National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela) will celebrate its 20th Convocation, with a graduating class of 1717 students (351 female & 1366 male) on 4th February 2023. Smt. Soma Mondal {Chairman, Steel Authority of India (SAIL)} will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest, with Shri Om Prakash Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), as the Guest of Honor. Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao (Chairman, Board of Governor, & Director, NIT Rourkela) will preside over the convocation event.
Among the 1717 degrees, a total of 767 B. Tech., 17 B.Arch., 41 Dual Degree (B.Tech. and M.Tech.), 41 integrated MSc. (5 years), 151 M.Sc., 23 MA, 26 MBA, 525 M.Tech. 2 M.Tech (By research) and 124 Ph.D. students will receive their degrees on this 20th Convocation.
The Institute has seen a rise in the number of girl students passing out in different streams. This year a total of 351 female students (more than 20% of graduating students) including 136 in Bachelor programs; 177 in Master programs, and 38 in PhD program have graduated from NIT Rourkela. It is also notable that female to male ratio of the Institute has significantly increased from 1:6 to 1:4 in the recent years. This year 6 students are given the Institute Gold Medal and 5 students are getting Endowment Gold Medal (both made with 10 gms of gold). There is an endowment award of Rs. 1,00,000 to be given to Best Student Research Scholar : 2022. Apart from this, 58 students will be the Branch Topper Medallists, and 5 are Endowment Memorial Awardees. More can be seen here: https://nitrkl.ac.in/Convocation/MedalAwards/Index/gold
Further, the main highlight of this function is the launch of Digilocker based digital degree along continuing with blockchain degrees for storage and verification of degree certificates and transcripts of its graduating students. DigiLocker and blockchain provide secure access to all documents anywhere, anytime those are at par with originals. It will help graduated students to carry their degree in a digital wallet and free of the administrative hassles of a printed copy. For record purposes, NIT Rourkela is also issuing a hard copy degree certificate to fulfil the Convocation experience.
On this occasion, the Director Prof. Rao said, “I am extremely delighted that XX Convocation of NIT Rourkela is being organized live for a full-strength of graduating students’ of 2022 after almost two very unusual and difficult academic years due to covid pandemic. This year, we initiated work to reform our graduate and undergraduate courses in line with the current demands of the NEP (National Education Policy) 2020, and for enabling students for a successful career in industry as well as in academia. One of the provisions of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) is the introduction of the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC). ABC will allow students of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses to exit the course and enter within a stipulated period. And NIT Rourkela is soon going to implement it and provide student a hassle free entry and exit option during their academic years.”
Another key highlight of the 20th Convocation ceremony included Distinguished Alumnus Awards to 9 alumni of NIT Rourkela. They are:
• Prof. Bhallamudi Ravi – Institute Chair Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, IITB
• Prof. Pinakeswar Mahanta – Director, National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh
• Prof. Laxmidhar Behera – Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi
• Rear Admiral Sanjay Chaubey (RETD.) – Ex-CMD, ECIL
• Shri Lalit Das – IPS, Government of Odisha
• Mr. Atanu Bhowmick – Director In-Charge, SAIL, RSP, Rourkela
• Dr. Surya Narayan Sahoo – Entrepreneur
• Prof. Nikunja Swain – Chair & Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics Department, South Carolina State University, USA
• Ms. Prativa Mohapatra – Vice President and Managing Director of Adobe India
(Details are attached)
As you all know that the institute’s initiative of promoting the regional art and skill through convocation has gathered the attention and appreciation from President and ministers of India along with parents of students and local community, this year also the Convocation Dress code of NIT Rourkela will reflect a combination of Indian culture promoting the Sambalpuri design costumes. Male Graduands will wear Full sleeve Sambalpuri design Kurta (Cotton), while Female Graduands will wear Sambalpuri design Saree (Cotton). The aim is to encourage the regional handloom weavers by providing them platform to reach it to rest part of the country through students.
