• A total of 1360 students were awarded degrees this time

• Awards and medals were given in 51 categories, whereas 21 received Outstanding PhD Thesis Awards

Kanpur, 29 June, 2022: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, hosted its 55th Convocation on 29th June, 2022. The Chief Guest this year was Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Founder and Chairperson of Narayana Health. The Convocation was held at the Institute Auditorium, and was presided over by Dr Radhakrishnan K Koppillil, Chairman, Board of Governors (BoG), IIT Kanpur. Last year, the institute welcomed Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, as the Chief Guest, along with Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. In a Convocation held in hybrid mode, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the students, reflected upon the institute’s works, and shared ideas.

This year, the institute welcomed Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Founder and Chairperson of Narayana Health, as the Chief Guest. A renowned cardiac surgeon, a successful entrepreneur, and a philanthropist, Dr. Shetty is revered for his ingenious ideas and reforms in the health sector. He is credited for the scheme Yeshaswini – an inexpensive micro health insurance that has benefited more than 3.4 million rural poor in Karnataka. For his efforts, he has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, The Economist Innovation Award, and the Nikkei Asia Prize for Economic and Business Innovation.

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur said, “The Convocation is one such occasion that all the students await eagerly. It is a momentous annual occasion for the institute as well, as on this day, we celebrate the learnings of another batch, who are going out into the world to do greater good for the nation and society, at large. Like every year, I wish the very best for the graduating students and the awardees. I hope that they will continue inculcating the values taught at our institute, and will grow to be better human beings going out into the world.”

Being present virtually as the Chief Guest, Narayana Health Chairperson Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty said, “First of all, congratulations to the ones receiving their degrees and awards today. I’m glad to be part of this auspicious occasion where we’re seeing another batch of change makers going out into the world with the resolve to bring positive changes. IIT Kanpur has been leading when it comes to innovative research and cutting-edge technology. It has also led many life-saving medical innovations and initiatives over the years. I hope that the degree-receiving students today would reflect the same ideals as inculcated at IIT Kanpur and would try to make this world a better place.”

Presiding over the convocation, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur said, “Convocation is an occasion when we get to reiterate the vision of the founding fathers, including the illustrious Founder Director, Prof. P K Kelkar, whose vision set the ethos of the institute that are instilled in every member of IITK fraternity. This is a day to celebrate the learnings and to take pledge to practice the values and ethos, going ahead in life. I wish everyone receiving degrees and awards the very best and hope that they would contribute to the betterment of the world, at the best of their capabilities.”

This year, a total of 1360 students got degrees, out of which, 116 are from PhD, 10 are from MTech-PhD (Joint Degree), 144 are from MTech, 556 are from BTech, 53 are from MBA, 14 are from MDes, 25 are from MS (by Research), 40 are from PGPEX-VLFM, 144 are from MSc (2 year course), 24 are from Double Major, 108 are from Dual Degree, 21 are from MS-PD (MS part of the Dual Degree), and 105 are from BS.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first-of-its-kind blockchain degree initiative at IIT Kanpur. This is a unique in-house technology developed by CRUBN, an IIT Kanpur-incubated company, under the National Blockchain Project. The technology is Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)-enabled and can be verified globally and are unforgeable. The same technology has recently been used by the Ministry of Women & Child Development for issuing certificates to the awardees of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2022. It is also being used to implement land records in some states. This time also, the same technology was used to issue digital degrees to the students. The students will be able to access the digital degrees through an app named Indisi Wallet.

Commenting on the blockchain-based digital degrees, Prof. Manindra Agrawal, one of the co-ordinators of the National Blockchain Project said, “With the widespread digitalisation of processes and service delivery, it is important to promote online verification of degrees and other educational certificates. To make this process seamless, secure, and privacy-preserving, our team CRUBN at IIT Kanpur has developed a solution using blockchain and self-sovereign identity (SSI), which allows students to manage and store their digital degrees as verifiable credentials in digital wallets installed on their devices. These credentials cannot be forged, are globally verifiable, selectively disclosable, and sensitive to user content. Also, it addresses global privacy and security concerns and upholds the underlying principles of the envisioned data protection bill.”

The graduating students were conferred the degrees by the Chairperson, Senate in the event. In addition to the degrees, 51 categories of prizes and medals were given, while a total of 21 students were awarded the Outstanding PhD Thesis Award. This year, the President’s Gold Medal was conferred to Shashwat Gupta from the Computer Science and Engineering Department, the Director’s Gold Medal (4-year UG program) was conferred to Priydarshi Singh from the Aerospace Engineering Department, the Director’s Gold Medal (5-year UG program) was conferred to Prateek Yadav from the Mechanical Engineering Department, the Ratan Swarup Memorial Prize was conferred to Atin Vikram Singh from the Electrical Engineering Department, and the Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Medal was conferred to Rupesh R Chafle from the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Department.

The dress code for this year’s convocation was traditional cream-color Kurta, and white pyjamas for the male students, and traditional cream-color Kurta, and white churidar or leggings for the female students, along with formal footwear.

After last few years’ disruptions due to COVID, this time, the convocation was held physically by adhering to prevalent COVID protocols.

About IIT Kanpur:

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur was established on 2nd November 1959 by an Act of Parliament. The institute has a sprawling campus spread over 1055 acres with large pool of academic and research resources spanning across 17 departments, 25 centres, and 5 Interdisciplinary programs in engineering, science, design, humanities, and management disciplines with 480 full-time faculty members and approximately 9000 students. In addition to formal undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the institute has been active in research and development in areas of value to both industry and government.

For more information, visit www.iitk.ac.in.