Students should remain connected with peers, faculty to enrich themselves, says Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh

Engineering students should always remain connected with their peer groups and faculty members as a lifelong exercise to enrich themselves in the competitive world, said Md. Alimuzzaman, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh, in Chennai.

In his inaugural address at the annual 17^th edition techno management festival, Gravitas 26, which was organised by VIT at its campus in Vellore, Mr. Alimuzzaman, said that students should compete in a passionate manner in such technical festivals that will help them sharpen their engineering skills. “Students should always think beyond classroom learning and competitions. They should acquire skills to contribute for the welfare of society and protect the environment,” he said.

The Deputy High Commissioner highlighted the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in addressing various problems in society. “Students should use AI technology to solve human problems. Once they are able to do it, students can use AI technology as their business venture. In that way, the Gravitas Festival will help them to gain knowledge and expertise,” he said.

In his presidential address, G. Viswanathan, founder and chancellor, VIT, said that modern technologies should be used as a developmental tool for the upliftment of the society rather than for destructive purposes. For example, drones are used more often on the battlefield than in agriculture. “In this context, Bangladesh, despite its political upheavals, has been steadily progressing economically so far. The country (Bangladesh) is the largest exporter of textiles in the world,” he said.

The Chancellor noted that Bangladesh was able to progress economically better than its big neighbour, India, in terms of per capita income. In a decade, Bangladesh has a per capita income of $2,900, compared with India ($2,800) and Pakistan ($1,700), he said.

The three-day fest fest will feature a total of 227 events, with more than 40,000 students expected to take part. Of these, 76 events have already been conducted, while the remaining 151 will be held during graVITas. The total prize pool is estimated at around Rs 25 lakh in cash and Rs 1.5 crore worth of prizes in kind.

On the occasion, Pawan Vadapalli, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Digital Business Services at HCLTech, and Prince Jayakumar, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Talent Acquisition at HCLTech, Sankar Viswanathan and Sekar Viswanathan, vice presidents, VIT, were present.