Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Hyderabad

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani - Hyderabad Campus
Motto ज्ञानं परम् बलं
Gyanam paramam balam
Motto in English
 "Knowledge is Power Supreme"
Established 2008
Type Deemed University
Chancellor Kumar Mangalam Birla
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Bijendra Nath Jain
Director Prof. V. Sambasiva Rao
Administrative staff
 160+
Students 3200[1]
Undergraduates 2800[2]
Location Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Coordinates: 17°32′47.39″N 78°34′21.00″E / 17.5464972°N 78.5725000°E
Campus Suburban, 220 acres (0.89 km2)
Alumni BITSAA
Sports Cricket, Football, Basketball,Badminton,Lawn Tennis,Table tennis,Hockey
Affiliations BITS, Pilani
Website BITS Pilani-Hyderabad Campus
Molecule (Sciences), Lotus (Humanities), Rocket (Technology)

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - Hyderabad Campus (shortened to BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus or BPHC) is one of the premier technical and science institutes for higher education in India, located at Hyderabad, Telangana, India. One of the 4 campuses of the university BITS Pilani, it was started in 2008 with the first batch graduating in 2012.[3] The daughter campuses are not affiliates because only the parent university (BITS - Pilani) has the right to grant degrees to students. Being simply a campus of the parent university, it follows the same curriculum, teaching methodology and educational practices of its parent campus. Most notably, the Practice school system for which BITS Pilani is known is used as it is by the Hyderabad Campus.[4]

BITS stands out from most Indian colleges in the sense that it does not implement any State-based quotas during admission.[5][6] Seeing that the institute has never been affiliated to a faith, there are no religion-based or caste-based quotas either.[7]

History

Early Days

The road leading up to the academic block from the main gate is called the Marine Drive by the students

BITS Pilani was established as an Intermediate College by Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla in 1929.

During World War II, the Government of India established a technical training centre at Pilani for the supply of technicians for defense services and industry. At the end of the war, in 1946, it was converted it into the Birla Engineering College with degree programmes in electrical and mechanical engineering.

In 1964, the Birla Colleges of Arts, Commerce, Engineering, Pharmacy and Science were merged to form the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS). In this period of inception (especially during 1964-1970), BITS Pilani received support from the Ford Foundation and benefited from an alliance with the MIT.

BITS Pilani started to expand in India and abroad since 2000. New campuses were established in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2000) and Goa, India (2004)

This is the area right in front of the Academic Block

The BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus foundation stone was laid in the presence of the then Chief Minister of the State on 27 April 2007.[8] The institute became a functioning entity in 2008. The library building which is spread over an area of 45,000 sq.ft was inaugurated by E.S.L. Narasimhan, the current Governor of Telangana on 16 December 2011.[9] The institute auditorium, which has a seating capacity of 2,550 was inaugurated by Dr.Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chancellor - BITS Pilani and Chairman, Aditya Birla Group on 9 August 2014.[1][10]

BITS also runs a virtual university and an extension centre in Bangalore.[11]

Expansion

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus is to eventually have ten centres of excellence in order to step up activities in research and development. According to the director of the institute Professor V. S. Rao, this will allow students to interact with the industry directly and gain skills from professionals. The areas in which the centres of excellence are to be opened are pharmaceutics, mechanics, computer technology and construction engineering.

Out of all the campuses of the BITS Pilani university, the Hyderabad campus is the one which has taken charge of developing a course for Electronics and Communications Engineering. This is because of the campus's presence in Hyderabad, which is notable for a large talent pool in this area. The eventual plan is for the campus to turn into a major IT hub.[12]

Academics

Admission and demographics

List of programmes in BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus[7][13][14][15]
Bachelor of Engineering (Hons.)
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Science
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Electronics and Communication Engineering
Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Manufacturing Engineering
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons.)
Pharmacy
Master of Science (Hons.)
Biological Sciences
Chemistry
Economics
Mathematics
Physics
Master of Science (Tech.)
Information Systems
Master of Engineering
Biotechnology
Civil-Structural Engineering
Microelectronics
Embedded Systems
Thermal Engineering
Design Engineering
Computer Science
Integrated Master of Engineering
Information Security
Master of Pharmacy
Pharmacy
Master of Philosophy
Chemistry

Since 2005, admission to BITS campuses has been offered to students based on their performance in the all-India Entrance Examination, called BITS Admission Test (BITSAT). BITS Pilani also has the policy of accepting State and National Board toppers from India.

The BITSAT is held throughout the country over a fortnight. It is a three hour long online exam, i.e. students have to sit in front of a computer at authorized BITSAT centres in order to give the exam.

