GITAM honours Girish Kasaravalli with D. Litt at 13th convocation

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru campus of GITAM (Deemed to be) University held its 13th convocation ceremony on Saturday and awarded degrees and four gold medals to the graduates of the 2021–2022 batch. The chief guest on the occasion was Prof. Sarit Kumar Das, former director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar.

Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) was presented to renowned Kannada film director Padma Shree awardee Girish Kasaravalli. An honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Science) was presented to Padma Bhushan recipient Prof V Rajaraman, who pioneered computer science and engineering education in the country.

Degrees were awarded to a total of 506 students from postgraduate/undergraduate programs in engineering (426), science (21) and management (59) disciplines. The GITAM President Gold Medals for outstanding academic performance were awarded to G. Chaitra (B.Tech, ECE); Akula Ruchitha (CSE); R Jyoshna (BBA) and Gorantla Sowjanya in M.Sc (Statistics).

The convocation commenced by paying floral tributes to the statues of Sir M Visvesvaraya, Chatrapathi Shivaji and Dr MVVS Murthi, Founder, GITAM.

Students were conferred degrees and medals by the chief guest and academic dignitaries amid inspirational speeches. Prof. Dayananda Siddavattam, Vice Chancellor, GITAM, administered the oath to the graduating students. The ceremony also saw the presentation of the annual report by Dr Jayasankar Variar, Pro VC (Academics).

Addressing the audience, Prof M S Mohan Kumar, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Bengaluru Campus, GITAM, said, "As a batch that has not only survived, but thrived during such a full-blown pandemic, this group of students already have gotten a taste of what the real world is like. Alumni from GITAM (Deemed to be) University continue to make their alma mater and the disciplines of Science, Engineering and Management proud. I am sure the outgoing batch will continue this trend and achieve even greater heights."

"Bengaluru is the university's youngest campus. It is also unique because close to 85 percent of our students live on-campus, and when you live with your classmates, the relationships become more valuable, especially as you graduate. Moreover, Bengaluru campus has been one of the fastest growing in terms of year-on-year growth in placement packages. As the graduates of the 13th convocation stand at the threshold of embarking on careers of distinction and purpose, we wish them all the best," said M Sri Bharat, President, GITAM.

Delivering his convocation address, chief guest Prof Sarit Kumar Das said, "Some may consider themselves unlucky for not getting into IITs or NITs. However, life must be taken in its totality because life is not a 100-metre run. What is important is where you make the start. Life is a marathon, where the three 'I's matter - Intention for learning, initiative and integrity."

During the event, Prof Dayananda Siddavattam, Vice Chancellor; M Sri Bharat, President; members of the Board of Management and academic dignitaries were present, including M. Bharadwaj, Secretary; Dr. D. Gunasekaran, Registrar, Gowthama Rao, Pro Vice Chancellor (Campus Life) and Prof. M S Mohan Kumar, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Bengaluru Campus, GITAM.

In the new batch (the academic year 2022-23), 1320 students of engineering along with 360 from management, 220 from sciences and 100 from humanities are likely to be admitted. In 2021-2022, a total of 5,193 students graduated from across all three campuses of GITAM (Deemed to be) University.