In a first, IIT Roorkee celebrates students’ contribution in the internship and placement drive

IIT Roorkee held a first of its kind award ceremony on 26 June  to commemorate the efforts put in by its students in continuing the placement and internship drive despite the challenges hurled by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-blues made placements one of the most challenging tasks for higher education institutions, even for the most esteemed institutions such as IIT Roorkee.

Though cracking the number of placements has never been a matter of concern for IIT Roorkee, maintaining the quality, meeting students’ high expectations, and hitting the high package bar set over the years, was the most ambitious and demanding task.

It was only through the relentless efforts poured by the Placement and Internship student team that the institute could live up to not only students’ hopefulness but also its own past record. The student team worked voluntarily to surmount the humungous task at hand by reaching out and virtually inviting the best organisations to the institute. With the onslaught of the global health crisis, the market witnessed a dynamic shift in job requirements, which narrowed the road to new opportunities, making the search for fine-paying jobs extremely competitive, exacting and time-consuming. Hence, IIT Roorkee decided to organise this one-of-its-kind award ceremony to appreciate student’s persistent endeavour and freewill participation in making this year’s placement drive a success.

After conducting a smooth and seamless first-ever virtual job and internship placement drive this academic session, IIT Roorkee came up with the most honourable way to commend students’ work and ensure that their endeavour, though voluntary, did not go unnoticed. These awards were being given to the students from 2019-20 and 2020-21 teams together. From the following year onwards, the institute has decided to make it an annual affair.

List of Award Winners for the year 2019 – 20 includes:

1. Gaurav Bansal, M.Tech. Instrumentation & Signal Processing: (for Contribution for Placements)

2. Kalyankar Jaydev Gangadhar, B.Tech. Metallurgical & Materials Engineering: (for Contribution for Internships)

3. Harsh Powal, B.Tech. Metallurgical & Materials Engineering: (for Overall contribution and coordination)

List of Award Winners for the year 2020 – 21 includes:

1. Tushar Kumawat, IMSc. Applied Mathematics: (for Overall contribution and coordination)

2. Harsh Nandwana, IMSc. Applied Mathematics: (for Contribution for Internships)

3. Madhuparna Saha, M.Tech. RF and Microwave Engineering: (for Contribution for Placements)

IIT Roorkee finalised the basic criteria for offering these awards after holding detailed discussions with the Departmental Faculty Coordinators and the Students. The criteria include:

1. No. of new companies added to the list.
2. No. of companies brought to the placement drive.
3. No. of companies independently handled during the initial placement session.
4. Feedback from the company officials.
5. Time contributed to the Placement and Internship Cell.
6. Handling of grievances raised by companies and students.
7. Coordination with the team.
8. Dedication towards the work.

Speaking about the initiative, Professor-in-Charge, Placement & Internship, Prof. Vinay Sharma, said, “These awards were aimed at motivating hardworking students for their voluntary service, recognising their effort and retaining these gems in the PIC team. These awards would elevate participating students’ profiles, allowing them to list them along with their other achievements in their bios. Besides, these awards would also encourage students to contribute towards the cause heartily. The names of students working for the Placement and Internship Cell were recommended for the award by the concerned committee.”