PEC should mentor varsities: President Ram Nath Kovind

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 16

President Ram Nath Kovind, in his address during the Punjab Engineering College centenary year celebrations, said that institutes like PEC and its alumni should act as mentors and collaborate with other universities of the country.

Also read: For PEC, it’s been a wonderful 100-yr journey

When Punjab Engineering College shifted from Roorkee to Chandigarh

“PEC has students from all parts of the country, making it a perfect example of unity in diversity. If an institute can be the unifying factor for such a large set of students, I am sure mentorship from you all can definitely be the unifying factor for our country too,” said President Kovind.

The college, a deemed university now, has a rich legacy. Its roots go back to December 9, 1921, when its foundation was laid as Mughalpura Technical College at Lahore by Sir Edward Douglas MacLagan.

From the humble beginning, with only 50 students, PEC has evolved into a vibrant knowledge centre at Chandigarh, where hundreds of students get professional learning in different disciplines.

Talking about a prestigious alumnus of PEC, Dr Satish Dhawan, a Padma Vibhushan recipient, the President emphasised his contributions towards the aerospace field in India. Commending the calibre of PEC, the President talked about the first batch of 17 aeronautical engineers in the IAF given by PEC.

He also talked about another PEC alumnus, Kalpana Chawla, who has been an inspiration for so many people around the world. Mentioning the Centre of Excellence in PEC, he talked about the establishment of the Kalpana Chawla Chair of Geospatial Technology (KCC GT) and Siemens-Centre of Excellence.

The President inaugurated the newly constructed Centenary Hall to mark this milestone day. He also inaugurated the newly set up Semiconductor Research Centre (Clean Lab) under the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering. The Lab will help researchers, MTech and PhD students prepare and experiment applications, help in the development and manufacturing of microprocessors, phone chips and sensors.

The President also laid the foundation stone of a students’ hostel on the campus.

PEC role in Covid times

The President commended PEC for helping during the challenging times of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Students of PEC built robots that could go into isolation wards and deliver food, medicine and other supplies to patients. That was a wonderful illustration of innovation in the service of society. Two patent applications have also been filed from this institute on Covid-related research. Organising a blood donation camp by the students at the time of shortage of blood at the PGI, Chandigarh, is worthy of appreciation. The PEC alumni stood together in the Covid times. When they came to know about the loss of income of some parents, they joined hands and made donations worth more than Rs1 crore for the students in need. Let us all applaud the efforts of those who worked to achieve it.”

‘College realising goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat’

The President commended PEC for continuous collaborations with other prestigious institutions like the IITs, PGI and ISRO. “Such steps are helpful towards realising the goal of excellence in application-oriented research. Such industry-institute interface will also help in realising the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.

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