Over 700 students of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Hyderabad, graduated at the convocation ceremony held here on Sunday. While 656 were undergrads, 68 were postgraduate students and 20 completed their Ph.D programme.
The gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to Adithya Murali, Devendra Singh Shekhawat and Kinjal Jain respectively. Speaking at the ceremony, Rajendra Singh, founder of Tarun Bharat Sangh, asked the students to “not just settle for hefty salary package, but to develop sustainable techniques that will help the nation”. Dr. Singh, known as the ‘Waterman of India’, has won the Stockholm Water Prize. He pointed out that water, women and river were the three aspects that help any country tread towards progress.
Presenting the annual report and sharing the future roadmap for the university, Vice-Chancellor Souvik Bhattacharya said the industry engagement programmes such as the practice school and work integrated learning programme were the cornerstones of BITS’ educational philosophy. “BITS Pilani values work experience as a significant element of learning and helps students discover how they learn via work experience.” With over 400 research-focused faculty members joining the university, the Research Seed Grant Scheme has been revised to help them compete with the very best in India, the V-C said. Sundar, Director of the Hyderabad campus, reviewed the achievements of the campus for the academic year 2016-17. “The campus is not only committed to achieving excellence in research and development, but is also keen on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship,” Prof. Sundar said, adding that he was confident that the students who graduated have had overall development in the university. “Students of BITS are equipped to face challenges in life with confidence and serve their profession with competence,” he said.