BITSAT cutoffs for different branches vary from year to year according to the competition for seats. However, with the plan for increasing the number of students in each campus, it is quite possible to see changes in the cutoff patterns compared to earlier years.[16]

In order for one to be eligible to give the BITSAT for a particular year, he/she must either be appearing for the Indian 12th class Board Exams in that year or have given said exams the year before. Also, the students must have a minimum aggregate of 75% in Physics, Maths and Chemistry as well as a minimum of 60% marks in each of those subjects individually. The applicant must also be well versed in English. However, in the end, the determination of the stream of the applicant will depend solely on his/her BITSAT score.[7]

The BITSAT is a national exam, and over the years has been getting more and more competitive. With the 2012 version of the exam being taken by 1,36,000 applicants for securing just 2,000 seats, it has (at least numerically) become more competitive than IITJEE, the exam taken to get into the IITs.[17]

The national nature of the exam ensures that people from all over India come to BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. However, many students from Telangana come to BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, skewing the demographic curve in favour of a Telugu majority. However, there are sizable communities of other states in BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus as well.[5][6]

Teaching methodology

The Hyderabad campus follows the same teaching methodology as its parent campus, i.e. the Pilani Campus. The various programmes are divided into three categories, namely A (engineering programmes), B (science programmes) and C (other programmes). These categories are mostly for administration purposes, for their programmes are designed similarly. However, category-B students are eligible for dual degrees (explained later) and category-C students must fulfill some requirements beyond those listed here. These programmes are constructed such that both their convergent as well as divergent parts are taught harmoniously without unnecessary usage of resources.

Climbing up the stairs - The Academic Block has three floors and a basement

The programmes span four years. As of 2013, courses have been designed such that all students have common courses in their first year with the divergence in the different programmes becoming increasingly apparent as one goes through the entirety of the programme. For the first year, the focus is increasingly on scientific, mathematical and engineering foundation courses along with the technical arts (Engineering Graphics and Workshop). As one goes from first year to second year, the core/elective disciplinary courses come into picture and are taught for the whole of the second and third years. The fourth year is left for elective slots and the Practice School-2 (PS-II).

Core disciplinary courses are the heart of the BITS teaching methodology and are designed to give the student a firm base on which to build his future engineering career. Disciplinary electives, on the other hand are not required, as the name should suggest, but are rather chosen by the student based on what he wishes to specialize in within his field. For instance, a student wishing to specialize in Biochemical Engineering would take the "Biochemical Engineering" disciplinary elective as offered by the Chemical Engineering Department.

Apart from Disciplinary electives, the institute offers a whole lot of other open elective courses as well. Electives are an important part of each programme and are given a lot of importance. Elective slots are allowed from the second year onward and are designed so as to allow the student 6 courses per semester. Those who wish to take on more are allowed to take on "overloads" of up to 8 courses in a semester for a CGPA below 8, and more if the CGPA of the student is more than that.

Apart from open electives, there are humanities electives as well. These include electives within the social sciences, political science, philosophy etc. There is a set institutional requirement regarding these elctives which must be fulfilled before the student is allowed to graduate.

Lightening bolts light up the dome in a storm

Every course taken (including electives) has a set number of credits assigned to them. The minimum requirements for completing any programme at BITS are 51-54 credits of foundation courses, technical arts, general awareness and humanities electives, 33-48 credits of core disciplinary courses, 12-27 credits of disciplinary electives and 15-27 credits of open electives. That makes it a total of 141 credits. Once these credits are accumulated, the student is free to receive his/her degree regardless of whether eight semesters are up or not.[18][19][20]

Dual degree system

In addition to the integrated first degree programmes, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus offers the prospect of a dual degree to the students of category-B programmes. A dual degree is basically two degrees (two majors), one of them in the sciences and the other in engineering. The student is allotted a second (engineering only) degree based on their choices as well as their performance in the first year. This means that they graduate with two degrees from BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, i.e. the one they entered the college with and the one they earned after first year.

The new programme which the student has to finish increases the duration of his/her stay on campus by at least 2 semesters. The requirements of the second programme are completed in the seventh and eighth semesters while the ninth and tenth semesters are both utilized for practice schools.

The degree so gained is the same as the degree gained by a category-A programme student. In other words, the graduate will have 2 degrees, one a Masters of Science (hons.) and the other a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.).[20][21]

Programme Transfers

The road leading to the hostels from the Academic Block

In addition to the dual degree system, one also has the vertical transfer system.

