PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Sept 16: In its endeavour to promote and induct women into the manufacturing sector, Tata Steel successfully concluded season 5 of its pioneering scholarship programme ‘Women Of Mettle’.
The virtual finale, held on Wednesday, witnessed some of the brightest young female candidates from India’s premier engineering institutes display their ingenuity, acumen, and spirited performance.
Aishwarya Raj, an electrical engineering student from IIEST Shibpur, emerged as the winner of season 5. While Mridhula Venkatanarayanan, a Metallurgical Engineering student from NIT Trichy, secured the first runner-up position, Khushboo Kuntal, a Mining student from IIT ISM Dhanbad, bagged the second runner-up slot.
Atrayee Sanyal, vice-president, (Human Resource Management), Tata Steel, said, “Tata Steel has always believed in creating equal opportunities for all. The scholarship initiative ‘Women Of Mettle’ was conceptualised to attract talented women to a sector which is stereotyped as male-dominated for decades. Each of these young minds is a part of this revolutionary journey who will inspire many more in the future to explore jobs in various unconventional fields. I congratulate all the winners and participants and wish them the very best for their careers ahead.”
D. B. Sundara Ramam, vice- president (Raw Materials), Tata Steel and a jury member, said, “Every year we put forth specially curated real life technical problems and it is awe-inspiring to see the enthusiasm from young students who have such innovative and enterprising ideas. Steel as one of the core industries in the country will benefit hugely with equal contributions from women as well. We look forward to enabling many more women of mettle in future through our multiple initiatives and platforms.”
Like last year, this year too, the competition was organised leveraging the virtual platforms in view of the prevailing pandemic situation.
The fifth edition received the highest-ever entries from 950 plus second-year female engineering students from over 50 premier engineering institutes across India, including the IITs, NITs, and the likes.
Over the years, the platform has evolved and serves as a stepping stone for women engineers in their journey of crafting a promising career in manufacturing.
As part of the programme, participants are subjected to a rigorous selection procedure that includes a variety of technical hurdles.
The candidates work on real-life technical challenges and the top 10 shortlists work and present their solutions to the esteemed jury.
The top 10 candidates get a scholarship of Rs 2 lakh in addition to an opportunity to pursue a career at Tata Steel.
They can join Tata Steel as a technical intern, and subsequently, receive a pre-placement offer (PPO).
The candidates, ranked 11-30, are also given an opportunity for a summer internship in the third year of their engineering course.
