Rourkela: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela on Saturday held its 24th convocation, awarding degrees to 2,033 students across various undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes.
Prof Abhay Karandikar, Member, NITI Aayog, attended the convocation as the chief guest, while Prof Bidyadhar Subudhi, Director, NIT Warangal, was the guest of honour.
S N Subrahmanyan, Chairman of the Board of Governors, NIT Rourkela, addressed the gathering, while institute Director Prof K Umamaheshwar Rao presented the annual report.
Delivering the convocation address, Karandikar urged the graduating students to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies while retaining a strong foundation in the fundamentals of science and engineering.
“India stands at a defining moment in its journey towards becoming a developed nation, and you are the generation that will shape this future,” he said.
He asked the students to cultivate curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and ethical judgment and use their knowledge to address real-world problems and create a meaningful social impact.
“Keep learning, innovate responsibly, and use your knowledge to solve real human problems,” Karandikar said, adding that while a successful career was important, a meaningful life was even more important.
Guest of honour Subudhi advised the graduates to choose excellence over convenience, integrity over short-term success and lifelong learning over complacency.
He said the students’ character would ultimately be a greater measure of their success than their degrees or medals.
Subrahmanyan said the graduates were entering a world being reshaped by artificial intelligence, digitalisation, sustainability and rapid technological changes.
He urged them to dream big, embrace failure and strive to achieve something meaningful while remaining humble and grounded.
“This is a period of phenomenal transformation in India, with unprecedented opportunities emerging across engineering, technology, energy, artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship,” he said.
The institute awarded 11 Institute Gold Medals, six Endowment Gold Medals, eight Endowment Awards and 61 Institute Silver Medals for academic excellence.
The graduating batch included 911 BTech students, 18 BArch students, 42 students from BTech-MTech dual-degree programmes, 10 students from the BSc (Integrated Multiple Entry-Exit) programme, 77 Integrated MSc students, 514 MTech students, 182 MSc students, 67 MBA students, 19 MA students, one MTech (Research) student, 190 PhD scholars and two Executive PhD scholars.
A notable feature of this year’s convocation was the graduation of 47 international students. They included 19 students from Nepal, 13 from Bangladesh, six from the United States, five from Sri Lanka, three from Bhutan and one from Yemen.
Rao, in his address to the graduating students, particularly members of ‘Gen Z’, said their academic journey at NIT Rourkela marked the beginning of a new chapter filled with opportunities, responsibilities and challenges.
He urged the graduates not merely to identify problems but also to become solution providers.
“As India moves towards greater self-reliance and an Atmanirbhar Bharat, I urge you to build, innovate and lead with purpose,” Rao said.
