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Photos: M. Moorthy

AWARDEES (From left) Chetan Sankar, R. Chandrasekaran, K. Ramesh, S. Chandrasekaran, V. Ramakrishnan, A. Sekhar, Guruswami Ravichandran and Jacob Kurian

When these crème de la crème alumni of the institute recollected their tense-filled interviews, sleepless nights before exams and nerve-wracking assignments, students perched on the back-end of the auditorium learnt the college life of eminent alumni wasn’t any different from theirs.

The ‘Distinguished Alumni Awards,’ instituted by the college for the second year in a row, became an occasion for the high-profile officials of engineering industries to look back on their campus days with fondness.

When these special awards were launched last year, the institute was lavish in honouring the best among the lot. The awards and the categories were cut down this year, totalling the number of awards to 14 under three categories. Even as P. S. Manisundaram, the Principal during their days, savoured the moment of glory of his students, his "old boys" dedicated the award to his headship.

Here is what the awardees had to say about their college, career and opportunities.

Chetan Sankar, Professor, Department of Management, College of Business, Auburn University: “Memories are still afresh. The institute laid the foundation stone for my success. Entered as a timid fresher, I passed with good amount of confidence.”

Guruswami Ravichandran, Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology: “There is no great honour than receiving an award from the hands of alma mater. NIT-T is a class in itself and has unique ambience to shape one’s career and character.”

K. Ramesh, Department Head of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology- Madras: “Being honoured by the alma mater gives a sense of fulfilment to one’s life. The institute has one of the best libraries with extensively stacked books. Backed with such resources, it wasn’t difficult for us to kick start our career growth.”

S. Chandrasekaran, Director (technical) of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd.: “Attrition is a major challenge to all sectors… students have begun to prefer industrial jobs to IT sector, which is a healthy pointer towards sustainable economic growth… consistent hard work and diligence pays off at times when we need the most.”

Jacob Kurian, Managing partner, New Silk Route Private Equity Fund: “Those were the days when the cricket team of Regional Engineering College, former name of NIT-T, were at its best. From the cricket team to staff members, every entity of the college was ready to shoulder our burden and help us grow more.”

R. Chandrasekaran, president and one of the Executive Officers of Cognizant Technology Solutions: “Academics apart, colleges help students gain strength to control their destiny. We learnt to be on our own and dared to dream big after getting through the toughest entrance procedures of this institute. The college’s finishing industry plays key role in fabricating industry-ready candidates.”

A. Sekhar, former Chairman of National Project Construction Corporation: “Teachers had been a stable support to us and fuelled our interest. An astrological forecast few years ago predicted an award…this makes the occasion doubly surprising.”

V. Ramakrishnan, Chief Executive and Managing Director of Veesons Energy Systems: “Students get the opportunity to make it big. They must have the right attitude to take an edge. Strong alumni network has been a major plus to the institute and gives us the privilege to retrace best days of our lives.”

Family and friends received the awards on behalf of those who could not make it.

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