PRAYAGRAJ, Sept. 7 -- The Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) Alumni Association has announced the recipients of its Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2026, with eight alumni selected for their contributions and achievements in different fields. The awardees will be honoured during the Global Alumni Convention-2026 to be held on November 21 and 22. The association had invited nominations for the awards on January 7, with July 5 set as the last date for submission. A total of 52 nominations were received across various categories. Following the selection process, the awards committee recommended eight alumni, whose names were approved by the executive committee of the MNNIT Alumni Association at its meeting on August 30, said Prof Avinash Kumar Dubey, executive president of the MNNIT Alumni Association. He said this was the third time that the organisation was conferring the Distinguished Alumni Awards. MNNIT director Prof K Umamaheshwar Rao and Prof MM Gore congratulated all the award recipients.Two alumni-Bhuvan Chandra Tripathi, a 1982-batch mechanical engineering alumnus and former GAIL CMD, and Ravinder Kumar Sharma, a 1968-batch electrical engineering alumnus and former THDC India CMD-have been selected for the "Distinguished Moti-Lifetime Achievement Award". Tripathi, who serves on the boards of several prominent companies, received the Business Today Best CEO Award in 2019, while Sharma received the Institution of Engineers (India)'s Eminent Engineer Award in 2005. Dr Vivek Garg, a 2000-batch electronics engineering alumnus, has been selected for his "significant contribution to the alma mater/alumni association", while Brajesh Jha, a 1990-batch civil engineering alumnus and CEO of RWS Transform, US, will be honoured for "significant service at the national and international level". Four alumni have been selected for "professional excellence": Dr Yasho Vardhan Verma (1979, mechanical engineering) for excellence in the private, corporate and industrial sector; Kulbir Singh (1969, electrical engineering) for entrepreneurship and innovation; Lokesh Chandra (1990, civil engineering) for public administration; and Dr Surendra Kumar Mishra (1984, civil engineering) for education and research. Mishra is a professor at IIT Roorkee and has 516 research publications to his credit....