IIT Mandi 1st Convocation (2013), 20 Oct

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, the youngest of all IITs and the only IIT in the Himalayas, celebrated its first convocation ceremony on 20th October, 2013. As part of this convocation, 94 B. Tech. students, 2 M.S. students, and 1 Ph.D. student graduated from the Institute. Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, Tata Communications Ltd., was the chief guest on the occasion. In addition, the Guests of Honour included, Mr. M. Natarajan, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Mandi, and Prof. V. S. Raju, Chairman, Naval Research Board, Government of India.

As part of the graduating students, Mr. Shejin T. received the first M.S. degree from IIT Mandi for his thesis titled “Significance of Dictionary for Sparse Coding based Face Recognition.” This thesis analysed the use of a novel WD Face dictionary on various aspects of sparse-coding based face recognition. A second M.S. degree recipient from IIT Mandi was Mr. Ranjit Singh for his thesis titled, “Modeling and Performance Analysis of Three Phase Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic System.” Ranjit worked for his thesis to propose several efficient and intelligent maximum power point tracking algorithms for a grid connected SPV system. IIT Mandi also conferred its first Ph.D. degree to Ms. Priyanka Manchanda, a research scholar in School of Basic Sciences. Ms. Manchanda worked on a thesis titled “Magnetic Properties of Multilayers and Some Bulk Alloys: An Ab-Initio Study.” In her thesis, Priyanka used ab-initio techniques and studied magnetic multilayers that are used in applications such as ultrahigh density magnetic recording, spin valves, and read heads of disk drives. She also studied control of magnetic properties with the application of external electric field in thin films and in organometallic systems. For more details on the convocation ceremony please visit the links below.

IIT Mandi 1st Convocation Brochure, Oct-2013

Click here to watch a prerecorded video of 2013 IIT Mandi Convocation

News report in Dainik Bhaskar; Dainik Jagran; Divya Himachal; Times of India, 20 October, 2013.

News report in Amar Ujala; Dainik Bhaskar; Dainik Jagran; Divya Himachal; Hindustan Times; Punjab Kesari, 21 October, 2013.

Press release on IIT Mandi 1st Convocation (2013) is below:

IIT Mandi’s First Convocation Ceremony (2013)

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, the youngest of all IITs and the only IIT in the Himalayas, celebrated its first convocation ceremony on 20th October, 2013. The convocation ceremony took place on IIT Mandi’s permanent campus at Kamand and, among the new IITs, IIT Mandi is the first to hold its Convocation on its permanent campus. As part of this convocation, 94 B. Tech. students, 2 M.S. students, and 1 Ph.D. student graduated from the Institute. The chief guest on the occasion was Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, TATA Communications Ltd. In addition, the Guests of Honour included, Mr. M. Natarajan, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Mandi, and Prof. V. S. Raju, Chairman, Naval Research Board, Government of India.

Ms. Priyanka Manchanda getting first Ph.D. degree in School of Basic Sciences

Currently, IIT Mandi has 564 students including 109 research scholars spread across its Mandi and Kamand campuses. The Institute offers B. Tech. in the three disciplines of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science and Engineering. Also, the Institute offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in a wide variety of disciplines. Among the graduating students in the first convocation, there are 34 students graduating with a B. Tech. degree in Computer Science and Engineering, 36 students graduating with a B. Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering, and 24 students graduating with a B. Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering. In addition 2 M.S. students and 1 Ph.D. student were conferred their degrees in the first Convocation.

The ceremony began in the backdrop of Himachali flute music which set the tone of this first Convocation in the Himalayas. Messages of felicitation had been received from the President of India, the Minister of Human Resource Development, and the Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development. The President of India’s message was read out by the Registrar and in it Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended his best wishes for the success of the First Convocation of IIT Mandi. Dr. M. M. Pallam Raju, Minister of Human Resource Development, also sent a message where he expressed the hope that students graduating from IIT Mandi would contribute to the well-being of all Indians. Shri Ashok Thakur, Secretary, MHRD, also sent a message to IIT Mandi on the occasion of its first Convocation where he expressed that IIT Mandi could play a lead role in “domains such as IT, food processing, tourism, hydro-electric power, non-conventional energy system, highway construction and tunneling technologies, etc. which are high priority areas for these mountain states."

During the Convocation Ceremony, the Director of IIT Mandi, Prof. Timothy A. Gonsalves, presented the Director’s report. In the report, he emphasized that, despite the challenges of building the institution in a remote Himalayan valley, the academic and research activities of the Institute had flourished. In his speech, the Director emphasized the unique curriculum of IIT Mandi which promotes interdisciplinarity. He also added that by connecting academic training with industrial exposure through workshops and classes and by establishing collaborations with foreign institutes the Institute was on the path to excellence.

On this occasion, Shri M. Natarajan, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Mandi was present and also delivered a speech where he emphasized the need to blend new and traditional knowledge to come up with innovative solutions to today’s problems. He emphasized to the graduating batch that through their continuous engagement with the alma mater, IIT graduates would be able to become torch bearers for science and technologies and for the advancement of the nation and society at large.

In his inspiring speech, Shri Subodh Bhargava shared with the graduating students some life lessons. He thus urged students to keep alive the same sense of impatience, inquisitiveness, and questioning spirit that they had as a student. He also emphasized the need to learn from failures and mistakes and most importantly to believe in oneself.

Pledge by graduating students

The speeches by dignitaries were followed by a pledge by graduating students. In the pledge, the students took an oath to utilize their knowledge in the service of our country in its march towards a just, inclusive, and sustainable society. The valedictorian speech, given by Raj Kamal Singh of the graduating batch, emphasized that though things had never been easy for the students being the first batch of the newest IIT, their experience had set them apart from their counterparts in other IITs. Raj Kamal mentioned that while people in other colleges have an existing extra-curricular setup waiting for them to excel through, the students had to setup everything from scratch. He mentioned that the academic curriculum was also designed from scratch and stabilized. Furthermore, Raj Kamal mentioned that, “we knew it wasn’t going to be easy to cope up with the new environment and excel. This new start, however, helped us gain unique knowledge and experience that set us apart from our counterparts in other institutes.” The valedictorian emphasized that it was now the task of the graduated students as alumni to establish the brand name of IIT Mandi.

Devinder Yadav receiving President of India Gold Medal for outstanding excellence in academic studies

As part of the ceremony IIT Mandi’s first institute awards were given out to a few proud recipients. Devinder Yadav was the recipient of President of India Gold Medal for outstanding excellence in academic studies. He also received Institute Silver Medal for excelling in the discipline of Computer Science and Engineering. Saurabh Jain was the recipient of Director’s Gold Medal for outstanding all round proficiency in both academic and extracurricular activities. V. Vignesh received the Institute Silver Medal for excelling in the discipline of Electrical Engineering. Mrinmoy Biswas was the recipient of the Institute Silver Medal for excelling in the discipline of Mechanical Engineering. In addition, Amanjot Kaur received the Balasundaram Endowment Prize for German for outstanding excellence in the minor stream in German Language.

Throughout the programme, the sense of pride and achievement was palpable among the students, their families and the faculty and staff of the Institute. As the sun bathed the beautiful Kamand valley, the first Convocation Ceremony ended with a ray of hope and joy that is sure to inspire the students and faculty of this Institute in the years ahead.

Graduates Celebrating

For more Information contact:
Mr. Naresh Bhandari, Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India
Phone: +91-981-601-6376; Email: nsbhandari[at]iitmandi.ac.in; Website: www.iitmandi.ac.in