New Delhi (NVI): Keeping in view the safety measures during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 58th convocation of IIT Bombay was held today in Virtual Reality (VR) mode.
Animated digital avatars of the institute’s senate members shared the stage and personalised avatars of students were given away certificates, as the whole convocation programme was telecast on DD Sahyadri and social media platforms.
Graduation is a special momemt in a student’s life, so Institute thought it best to arrange such a VR-convocation for the graduating students so as not to put their health at risk but at the same time, not deprive them of the sense of achievement and pride of passing out of India’s premier engineering Institute.
“The personalized avatar of each graduate received the degree certificate from the personalized avatar of the Director Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri. All medal winners received their medals from the personalized avatar of the Chief Guest,” the Ministry of Human Resource Development said in a statement.
The convocation is normally a chance for students to socialize with their friends and faculty one last time. This year the institute provided an opportunity for students to do so via virtual presence, allowing students to roam around a virtual campus, visit their hostels and departments virtually, and bump into/meet their friends and faculty.
Prof. Duncan Haldane, co-recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics, and a Professor of Physics at Princeton University, was the Chief Guest during the ceremony. Mr. Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone, world- renowned investor and philanthropist was the Guest of Honor.
Chief Guest Prof Haldane said, “There is a lesson for everyone involved in research. Even if you are involved in a very goal-driven project, try to find some small share of your time to investigate unexpected curiosities that sometimes show up along the way. The analogy is that you may be walking along a path kicking a few rocks with your boots, but if you don’t look at your feet, you may miss a huge rough diamond that your kick exposed, and just walk on by. Of course, eventually someone else may walk that path and see the gem that you inadvertently unearthed but failed to notice”.
-ARK
