Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan awards Blockchain degrees to NIT Rourkela students 

NIT Rourkela is the first NIT and second Institute of National Importance to adopt this method of awarding degrees 
Pic credits: NIT Rourkela
Pic credits: NIT Rourkela

On August 13, Saturday, the 19th Convocation of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela was organised and the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan graced the occasion to award degrees to the students. A press note released by the institute read that degrees were awarded to "a total of 1,555 students of National Institute of Technology Rourkela".

The note read that during the Annual Convocation 2021, six institute gold medals, five endowment gold medals, five endowment awards, 70 branch topper medals and one endowment cash award were awarded to graduands. A total of 11 alumni were conferred with Distinguished Alumnus Award–2021. A total of 1,555 students (859 undergraduate, 608 postgraduate, 88 PhDs) were awarded their degree, it added.

Addressing the convocation, the Union Minister said, "I want to see NIT Rourkela to become the hub of technology. The institute must plan proactively on how the entire Sundergarh district can be linked to the Blockchain, how the households can be mapped, how the people can get benefits provided by the government and how can it help in increasing the skill and employment possibilities among the youth. NIT Rourkela should work on mapping this through the Blockchain.”

Further, appreciating NIT Rourkela for adopting the traditional Sambalpuri dress code, the Education Minister stressed that "The NEP is just not a document, it's a philosophy to decolonise our mindset". "Additionally, things are changing very fast around the globe. Let us take a pledge for the next 25 years to make this institute a multi-disciplinary and multi-visionary Institute. The institute must focus on collaborating with various institutes for starting new collaborative courses and conducting research. NIT Rourkela should become a catalyst of change in this district," he added. 

Meanwhile, talking more about NEP, the Minister said, "The NEP recommends students must learn in local languages. Japan, Germany and China have adapted their mother tongue in their learning, research and innovation and are at heights today. The research and basic studies should be done in local languages also and NIT Rourkela must come up with new ideas and innovations to improve the translator technology."

Speaking at the occasion, Chairman, Board of Governors, NIT Rourkela and Director, NIT Rourkela Prof K Umamaheshwar Rao said, "The institute has been recognised for its cutting-edge research and technology, development in diverse fields, science, engineering and technology, management, architecture, humanities and social sciences."

Listing out the institute's achievements, the Director said, "During the calendar year 2021-22, the institute has received the sanction of 97 sponsored projects with a total value of Rs 24.13 crore and 110 consultancy projects with a total value of nearly Rs 11.43 crore."

"Our Career Development Centre has been untiringly coordinating with several organisation to provide quality placement to our graduates, postgraduates and doctorates, both inside and outside the country," the director added. 

The Director added, "During the academic year 2021-22, a total of 1,290 full-time job offers were provided to our students with a significant increase compared to previous years.”

As per the press note, NIT Rourkela is the first NIT institute and second institute — after IIT Kanpur — to implement the issue of certificates digitally by Blockchain-based. This is developed with assistance from IIT Kanpur’s C3i Innovation Hub, under the aegis of the National Blockchain Project mooted by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

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