to be the chief guest on the occasion.
The Director of IIT Bombay, Subhasis Chaudhuri revealed at the event, that this is the first time any Indian academic institute has produced more than 400 PhD graduates in a year. He said it is a major milestone for STEM (Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics) education in India. It was also informed that a total of 2,551 degrees were awarded to 2,324 students.
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Chief guest Kumar Mangalam Birla gave an inspirational speech to the batch of 2022. He said, “To thrive in this world, I believe you must operate at the intersection of purpose, people, and machines (PPM). I urge you to think of PPM not as parts per million but as purpose, people and machines. All of you have proven yourself as great graduates. Now you need to reinforce and retain human empathy. Find every unique opportunity to reinforce humanness. A beautiful mind needs one more thing: a big heart.”
Four students from the prestigious institution were given gold medals for making an exceptional performance this year. Mohammad Ali Rehan, a BTech student from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received the ‘President of India Medal.’
Koustav Jana, a dual degree student from the Department of Electrical Engineering, bagged the ‘Institute Gold Medal (2020-21).’ On the other hand, the ‘Institute Gold Medal (2021-22)’ was conferred to Aryaman Maithani, a BS student from the Mathematics department, and ‘Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal’ was awarded to Shreya Pathak, a BTech student from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
According to a report by a leading news agency, the number of PhD students in the institute has gone up in the last 10 years. In 2011-12 there were approximately 1,895 PhD candidates whereas in the 2020-21 academic year the number surged to 3,534 and the current count stands at 3,727.
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