PhD student wins top undergraduate award in India

A doctoral candidate at Waterloo Engineering received prestigious recognition during convocation at his former university in India this week.

Rishabh Bajaj, who began his PhD in civil and environmental engineering at Waterloo in the fall, formally graduated from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela as the top undergraduate student across all programs.

He was presented with the award, the Institute Gold Medal for Best Graduate, by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.

Bajaj was also named the top civil engineering graduate and won two endowment awards. His final-year thesis involved a novel Internet of Things-based method for predicting the setting time of fresh concrete.

His supervisors at Waterloo are civil and environmental engineering professors Sriram Narasimhan and Chul Min Yeum.

Waterloo Engineering doctoral student Rishabh Bajaj (right) receives his award as top undergraduate student at NIT Rourkela from President Ram Nath Kovind of India.