The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay held its 58th convocation in virtual reality mode on Sunday.
The premier institute thought it best to arrange a convocation in VR for the graduating students as it did not wish to put their health at risk but at the same time, not deprive them of the sense of achievement and pride of graduating.
The personalized avatar of each graduate received the degree certificate from the customised avatar of the Director, Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri.
The convocation is normally a chance for students to socialise 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 at the ceremony.
Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone, world-renowned investor and philanthropist was the Guest of Honour.
Professor Frederick Duncan Michael Haldane, FRS is currently the Sherman Fairchild University Professor of Physics at Princeton University and a Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Prof. Haldane worked as a physicist at Institut Laue–Langevin in France and moved to the University of Southern California, and was at the University of California, San Diego until he moved to Princeton University in 1990.
Prof Chaudhari said, “Producing top-quality graduates who would be future leaders in industry, research and academia is the primary goal of IIT Bombay. The skill they developed, the work culture they picked up and the peers they made during their studies at IIT Bombay will help them achieve success in their lives. The entire nation will be looking forward to their contributions in taking our country ahead”.
He further added that providing a virtual reality experience to all graduates needed not only highly innovative steps but also a tremendous effort by professors and staff. “They did it for the students. Hopefully, this will enthuse our graduates as well as other engineers in the country to think big and think innovatively”.
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