Towering personalities and inspiring speeches marked the convocation ceremony of the graduating students of BITS Pilani Hyderabad held on Sunday. A total of 683 students of the graduating class of 2014 received their degrees, which included those from post-graduate, higher degree and doctorate courses.
ISRO Chairperson K. Radhakrishnan delivered the convocation address said he was fortunate to have entered the space science and technology field when it was still in its formative phase in the country and went on to talk about his journey with ISRO and the organisations programmes.
He said that in the last 50 years, Indian space programme had been nurtured by dynamic, encouraging and supportive leadership at the national level which had inculcated the right spirit leading to successful missions.
“We, at ISRO are determined to establish space research as a catalyst in fostering self-reliance in advanced technologies, facilitating creation of national wealth and most importantly enabling a way to global leadership. This is an example of making a life rather than making a living,” he said.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chancellor, BITS, advised the graduating students to be “change-ready”. “Today you are stepping into a world, where change is the constant, where surprises, shocks and volatility are the norm. Therefore, I think it is appropriate to share some of my thoughts on how one can make sense of such a turbulent world, and how you can respond, stay relevant, and harness the forces of change to your advantage.” Mr. Birla said, that apart from possessing technical skills, the students should also sharpen their knowledge in concerned areas.
B.N. Jain, Vice-Chancellor of the institute spoke about their project “Mission 2015”, which is aimed at enabling faculty and students to excel in teaching, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and industry engagement. He dwelled on the importance of “technology enablement” and “quality assessment” to execute their mission.
Director V.S. Rao, in his report, informed that the campus had 90 projects out of which six were international projects. He also mentioned that BITS received sponsored research funds of about Rs 25.23 Crores from various agencies.
Prior to the presentation of the certificates and medals to the graduating students, the Distinguished Alumni award for the year 2014 was presented to Raju Reddy, who graduated in 1981 and founded “Sierra Atlantic” company.
