Bhubaneswar, April 17: Former students of the Indian Institute of Technology here took a stroll down memory lane during the institute's first alumni meet hosted on its new permanent campus at Argul.

Around 50 former students from BTech, MTech and PhD attended the meet held from April 14 to 16 amid the lush green ambience of the institute at the foothills of the Barunei Hills.

The three-day extravaganza started off with alumni members introducing themselves. Director R.V. Rajakumar and Swarup Kumar Mahapatra, dean of alumni affairs and international relations, welcomed them and appreciated their zeal to assemble for the meet despite their busy schedules. They called for greater participation of alumni in the institute's development as many hold responsible positions in various government organisations, PSUs, private sector companies and academic institutions. Many are successful entrepreneurs themselves, creating jobs for others.

Later, the alumni were given a tour of the new campus, highlighting the recent developments in infrastructure.

It also focused on visits to various schools and academic departments. This was followed by a panel discussion with Afixi Technology founder Prasenjeeth Pati and Rajendra Kumar Senapati, director (HR) at Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited on the role of the alumni in development of an institution. The interactive session provided the juniors an opportunity to connect with their seniors.

"The objective of the homecoming was to reinforce camaraderie among the alumni. The event aimed to promote academic excellence among stakeholders and guide the current batch in career promotion," said Rajakumar.

"The alumni meet was an opportunity to network with our seniors. The invaluable guidance provided by them would definitely help us, as it would be backed by experience," said Ashray Sudhir, a student of the institute.