Tessy Thomas, renowned scientist and Director General of Aeronautical Systems at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has said that “research, innovation, and quality” will be the three pillars on which India will become a knowledge superpower.
Delivering the convocation address of the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NIT-C) on Saturday, Dr. Thomas said the DRDO’s efforts positioned the nation among the top few countries in the world with multilevel strategic capability. These include the Agni series, underwater weapon systems, anti-ballistic missile programmes, main battle tanks, electronic warfare, multi-range radar systems, fighter aircraft, Light Combat Aircraft and its variants, and airborne early warning and control systems.
“India with its strong position in terms of advanced technology in the field of science and engineering and in-house research with academic institutions are churning out qualified and trained manpower,” said the ‘Missile Woman of India’, a moniker she earned for being the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India.
She said the sustained efforts of scientists and technologists had propelled India to the elite club of nations in space, defence, and nuclear technologies. “ New strategies need to be developed to induct, nurture and retain the young talents in the engineering stream. We need to have a fresh look at the linkages between our national laboratories and the university system. We must renew our commitments fostering a scientific temper among the students so that we are able to deal with the challenges in a scientific way,” said Dr. Thomas.
With the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies which included cyber-physical systems, cloud computing, and cognitive computing, she said that ‘Industry 4.0’ is going to revolutionise the industry sector. “Today is the world of digitisation and networking is the prime factor, with Artificial Intelligence and the use of advanced materials for manufacturing,” added Dr. Thomas.
Gajjala Yoganand, Chairperson, NIT-C Board of Governors, addressed the fresh graduands and NIT-C Director Prasad Krishna presented the annual report, highlighting the achievements of the institute in the academic year 2020-21.
V. Manjunath of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering branch secured the highest CGPA (9.75/10) among all the outgoing B. Tech students. He was awarded the Bapana Gold Medal and the Prof. Allesu Kanjirathinkal Memorial Award.
Among postgraduate students, Sana Shahul Hameed from the M.Tech Structural Engineering stream of Civil Engineering and S. Bala Murugan from the M. Tech. Manufacturing Technology stream of Mechanical Engineering bagged the Bapana Gold Medal with CGPA of 9.93 out 10.
Toppers of the 10 B. Tech, 25 M. Tech, 3 M. Sc, MCA, and MBA programmes were also awarded gold medals for their outstanding performance in the respective specialisations. Registrar (in-charge) Jeevamma Jacob, Dean (Academic) Saly George and the heads of various departments administered the convocation ceremony in the virtual mode.
