Develop professional competence says Kasturirangan

Chennai, Mar 30 (UNI) Eminent space scientist K Kasturirangan today exhorted ''engineers and technologists of tomorrow'' to abide professional competence to provide innovative solutions for global issues like climate change and energy sources.

Addressing the students at the Graduation Day at self-financing RMD Engineering College near here, he said new technologies were needed in the areas of clean energy, non-conventional energy sources and low level of emissions of green house gases.

''The increase in global average air and ocean temperatures, wide spread melting of ice and rising of global sea level, induced by anthropogenic activities and its implications would include intensity of natural disasters like cyclones, droughts and increased glacier melting,'' he warned.

Stating that the satellite pictures have revealed that there was an overall 21 per cent reduction in the glacier surface area, he said, ''the world will witness dynamic changes that will affect the quality of life at a very fundamental level.'' Recalling his tenure with ISRO, the former ISRO Chairman said, ''in the earlier days, the organisation faced disappointment on the failure of first launch vehicle, SLV-3, but the team recovered and got to the task of studying, analysing the problem and succeeded in placing a 40 kg satellite into orbit in the next attempt, being the fifth country to do so at that time.'' The technology denials faced by the country in the initial stages, forced the scientists to go through the learning process by ourselves paving a path for implying our engineering judgements, originality, innovation that enabled India to become a leader.

''Thus, one can become a pioneer, by one's own originality of thinking and high level of innovations or become a leader by achieving world class systems,'' he said.

In the Graduation Day function, presided over by Mr R S Munirathinam, Founder-Chairman, RMD Engineering College, 181 students were conferred with degrees for the academic year 2005-06.

As many as, 68 students from various streams passed in distinction.

Cash prizes of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 were given to outstanding students.

Mr Munirathinam said the college has propelled into motion the campus recruitment and 82 per cent of final year students have been recruited in premier companies like Wipro, TCS, Satyam, Infosys, Polaris, HCL, CTS, L&T, Infotech etc.

UNI