Saint Gobain chief executive officer (Asia Pacific and India region) B. Santhanam has advised the IITians to stay immersed in their core area of expertise, stay organised in prioritising their goals, stay relevant through continuous learning and stay connected in this networked world.
Addressing the graduates at the second and third (joint) convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Tirupati (IIT-T) at the Yerpedu campus here on Saturday, he said ‘chance favours the prepared mind’ quoting Louis Pasteur, and asked them to stay prepared for opportunities. “Passing out from the premier engineering institution will not automatically guarantee success in life. You have to navigate in this world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity with some of the above organising principles,” said Mr. Santhanam, who is also a global executive cCommittee member of Saint Gobain (France).
On managing men, situations and emotions, he spoke on the challenges in store beyond their area of command. “Today my job involves understanding the motivations, biases of my colleagues and competitors. It is cognitive sciences all the way. So, suspend judgment and immerse yourself. You don’t know what you don’t know,” he averred.
IIT-T Director Prof. K.N. Satyanarayana recalled how the institute fought to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19 and emerged triumphant in completing two academic years. Having started in 2015 from a temporary campus, he explained how the institute had grown in infrastructure on a picturesque 548 acre-site, with a target to accommodate 12,000 students.
Amit Khare, Secretary (Higher Education) and also the Chairman of the IIT-T Board of Governors, appreciated the progress achieved in terms of infrastructure by the nascent IIT-T team.
Medals given away
Ph.D, M.Tech, M.S., B.Tech and B.S. degrees were presented by Prof. Satyanarayana to the graduates passing out of the institute. S. Naresh Chockalingam and S. Gowtham received the President’s medal for 2020 and 2021 respectively, while Saishradha Mohanty and Surya Ganesh Vadhri received the Governor’s medal for the two years.
The ‘Institute medal’ was given away to Naresh Chockalingam, Velagta Ramya, Gollamudi Rishitha, B.N. Ravi Srivatsa, Allwin. R, Archana Ramachandran and M. Supreeth (all 2020), Sahil Surehali, Arnab Dutta, S. Gowtham, A. Venkata Saikrishna Chaitanya, V. Nikitha, Atul Kumar, P. Sekhar Babu, G. Anil Kumar and Kanika (for 2021).
