Bhubaneswar, July 10: The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, today inaugurated its extension centre here and held a special convocation to mark the occasion.
Indian Metal and Ferro Alloys Ltd founder chairman Bansidhar Panda and computer science professor at IIT Kanpur Manindra Agrawal were awarded degrees honoris causa at the event.
Panda, who had been involved in several scientific, industrial and government bodies in his illustrious career, also held the chair at the NIT board of governors from 2002 to 2006. He has been a member of the NIT council since September 2002.
Agrawal is known as one of the foremost researchers in complexity theory and has significantly contributed to the computational number theory and cryptography.
Speaking on the occasion, NIT director Sunil Sarangi said the 4,000-sqm patch of land, granted by the state government for the extension, would serve the state by hosting a nerve centre of scholarship, innovation and entrepreneurship. The centre will be designed by a Bangalore-based architecture firm and is expected to be ready in two years, Sarangi said.
IIT Bhubaneswar director R.V. Rajakumar, who was the chief guest at the event, said both the NIT and the IIT shared a responsibility of contributing to the economic and social prosperity of the state through introduction of technology and enhancement of the academic outreach. "Working together, our institutes can offer to the nation an example of academic prosperity among people," Rajakumar said.
"The extension centre will go a long way in helping the NIT conduct several activities, especially the placements. Many companies often hesitate to travel to the Rourkela campus for counselling," said an NIT official.
"Besides, the centre will also conduct short-term courses for teachers of engineering colleges and host international conferences," said Sarangi. "It would also provide us with a better interface with the government," he said.
So far, the institute has produced 14,145 BTech graduates, 702 MCA graduates, 2,969 from the MTech courses, 1,468 from MSc and 195 doctorates.
