National, 5th August 2023: Plaksha University, a new-age university that is reimagining technology education and research in India with cutting-edge technology programs, held the convocation ceremony of the fourth cohort of the Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellowship at the Mohali campus today.
Tech Leaders Fellowship (TLF) is a one -year, postgraduate program co-delivered with UC Berkeley which interweaves courses in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, principles of Design Thinking, real world applications like Capstone projects, entrepreneurial Challenge Lab and Leadership.
The chief guest at the convocation was the Honourable S. Harjot Singh Bains, Cabinet Minister of Punjab, for School Education, Higher Education & Languages, and Technical Education & Industrial Training.
The ceremony began with an academic procession, address by the chief guest and was followed by a display of student achievements and the awarding of diplomas to the 38 graduating students in the 4th cohort of this one-year flagship program.
In his opening speech, Prof. Rudra Pratap, the Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University, highlighted the remarkable potential of the Tech Leaders Fellowship. He said, “In today's world where education has gone global, we want to take full advantage of the global universities to bring the kind of knowledge, training, and inspiration that the youth of our country deserve. And that’s the promise with which this university has started.”
He further expressed, “In the one-year Tech Leaders Fellowship, you are expected to learn deeper technology in AI/ML and, also, expected to excel in training yourself as future leaders. Today, technology pervades everything that we do. We want you to lead the world in technology. But that technology needs to come with a lot more care today than it was done before. You must be in touch with your society and societal needs. You must be in touch with this planet and its needs – which means sustainability. Technology today is looking for the human touch. So, as I congratulate our young graduates, I wish them to go out into the world with very high ambition and change the world but do so with the kind of humility that your culture teaches you.”
Congratulating the graduates, S. Harjot Singh Bains, Cabinet Minister of Punjab said, “We belong to a country which has extreme, rich history in education. We had Takshila, Nalanda and the concept of gurukuls. With the advancements in technology, education changed, and our students want to go abroad. Plaksha University has moved away from orthodox courses and soon, it will be a world-recognized university and students from all over the world will come to study here. To all the graduating students, take your Vice Chancellor’s advice and take high risks. Life is not a bed of roses but all you need is hard work and you will create a masterpiece.”
A significant number of TLF graduates from earlier cohorts have taken up technical roles in organizations across diverse sectors including Product Management, Software Development etc. A few other students who have passed out from the earlier batches have also pursued research-based roles or have taken a leap into entrepreneurship.
About Plaksha University
Founded by a global community of 100+ technology and business leaders, Plaksha envisions to reimagine technology education and research for India and the world. With strong partnerships with UC Berkeley, Purdue, UC San Diego, IIT Kanpur, and IISc Bangalore, Plaksha aims to nurture and empower a generation of catalytic leaders and create an ecosystem of research and innovation. The university collapses the traditional boundaries of engineering and promotes interdisciplinary learning by combining technology, design and entrepreneurship.
Plaksha is guided by an eminent academic board including Dr. Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering, University of Pennsylvania; Venkatesh Narayanamurthi, former Dean of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Sriram Rajamani, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India Julia Ross, Dean of Engineering, Virginia Tech; Krishna Palepu, Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Sanjay Sarma, Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT; and business leaders such as Neeraj Aggarwal, Chairman – Asia Pacific, BCG; Hitesh Oberoi, Co-promoter & CEO, Info Edge (Naukri.com); Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-founder, Fractal Analytics; Manas Fuloria, Co- Founder, Nagarro; Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Navin Chaddha, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund; Sujeet Kumar, Co-founder, Udaan.com; Dalip Pathak, Special Limited Partner, Warburg Pincus LLC; CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra; Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, Clix Capital among others. Corporate donors include companies like Bharti Foundation, Havells, HT Parekh Foundation, Mphasis, Axis Bank and Motilal Oswal. The global community of business leaders who founded Plaksha can be seen here.
About Tech Leaders Fellowship (TLF):
Tech Leaders Fellowship (TLF) is a new-age yearlong postgraduate program which is designed by a global community of CEOs, entrepreneurs and academia. The TLF curriculum integrates coursework in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, applications of data science, entrepreneurship and an understanding of self and leadership. Students are taught by leading faculty from around the world and mentored by industry leaders. Through innovative courses like these, Plaksha not only equips students with technical skills but also enhances their leadership abilities to phenomenally transform their career paths.