Students should stay connected with peers, enrich themselves, says Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh

MD Alimuzzaman, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Chennai, with G. Viswanathan, Chancellor, VIT, at the Defense and Aerospace Technology Exhibition at the 17th Gravitas26 Tech Festival at VIT Vellore on Friday. | Photo credit: C. VENKATACHALAPATHY

Engineering students should always stay connected with their peers and faculty members as a lifelong exercise to enrich themselves in the competitive world, said Md. Alimuzzaman, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Chennai.

In his inaugural address at the 17th annual techno management festival, Gravitas 26, organized by VIT at its Vellore campus, Mr. Alimuzzaman said that students should compete passionately in such technical festivals to help them hone their engineering skills. “Students should always think beyond classroom learning and competitions. They should acquire skills that will contribute to the welfare of society and environmental protection,” he said.

The Deputy High Commissioner emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in solving various problems in society. “Students should use AI technology to solve human problems. Once they can do that, students can use AI technology as their business venture. So Gravitas Festival will help them gain knowledge and expertise,” he said.

G. Viswanathan, Founder and Chancellor, VIT, in his presidential address said that modern technology should be used as a developmental tool for the upliftment of society rather than for destructive purposes. For example, drones are used more often on battlefields than in agriculture. “In this context, Bangladesh, despite its political upheavals, is progressing steadily economically so far. The country (Bangladesh) is the largest textile exporter in the world,” he said.

The chancellor noted that Bangladesh has been able to develop economically better than its big neighbor, India, in terms of per capita income. In a decade, Bangladesh has a per capita income of $2,900 compared to India ($2,800) and Pakistan ($1,700), he said.

The three-day fest will offer a total of 227 events, which more than 40,000 students are expected to attend. Of these, 76 events have already taken place, the remaining 151 will take place during graVitas. The total prize fund is estimated to be around Rs 25 crore in cash and Rs 1.5 crore in kind prizes.

Present on the occasion were Pawan Vadapalli, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Digital Business Services at HCLTech, and Prince Jayakumar, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Talent Acquisition at HCLTech, Sankar Viswanathan and Sekar Viswanathan, Vice Presidents, VIT.

Published – 19 Sep 2026 0:46 IST