Mangaluru: Inauguration of classes for first year BE students of St Joseph Engineering College, Vamanjoor, here, was held in Kalam Auditorium, Academic Block II.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by all first year students along with their parents.

Ivy Lenet Saldanha, head, Human Resources, Strategic Engineering Division, Tata Power Company Limited, graced the occasion as the chief guest.

Fr Wilfred Prakash D’Souza, director of SJEC, presided over the ceremony.

Fr Rohith D’Costa, assistant director, SJEC, Dr Joseph Gonsalvis, principal, SJEC, Dr Rio D’Souza, vice principal, SJEC, and Dr Ramananda HS, professor and head of the department of Mathematics and also the convener of the programme, were other dignitaries on dais.

The programme commenced with an invocation by first year students.

Dr Rio D’Souza, welcomed the gathering to the inaugural ceremony. In his welcome address, he spoke about the journey and transformation of SJEC during the past 15 years, as one of the leading educational institutes in the region. He asked students to work hard and strive to achieving their goals.

The chief guest and other dignitaries on the dais formally inaugurated the program by lighting the lamp. A symbolic inauguration of classes for the new academic year was performed by student representatives of the five departments, their parents and the staff members; each unfurling the flag of the respective department.

Dr Joseph Gonsalvis, addressed the gathering, welcomed the new batch of students to the Josephites family. He highlighted the need for students to follow rules and regulations of the college, to transform into professionals. His address touched upon the distractions faced by students vis-à-vis social media, and telephone. He pointed up the challenges that institutions and parents face while ushering students on the right path. He mentioned the student monitoring system in the college and briefed about the facilities available in the institution.

Meritorious students were honoured by the chief guest on occasion. These included Prathik, Mahammad Sinan, Sheik Mohammad Zunain, Suraj B Shetty, and Ajay M Kamath.

A compendium containing research papers published by the SJEC faculty and students in national and international journals and conferences, was released on occasion by Fr Wilfred Prakash D’Souza.

Dr Felcy D’Souza, librarian, briefed the gathering about the compendium.

Ivy Lenet Saldanha welcomed the first year students and asked them to be energetic and show commitment and hard work in becoming qualified engineers. She added, "If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn no one can stop you. It is very important when you join a new institute to make a good, effective beginning."

She mentioned to the students the many challenges and opportunities that life would throw at them and said, "The ball is always in your court. Play and fulfill your dreams with commitment and hard work."

She stressed on team work which would help to complete good projects and in nation building.

In his presidential address, Fr Wilfred Prakash D’Souza, welcomed the first years to the SJEC family and spoke about the commitment by the institute in providing quality education to its students.

He thanked the chief guest for motivating students. He highlighted the key achievements of SJEC in terms of academic excellence. He asked the students to trust themselves, trust in god, and work hard, which formed the path to success.

He requested the parents to treat their sons and daughters as responsible engineering students and cooperate with the management. The director wished all first year students the best in all their academic endeavors in SJEC.

Dr Ramananda HS, the convener of the programme offered the vote of thanks. Olivia Sequeira and Ramya M compered the programme. The inaugural ceremony was followed by an orientation programme, in which heads of all departments presented their individual departments to the new students.

Parents also participated in a separate session that drew attention to the challenges in guiding students on the path of excellence.