Dikhyaa Mohanty 
On January 20, at Dilip Tirkey Stadium in this city, NIT Rourkela will host its 21st annual convocation, where 1,988 students will receive their degrees. The number of female students leaving the Institute in various streams has increased. At NIT Rourkela, 457 female students will graduate this year, making up 23% of all graduating students. This year’s graduating female students comprise 173 Bachelor’s, 228 Master’s, and 56 PhD programs.
The convocation’s dress code will, as in years past, showcase Odisha’s rich cultural heritage. Female students will wear cotton sarees with Sambalpuri designs, while male graduates will wear full-sleeved cotton kurtas. Polavarapu Mallikharjuna Prasad, the Chairman and MD of Coal India Limited, will be the Chief Guest, and Prof. K Umamaheshwar Rao, the Director of NIT Rourkela, will preside over the convocation ceremony.
17 B.Arch, 961 B.Tech, 38 Dual Degree (B.Tech and M.Tech), 54 Integrated M.Sc (5 Years), 168 M.Sc, 520 M.Tech, 3 M.Tech (by Research), 21 MA, 39 MBA, and 167 Ph.D. students are among the 1,988 graduates. There are sixteen female and sixty-six male international students (including NRIs). They are from the USA, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Uganda. The Institute Gold Medal will go to eight students, and the Endowment Gold Medal will go to five students. Branch Topper Medals will be given to 59 students in total.
