ISRO Chairman Somnath gets PhD in Engineering from IIT Madras

ISRO Chairman S Somanath received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering during the 61st convocation organized by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on its campus on Friday.

A total of 444 PhDs were awarded and 2,636 students graduated during the event. As many as 3,016 degrees including joint and dual degrees were awarded to the students on the occasion

Congratulating the graduating students and prize winners, Nobel Laureate Dr. Brian K. Kobilka said he does not consider himself to be exceptional in any way.

“My career today is an example of how an average individual can achieve a measure of success by a combination of factors including hard work, persistence, an element of luck and a great deal of help from family, friends and colleagues. When I



look back at my career, I am amazed by how often I was in the right place at the right time, with the right people,” he told the graduating students.

Presenting a report, IIT-Madras director Prof. V Kamakoti said this year IIT Madras exceeded its target of one patent a day by filing 419 patents during the year, of which 85 are international filings, and were granted 445 Indian and 15 international patents.

The IITM Incubation Cell marked the beginning of 2024 on a jubilant note with a total portfolio of 365 startups, cumulatively valued at Rs.45,000 crore. The goal for the fiscal year 2024-25 is to incubate 100 more, focusing on areas such as space, manufacturing, robotics, Assistive Tech, climate-tech, fintech and AI, he added.