The 16th convocation of the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) was held at the Bidholi campus of the university on Saturday with the Uttarakhand governor Baby Rani Maurya as the chief guest. The ceremony saw 3609 students from 72 diverse programmes being conferred with their degrees.
Addressing the students in her convocation speech, the governor while appreciating the industry-specific education being imparted in UPES, also advised the graduating students to use the gained knowledge for the benefit of the society and the nation. She appreciated the good work being done by the university for improving the lives of their neighboring rural community. She advised the students to be always thankful to their parents and teachers for it is they who have shaped them to what they are today. She laid emphasis on discipline in life which she said is always the key to success. She further said that in today's day and age, convocation should never be considered as a milestone of culmination of knowledge but should be considered as a stepping stone for further knowledge.
Chairman of Hydrocarbons Education and Research Society (HERS) the promoting society of UPES, Sharad Mehra congratulated the graduating students and also cautioned them that having a degree and having experience are two different things which they now need to balance. Whatever anyone does for a living, some element of contribution to the country must always be included in it, he added.
The university vice chancellor DK Jha, touched upon several aspects which included awards and recognition, student accomplishments, faculty achievements, academic collaborations, campus placements and other activities of the university.
University chancellor SJ Chopra spoke about how UPES is rebooting engineering, management and legal education through innovative interventions and new initiatives towards multidisciplinary approach in the domains of energy, transportation, and infrastructure and information technology.
UPES public affairs director Arun Dhand informed the media that 48 PhD, 1372 PG and 2189 UG students were conferred degrees while 90 student achievers were felicitated with medals and shields in this convocation.
A total of 3609 students were awarded their respective degrees at the convocation. The 1372 Post Graduate degrees awarded included MBA, MTech, MA, LLM, MPlan and MDesign while the 2189 Under Graduate degrees were in the domains of BTech, BBA, BA, BDesign and various UG programmes of Law. A total of 77 MBA degrees were also conferred on Uttarakhand State Employees under the open/distance learning mode which included 48 in power management and 29 in infrastructure management.