GCT Coimbatore – First Global Alumni Re-Union Feb 15-16, 2015

Much has been written about the greatness of Government College of Technology, Coimbatore. One thing that has changed over the last decade or so is that the Alumni network and Alumni association has gotten stronger. Dr. Raghav Menon , fellow Alumni of GCT Coimbatore and batch-mate notified me about the first of its kind Global Alumni Re-Union meet in GCT Coimbatore.  Thank you Raghav!

Ambassador R. Swaminathan, IFS Officer (Special Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India GCT Alumnus of 1977) was the Chief Guest of the event. One could see his excitement in the event and he cherished every moment on campus with his smiles. He was very modest and there was a 1977 gang of friends to cheer him.

He reminisced his old memories at the college and was very kind to mention about each of his batch-mates (with names), his seniors and juniors and how his student tenure @ GCT  shaped his life at the Foreign Services. He also offered a Tech. Salute to one of his seniors (GCT Alum) on stage S. Meganathan, (now the Chairman of Rajalakshmi Group of Institutions).

It was great to meet B.Shantha, first girl to graduate out of GCT, Coimbatore (1970)

Things that have changed in the last decade:

Rudra Block:  There was a new campus block which operates the Production Engineering. GCT’s first ever Principal was Dr. J.J Rudra (1945-1946) and a well constructed block to commemorate Dr. Rudra’s Contribution to GCT.

Alumni Association: During our times at the college, we have seen Alumni conduct events. However, it has never been this strong. There are generous donors and an Alumni Association building was constructed at a cost of over Rs. 2,00,00,000. Numerous Scholarships are available and provided to deserving students.

Student Research Foundation (SRF):This is a new initiative by the incumbent Principal Dr. V. Lakshmi Prabha. This initiative is being funded and supported by the World Bank and the Alumni Association. The students displayed some of their work at an exhibition inaugurated in the college auditorium.

A Medical Devices Research Project (Respiratory Pattern Monitoring System),  Rail Platform Project (walk path on the rail-track), an Android App for the blind, energy conserving Solar Panel and more were at display.

The Senior Alumni of the college(over 75 years) were honored at the event. Names of notable alumni were mentioned during the event. V.K Jeyakodi (IAS), current Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai (Indian Space Scientist) and more. The evening on the 15th ended with Cultural programs (2nd and 3rd year students) and it was great to see the old students(1960’s and 1970’s) join in.

This was a different kind of Global Re-Union. Though I expected to see familiar faces at the re-union (who graduated around the same time), most of the folks who attended graduated in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s.  Thanks to the organizers (great food) , tea was provided through the event (including dinner).

Thanks to A.K. Anwar Batcha (Alumni Association President). It takes immense effort and time to organize such events. Thank you Sir. You and your team make all of us proud.

I want to make a special mention about the current Principal Dr. V. Lakshmi Prabha (also the first woman Principal) who is very passionate about the college (fellow Alumnus, 1980).  She also highlighted some on the challenges (keeping the campus clean) and various initiatives that are being carried out.  The college has done extremely well under her leadership (and her predecessors) in the last several years. The work by her is evident (re-kindling the Alumni network, to tap its unlimited potential), Research Initiatives, Scholarships, Green and Clean Initiatives.

Congratulations and this is a great start to building a strong GCT Alumni Network.