Convocation : Part 2

Yesterday IITKGP and IITD had their convocation. Excerpts from convocation speeches are presented here. Hope, people take note of these. A much less important but satisfying personal experience is related to this year's convocation.

My name as a student of IITKGP was called before during convocation. In this convocation, I was sweetly surprised when Director in his address mentioned my name. He read out a list of faculty members who got national level awards in last one year. I was watching the convocation with family from home on local cable TV network. The auditorum is too small to accommodate all. The family felt very proud. Later, during the convocation lunch, one senior professor from our Dept. expressed happiness and told that this made the Dept. proud. I think, it is sweeter than the award itself - that it is being enjoyed by all!

Sibal raises bar for tech trophies

The Telegraph

New Delhi, Aug. 8: The IITs must transform themselves into creators of knowledge rather than focus on undergraduate teaching, human resource development minister Kapil Sibal said today, issuing a thinly veiled challenge to the apex engineering schools. Addressing the IIT Delhi convocation today, the minister also questioned the absence of “passion” to generate new knowledge among IIT students once they clear the entrance examination to the institutes. “Students come here after clearing one of the toughest examinations but then seem to lose their passion for creating new knowledge,” Sibal said, addressing graduating students, their parents and faculty at IIT Delhi. The minister called the IITs one of the country’s top technical education institutions but pointed out that the institutes faced fresh challenges as “expectations from you have grown”. “Very often, I am asked by people: ‘Oh, what’s so great about the IITs? Have they produced any Nobel laureates?’” the minister said. In defence of the IITs, Sibal said they were producing more research than many other Indian higher educational institutions. “But the best research universities in the world have been able to break out of a chain of undergraduate teaching and become creators of knowledge, in turn attracting the best brains to join them,” the minister said. “And we need that from the IITs if we are to catch up with the West in terms of research,” he added. IIT's surprise convocation package India's moon man Shounak Ghosal, TNN 9 August 2009, 03:51am IST It wasn't on the invitation card (no reporter claimed to know this), but Isro chief G Madhavan Nair dropped in to collect the institute's highest honour, Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa). "I'm honoured," Nair said, while the applause at the mere mention of Chandrayaan said it all. The Isro chief invited IIT grads and Gen-Y with open arms: "If you aren't afraid of hard work and have vision, Isro is the place for you." Presiding over the occasion where 1862 students received their degrees Tata Steel MD B Muthuraman, who's also the chairman of IIT-Kgp's board of governors, stressed on the long-term benefits of living within one's means. "You must be a part of a new, evolving India," he advised the fresh IIT alumni. For executive director of Tata Sons, R Gopalakrishnan, it was a homecoming of sorts. "I'm a father, a son and a brother here depending on whom I'm talking to. I was here 45 years ago. It's tough to be an IITian, tougher to an IIT alumnus, and toughest to be the chief guest," he said to loud cheers. IIT director Damodar Acharya opened up with a range of expansion plans and long-term goals. "We are aiming for 11,000 students by 2011. If the government permits, we intend to eventually take in 20,000 students. This year, we had 228 PhD students, which is a record of sorts. As of now, we have about 15% PhD students. We aim to make it at least double," the director said.