One Man Who Got His PhD Degree at the Age of 65

SURAT: The 15th convocation of Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT) held here on Sunday was also a celebration of hard work of one man who got his PhD degree at the age of 65, a year after retiring as associate professor of the institute.

B.J.Batliwala, who is now a visiting faculty at SVNIT, received thunderous applause when he went up to the dais to receive his PhD degree. Mr. Batliwala, who retired in 2016 as associate professor from SVNIT, did PhD in economic analysis for modernization of Kakrapar right bank main canal. He did his PhD under the guidance of former director of SVNIT Dr. P.D.Porey and professor at civil engineering department Dr.J.N.Patel. He did his bachelor's and master's in civil engineering from SVNIT, which was formerly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Regional College of Engineering in 1979 and 1984 respectively. He started his career as a government employee in irrigation department before joining SVNIT as a lecturer in 1985.

Mr. Batliwala was happiest among all PhD degree awardees. "My PhD got delayed at the starting point in 2008 for around two years as my old credits were not considered. I also had to face problems at the time of completion of PhD as I joined the movement against sexual harassment in the institute when the director happened to be one of my guides," Batliwala said.

Dr.Porey had to resign after the movement against sexual harassment by girl students against two associate professors in 2015. "Attempts were made by a few to create problems in my PhD, but my guide Dr.Patel and my commitment helped me achieve my goal," Batliwala said.

Both his sons are engineers and he plans to live in Australia for some time with them. "I was a teacher and student at the same time. I will love to continue teaching engineering students," Batliwala added.

Source - Times of India