Practice School

The Marine Drive (route into and out of the campus) is also a favourite haunt for students at night

Practice School (PS) is a programme unique to BITS. It is offered by the Pilani, Hyderabad and Goa campuses of the university and utilizes a central infrastructure.

To put it simply, the Practice School is a programme through which students are sent to industrial entities in order to learn the tricks of their trade from professionals. It has two stages, i.e. PS-I and PS-II.

PS-I occurs in the summer after second year and is around 2 months long. The objectives of this PS are to get the student familiar with the industries he/she has been studying and provide some exposure to the industries he/she will be joining. PS-II is a much more intensive affair, what with it being 6 months long and the students assuming a much greater role in the company they are interning in. This internship is meant to prepare students for leaving the college by subjecting them to an environment very similar to their eventual workplaces.

Both parts of the Practice School involve both faculty as well as industrial supervisor supervision in order for the student to fully reap the benefits of both his/her education as well as the practical hands-on experience at PS. The PS stations where the students are sent to intern are managed centrally by a staff distributed across campuses and data is both shared as well used collectively by the campuses.[4]

Notable Research and Development Projects

A panorama of the Academic Block

The college has many R&D projects under its departments. These projects take the form of research-based consultancy, sponsored projects or just independent R&D. Some collaborators include the Science and Engineering Research Council (DST-SERC), the University Grants Commission (UGC), the National Programme for Micro and Smart System (NPMASS), Astra Zeneca, etc. The funding for these projects runs into several crores.[22] The culmination of some of this research has led to the granting of patents to professors.[23]

Rs. 2, 10 second Blood Sugar test

One of the most significant pieces of research to come out of the college was the invention of a new way of testing blood sugar which was both cheaper and quicker compared to traditional ways. Developed in-house by Dr. Suman Kapur of the Department of Biological Sciences, the invention reduces the price of measuring blood sugar from Rs. 25 to Rs 2 and decreases the amount of blood needed to a few picolitres. The development was completed on 15 July 2012 and was scheduled to go for large-scale production in the month of December.[24][25][26]

BITS Connect 2.0

The teacher teaches his class while the remote class looks on

BITS Pilani boasts of a virtual lecture facility which connects all three campuses together. In theory, this allows lectures to be held in only one campus to be streamed to all campuses live in high quality, allowing both the speaker as well as the remote audience to see each other. This facility was designed and developed by Cisco. The technologies used are Cisco TelePresence videoconferencing and Cisco WebEx technologies. It is a joint University-Alumni initiative.

The TVs behind the students make it easy for the professor to see the remote classrooms

As of now, 14 specialized electives are being offered by the campus as part of BITS Connect 2.0. This initiative will provide seamless integration of all campuses. It is hoped that this will also create avenues for new research, seamless sharing of knowledge, strengthen industry linkages and provide for remote placements. The technology is also to utilise Cisco's capture, transform, share (CTS) video platform to enable professors to record lectures and make them available for replay, which will provide access to key content from any location any time.[27] This will also allow the university to address problems faced by shortage of faculty, especially by higher degree students.[28]

Centres of Excellence

Several centres of excellence have been established in BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. The purpose of these centres is to allow students and faculty from various departments to work in collaboration with each other and with the government and industry to carry out research in various areas of importance to the nation.[29]

The Centre of Excellence for SaaS was announced in 2010 and is to be set up in collaboration with GSS Infotech. GSS & BITS are to develop Global Campus Management System as the first product in this Centre of Excellence. As a part of the program there will also be guest lectures from Practice Managers once in a month on the service offerings under 'Managed IT Services' who will guide the students and provide them with technical knowledge.[30]

The F-block at Night

Bharat Dynamics Limited and BITS Pilani have signed an MOU under which another centre of excellence is to be set up in BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. As per the MoU, BDL and BITS will engage in collaborative research in areas such as digital image processing, embedded systems, VLSI design, information security and management, seeker technologies, etc.[31] The centre of excellence will foster and facilitate exchange of information on educational programmes run by BITS as part of on-campus and off-campus programmes and on research and innovation currently undertaken by the institution. The centre would also facilitate collaborative research in the areas of mutual interest including robotics, materials, pharmacy, psychology, soft skills and communication studies.[32][33]

The Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management was set up by BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus in order to focus research on the various problems being faced in the areas of water management. The centre has held both workshops as well as conferences.[34]

Campus

Location

Rock Garden in front of Academic block

The campus is situated on the Rajiv Rahadari (SH 1, Hyderabad-Karimnagar-Ramagundam Highway) near the Hakimpet Air Force Station. The campus is located at a distance of 5 km from Shamirpet junction of Outer Ring Road, Hyderabad. The campus is located around 22 km from Secunderabad railway station and around 55 km from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Other centers in the vicinity are Genome Valley biocluster and NALSAR Law University. The terrain consists of small hillocks and urban forests, mostly away from major urban centers.[35]

