Toppers feted at Govt polytechnic convocation

Nagpur: It was a happy day for 676 polytechnic students who got their diplomas at the 20th convocation of Government Polytechnic College Nagpur (GPCN) on Friday. Sayyed Shoheb Salim, who topped in mechanical engineering with 95.19%, received eight honours, including the Bharatratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Award.
Poonam Upadhayay topped the civil engineering stream with 94.13% and was the student to win second highest number of honours. Lokesh Suryawanshi secured first position in metallurgical engineering with 94.19% and Vivek Gupta came first in mining and mine surveying. The convocation was chaired by joint director of technical education (Nagpur region) Gulabrao Thakre. Vice-chancellor of Nagpur University SP Kane gave the convocation address.

Of the 813 who took admissions in various streams in GPCN, 676 received their certificates compared to the previous year when 725 students were conferred with diplomas. Last year, 145 students in civil engineering branch received diplomas, 12 more than current year’s 133. College’s principal Chandrashekhar Thorat said, “This is standard fluctuation that happens every academic session. Sometimes admissions are fewer in one year for a particular branch and sometimes overall admissions are higher.”

Lecturer RB Tirpude, students Ayush Gaikwad and Shehroz Khan from college’s automobile engineering department are in the process of applying for two patents, namely ‘Lucre Hybrid Vehicle System’ and ‘Advancement in Catalytic Convertor’.

According to Gaikwad, highlight of the hybrid system will be better efficiency from the petrol engine as well as electric motors by reducing their weight. “Our technology will be cheaper. We will be using lithium-polymer batteries to keep costs down. Khan said, “We have developed a new catalytic convertor that has achieved 60% reduction in greenhouse gases.”

Thakre told TOI the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has issued instructions to all institutes to partner with industries for training and curriculum development. “We have identified the need to reform the technical education curriculum by allowing industry exposure to students. Many institutions have already signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with top industry players,” he said.

Thakre also informed that joint training sessions for teachers and students would ensue as per the agreements.

Kane gave motivated the students to look forward future optimistically. “Being only knowledgeable or wealthy isn’t real success. The age you are in is a perfect time to explore and experience new things. You need to strike a perfect balance in all aspects of life to be successful.”

(With Inputs from Monika Pandey)