Gandhinagar: Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) welcomed the new BTech batch of 2020 today in virtual mode. A total of 242 students from 20 Indian states have joined the batch of 2020-2024, with the highest number of students coming from Gujarat (52), Rajasthan (52), and Maharashtra (45). These are followed by Uttar Pradesh (18), Madhya Pradesh (10), Kerala (10), Andhra Pradesh (9), Telangana (9), Delhi (7), Bihar (7), among others. The new batch has an increased gender ratio, with around 19% of female students joining the Institute in various disciplines.
With this, the Institute also kick-started its flagship Foundation Programme; this time in virtual mode due to the pandemic. Interacting with the new batch of students through a live YouTube streaming, Prof Sudhir K Jain, Director, IITGN, introduced them to the unique qualities and culture of the Institute that provides best education, excellent faculty, extraordinary opportunities, all-round experiences, and exceptional support to its students. Encouraging the students to work hard, he said, “IITGN has a different approach that will prepare you for life and equip you with the skill-sets that you need to succeed. I want you to have a positive attitude and the commitment to work hard, not only in studies but other extra-curricular activities as well.”
Earlier, Prof Harish PM, Dean of Student Affairs, congratulated all students for overcoming all hurdles and making into an IIT during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. He also gave a brief idea about various opportunities that will be available to them as IITGN students and the culture of being responsible for their choices and actions. Giving a piece of advice to the students, he said, “Embrace the struggles because they shape you for life. Explore all the opportunities and experiences fully. You have to start thinking to be a seeker rather than a follower.” The students were also provided a sneak peek of the IITGN campus through a virtual tour.
The Foundation Programme 2020 is designed to be a 6-week holistic development programme with four core objectives for the new BTech students: 1) Enable interactions- through various formal and informal interaction sessions with faculty, staff, senior students and alumni; 2) Engagement- through hands-on workshops on paper engineering/origami, design thinking, and gamification; 3) Enhancing awareness- through quiz and interactive sessions on IITGN values and ethics; and 4) Emotional connect- by encouraging students to express themselves in brief videos and sharing postal kits from IITGN.
There will also be workshops on leadership, time-management, and well-being. The students will be introduced to IITGN’s social outreach programmes NEEV and Nyasa as well. The idea behind this programme is to introduce students to a variety of issues and activities, ranging from issues of national and international significance, ethics, sports and physical exercises, community service, sketching, artwork, and many more.
The programme is being coordinated by Prof Udit Bhatia, Prof Pradipta Ghosh, and Prof Akshaa Vatwani. It will go on till December 24, 2020. IITGN places great emphasis on shaping students not only as successful engineers of the future, but also well-rounded personalities, who contribute to society, are respectful of and can adapt to their surroundings, and prove themselves to be thinkers and problem solvers in all avenues of life.
