Uday Kumar, who designed the official symbol of the Indian currency, was among those
who were awarded Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Uday Kumar, who designed the official symbol of the Indian
currency, was among those who were awarded Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Masters
Degrees at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IITB) on Friday.
In a white kurta and an orange stole draped on, Uday Kumar (32) received his degree
amid loud cheers. I have completed my PhD that mainly revolved around Tamil typography.
IIT-B has played a major role in helping me gain a deeper understanding on a relatively
rare subject, he said. Kumar and his fellow students were attending the 49th convocation
of IIT-B where 1,846 Masters degrees and 173 PhD degrees were awarded.
For many of the families, the convocation represented the summit of a long and arduous
journey at the end of which their children have emerged triumphant after surpassing
several obstacles. Puroshottam Muley and his wife came all the way from a small
village in Marathwada to watch their son receive his Masters Degree. There are only
two other people in our village who are post-graduates. It was my sons dream to
come to IIT for an M.Tech and he will now complete his PhD as well, Muley said.
Even as the students celebrated their success, National Research professor Dr M
S Valiathan reminded them of the long road ahead. Sophisticated medical instruments
would pave the way for better healthcare. The over-dependence on imports of medical
instruments and poor progress in instrumentation in India has many causes. In the
first place, research on instrumentation does not seem to be popular among our physicists
and engineers who excel in this field, Valiathan added.
The Sikka Committee, which had looked at the deplorable state of medical instruments
designed in India, noted that research papers contributed by Indian scientists in
the Journal of Scientific Instruments counted only 32 out of 2,000 pieces between
2000 and 2003.
Courtesy: Times of India
