Vellore Institute of Technology Student Pragati Bhattad Wins Prestigious IET India Scholarship Award

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a global engineering body announces Pragati Bhattad, 4th year student of Vellore Institute of Technology as this year’s national winner of the esteemed IET Scholarship Award 2023. She received the award for her innovative solution that focused on improving healthcare with Remote Medical Procedures (RMP) by enhancing network and storage security. She successfully caught the jury’s attention for implementing blockchains, multi-factor authentication, multi-party computation, and AI driven threat intelligence to facilitate remote healthcare.

Winner of the IET Scholarship Award 2023

The finalists for the 7th edition of the awards were Prerna Jha from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, Delhi; Vignesh B.S. from Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai; Tanushree Kadus from Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Mumbai and Tanushri Pahari from National Institute of Technology, Raipur. The winners received a combined prize money of Rs 10 lakh, certificate and IET membership. The winners were felicitated at the IET India Awards Night, which was followed by the IET President’s address, delivered by the first Indian president of IET Global, Dr. Gopichand Katragadda.

Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head and Director, IET India, said, “India is currently at the precipice of an exciting digital revolution, with the youth playing a pivotal role as its architects. The IET India Scholarship Award is an embodiment of The IETs steadfast commitment to nurturing students on their path to excellence in engineering and technology. I applaud this year’s national scholarship award winner and finalists for their outstanding performance, and extend heartfelt congratulations on behalf of the IET. It is our sincere hope that this victory acts as a catalyst for them to achieve even greater heights and inspire the next generation of engineering aspirants.”

The 7th Edition of the IET Scholarship Awards saw exceptional participation from across the country, with students competing in a challenging 4- phase online assessment to evaluate their STEM fundamentals. Those who excelled in this phase were then given the opportunity to present innovative engineering solutions that revolved around social developments of India. These included topics such as “Emergency Medicare for solitary senior citizens”, “Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable farming in India”, “Digitization of Education in Rural Areas” and “Use of AI for teaching technology to elderly”.

“Today, India is at the precipice of a technology-driven revolution at a global scale, and today’s discussions and deliberations have definitely proven the same. I am immensely pleased to see the next generation of engineers actively engaging with industry experts and veterans in charting out a roadmap for future technology innovation. The finalists of this years IET Scholarship Award have truly impressed me with their commitment to excellence. Through their innovative thinking and dedication to solving real-world issues, these young minds have illustrated the promise and possibility of engineering. I am confident that the future of Indias engineering ecosystem is in safe hands. It is especially encouraging to note that this years finalists were mostly women, marking a significant milestone for Women in Tech. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the winner and all the finalists for their well-deserved victory,” said Prof. Abhijit Chakraborty, Chair – Scholarship Advisory Committee, IET India.

The IET India Scholarship Awards is the largest scholarship program in India for undergraduate engineering students. The initiative aims to recognize young engineering talent for their innovation, creativity, leadership and excellence. This year, the IET received more than 20,000 applications for the scholarship award.

The IET India Scholarship Award Advisory Committee included Professor Abhijit Chakrabarti (Professor, Electrical Engineering, IIEST, Kolkata Chairman – IET India Scholarship Award 2021), Manish Bahl (Associate Vice President, Center for the Future of Work – Asia Pacific and the Middle East, Cognizant), Dr Nandini Gupta, (Professor Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur), Professor Santosh Kumar Vora (Professor and Head of Department-Electrical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma University), Professor Samarjit Sengupta (Department of Applied Physics, University of Calcutta) and Dr Shobha G (Department Of Computer Science & Engineering, R V College of Engineering).

About The IET

The IET is one of the world’s largest engineering institutions with over 168,000 members in 150 countries. It is also the most multidisciplinary – to reflect the increasingly diverse nature of engineering in the 21st century. The IET is working to engineer a better world by inspiring, informing and influencing our members, engineers and technicians and all those who are touched by or touch the work of engineers.

Institution of Engineering and Technology – India

The IET office started operations in India in 2006, in Bangalore. Today, it has over 13,000 members and has the largest membership base for the IET outside of the UK. Given the increasing global importance of India as an engineering hub their aim is to make an impact that has relevance both locally and internationally. The strategy is to make a meaningful impact on the overall competency and skill levels within the Indian engineering community and play an influencing role with industry in relation to technology innovation and solving problems of public importance. IET does this by working in partnership with industry, academia and government, focusing on the application of practical skills within both learning & career lifecycles, driving innovation and thought leadership through high impact sectors.

For more details, please visit www.theiet.in.