IIT-Bombay brings e-twist to its 58th convocation

In first-of-its-kind programme, the institute holds ceremony attended by virtual avatars of students, guest of honour and chief guest

A student receives a medal and his degree at the virtual convocation ceremony

The 58th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) will probably be the most memorable one, as the graduating batch, the chief guest and the guest of honour gathered for a first-of-its-kind virtual ceremony on Sunday.

As the prevailing global health crisis prevented the students and the professors from meeting in person for the annual grand ceremony, the institute hosted the convocation in an electronic avatar. Using an app with an unique ID and password, close to 2,200 students from the graduating batch joined the ceremony in their digital avatars and received their degrees from the digital avatars of the guest of honour and the chief guest.

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Duncan Haldane, the co-recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics and professor of Physics at Princeton University, was the chief guest, and Stephen A Schwarzman, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone and world-renowned investor and philanthropist, was the guest of honour.

Moreover, the app was committed to give the attendees a full experience of a campus tour on the eve of convocation, and also the regular meet and greet activities following the ceremony.

Dr Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director IIT-Bombay, had earlier told mid-day that this was a "first-of-its-kind programme as we have not heard of any such initiative, not only in India but elsewhere too."

2,200
Approx no. of students from the graduating batch

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