As many as 615 students got awarded degrees at the 18th convocation of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, (IIIT-A) held on Saturday evening.
Harish S Mehta, founder Chairman, NASSCOM delivering the convocation address as the chief guest gave a clarion call to the passing out students that they have the unique opportunity to shape India into a “Soney Ki Chidiya 2.0.’
Mehta said the IT/BPM revolution that NASSCOM kickstarted in the late 1980s has brought us to the doorstep of a new revolution led by Al. With advancements in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and their integration with other cutting-edge technologies, we can now solve complex problems faster and more efficiently than ever before.
“Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is already helping automate mundane tasks. Al too will bring more new age industries to the fore”, he added.
Union Minister of State for Education Dr Subhas Sarkar in his recorded message appealed to students to come forward in realisation of digital India as desired by the prime minister. The country has achieved several milestones in the field of science and technology especially, like Chandrayan 3, Aditya Mission etc.
Prof Sunil S Bhagwat, Director, IISER, Pune, who was the guest of honour said that if there’s been one thing that is constant about technology, it is change. In fact, technology and connectivity have come to be a key parameter to describe a generation.
In any technology conversation today, the terms data science, Artificial Intelligence (Al), and Machine Learning (ML) have become integral.
As electricity have transformed the way we live at one time, so has Al in the most recent times. We should of course note that advancements through Al need to be tempered with the wisdom and compassion of individual members driving the process, in the absence of these essential human qualities, Al by itself scares people and therefore it is important that while we contribute to the Al revolution, we are also guided by an ethical and moral compass.
Dr Anand Deshpande, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIIT Allahabad, said when knowledge benefits common man and provides solutions that address societal issues, it is considered valuable. He was happy to note that IIIT-A has several initiatives, projects, centres to this effect that engage students in converting knowledge into solutions.
“It is no surprise that the students of the institute were well placed and most of them got jobs through campus placement. As you move ahead in your career, I encourage you to stay aware of the community and do your bit to make the world a better place. We will have the opportunity to make India the world’s leading country – economically, scientifically and socially.
“We cannot predict what is coming in this fast-changing world it is those who can learn and evolve will succeed. If there is one message that I want to leave with you, that would be to become a continuous learner, learn how you learn and learn all the time”, he added.
Prof Mukul Sharad Sutaone, Director, IIIT-A, said that we take pride in stepping into an enviable position of excellence.
A total of 387 undergraduate students, 206 post graduates, one dual degree BTech and MTech , seven dual degree MTech and PhD and 14 research scholars were awarded Ph D at the 18th convocation. A total of 130 girls received degrees this time. Vishesh Mittal (IEC2019057) was awarded the Chairman’s Gold Medal for the Year –2023 for his overall academic performance. The Institute’s Gold Medal for BTech( IT) was given to Prince Kumar, silver to Aditya Agarwal and Bronze to Divy Agrwal while for BTech ECE Gold Medal to Vishesh Mittal, silver to Mohit Garg and bronze to Chaitnya Joshi. Bonny Thomos K was awarded gold , Meghal Sethi - silver and Ayesha Shamim bronze for getting highest marks in MBA. Akanksha Lal received the gold medal, Riya Kalara- silver and Neha Vishwanath Sarnaik Bronze for securing top positions in MTech (IT). In MTech (ECE) Gold Medal was given to Pawan Sahu, silver to Manoj Kumar Singh and bronze to Aayushi Bansal.