I have great pleasure in reaching you through ITIHAS. As usual, the first quarter of the Calendar year 2003 witnessed a series of memorable events. The International Workshop on “Nanotechnology & Healthcare” was conducted by the Department of Biotechnology on 11th & 12th January 2003, in which a number of foreign scientists and academicians participated. Saraswathi Sadan, state-of-the-art New Library Building was religiously opened by His Holiness Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam on 8th February 2003. The XVI Convocation address was delivered by Dr. R. Natarajan, Chairman, AICTE on 16th March 2003.

Establishment of various schools with a view to facilitating academic restructuring, paper presentations by our faculty, National Seminars / Workshops organised at SASTRA, the achievements of our students in various spheres are some of the activities worth mentioning.

AICTE sponsored two-week Staff Induction Training Programme conducted by the Department of English from 17th March 2003 to 28th March 2003 on “Pedagogy & Communication Skills” marked the culmination of the activities of the period ending March 2003.

I am sure SASTRA will scale new heights in the academic world in the years to come.

I wish all the readers a Happy Tamil New Year.

Prof. R. SETHURAMAN

Vice - Chancellor

The XVI Convocation of SASTRA Deemed University was held on 16th March 2003. Dr. R. Natarajan, Chairman, AICTE, New Delhi delivered the convocation address and awarded degrees to 178 postgraduates and presented Gold Medals to the SASTRA Deemed University Rank holders. The Vice-Chancellor Prof. R. Sethuraman presented a brief report on the academic achievements of SASTRA.

Dr. R. Natarajan conferring degree on a graduate

The following new courses will be introduced from the academic year 2003 -2004:

B.Tech. Bio-Informatics
M.Tech. Disaster Management
M.Tech. Embedded Systems
M.Tech. Environmental Engg.
M.Tech. Highway & Transportation Engg.
M.Tech. Industrial Biotechnology
M.Tech. Power Systems
M.Tech. Structural Engg.
M.Sc., Bioinformatics
M.S. (by Research) Embedded Systems (jointly with M/s. ECIL)
B.Sc., Environmental Science &   M.Sc., Maths (Integrated) at Satellite Campus