80-year-old engineer appears for IIT entrance
The Hindu
Nandakumar had to convince security guards that he was a candidate for the exam
Eighty-year-old city-based engineer Nandakumar K. Menon was among those who passed a rigorous qualification process and appeared for the entrance exam of the BSc. online course in programming and data science offered by IIT-Madras, which was held on Sunday at the premises of an IT firm off Aluva.
“I was stopped at the gate by security guards and had to convince them that I was a candidate for the entrance exam,” he said cheerfully.
Having attended the four-hour long online examination that concluded in the evening, Mr. Menon spoke of how over 90 % of the about 120 candidates at the centre were youth. “I rummaged through what I learnt over 50 years ago, and answered questions mainly on mathematics, statistics, data processing, and English. It was worth an experience,” he said.
The preparation for the entrance saw him and his son Sethu Nandakumar, a UAE-based lawyer, attend four-week-long classes in the four subjects. Mr. Sethu couldn’t qualify since questions on mathematics were a tad too tough for a person pursuing doctorate in space laws. There were weekly exams on all the four subjects (a total of 16 exams), and one had to score minimum 50 % marks in all the subjects to qualify for Sunday’s entrance exam.
Mr. Sethu remembered how his dad, who would turn 81 years in August, woke up at 5.30 a.m. each day and studied meticulously till 10 p.m. as he prepared for the entrance.
Going back in time, Mr. Menon spoke of how he yearned to become an engineer even as he was in fourth standard, having been inspired by the celebrated engineer of yore M. Visvesvaraya.
Faced with financial difficulties, Mr. Menon went on to graduate in mathematics and spent a year in MSc. statistics, before graduating from College of Engineering Trivandrum. He later completed post graduation in cryogenic engineering from Syracuse University, US, with a NASA sponsored scholarship. Eager to return to his motherland, he gave up his Green Card and continues to work as an engineer here.
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