IIT Madras convocation that took place on 25 October was a glittery affair where 2,346 students received their degrees. There was another reason why IIT Madras convocation turned special.

The special point in connection with IIT Madras convocation was that it was held for the first time in mixed reality mode.

There were more specials to this IIT Madras convocation, Professor David J. Gross, Nobel laureate and Chancellor’s chair of Theoretical Physics at University of California was the chief guest.

Professor David Gross was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics along with H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczek for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction.

IIT Madras convocation

He has been a central figure in particle physics and string theory.

His discovery, with his student Frank Wilczek, of asymptotic freedom—the primary feature of non-Abelian gauge theories—led Gross and Wilczek to the formulation of Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of the strong nuclear force.

Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Madras and Managing Director, Mahindra and Mahindra, presided over the convocation.

IIT Madras convocation turned even more special when
Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, awarded degrees to the graduating students virtually.
A total of 2,346 degrees were awarded this year. This includes highest number of PhDs awarded in an academic year, 353 (which includes PhDs, Joint Degree Ph.Ds, and Dual Degree Ph.Ds), M.S – 103, M.Tech. – 431, Web-based M.Tech – 14, PGDMRTM – 19, M.Sc – 122, Joint Degree MBA – 3, MBA – 48, EMBA – 37, MA – 33, Dual Degree – 680, B.Tech – 406.

IIT Madras convocation also included, for the first time, 59 Inter-disciplinary Dual-Degree students who upgraded from the UG programme to obtain Masters’ degrees in Data Science, Computational Engineering, Robotics, Nanotechnology and Energy Systems and 51 from industry who have earned their Masters’ degrees through our web-enabled executive programmes in Engineering specialisations and Business Administration.

Addressing the graduands at IIT Madras convocation Professor David J. Gross said life is not made up of years but of moments.

As we look back on our life, what we remember is a collection of moments. None of us remember our beginning and none of us will remember our end, said Professor Gross while addressing the graduands at IIT Madras convocation.

This moment is both a beginning and an ending for you. For many of you, it is the end of college tuition and the beginning of repayment of student loans.

For many of you, it is the end of the process in which you absorbed vast knowledge and the beginning of the process when you begin to apply that knowledge or pass it along to the next generation.

For many of you, it is the end of formal education and the beginning of the so-called ‘real life,’ said the Nobel Laureate at IIT Madras convocation.

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Speaking further at IIT Madras convocation Professor David said many of you, it is the end of the period in life where you received from your parents and society and the beginning of the period where you give back to the society.

And there is much that you can give back, for you are a privileged lot.

Privileged to be citizens of a rapidly-growing country with a rich and glorious history that is now moving on to take its rightful place in the world.

You are fortunate to be free of disease, hunger and war that plagued much of humanity for most of the times.

You are privileged to have attended a great institution of learning and to have acquired much knowledge, said Professor David at IIT Madras convocation.

Dr. Pawan Goenka speaking at IIT Madras convocation said the Class of 2020-you have a very special distinction.

The distinction of graduating from an institute, which has been ranked the No 1 engineering college in India, for five years in a row.

Further, IIT Madras also continued to hold on to the No.1 position in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements.

This is a true reflection of the collective commitment of our faculty, administration, staff and students. On behalf of the Board of Governors, I would like to congratulate everyone at IIT Madras for this accomplishment, said Dr. Pawan Goenka at IIT Madras convocation.

Speaking further at IIT Madras convocation Pawan Goenka said when it comes to taking on ambitious projects, belief in the capabilities of the youth and the power of collaboration is exactly what our country needs today.

While COVID-19 is without doubt, the biggest health and economic crisis mankind has faced, I would want to share a slightly different perspective, said Dr. Pawan Goenka.

The pandemic has given us the opportunity to define a new normal for how we work and how we live – and once we are out of the fear of catching the virus, the new normal in fact may be better than what we will be leaving behind.

Covid has accelerated the rate of tech adoption across streams of life. Changes which would have taken 5-6 years have happened in just about 3-4 months, he said at IIT Madras convocation.

And then we have the clarion call by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure India turns self reliant (Atma Nirbhar Bharat).

‘Atma Nirbharta’ to me is first to take pride in what we do and what our country does. It is about removing all our business disabilities, said Dr. Pawan Goenka during IIT Madras convocation.

It is about being world class in our product and service offerings. It is about innovating, developing technology and creating a pull for our offerings.

It is about developing India as a source of distinct value add and globally competitive technology and manufacturing destination.

If you recollect the original vision of IITs – it was to advance the bubbling aspirations of post-Independent India, towards a modern India.

Today, renew your zeal to work towards this vision. Today is the time to commit yourself to creating an Atma Nirbhar Bharat, said Dr. Pawan Goenka during IIT Madras convocation.

Director of IIT Madras Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi presented a report on the performance of the institute during the previous academic year.

The pandemic led to a nation-wide lockdown in March this year and educational institutions have remain closed since.

The classes re-started online within a couple of weeks.

Due to the heroic efforts of our faculty and students, we completed classes for the January-May 2000 Semester in time to enable our graduating students to take up their jobs, and our pre-final-year students to take up internships in the summer, many of them in the online mode, said Professor Bhaskar while presenting the report during IIT Madras convocation.

‘Our graduating research scholars and students with projects also wound up their theses from home.’

Speaking further at IIT Madras convocation Dr. Ramamurthi said their Strategic Plan 2013-2020, whose targets they have met or exceeded in every aspect, has brought them this far.

‘Our plans as an ‘Institute of Eminence’ will propel us further and take us to greater heights in the coming years.’

On June 30 this year, the country’s first online undergraduate degree in Programming and Data Science at IIT Madras was launched by the Union Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

This programme will establish a new paradigm through which IITs can contribute to meet the nation’s high Gross Enrolment Ratio target under New Education Policy 2020, by making high-quality education in an emerging field accessible to everyone who is willing and able to meet our exacting standards.

We believe this game-changing initiative will set the stage for many similar programmes in disciplines that can be taught online with high quality, he said.

Dr. Ramamurthi said the institute continues to attract substantial funding for its research and consultancy activities from both Ministries of the Government of India and industry.

During the past 5 years, the former grew at a CAGR of 17%, while the latter grew at a very healthy 26%. In 2019-20, the Institute received sanction for 294 Ministry-sponsored projects for a total value of Rs. 333.1 crore, and 649 consultancy and industry-sponsored research projects amounting to Rs. 249.3 crore.

We filed for 191 patents during the year of which 62 are international filings, and were granted 58, said Dr. Ramamurthi.

S. Vishnu Sharma

S Vishnu Sharmaa now works with collegechalo.com in the news team. His work involves writing articles related to the education... (Full bio)