2,573 students graduated during the 60th convocation of IIT-Madras

CHENNAI: A total of 2,573 students graduated during the 60th Convocation of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), which was held in the campus here on Saturday. As many as 2,746 degrees (including joint and dual degrees) were awarded to the students on the occasion.

The convocation is being held in the backdrop of a development - IIT Madras launching the first-ever international campus an IIT in Tanzania-Zanzibar.

During this Convocation, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, awarded degrees to 2,573 graduates including 675 B.Tech (of whom 36 with Honours), 407 dual degree B.Tech and M.Tech, 442 M.Tech, 147 M.Sc, 46 M.A, 49 Executive MBA, 67 MBA, 200 M.S, 453 PhD and 70 Web-enabled M.Tech for executives.

The PhD numbers also include 19 joint degrees with universities in foreign countries including Australia, Singapore, France and Germany. President of India prize for the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) amongst B.Tech and dual degree went to Sai Gautham Ravipati B.Tech (Electricial Engineering) and Governor's prize for the best all round proficiency in curricular and extra- curricular activities in dual degree gone to S Prahalad (B.Tech and M.Tech) Biological Engineering.

Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Madras, said, "what has changed is a greater thrust on Research and Development (R&D). The total R&D funding has gone up from about Rs 250 crores to Rs 2,000 crores in ten years and what is even more encouraging is that forty percent of it comes from the industry. IIT-M Research park."

Stating that entrepreneurship amongst graduating students and even professors has almost gone viral, he said the number of deep-tech startups incubating from IIT-M is perhaps the highest of any institute in India.