After functioning from a small campus for a few years, the newly-established Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H)has recently shifted to a highly sophisticated new campus at Kandi Village in Medak district. Though established just a few years ago, it is doing well on industry-academic collaboration. It was also the first institute in India to introduce a course in additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology. IIT-Hyderabad director UB Desai, in an exclusive interview with Express, shared his views on the recent trend in academic-industrial collaboration and the changing picture of technical education in India.
All IIT campuses have their own unique features in terms of infrastructure and architecture. How different is the new campus of IIT-Hyderabad from other IITs?
Since it has been built recently, we are lucky to use all available advanced technology to make it more accessible and eco-friendly campus. All the constructions on the campus are green buildings. The basic structure of buildings allows natural light and a good amount of air to keep it cool.
The buildings are easily accessible to differently-abled students. We have allotted 40 rooms in hostel buildings exclusively for them. I can proudly say ours is one of the most disabled-friendly campuses. We are accommodating more than 2,000 students in our hostels. Now the new campus is completely functional. All the classrooms, labs and faculty quarters have been shifted to the new campus in the very beginning of this academic year.
IIT-H was the first in India to introduce a UG course in additive manufacturing technology. Will it introduce a PG course too in it?
The UG course has received a good response in the first year. Around 200 students from all branches took the course. Now it is part of the regular courses for all UG courses. If there is a demand, we will consider making it a mandatory course at UG level. But there is no plan to introduce a special M.Tech course in it.
IITs have decided not to disclose the highest placement packages offered to students. Why?
It was a common decision taken in deference to the request of parents and some recruiting companies. It is learnt that fat salaries at a very young age have been creating unnecessary issues for these students. So we have decided to keep the individual statistics confidential. But other details like average salary of a batch, number of job offers and the number of companies that visit the campus to offer placements will be announced.
Along with ISB and NALSAR University, you are part of the Telangana government’s incubation centre T-Hub. Will IIT-H start its own incubation centre in future?
The idea behind incubation centres is to encourage start-ups by students. We already have an entrepreneurial cell for this purpose. T-Hub is a much broader idea. Educational institutes can only have sector-based incubation centres. Our recently-launched Centre for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CHE)is one such idea. Here, we encourage students to come up with ideas and help them develop business plans out of them.
There is a move to set up an incubation centre for aerospace and defence manufacturing at IIT-H. How important will be IIT’s role in that project?
The incubation centre for aerospace is a much bigger project. It is still a proposal. We are yet to begin the designing of framework. It will take some time to take shape. I think it is too early to talk about it.