Mumbai, 24 Aug 2020: The 58th convocation of IIT Bombay was held on August 23, 2020 from 1.30 pm onwards in Virtual Reality mode, keeping in view the safety measures during the ongoing pandemic. All medal winners received their medals from the personalized avatar of the Chief Guest.
The graduating students this year include 381* PhDs, 18* Dual Degree (MTech/ MPhil+PhD) and 27* Dual Degrees (MSc+PhD). Out of these, 39 research scholars were selected for the award of ‘Excellence in PhD Research’ for the year 2018-20. In addition, 33 joint PhD degrees, in association with Monash University, were also conferred by the Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University Prof. Margaret Gardner, on the occasion. (*including PhD degrees awarded during interim convocation).
This year, one PhD degree under joint supervision with Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and two Cotutelle PhD degrees, one each [in MTech+PhD and MSc+PhD programme] in agreement with University of Wollongong, Australia and with Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Canada were also awarded.
Besides these, 11 MS (by research), 6 Dual Degree (MSc+MTech), 621 MTech, 64 MDes, 20 MPhil, 110 MMgt, 225 two-year MSc, 2 five-year integrated MSc, 342 Dual Degree (BTech + MTech), 684 BTech Degrees, 10 Interdisciplinary Dual Degrees (BTech/ BS+MTech/ MSc), 20 Dual Degrees (BDes+MDes), 6 Dual Degrees (BS+MSc), 16 BS, 15 BDes, and 16 PGDIIT, were awarded at the Convocation.
This year, three students were presented the Gold medals for their exemplary performance. The ‘President of India Medal’ was bestowed on Sahil Hiral Shah, a (B.Tech) student from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The ‘Institute Gold Medal (2018-19)’ was awarded to Shashwat Shukla, a student from the Department of Electrical Engineering. ‘Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal’ was conferred on Prakash Singh Badal, a Ph.D. student from the Department of Civil Engineering. Additionally, departmental toppers were presented with silver medals by the chief guest.
Prof. Duncan Haldane, co-recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics, and a Professor of Physics at Princeton University, was the Chief Guest during the ceremony. Mr. Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone, world-renowned investor and philanthropist was the Guest of Honor.
Chief Guest Professor Frederick Duncan Michael Haldane, FRS, in his speech said, “There is a lesson for everyone involved in research. Even if you are involved in a very goal-driven project, try to find some small share of your time to investigate unexpected curiosities that sometimes show up along the way. The analogy is that you may be walking along a path kicking a few rocks with your boots, but if you don’t look at your feet, you may miss a huge rough diamond that your kick exposed, and just walk on by. Of course, eventually someone else may walk that path and see the gem that you inadvertently unearthed but failed to notice”.
Presenting the Institute’s Report for the year 2019-209, Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of IIT Bombay informed that IIT Bombay continues to be a much sought-after destination for UG and PG studies. Prof. Subhasis Chaudhari said, “Producing top quality graduates who would be future leaders in industry, research and academia is the primary goal of IIT Bombay. The skill they developed, the work culture they picked up and the peers they made during their studies at IIT Bombay will help them achieve success in their lives.” He further said, “Providing a virtual reality experience to all our graduates needed not only highly innovative steps but also a tremendous effort by our professors and staff. They did it for the students. Hopefully this will enthuse our graduates as well as other engineers in the country to think big and think innovatively”.
