Convocation 2022 was held in the magnificent auditorium of BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus on 11th September 2022. Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India was the Chief Guest for the Convocation.

Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chancellor, BITS Pilani; Mr. Dilip Gaur, Member of the Board of Governors; Prof. Souvik Bhattacharyya, Vice-Chancellor, BITS Pilani; Prof. Suman Kundu, Director, BITS Pilani, Goa Campus; Prof. Sudhir Kumar Barai, Director, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus; Prof. Prof. Srinivasan Madapusi, Director, BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus; Members of the Senate, Faculty & staff members of Goa campus and several distinguished guests, along with the graduating students and their family members were present on this joyous occasion.

In his convocation address, Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, lauded BITS Pilani University as a veritable center of innovation, research and entrepreneurial energy. He urged the graduating students to carry forward the innovative spirit embedded in the BITS system and work towards positioning our nation as a global power.

In his address, Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chancellor of BITS Pilani University, pointed out that the pandemic opened up opportunities for innovation in technology and science. He motivated the graduating students to use the knowledge acquired at BITS and transform this world through their expertise in science and technology.

Prof. Souvik Bhattacharyya, the Vice-Chancellor of BITS Pilani University, presented an overview of the University’s accomplishments, and in particular, highlighted its pioneering role in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education. The Director, Prof. Suman Kundu gave a detailed report of BITS Pilani Goa Campus, offering a comprehensive overview of the advances in research, new initiatives and collaborations of the Institute.

The medal winners from the Bachelor’s degree programs include: Mr. Jagtap Nishant Nanasaheb (Gold Medal), Mr. Yash Joshi (Silver Medal) and Mr. Aryan Sanjay Ochani (Bronze Medal). This year 1029 students were declared eligible to receive their degree, of which 36 were Doctoral degree, 157 were ME, 4 were MPhil, 593 were BE and 239 were MSc. Over 70% of the students received their degree in person at this convocation while the remaining students were dispatched their degrees to them. In this convocation ceremony, 150 students who graduated through the Work Integrated Learning program (WILP) also received their degrees.

This year altogether eighteen awards - Distinguished Alumnus, Distinguished Services and BITS Ratna Award, presented to BITS Alumni for outstanding contributions to BITS, the community, and society, were announced. Two alumni: Mr. J C Chaudhry, Managing Director of Aakash Institute/Aakash IIT-JEE and Mr. Diaz Nesamoney, Founder, President, and CEO Jivox received their awards in Goa Convocation. Mr. Chaudhry has won the award in the Category of Entrepreneurship whereas Mr. Nesamoney has in the Category of Public Life/ Entrepreneurship/ Philanthropy.

Mr. Prashanth Palakurthi, (Founder, Reflexis systems) was the recipient of the first BITS Ratna Award which was presented to him in Pilani Convocation. Shri Palakurthi made a generous donation of $1M to BITS Pilani, his alma mater, the largest individual pledge ever received by BITS Pilani, for setting up the Anuradha and Prashanth Palakurthi Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (APPCAIR) in Goa campus and to support the Innovation Centre in Pilani campus.

Prof. D M Kulkarni, Dean, Administration, BITS Pilani, Goa campus, concluded the ceremony by presenting the Vote of Thanks.

The recipients of the Distinguished Alumnus Award are Prof. Sameer Sonkusale (Professor, Tufts University), Prof. Nasir Memon (Vice- Dean, New York University), Prof. Kartik Hosanagar (Professor, Wharton School) Prof. Arul Jayaraman (Professor, Texas A&M University), Ms. Pramad Jandhyala (Co-Founder, LatentView Analytics), Mr. J. C. Chaudhry (Chairman, Aakash Educational Services), Mr. Bhuvan Gupta (Co-founder of two Unicorns), Dr. Jagadeesh Babu Rangisetty (Founder & CEO, Biophore India Pharmaceuticals), Mr. Samay Kohli ( Co – founder, GreyOrange), Mr. Akash Gupta ( Chief Technology Officer, GreyOrange), Dr. Thampy Thomas (Entrepreneur), Mr. Sushil Kumar Roongta (Chairman, BALCO), Mr. Vivek Paul (Adjunct Professor, Stanford University), Dr. Vikram Sampath ( Writer & Historian), Prof. T.N. Vijay kumar (Professor, Purdue University), Prof. Padmanabhan Seshaiyer (Professor, George Mason University), Prof. Malla Raghava Rao ( Deputy Chief, National Institute of Health, Bethesda), Mr. Nandan Reddy (Co-founder, Swiggy), Mr. Diaz Nesomoney (Founder & CEO, Jivox), Mr. Sriharsha Majety (Co-founder, Swiggy), Mr. Abhinav Asthana (Co-founder & CEO, Postman), Mr. Abhijit Kane (Co-founder, Postman), Mr. T.M. Vijay Bhaskar (Chairman, Second Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission), Mr. Sukumar Ranganathan (Editor-in –chief, Hindustan Times), Mr. Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra (Director, Human Resources, Indian Oil Corporation), Ms. Ramkripa Ananthan (Chief of Design, Mahindra & Mahindra), Mr. Pratik Pota (CEO, Jubilant Foodworks), Prof. Madan Pillutla (Professor, London Business School), Prof. Milind Tambe (Gordon Mckay Professor, Harvard University), Prof. Krishnan Balasubramanian (Emeritus Professor, Arizona State University), Prof. Gerard George (Dean, Lee Kong Chian Business School), Prof. Aditya P. Mathur (Emeritus Professor, Purdue University), Mr. Jayan Raman Kutty (Co-founder, KRK Ventures), Mr. Rakesh Verma (Co-Founder, MapmyIndia), Mr. Sunil Nanda (Founder, Pilani Atmanirbhar Resource Centre), Mr. Anurag Jain (Managing Partner, Perot Jain), Mr. Subhash Malhotra (CEO & Founder, Claridge Homes), Ms. Revathi Advaithi (CEO, Flex), and Mr. Kishore Rajvanshy (Managing Director, Fleet Management).

The Distinguished Services Award has been conferred posthumously to Captain Ravi Shankar of the Indian army. Other recipients of the Distinguished Services Award are Mr. M.P. Sharma (Chairman, Techmart Group), Mr. Ramaswami Nagarajan (Coordinator, BITSSAA Australia), Mr. Srikanth Krishnamurthy (Managing Director, Alpha Rubber & Springs), and Mr. Pradeep Sethi (CEO, Corporate Insight).

A Special Talk Series with Hands-on Training/Demo on Sophisticated instruments