NIT-Patna students attend the convocation ceremony at SK Memorial Hall on Sunday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Electrical branch topper Shiv Prakash Singh was on cloud nine after receiving a gold medal at National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Patna’s convocation on Sunday.

The Bokaro boy has already refused the placement offer from Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to pursue higher studies so that he could realise his dream of becoming a scientist.

REC is a leading public infrastructure finance company in the power sector. The company finances and promotes rural electrification projects across India.

Shiv, who got admission at IIT-Gandhinagar for the MTech programme, said: “Like other graduates I, too, received a placement offer from the REC. But I wanted to pursue research to give back to society.” Shiv’s interest lies in space technology and after completing his MTech he wants to join the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

“The success of the cheapest interplanetary Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has established the fact that Indian scientists and engineers are in no way inferior and it is high time that students from premier institutions such as IITs and NITs, join India-initiated space programmes,” added Shiv.

Last week, India made history by becoming the first nation to successfully enter Mars’s orbit in its first attempt. Shiv’s interest for research in space technology is rare among budding engineers of IITs and NITs. Only two per cent employees of Isro have graduated from the IITs and NITs. At the annual convocation of NIT-Patna at SK Memorial Hall, 564 passouts of 2013-14 session were awarded medals and certificates.

If Shiv has an interest in research, his batchmate and architecture branch topper Tulika Gopal, too, doesn’t want to join a corporate house. Her interest lies in academics.

“From the day I joined NIT for architecture, I dreamt of becoming a teacher,” Tulika said. For fulfilling her dream, she is planning to appear for the GATE (graduate aptitude test in engineering) examination scheduled for February 2015.

However, there are students who are willing to take up corporate jobs. Pooja Gaur, the topper in electronics and communication engineering, is happy after being placed at SAP Labs India. She has been hired at a whopping package of Rs 7 lakh per annum.

At the convocation, five postgraduates (MTech) and six students from undergraduate courses (BTech) received gold medals.

Daya Shankar Prasad (mechanical) received the over-all branch topper medal, while in undergraduate courses, Ratnesh Kumar (mechanical) received the over-all medal.

Besides the purely academic toppers, Pooja Gaur (BTech, electronics and communication) and Anish Bhardwaj (BTech, mechanical) were chosen “best girl and boy graduate”. Sankar Kumar Pal, former director of Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, was the chief guest.