Bright faces and relieved smiles. As many as 593 students were awarded graduation degrees and 56 were awarded medals for meritorious performance at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) convocation held at the J.N. Tata Auditorium on Saturday. They included those pursuing PhD, ME, M.Tech., MS, M Design and Masters in Management.
R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, and an alumnus, delivered the convocation address. He called on graduating students to continue their research in the country. “Even if you go to the U.S. for masters, please come back, because India would have grown further,” he told them. A chance conversation with Swami Vivekananda inspired J.R.D. Tata to start the Indian Institute of Sciences, said Mr. Chidambaram.
He spoke about the “haemorrhage of research talent” which takes place at two points — for pure science after the 10+2 stage and at B.Tech level for engineering. “There is a need to induct them into research careers and to retain them there,” said Dr. Chidambaram, adding, “India is trying to build an advanced technology super-structure, but the foundation has to be built by basic science.”
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He said the seeds of his interest in indigenizing advanced instruments were sown at IISc, under the tutelage of G. Suryan.
Pro-environment research
Durga Madhab Mahapatra is no stranger to the media. His thesis work — an integrated system for wastewater treatment and bio-fuel production— was implemented to clean up pollutants in Jakkur lake in 2014. He worked under the tutelage of T.V. Ramachandran, professor at Centre for Ecological Sciences, and H.N. Chanakya, Centre for Sustainable Technologies. Studying the water quality over several months showed that the system was able to reduce the amount of pollutants in the lake. Mr. Mahapatra won a gold medal for developing sustainable technology. “This technology can be used for reviving Bengaluru’s lakes, as it is eco-friendly and makes use of natural topology to guide the flow of water through the treatment plant,” he told The Hindu .
‘Lucky to be part of IISc.’
Gaurav Khanna won a medal for topping Masters in management studies, with a specialisation in business analytics. He felt lucky to be part of the institute. “IISc. was the pioneer in starting a proper business analytics course in India. It gave me a head start in the industry,” said the 25-year-old. Currently a data scientist with a private bank, he chose business analytics as it calls for a strong base in mathematics.
Rajib Lochan Swain from Odisha won the CEDT design medal for the best M.Tech. student in Electronic Systems Engineering. Keen to pursue research in R&D in multi-core processors, he said, “I want to work in the industry for two to three years to learn about multi-core processors.”