IIT Bombay conducts convocation online; awards degrees to 'student avatars'

IIT Bombay has conducted online convocation this year owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Read further to know more.

Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has conducted its 58th Convocation online in which the personalised 'avatars' of students were awarded degrees from the 'virtual figure' of the Director Suhasis Chaudhari, in what is described as a global first.

"We thought it best to arrange such a virtual reality convocation so as not to put their health at risk, but simultaneously, not deprive them of the sense of achievement and pride of passing out of India's premier engineering institution," said an IIT-Bombay official. Since the convocation is the last chance for students to get in touch with their faculty and friends, the institute has also organised  'virtual presence' to help them to do so. The students were allowed to roam around on a virtual campus, drop into their hostels and departments virtually, bump into or meet their friends and faculty.

Professor Chaudhuri also presented the IIT-Bombay's annual report for 2019-2020, while Prof. Haldane and Schwarzman addressed the students.

"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," remarked Chaudhuri.During the convocation, top three students were also awarded gold medals for their exemplary academic 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. The '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 guests.

Among the scholars this year were 381 students with PhDs, 33 Joint PhDs, 18 Dual Degrees (M.Tech/M.Phil and PhD), 27 Dual Degrees (M.SC and PhD.), from whom 39 research scholars were selected for the 'Excellence in Ph.D. Research' for 2018-2020.

Read More:

• IIT Bombay Courses & Fees 2020
• IIT Bombay Admission 2020