COVID-19: IIIT Bangalore holds e-convocation for the class of 2020

Team Careers360 | July 6, 2020 | 01:41 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, or IIIT-B, held its first virtual convocation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

IIT-B awarded degrees to 282 graduating students. This included 7 PhD degrees, 13 Master of Science by Research degrees, 159 M.Tech degrees, 11 M.Sc. degrees, 63 dual degrees, and 29 students with sponsored M.Tech degrees.

The chief guest was Jitendra Malik of the University of California at Berkeley.

Malik told the graduating students that India had a lot of scope for those with qualifications in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing are all significant areas for India to grow,” he said, adding, “Big data and big computing techniques such as deep learning have come together to cause major advances in AI in the last 5-10 years.”

He advised the graduating students to “look at problems in front of you and see how you can use technology to solve them”.

Challenging year

S. Sadagopan, director of IIIT-Bangalore, said the e-convocation was important as the academic year was full of challenges for the students and teachers. “This has been a very challenging, yet special year for us as we have had to find innovative ways to complete our curriculum, and ensure the safety of our students, staff and faculty,” he said.

Some exceptional students were also awarded medals for their outstanding performance in academics and extracurricular activities.

Students with noteworthy accomplishments included Oindrila Matilal, who won the Best Paper Award at the European Conference. Pragyan Mohapatra received the Intel India Research Fellowship for 2019.

Another student, Rajavelsamy (who goes by one name), was elected as Vice Chairman of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the highest telecom standards body in the world of LTE and 5G.

N Krishnakumar, founder and former chairman, Mindtree was the guest of honour.

The ceremony was presided over by Kris Gopalakrishnan, the chairman of the IIIT-B governing body and S Sadagopan, the director of IIIT-B.

The graduating students of this year will join some of the leading national and international technology giants including Intel, Directi, IBM, Nvidia, Microsoft, Samsung, Cisco, Goldman Sachs, Google, Uber and Qualcomm.