Patna: St Xavier’s College of Management and Technology in Patna October 6 conferred the Xavier Pride of Bihar Award 2020 on Saikat Guha, the new director of Center for Quantum Networks under the University of Arizona in the United States.

The award was presented during an online interactive session the Patna-born scientist had with the students of the Jesuit college. Guha was appointed the director of CQN in August this year. His team has been given the task of developing the internet of the future, ruled by quantum mechanical properties.

Guha is an alumnus of Patna’s Jesuit-managed St Michael’s High School. After his schooling, he completed his B Tech in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States.

Guha shared his success journey and asked the students to pass whatever they have learnt to others. “Knowledge grows by sharing,” he said from his base in the United States.
The quest for knowledge, he explained, “is a life- long process. You should learn from everybody around you.”

Learning, being inquisitive and analytical thinking are among the most important values one should inculcate in oneself, he added.

He also asked the youth to be creative. “Use your pool of knowledge to create something new,” he said. Stating that he never chased a destination, but followed his heart’s desire and strived to excel, Guha urged the students to turn their passion into profession. “That is success and success is happiness,” he added.

Guha also admitted that he has committed many mistakes in personal as well as professional life. “You should always learn from mistakes and correct yourself,” he said.

College principal Jesuit Father T Nishaant said Guha has made all Biharis proud by becoming a renowned scientist at a young age. “It is affirmation of the fact that Bihar has good potentials,” the Jesuit priest said. “It is also a matter of joy that St Michael’s High School, a Jesuit institution, played a very important role in shaping the present status of Guha,” he added.

Former principals of St Michael’s High School Fathers P T Augustine and Norbert Menezes remembered Guha for his outstanding science projects during the school days.