Coal India Limited chairman Partho Sarathi Bhattacharjee hands over the best student shield to Dhananjay Kumar, B.Tech (computer science and engineering) during the 29th convocation of Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad, on Friday. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, March 30: A mining engineer from Mizoram became the first engineer from his state to receive a Ph.D from the Indian School of Mines (ISM) University today. The 29th convocation of the university was held today.

A Calcutta-based company, Compan, in collaboration with the local cable network, telecast the entire event for the first time to all residences of ISMU employees.

The mining engineer from Mizoram, C. Sawmliana, was felicitated at the convocation.

Sawmliana is at present working with the Central Mining Research Institute (CMRI), Dhanbad in the blasting department, designated as scientist ‘C’.

He joined the institute in 1998 and started work on a Ph.D in 2002 under V.M.S.R. Murthy, a professor in the mining department of ISMU and a specialist in blasting studies of mines, Swamliana said.

While Murthy is all praise for his pupil, Swamliana’s external guide, the head of the blasting division of CMRI, Pi-yush Pal Roy, described him as “a brilliant research fellow”.

Sawmliana is the youngest among five brothers and sisters in his family and the only one to have pursued a mining engineering course to this extent. As far as Mizoram is concerned, Sawmliana recalled that only one of his seniors had completed a BTech from ISMU earlier, but had not earned a PhD.

“There have been many engineering graduates from Mizoram, but none of the engineers has completed a PhD so far,” he claimed.

Evidence supporting the claim is available in university records. “Mizoram has only one university and students are constantly kept abreast of its reports,” Sawmliana said.

Son of Lalduha Chhangte, Sawmliana recalled, “My father and those at home had made significant contributions to my success. They helped me when I was determined to go into further studies in mining.”

After completing his graduation with mining from the only university in Mizoram, Mizoram University, Sawmliana did his thesis on “An investigation into the blast design parameters for ring hole blasting and induced blasting in blasting gallery method of the underground mines”.

Sawmliana is now settled in Dhanbad with his wife and three children and wants to continue working in the field of blast design at CMRI.