Army Institute of Technology, Pune

Army Institute of Technology
Pune

AIT, Pune logo
Motto Onward To Glory
Established 1994
Type Undergraduate
Principal Dr B P Patil
Director Brig. S K Lahiri
Undergraduates 1200
Location Dighi Hills, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Campus Suburban
Acronym AITP
Colors Blue and Maroon          
Affiliations University of Pune
Website www.aitpune.com

Army Institute of Technology (AIT) is an undergraduate engineering college located in the Dighi Hills, Alandi Road area in Pune, Maharashtra, India and affiliated to the University of Pune. It is one of the best colleges in Maharashtra. Only wards of army personnel are allowed admission. The students of AIT are well disciplined and smart as they all come from very prestigious army background. The admission is done through JEE MAINS exam. AIT functions under the aegis of the Army Welfare Education Society (AWES)[1] and has the seniormost officer of the Indian Army, the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army (COAS), as the President of its Board of Governors.

History

The college was set up when Gen BC Joshi, PVSM AVSM, ADC (1935–1994), the then Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, saw the need for an engineering college for the children of all ranks of the Army. His view was that children of army personnel were disadvantaged as far as education was concerned as a direct consequence of soldiers serving under difficult conditions in forward areas where educational facilities are not always available. Additionally, the regular rotation of army personnel, potentially across the country, affects continuity of education.

AIT was formally inaugurated by Gen S. Roy Chaudhary PVSM, ADC on 24th Feb, 1995. The first batch of students graduated in 1998.

Academics

AIT offers the following four engineering courses: Computer Engineering, Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering, Information Technology and Mechanical Engineering. All four courses are approved and accredited by both the All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). All the four courses which are offered at AIT, i.e. Computer Engineering, Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering, Information and Technology Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, are accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).

Each course lasts for eight semesters and these are spread out over four years, referred to as FE (First Year Engineering), SE (Second Year Engineering), TE (Third Year Engineering) and BE (Bachelor of Engineering). The annual First Year of Engineering intake for each class is sixty students, thus leading to a total of two hundred and forty freshmen entering AIT each year, apart from this there is also a provision for migration from other colleges subject to certain rules. In 2010-11 number of seats in Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering was increased from 60 to 120. Computer Engineering is considered best branch in Army Institute of technology in terms of placements.

Graduates receive a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree from the University of Pune.

Campus

The AIT campus benefits from its location on the outskirts of Pune in that it is not plagued by air and noise pollution and that the ample space allows for planned expansion. The largest building is the Academic Block, which houses the lecture halls, most laboratories, offices for the administration and an auditorium. The lawn in front of the Academic Block is the first view that visitors to the campus have, and is one of the preferred spots for a sit-down in the evenings. On either side of this centre are located the hostels for students and residential quarters for staff. As AIT is intended to be a residential college, the campus attempts to be self-contained and has various messes and cafés, along with a shop for common household products and an ATM of the HDFC Bank.

 

Sports are an especially popular pastime at AIT and the campus boasts a basketball court, a cricket field, a tennis court, a volleyball court, a football (soccer) field, a badminton court (which sport, of course, originated in Pune), fitness studio, a croquet lawn and two squash courts. Indoor sports are also enjoyed, be it chess, pocket billiards or table tennis.

The AIT library is open to all students and staff and is one of the most frequented locations on campus. The library has a very technical bent and, as of 2009, had 5154 titles and 16927 volumes, and subscribed to 43 national periodicals and 14 international journals. The current focus is on augmenting instruction media to include Computer Based Teaching.

The campus is well serviced through public transportation links to the nearby suburb Vishrantwadi and also to the most popular locations in Pune: the University, Deccan, Main & East Streets and the railway station. The village of Dighi is a short walk away, as are the hills which lend their name to the locality.

Clubs and Student Activities

Fests

Entrepreneurship Cell

AITians and AIT Alumni run quite an active entrepreneurship cell in the college campus. More than 30 entrepreneur Alumni manage the cell and stay in touch with interested students groups. Entrepreneurship is promoted through final year projects in terms of mentorship as well as financial aid. Some of the companies founded by AITians who are actively engaged with student groups are:

Alumni

The first batch of engineers graduated in 1998, and they, like their successors, keep in touch with AIT and each other through the Alumni Association. The aim of the Alumni Association is to allow each alumnus - a fresh graduate or one from the first batches - to leverage professional contacts, renew or build social ones and to constructively contribute to the community and the Alma Mater. An annual Alumni Meet is hosted on campus, where alumni get to interact with students and faculty. As alumni are dispersed across the world, an online mailing list helps alumni keep in regular touch with each other.

AIT Alumni website link[2]

Placements

Post college job placement in AIT has generally been good. The exact figures are available with the placement office at the college.

Placement Statistics
Year Percentage Placed Average Salary (lpa) Highest Salary (lpa) Reference
2007 96 unknown unknown unsourced
2009 87 13.5 43 [3]
2010 89 14.2 34.3 [3]
2012 91 4.87 16 Microsoft
2013 98 2 5.6 Microsoft
2014 99.8 6.9 5cr google

Placement 2012-2013

The College Placements of academic year 2012-2013 has started already with companies such as Whirlpool, ThoughtWorks, JohnDeere, Deloitte,Tavisca and still counting. Its worth noting that at the time when many companies are refusing to hire freshers because of fear of recession, AIT students don't find it affecting their placements as there are many companies with a package higher than average yet to come. Many high-end salary jobs are already given to various students.

Governance

AIT has a one-tier governance structure. At the highest level is the Board of Governors with the COAS as President, and the VCOAS and all Army Commanders (except the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Command) as Vice Presidents. The Managing Director of AWES is designated as the Member Secretary, with the following officers being Members: DCOAS (IS & T), DCOAS (P & S), Adjutant General (AG), Quartermaster General (QMG), Master General Ordnance (MGO), Military secretary (MS), Engineer-in-Chief, three Heads of Arms/Services in rotation, Director General (Discipline, Ceremonials & Welfare) and the Judge Advocate General (JAG). this is followed by a twelve-member Governing Body, which includes nominees from AICTE, the University of Pune and the Government of Maharashtra, and a ten-member Local Managing Committee, which includes representatives from each of the teaching faculties.

References

  1. ↑ AWES
  2. ↑ AIT Alumni
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Indian Express Article, Ishfaq Naseem, Pune, June 27, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/army-instt-of-technology-feels-postrecession-heat/639029/0

External links

Coordinates: 18°37′5.76″N 73°52′36.34″E / 18.6182667°N 73.8767611°E