Two students of Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi (NIT-T) have scored all-India ranking in the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering 2021 (GATE) examination.
Shivam Negi and S. Ananthanarayanan Potti, both final year B.Tech students, have secured the 8th and the 220th ranks respectively in the exam conducted by IIT Bombay for Chemical Engineering stream, for 16,705 candidates across the country.
Mr. Negi had started his preparation for the GATE 2021 exam in March 2020 when the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed. His preparation was by self-study through reference books, making notes and solving a lot of numerical problems, besides attempting a lot of mock tests. “Preparing for GATE developed my mental fortitude, and the good ranking has opened up opportunities in the field of higher studies and jobs,” Mr. Shivam said.
Mr. Potti who started his preparation during September 2020 also went through the process of self-study. “Understanding the concepts well and applying them for problem-solving plays a major role in getting a good GATE rank,” he said.
The students said they were guided by their faculty and that Chemical Engineering coursework at NIT-T turned out to be of immense utility. Mr. Negi is looking forward to working as a staff scientist at BARC while Mr. Potti has set sights on postgraduate studies.
Nine more students in the NIT-T have cleared GATE this year, Institute Director Mini Shaji Thomas said congratulating the faculty and students.
Qualifying in GATE, which has a three-year validity, is a mandatory requirement for admission into Postgraduate Programmess (Master's and Doctoral) and availing utility of Government Scholarships / Assistantships. The GATE score is also used by some Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for their recruitment and by several other universities in India and abroad for admissions.