Academic Block

The A-block of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus in the evening

The campus is spread over a lush green area of 220 acres. The academic block is where the day-to-day functioning of the institute takes place. It is divided into blocks A through G comprising lecture halls, classrooms, faculty offices, information processing centers (IPCs) and laboratories for all departments. The classrooms are modern. They are fully air-conditioned, have nice furniture, projectors and projector boards, a computer for the instructor to show slides using said projector and chalkboards. There are huge lecture theatres in block F. Two of them are capable of handling around 400-450 students each while the other 4 can handle around 200-250 students each. Instructors use microphones in the lecture theatres. Considered to be part of the institute building but not physically present inside the building is the Central Workshop.[18]

The central library and auditorium are part of this complex.. The campus has laboratories for science and engineering. In front of the academic block is a rock garden that is the inspiration for the name of the college magazine, On The Rocks.

Central Library

The Central Library at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

This is one of the new buildings on campus. It is fully air-conditioned and the institute Wi-fi network is available here. One can issue up to 5 books at a time for a 2 week period. One is also allowed to carry books home for vacations. The college has subscribed to a lot of magazines, journals and newspapers which one can read here.

The IntraBITS LAN allows a student to access the library catalogue from his/her room. By paying a nominal fee, the student can reserve books for himself/herself and can also track the due dates and pending library dues on the library website. He/she receives e-mails when a book is issued or returned to the library by him/her. Reminders are sent to the student daily in case he/she does not return the books by the due date.

A photocopying machine has been installed in the library as well.

A plethora of books are available online via a BITS Pilani ebooks membership which a student automatically gets upon admission. This service is available to students and teachers of all campuses of BITS Pilani.[18]

Student Housing

A view of the Hostels from the Rocks

Beyond the rocks lie the hostels which are divided into two complexes. The first complex consists of Vyas Bhavan, Budh Bhavan, Gandhi Bhavan, Krishna Bhavan, Ram Bhavan and Shankar Bhavan, which serve as boys' hostels. The second complex comprises the girls' hostels Meera Bhavan and Malaviya Bhavan. Every hostel building has four-five floors including the basement. Both these hostel complexes have their own mess buildings. They are separated by an expanse of lawn.

On arrival, a student is allotted a hostel room at random. However, students of a batch are generally kept together. Hostel rooms change after the first year. Every student is provided with basic amenities like a cot, table, chair, ceiling fan and cupboard. Internet connectivity has been provided in all hostel rooms. Heavy electrical appliances like iron, hairdryers etc. are not allowed in the hostel rooms.[36]

Common room facilities with Cable TVs and telephones are available in each hostel. Table tennis tables, foosball tables and carom boards are also provided. The hostel superintendent has a collection of magazines which students are allowed to borrow.

Vyas Bhavan is one of the boys' hostels

Each hostel has a playing area which is used to play a host of games like badminton, volleyball, football, cricket etc.

Each floor has three washrooms out of which two are large and one is small. Each hostel is equipped with solar water heating systems which pipe hot water to the washrooms. Each large washroom has six wash basins with mirrors. Every washroom has 8 bathrooms with showers, four urinals, five Indian-style and three Western-style toilets. Each small washroom has two Indian style toilets and two bathrooms with no urinals. Anti-mosquito sprays are used daily by the cleaning staff while cleaning.

Dining Hall

There are two mess halls on campus, one close to the boys' hostel, the other to the girls'. There is no restriction on which mess to choose, however. Boys may choose to go to the girls' mess and the girls to the boys'. One can choose the mess one desires on the first of each month, when the Student Mess Council conducts registrations. There are no registrations during the first month, however, and one is allotted the default mess depending on one's gender.

Once a student is registered for one mess, he/she cannot switch to another for that month. Identification is done via fingerprinting. However, the data so collected is not used to bill the student. One is charged for a meal whether one has eaten it or not. A grace period of 5 days can be availed of if one does not wish to eat in the mess while staying on campus. However, if a student is going out of campus for a few days, then the mess and administration can be informed through the use of an outstation form. This form tells the mess manager not to bill the student for the days he/she is not on campus.

