Indus Valley Times

By Banaja Routray

Mumbai, Sept.22 : Tata Steel announced the winners of the 7th season of its pioneering initiative ‘Women Of Mettle’ scholarship programme, aimed to induct bright young women engineers into the manufacturing sector. The theme for this season was “Greenovation,” aligning with the Company’s commitment to sustainable innovation and gender diversity in technical areas. This year, Tata Steel also introduced team participation.

In its 7th season, Women of Mettle continues to be a platform where young and talented women engineers rise to meet technical challenges. This unique intellectual marathon provides students with the opportunity to experience diverse cross-functional challenges and engage with Tata Steel’s senior management, who serve as tutors and mentors throughout the competition.

This season witnessed the participation of over 2900 talented students from 55+ premier engineering institutes across the country, showcasing their brilliance and dedication to engineering excellence. After a rigorous selection process, the top 10 participants have emerged as shining stars.

Mihira Karanjai and Nikita Sharma from ISM Dhanbad emerged as the winner of season 7. Swati Agrawal from NIT Jamshedpur bagged the first runner-up position and Shivanshi Arora from IIT Roorkee, took the second runner-up slot.

Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “Tata Steel extends its heartfelt congratulations to the winners and participants of Women of Mettle Season 7, as well as its appreciation to all the institutes and individuals who supported and contributed to this programme. Women of Mettle is more than just a competition; it’s a testament to Tata Steel’s unwavering commitment to nurturing and empowering the next generation of women engineers. It underscores our belief that fostering diversity and providing meaningful opportunities for talented young minds in engineering is key to driving innovation and progress. We are proud to witness these outstanding young women engineers, charting a path towards a brighter and more inclusive future for the manufacturing sector.”

‘Women Of Mettle’, aimed at promoting gender diversity and inclusion in the manufacturing sector, was launched in 2017. Since its inception, the programme has been instrumental in identifying, grooming, and encouraging female engineering talent in India’s manufacturing sector. The idea is to foster a collaborative environment among students, academia, and the corporate sector to provide young women in India with unique and aspiring career opportunities.

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 at the grand finale of the competition. Winners are selected based on the presentation, feasibility, and quality of the proposed solutions. The top 10 candidates get a scholarship of ₹2,00,000 each 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 11-50, are also given an opportunity for a summer internship and Pre-Placement interview opportunities in the third year of their engineering course.