Hyderabad: IIT Hyderabad graduated its largest-ever batch of 1,398 students at its 15th convocation on Saturday, marking a nearly 10% increase over last year’s 1,273 graduates, while also announcing eight new academic programmes in emerging technology domains.The convocation, held at the institute’s campus, also marked two academic milestones with the graduation of the first batch of the BTech programme in IC Design and Technology and the inaugural cohort of the IIT Hyderabad–Deakin University Joint Doctoral Programme.The graduating class comprised 489 BTech, 528 MTech, 191 PhD, 111 MSc, 40 MDes, 18 BDes, 11 MA, 6 MS, and 4 Diploma in Engineering Science students.Delivering the convocation address, Padma Vibhushan awardee and Bharatanatyam exponent Dr Padma Subrahmanyam urged graduates to bridge the gap between science and culture.“Science and Arts are the two eyes of our Bharat Mata. Science protects our physical well-being, while the Arts awaken the intangible divinity within human beings. Education is ‘Vidya’, that which liberates. It is time for modern technology to draw inspiration from ancient wisdom. You are the crème of the intelligentsia of your generation, and I hope you will synthesise modern scientific thought with the invaluable wisdom of our past to create a better future for humanity,” she said.The chairperson of the Board of Governors, Dr BVR Mohan Reddy, said the institute’s growth reflected what could be achieved through collective effort. He urged students to combine innovation with integrity and ambition with humility while contributing to nation-building.Presenting the institute’s annual report, director Prof BS Murty said, “The 15th Convocation marks a defining milestone in IIT Hyderabad’s journey, not only because it celebrates our largest graduating class, but also because it witnesses the graduation of the first batch of our BTech programme in IC Design & Technology and the inaugural cohort of the IITH-Deakin Joint Doctoral Programme.”Prof Murty also announced eight new academic programmes. These include Artificial Intelligence in Chemical Engineering and Computational Chemical Engineering, among the first dedicated specialised programmes of their kind in the IIT system. The other programmes are Critical Minerals, Defence Technology, Photonics, Industrial Metallurgy, Integrated Computational Materials Engineering and a product-based PhD programme.He said IIT Hyderabad had improved its position to 588 in the QS World University Rankings and now has an innovation ecosystem comprising nearly 300 startups.The institute also unveiled its official Sanskrit motto, “Navonmeshena Desha Nirmanam”, meaning nation building through innovation.Five gold medals and 44 silver medals were presented during the convocation. Bonthu Mani Hemanth Reddy received the president’s gold medal for securing the highest overall CGPA among BTech graduates. Institute gold medals were awarded to Safa Fathima Rafeek, Manisha Thangadurai, Siddharth Agrawal and Guna Sekhar Reddy Panaganti.“It’s not just one factor, but an overall combination of effort throughout the four years, learning in classes, doing projects, consistent parental support and everything else that made this happen,” said Hemanth Reddy, a computer science graduate who will be joining Carnegie Mellon University for a Master’s, where he plans to work on AI and visual agents.For Guna Sekhar Reddy Panaganti, the moment was personal. He lost his father last year. As he spoke to STOI, his mother and brother stood a few feet away, recording the interview on their phones, his mother teary-eyed and smiling at the same time. “I always felt I couldn’t make him proud. So I have been spending every moment of my life trying to do this, and this is a major milestone in my life. I would thank my mother and father for everything they have given me. Even though he is not here, I am happy that I made him proud,” he said.Originally from Suryapet, Guna Sekhar completed his schooling in Hyderabad and his Mechanical Engineering from a private college before joining IIT Hyderabad’s MTech in Techno-Entrepreneurship programme. His interest in startups led him to the course, and he has since registered his own startup, which uses a combination of physics and machine learning to speed up defect detection in manufacturing. “I registered my startup this year. For data purposes, I also joined a Japan-based company working in manufacturing IoT services. I’ll be moving to Japan next month for four years and then come back to India,” he said.
