BITS Pilani Goa Campus confers degrees on 1,109 graduates
Goa, Aug 10 (TNT): BITS Pilani’s K K Birla Goa Campus on Monday conferred degrees on 1,109 graduating students at its Convocation 2026, with MapmyIndia Co-Founder and CMD Rakesh Kumar Verma delivering the convocation address.
The graduating cohort comprised 674 First Degree, 257 Dual Degree, 121 Higher Degree (M.E.) and 57 PhD students, the institute said.
The ceremony was presided over by BITS Pilani Group Vice Chancellor Prof V Ramgopal Rao, in the presence of Goa Campus Director Prof Suman Kundu, members of the Board of Governors, faculty, students and their families.
Verma, a distinguished BITS alumnus, urged the graduates to remain adaptable and resilient and use technology as a tool while retaining human judgment and curiosity, particularly in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
Among the First Degree graduates, Shamit Khetan received the Gold Medal, Vrishti Deepak Godhwani the Silver Medal and Aditya Ashok Tailor the Bronze Medal.
In the Higher Degree programmes, Sumit Sakharam Ghodke and Rudraksh Alias Bhagwant Mukund Suryarao Sardesai jointly received the Gold Medal, while Vignesh A and Neelima M shared the Silver Medal.
The institute also presented the Prof Suman Kapur Memorial Best PhD Thesis Award 2026 to Dr Madduri Madhuri, while the Prof Raghurama Outstanding Student Award 2025-26 was given to Aarya Ameet Agavekar, Himangi Aggarwal and Shamit Khetan.
During the academic year, the campus introduced a 2+2 undergraduate Computer Science programme with RMIT University, Australia, two new M.E. programmes in Quantum Science and Technology and Quantum Information Processing, and a Minor in Computing and Intelligence.
The campus secured 91 sponsored research projects worth more than Rs 30.72 crore and produced 720 research publications during the year, with research spanning green hydrogen, quantum technologies, advanced semiconductor devices and indigenous navigation systems.
It also established nine new international partnerships with higher education institutions in Europe and North America, aimed at facilitating joint research and student exchange programmes.
TNT KM
