Who is the Star of NIT Rourkela's 24th Annual Convocation? Meet the Gold Medalist!

Celebrating Excellence at NIT Rourkela

Bhubaneswar: The 24th Annual Convocation at NIT Rourkela recently took place, where Manas Nayak, a student from the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department, was honored with the prestigious ‘Dr Bansidhar Panda Gold Medal’ for the year 2026. The event featured NITI Aayog Member Abhay Karandikar as the chief guest.

Sanjaya Kumar Satapathy, Chief Human Resources Officer of IMFA, praised Nayak for his remarkable achievement, emphasizing that this award highlights academic excellence in the field of metallurgical and materials engineering and motivates aspiring engineers to strive for greatness.

Satapathy noted that this accolade holds special significance as it honors the legacy of Dr. Bansidhar Panda at NIT Rourkela, an institution that has a long-standing relationship with IMFA. He extended his congratulations to Nayak and wished him the best in his future pursuits.

Established in 2019 in memory of IMFA's founder, Bansidhar Panda, this gold medal is awarded each year to the top BTech student in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at NIT Rourkela. Panda, who was educated at Harvard University and Michigan Technological University, dedicated his life to advancing technical education and institutional development. He also held the position of Chairman of the Board of Governors at NIT Rourkela from 2002 to 2007.

In recognition of his significant contributions to the industry and Odisha's metallurgical sector, NIT Rourkela awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2015. The endowment established by IMFA aims to continue Panda's legacy of promoting excellence in metallurgy and inspiring future generations of engineers.