NIT Rourkela awards Dr Bansidhar Panda Gold Medal to Manas Nayak

Manas Nayak, a student of metallurgical and materials engineering, was awarded the ‘Dr Bansidhar Panda Gold Medal’ during the 24th annual convocation of NIT Rourkela. The ceremony, held on September 12, featured NITI Aayog member Professor Abhay Karandikar as the chief guest.

The gold medal was established in 2019 by IMFA in memory of its founder, Dr. Bansidhar Panda. It is awarded annually to the top BTech student in the metallurgical and materials engineering program. Dr. Panda, a research scientist educated at Harvard and Michigan Technological University, served as the Chairman of the Board of Governors at NIT Rourkela from 2002 to 2007 and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the institute in 2015.

Sanjaya Kumar Satapathy, Chief Human Resources Officer at IMFA, stated that the award recognizes academic excellence and aims to encourage young engineers to pursue their goals with purpose.