Bhubaneswar, Aug. 7: Former students of the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, have come together to support research at the institute.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, and the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Alumni Group (NITR Alumni Group) for creation of the "Prof. Ajaya Kumar Mohanty Endowed Chair Professor" at the institute.

The position will provide resources the faculty needs to conduct research that aims to confer prestige to the holder and the institution.

There was a two-day rigorous exercise by representatives from both sides in giving final shape to the MoU. The institute was represented by Sukadev Meher, dean, Alumni Relations and Resource Generation and other professors. The alumni group had L.N. Bhuyan and S.P. Rao from the 1972 batch and Damodar Acharya from the 1970 batch.

The position named has been created in the department of electrical engineering with specialisation in any area of electrical sciences with an initial contribution of Rs 1 crore from the alumni of NIT, Rourkela, as a mark of respect for their teacher, the late Ajaya Kumar Mohanty.

"The position aims at attracting an outstanding researcher as chair professor to enhance the research output, the reputation and the ranking of the institute," said Meher.

Family members of Mohanty have also contributed to the endowment. The endowment fund will remain in perpetuity and open to donations for the future.

In a related development, the NIT, Rourkela, team of Nishant Nihar and Abhishek Patra won the NTPC Electron Quiz 2017, recently held on the campus of the Chandragupta Institute of Management Patna. A total of 52 teams from various engineering and management colleges across Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha took part in the competition. The top three teams will take part in the national final to be held at NTPC Business School, Noida, on August 19.