IN OCTOBER 15-YEAR-OLD NIRBHAY THAKKAR BECAME THE YOUNGEST ENGINEERING GRADUATE FROM THE GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY. COMPLETING THE COURSE IN JUST MATTER OF 58 WEEKS NIRBHAY IS A CHILD PRODIGY.
Meanwhile, his colleagues were preparing for class X board exams, Nirbhay had already completed his BE(Electrical) course. Gujarat Technological University in October announced Nirbhay as the youngest engineering graduate in the history from their Institute.
His education accelerated from class VIII. After passing the class VII exam as a state board student from Jamnagar, where his father was posted in a private sector firm as an engineer, he completed class VIII to X in a matter of six months under the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) system run by Cambridge International Examinations.
Nirbhay was remarked as a weak student by his teachers in senior KG which instigated his father to get the best out of his child and rest has been history. His father Dhaval Thakkar said “While the conventional examinations focus merely on testing students’ memory, we devised a method with which Nirbhay truly became fearless about marks and focused instead on learning – not just by reading but also listening, visualizing, and finding applications of concepts. Thus, he could learn much in short time.”
With a family background of a father who is an engineer and mother who is a doctor influenced him a lot. They presented his case as a special one to the GTU, Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) and All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Nirbhay was thus allowed to attend SAL college of Engineering.
A special schedule was prepared for the fast-track course in coordination with faculty members said DR. Rupesh Vasani principal of Sal college. The course is credit based and required Nirbhay to spend nine hours at the college and according to the GTU norms, the paper was set and results were declared only for him.
Nirbhay said his father inspired and helped him prepare for the subjects over the years, his father left his job at the age of 35 to solely focus on his studies. Nirbhay intends to complete 10 degrees of engineering over the course of next three years once the BE is completed as there are a number of common subjects. He aims to go into research and product development for which the degrees will help in multi-disciplinary approach
The vice chancellor said that Nirbhays multi degree plan will be granted on basis of relevant UGC guidelines. As his graduate project, Nirbhay is developing a windmill based on maglev (magnetic levitation) technology which can remain functional and generate energy even with minimal wind. In the future, he wishes to work with the defense sector to develop next-gen weaponry.
