IIIT Hyderabad Convocation: 529 students graduate, director steps down

International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) conducted the 24th convocation ceremony today. During the ceremony, PJ Narayanan, director of IIITH, announced stepping down from his position. The new director of IIITH will be Sandeep Shukla, current senior professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

IIITH director Narayanan will be stepping down after 12 years of directorship, and will continue as a faculty member at the institute. Shukla will take over in August 2025.

At the convocation ceremony of IIIT Hyderabad, 529 students of the graduating batch were conferred various undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) degrees.

IIIT Hyderabad Convocation: Awardees

Vineeth Bhat, student of BTech (Honours) Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), was awarded the IIIT Hyderabad gold medal for his “outstanding” academic performance. Revanth Kumar Gundam, student of BTech Computer Science and MS Computational Linguistics (dual degree), received the ‘Best All-rounder’ award for his notable contributions in academics, extra-curricular activities and IIITH services. Pradeep Kumar Pal, PhD Computational Natural Sciences, received the Banyan Award for voluntary efforts relating to student affairs.

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For the outgoing batch, 128 companies have registered for placements, and 75 companies have already conducted interviews, according to an official statement. 41 of the PhD students at the institute hold fellowships from DST, Google, TCS, Microsoft, UGC, CSIR, and various iHubs at IIITH.

During the IIITH graduation ceremony, the chief guest Debjani Ghosh, distinguished fellow, NITI Aayog, and former president of Nasscom, congratulated the graduating students.

IIIT Hyderabad: New leadership

Speaking at the IIIT Hyderabad convocation, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, chairman, governing council, said, “As Sandeep steps in as director to lead IIITH, it is poised to take up greater challenges to serve the nation and prepare its students to make more significant contribution to the society.”

Shukla is a fellow with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has published over 300 papers, and serves as editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions on Embedded Systems. Shukla has been honoured with the US PECASE Award and the Humboldt Bessel Award.