PUNE: In a village called Loni Khalbor, on the Pune-Solapur Highway is where Maharashtra Academy of Engineering and Educational Research’s (MAEER) Maharashtra Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design (MITID) is located. Situated on the banks of the Mula-Mutha river, this is a 125-acre property that was donated by the late Bollywood veteran actor Raj Kapoor, who wanted the premises to be used for educational purposes. What an idyllic setting like this will do for the creative is something any visitor can see in the corridors and classrooms of MITID.
MAEER was established as a society and trust to impart quality education, and MIT Institute of Design came into being in 2006. Vishwanath Karad is the Founder-Director of the institute who started off with an aim to provide the finest environment for learning, teaching and research and to make learning directly applicable to real life.
The MIT family (with campuses across Pune) includes the Institute of Technology, MIT Academy of Engineering, MIT College of Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Maharashtra Institute of Medical Education and Research, MIT School of Management, Maharashtra Institute of Pharmacy, Maharashtra Academy of Naval Education and Training, Vishwashanti Gurukul, MIT School of Telecom Management and MIT School of Government.
The philosophy of the institute is ‘Sadhan’ (skill), ‘Sadhana’ (knowledge) and ‘Sadhya’ (formation). Based on classic Indian philosophy, the institute drives innovation and implementation.
Visitors are greeted with an array of design projects displayed, in the areas of Communication Design, Industrial Design and Fashion Design. Prof Anant Chakradeo, dean of MITID, says, “I have been a part of MIT’s for 22 years as a professor, but my role is purely administrative now. I have been here from the start and have seen the institute take shape. We have grown from getting 100 to 2,500 applications now and have enrolled 1,000 students without compromising on quality. We have frozen our intake for this reason.”
Courses offered
Graduate and postgraduate diploma programmes are offered in all three streams. Industrial Design offers the opportunity to specialise in Product Design, Transportation Design, Interior Space and Equipment Design, Retail and Exhibition Design and User Experience Design. Communication Design is offered through Graphic Design, Animation Film Design and Film and Video Design. The Fashion Design Institute offers programmes in collaboration with the University for Creative Arts, UK — BA (hons) in Fashion Design, BA (hons) Fashion Promotion and Imaging, MBA in Fashion Management and Marketing and MDes in Fashion Design.
There are collaborative programmes offered in UG (2+2 years) and PG (1+1 years) with UK-based universities like University of Gloucestershire, Middlesex University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Northumbria University, University of Dundee and University of Abertay.
The courses covered in the Industrial Design programme makes the students understand concepts like Design Ethnography, Design Research, Ergonomics, Design Process, Strength of Materials, History of Design, Green Design, Sustainable Design and System Design. They aim at addressing common and critical problems faced by people in their day-to-day lives. A classic example of this would be a garlic peeler that has been invented by a PG-I, student Vivek Jagtap, from the product design department.
Transportation design addresses issues of mobility and students get to study Emerging Technologies, Composites, Aerodynamics, Fluid Dynamics, Automobile engineering, Automotive Modelling, Transportation for Specific Needs, Vehicle Packaging Design and
Use of Automotive Clay and GFRP the learners are capable of creating newer transportation design systems.
The Interior Design and Furniture Design department offers courses that include a blend of space design as well as Furniture design, namely, lifestyle products. With technological and skill-based inputs like Ergonomics, Architectural drawing, Building technology and Prototype making, they enable students to look at space in a holistic manner and design the interiors and furniture to enhance functionality. There is also extensive exposure to digital methods like AutoCAD, RHINO, Google Sketchup and Solid works.
The labs in all the departments deserve special mention. Their model-making lab in transportation design sees a project through from examining client needs, research and conceptualising to creation of prototype. Tata Motors, GM and Hyundai are some of the regular visitors to their campus and they encourage the students to take up live projects for them for a stipend. The departments also undertake consulting, say Professors Donshon Koren and Rakesh Sharma. Prof Koren was working on building a car from scratch with his students when the writer visited.
Admission process
Admission is through a design aptitude test held at 17 centres across the country, which will be followed by a group discussion, portfolio presentation, studio test and interview. Fifteen students are offered a 50 per cent fee waiver, apart from which talented but needy students are always offered help.
Experience at MITID
In Prof Chakradeo’s words, it is like a “residential village where different cultures coexist. Learning design in a design environment is different from learning design in a multi-disciplinary environment. Here, every discipline is available in-house for students to be inspired and to learn from. Stand-alone institutes have many constraints.” The emphasis is on students learning to sketch and physically doing projects and then moving to the use of technology. Old school as it may be perceived, they have observed it has a great effect on students. Once basic thinking and hard skills are in place, they introduce students to the tools required.
The classroom engagements are quite something – the relationship students share with their professors seem to be friendly. They also have annual examinations in the form of presentations of various projects undertaken during the year in front of in-house faculty and visiting faculty which are called Juries.
Prof Sanjay Jain is a friendly face in the product design department, who is also the founder-director of the institute. As head of the product design department, he says, “It is the largest discipline in terms of bench strength. The environment we give them here is that of a free hand, but with ample support. Discipline should be self-driven. We want to create an ecosystem that is conducive to designing, and not restrained. We want them to be entrepreneurs from day one – the learning curve will be faster this way,” he says.
Faculty members are academics as well as those with industry experience. They seem to encourage a hands-on approach towards solving any design-related problem – from material sensitivity to usage, design and functionality.
Prof Ranjana Dani, head of department of the Graphic Design department says, “Our students are taught to align their skills with industry needs and technological advancements. There is healthy encouragement as far as projects go and we insist that our faculty should remain constantly engaged to inspire. Our studios are open till 12am. We don’t have 9-5 class.”
Student Activities
A vibrant group of students at MITID indulge in several projects over the years. Apart from this, QUASAR, an annual design festival is held for a week with a delightful mélange of workshops, seminars, exhibitions, cultural evenings and more. It brings together various design schools and firms across the country. The iDid design store is a student initiative where students showcase their own designs and is incubated on campus. H!VE is their official newsletter that you can check out at www.hivemitid.wordpress.com. 24fps is a student initiative that showcases films spanning various languages and genres to inspire students to learn from. They also engage in sports and cultural activities on campus
The road ahead
With an aim to make it a design habitat — a logical and organic extension of the current setup, Prof Chakradeo is leading the way to getting the institute recognised as a State Private University – which will be one-of-a-kind in India. “We should know where we stand in a few months. The autonomy will be welcome. We will add Fine Arts, Liberal Arts and Architecture, gradually to make it complete.” Also on the cards is a Centre for Theatre and Body Language. For details, visit www.mitid.edu.in
— preethi@newindianexpress.com