CHENNAI : A total of 1,962 students graduated during the 58th Convocation of Indian Institute of Technology Madras, which was held virtually today (20th November 2021). As many as 2,425 degrees (including Joint and Dual Degrees) were awarded to students on the occasion.

This includes the highest number of PhDs awarded in an academic year – 392, which includes PhDs, Joint Degree Ph.Ds with foreign institutions and Dual Degree PhDs.

The Chief Guest was Olympic Medallist and Badminton World Champion Ms. PV. Sindhu, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Padma Bhushan Awardee. Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Madras, presided over the Convocation in the presence of Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.

Addressing the graduands virtually, Ms. PV. Sindhu said, “I would like to congratulate the graduates and their parents for their hard work…You have to keep trying. You have achieved a lot. You have to keep learning a lot more in life. This is just not the end. You need to learn different things and try out different things. You should not stop only with one thing but you learn a lot more. It does not matter if you fail or get success.”

Further, Ms. PV. Sindhu said, “As you all know, hard work is the key for success. Passion towards whatever you do is also very important. I think these few things are very important in life and also discipline. You have to follow the rules and regulation. It is not always the way you do but the discipline towards any field is very important. Because, in sports, if I have to say, the discipline, hard work and the commitment and the passion towards whatever you do (or) whatever you want to achieve in life and the goals you have in life are very important.”

DEGREES BREAK-UP

During this Convocation, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, awarded degrees virtually to 1,962 graduands includig 399 B.Tech (of whom 24 with Honours), 379 Dual Degree B.Tech and M.Tech, 366 M.Tech, 139 M.Sc, 44 M.A, 42 Executive MBA, 61 MBA of whom one is jointly with the University of Passau in Germany, 148 M.S, 311 PhD and 72 Web-enabled M.Tech (including the first batch of 23 students in Information Security and 28 students in Automotive Technology) for executives.  The above PhD numbers also include 6 joint degrees with Universities in Australia – one each with Curtin, Deakin and Swinburne Universities and three with University of Technology.

Congratulating the graduating students, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Madras, said, “Given how the humankind is gearing up to leave covid behind, there is probably no better time to make this world a better place to live in. The pandemic has accelerated the rate of tech adoption across streams of life, especially in the areas of education, telemedicine and digital economy, which is very relevant for engineers and scientists.”

Further, Dr. Pawan Goenka said, “My interactions with professors, researcher scholars, startups, and students at IIT Madras have convinced me that the calibre of research and innovation in India is as good as anywhere else in the world. In the last couple of years, my belief in India to do cutting-edge research has become even stronger. I am truly impressed with what is being done at IIT Madras in areas of 5G, drones, hyperloop, space technology, 3D printing, etc. Work like this will define the ‘New India’.”

IIT Madras was designated as an ‘Institute of Eminence’ in early 2020. The special grant that came with it was primarily being used to give a sharp impetus to research activities. Through an internal competitive process, the Institute identified for support nearly 70 research initiatives grouped under 21 clusters, ranging from AI and Data Sciences to Safety Science and Systems, and Sensing and Vision.

Presenting the Institute Annual Report, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The Institute continues to attract substantial funding for its research and consultancy activities from Ministries of Government of India and from industry. In 2020-21, the Institute received sanction for 179 Ministry-sponsored projects for a total value of Rs. 359.25 crores, and 533 consultancy and industry-sponsored research projects amounting to Rs.230.09 crores. Despite the pandemic, we have maintained our growth momentum in attracting funding for research from both government and industry. The growth in the latter is particularly encouraging and heart-warming, as IIT Madras is widely perceived to be the leader in research collaboration with industry.”

“We filed for 195 patents during the year of which 68 are international filings, and were granted 124 Indian and 5 international patents. Our Faculty have undertaken nearly fifty projects in various research areas under the Corporate Social Responsibility activities at a total value of Rs. 31.57 crores. IITM-incubated companies are together valued at ₹11,400 crores, based on their last investment data. 106 startups are in the market, having generated, despite the pandemic, revenue of ₹ 440 Cr in FY20-21 and created more than 5200 direct jobs. IITM startups have filed over 200+ patents, and 10% of the startups are founded by women, and 12% by IITM faculty,” added Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi.

The top Medal Winners are