Honourable Vice President of India Delivers Convocation Address at KIIT

The 13th convocation ceremony of KIIT University was held in a grand manner on November 11, 2017. Honourable Vice President of India, Shri. Venkaiah Naidu was the chief guest and he delivered the convocation address. While addressing a congregation of doctorate, postgraduate and graduate degree recipients, Shri Venkaiah Naidu pointed that India has a magnificent and exceptional heritage, everyone must feel proud to be inheritors of the great Indian culture.

Terming India as a land of opportunities, Honourable Vice President of India said that nothing is impossible with hard work, and one can achieve anything with passion, dedication, and determination. Students must possess the qualities of former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi.

Remembering his experiences, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu mentioned that he had visited Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) earlier to address 25,000 tribal students living and studying over there. He appreciated and thanked Professor Achyuta Samantha for creating two beautiful institutions like Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and KISS. Prof. Samantha has been doing an exceptional job in providing education to poor students, he added.

Adding further, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu cited that convocation ceremony is an occasion for celebrating the hard work of students. Students have to remember four things before taking up higher studies or job – mother, mother tongue, motherland and guru. On the other hand, students need to acquire necessary skills for seeking jobs in the contemporary world. The Indian government has created a separate department of Skill Development, he added.

Governor of Odisha, Dr. SC Jamir was the Guest of Honour to the convocation ceremony. Addressing the graduating students, Dr. SC Jamir pointed that the quality and standard of the university is judged from its alumni. KIIT University has an illustrious alumni network and the varsity is playing a significant role in creating an effective global network for knowledge, skill and cultural exchange. He advised the students to stay focused on their dream. Students need to work hard and develop innovative spirit, he added.

On convocation ceremony, a total number of 4,820 students of 2016-17 batch received their degrees. The Founder’s Gold Medal was won by: -

• Kuldeep Pandey (B.Tech Civil Engineering)
• Priyanka Bera (M.Tech in Geotech)
• Tathagatha Bandhopadhyaya (B.Tech CSE)

KIIT University honoured three popular and eminent personalities from different lifestyles with D.Litt. Honorius Causa degrees: -

• Shri. Krishnalal Agarwal – Chairman of Bharita Charitable Trust
• Dr. Bithal Das Mundhra – Chairman Emeritus of Simplex Infrastructures Limited
• Padma Vibhushan Shilpi Guru Dr. Raghunath Mohapatra – Eminent Sculptor

Accepting the Honorius Causa degree, Dr. Raghunath Mohapatra said that KIIT University would achieve many glories in the coming years.

Expressing his gratitude, Dr. Bithal Das Mundhra mentioned that he is a great admirer of Professor Achyuta Samantha, who played a vital role in transforming KIIT into a world-class institute.

Expressing best wishes to the graduating students, Chancellor of KIIT University, Dr. Subrat Kumar Acharya indicated that KIIT University is a dream, vision and ideology of one individual, i.e., Professor Achyuta Samantha. He also believed that poverty could be eradicated only through education and the principles of art-of-giving.

Vice Chancellor of KIIT University, Dr. Hrushikesha Mohanty revealed that the research output of KIIT witnessed a significant rise and the number of publications indexed in Web of Science and Scopus reached over 3,200. This year, KIIT University filed 32 patents. Currently, KIIT University is executing 88 consultancy and research projects funded by different organisations including Ministry of Rural Development, Promedica of Zurich, Karolinska Institute of Sweden, DST, UGC, DBT and SERB.