The inauguration ceremony of APOGEE 2018 was graced by the presence of Commodore Indrajit Dasgupta, who was the Chief Guest of the event. He has served in the Indian Navy for twenty-eight years and took over as commander of one of the best Indian Navy Electrical Training Establishments in 2016. In an interview with the APOGEE English Press, he described the Navy’s attempt to encourage collaboration with BITS—the first of its kind—and spoke about his vision for the same.

He spoke about the changes he wishes to implement on the INS Valsura and the Electrical Training Establishment. Most of the new trainees—who fall within the age group of eighteen to twenty—are well-versed in theoretical aspects, but often fall short when it comes to practical knowledge. Cmdre Dasgupta wants to shift the focus of the training to real-time application as bookish knowledge is insufficient. He said that the Navy has become more technically oriented in the past decade, and the officers need to acquire a technical intuition to cope with the advancements.

He took great pride in the fact that nearly eighty percent of the Navy’s vessels are manufactured indigenously, saying that bright minds rising to cater to the Navy’s demands can help transform dependence into self-sufficiency. He emphasized on the wide range of opportunities the Navy offers, especially in fields like cryptography, security, and system integration. Across the world, naval projects are outsourced to universities, which act as the interface between students and the Navy. He sees great potential for this in India since it is an effective way to encourage students to work on real-world problems. He advised the youth not to chase opportunities in the private sector based on the common misconception that the public sector offers considerably less financial benefits. The Commodore said that the Navy was a natural career choice for him as the last few generations of his family had served in the Navy. His skills as a leader were honed by his time in the Navy. ‘Leadership goes beyond speeches and talks, and can only be learnt through experience’, he added. He appreciated the efforts of the CoStAA in organizing a party for him as his birthday happened to be on the day after the inauguration. He concluded by asking the BITSians to “have a blast” this APOGEE.