Patiala News:Thapar Institute turns 70: Governor of Punjab presents medals as 3,359 graduates at Convocation 2026
Shri Gulab Chand Kataria presents medals on Day 1, Distinguished Alumnus Award conferred on Mr. Vinod K. Luthra (Mechanical, 1966)
The convocation, being held from November 2 to 4, will see 3,359 graduates receive their degrees. The first day was dedicated to doctoral degrees and medals.
The Chief Guest was received by Chancellor Dr. RR Vederah and joined the academic procession led by the Registrar. Vice Chancellor Prof. Padmakumar Nair, Pro Vice Chancellor Prof. Ajay Batish and Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai, Member, Executive Council, were present on the dais.
The Chief Guest awarded PhD degrees to doctoral scholars and presented medals to medal winners across all programmes. Among the medal winners, Bhavya Gera of Computer Science and Engineering received the President’s Medal and the Prof. V. Rajaraman Computer Science/Engineering Award, graduating with a CGPA of 10.00. The Governor’s Medals went to Katyayani Jha (Computer Science and Engineering, Derabassi Campus), Sakshi Balaso Jadhav (MCA) and Vanshita (MBA). Six medal winners finished with a perfect CGPA of 10.00.
The Institute also conferred its Distinguished Alumnus Award on Mr. Vinod K. Luthra, Mechanical Engineering, Class of 1966, founder of Barrington Residential, a multifamily housing enterprise in Upstate New York, in 1981. The award was presented by the Chief Guest and the Chancellor.
Addressing the graduates, Shri Gulab Chand Kataria said, “There is only one tool with which we can win any battle in life — our mind and our education. If we are able to use our intellect and education in the right direction, that itself is true success. The true value of an institution lies in its ability to prepare students to face all kinds of challenges. When our students come through those challenges successfully, that resilience becomes their unique strength. That is their USP, and that is something truly worth holding on to.”
Dr. RR Vederah, Chancellor, TIET, said, “Life is a marathon, not a 100-meter race. Don’t worry about who is ahead of you at 100 meters — who finishes the marathon is the winner. Your degree tells the world what you have learned so far; it should never become a boundary around what you are willing to learn next. Do not become so occupied with making a great life that you forget to have a good one.”
Prof. Padmakumar Nair, Vice Chancellor, TIET, said, “Your market value is not your human value, and your professional success is not the ultimate measure of a meaningful life. A career is not merely a ladder to climb; it is a structure we design, build, revise and sometimes partially dismantle. That is the architecture of ambition. The only full-time job in the world is to be human.”
mr. Vinod K. Luthra said, “I graduated in 1966 and returned to campus after 60 years to receive this honor. I had no grand plans when I started in 1981. We just worked hard, learned along the way, and took one step at a time. Today, that journey provides housing for 10,000 families. This campus gave me the foundation that stayed with me for 60 years. Never stop learning, because education doesn’t end with a degree; it becomes a lifelong responsibility.”
The graduating cohort of 3,359 includes 2,507 BE and BTech students, 225 ME and MTech students, 194 MBA students, 116 MCA students, 89 MSc students and 88 doctoral scholars, along with 140 graduates from the liberal arts and science programs (MA, BA, BBA and BSc), as on October 29, 2026.
Degrees for the remaining programs will be conferred in sessions on November 3 & 4.