The students elect a body called the Student Mess Council (SMC) which takes decisions regarding the mess, i.e. the contractors, the mess billing amount, the menu etc. They are elected the same day as the Students' Union.[18][37]

Startup culture

The startup culture is very established in BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus and is very actively encouraged by the institute and administration. With various startups coming out of the campus through the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL), a student managed body,[38] the scene for people looking to start up their own companies is very promising. The institute has also created a body called Technology Business Incubator (TBI) for helping student run companies start up properly.[39] Startup Weekend has also held an event here.[40]

CEL is a student run body on campus focussing on enhancing the quality and quantity of startups on campus. It organises workshops, trips and other such activities for budding entrepreneurs. Many startups sponsored by CEL have gone on to stabilize and some have even got seed funding. The most mainstream project CEL has been involved in is the New Venture Creation Programme, which it was able to bring to the Hyderabad Campus with the help of BITSAA, the BITS Alumni Association. Some startup companies to have come out of BITS through CEL are Valonia, Inc42, Inu, Trippin Unlimited and Gadgetronica.[38][41][42]

The TBI is sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, India, and is seen primarily as a way of incubating startups related to ICT, Pharmaceutical areas and biotechnology. The DST has given a Rs. 5 crore (Rs. 5,00,00,000) grant and the institute has pledged another Rs. 2.5 crore (Rs. 2,50,00,000) for its activities. Initially, the incubator is to be open only to the students and faculty of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, but it will be opened up to others as time passes and the project matures. Incidentally, the institute is also going to provide around 10,000 sq. ft. of land to the project for its labs and incubators.[43]

Student life

List of Clubs[18][37]
  • Lights and Sounds department
  • English Language Activities Society (ELAS)
  • BITS Embryo
  • Music Club
  • Dance Club
  • Photography Club
  • VFX Club
  • Shades - The art club
  • Quiz Club
  • Dramatics club
  • Ad-Astra - The Astronomy club
  • Crux - the coding society
  • Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership
  • The Society Involved In Re-Inventing India (SIRI)
  • SAE (Society for Automotive Engineers) India - BPHC Chapter
  • Design For Change (DFC) - BPHC Chapter
  • Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship
  • Linux User Group
  • BPHC Android Group
  • Student Mentorship Programme
  • Automation and Robotics Club
  • Hindi Club
These Rocks are part of the central lawns of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. It is quite common to see students relaxing here in the evenings

In general, student life in BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus is not very highly regulated. Seeing that there is no attendance, students are free to go out on any day they feel like as long as they do not attempt to leave campus after eight at night. The campus in-time is ten o' clock and students are expected to be back in campus by then.

The policy of the institute on drugs and other intoxicants is very strict. While smoking and drinking may just get one warnings or fines, being caught with mind-altering substances and other narcotics can lead to semester bans or at worst, rustication. The disciplinary committee consists of the chief warden of the hostels, the head of the Student Welfare Division, the campus head of the PS department, another teacher and an SU-appointed student representative.

For students to hone their hobbies in campus, there exist clubs for music, dance, literary activities, photography, animation and other visual effects, entrepreneurship and other activities. All of these are active in the cultural festival of the college, Pearl. Various departmental associations exist which remain active throughout the year, though most notably during ATMOS, the technical fest of the campus.

Various cultural/regional associations are also present on campus, and they generally become active during festivals. Many associations like celebrating festivals popular in their home states and organise poojas and traditional dinners.[18][37]

Student-elected bodies

All clubs, fests and activities are managed by the students themselves with little outside help. Students elect a body for administration, the Students' Union (SU). The SU is elected during the fall semester in the month of September and is responsible for the set-up of the departments directly influencing fests, i.e. the departments of sponsorship and marketing, publicity, security and hospitality, etc. In addition to the SU, students also elect members for the Students' Mess Council (SMC), which is in charge of managing the two messes and the all-night canteen. Both these student bodies co-ordinate with the Students' Welfare Division (SWD) branch of the administration. These elections are also used for the election of students to other posts, i.e. Sports' Secretary, Hostel Representatives, etc.

While the elections themselves are not a very big deal on campus, their outcome does have a very big impact on the direction the student body takes in managing both the fests as well as itself.

Non-elected Student bodies

There are some bodies which are not elected by the students, but are rather nominated by the SU president or selected by teachers through interviews. Examples include the student representative of the disciplinary committee, student members of the Student Welfare Division, etc.

Publications

The college has an official magazine called On The Rocks, which is managed by the students. It features articles by students on many topics. Every departmental association has its own newsletter.

In July 2014, an online magazine, called The Daily Bitsian was started by some students. Published fortnightly, it is described as "a collection of articles, photographs, prose, artwork and every kind of content there is, that will hopefully capture the Bitsian spirit." The magazine contains campus news, articles, poems, photographs and op-ed pieces.[44]

Sports Facilities and Rivalries

The Students' Activity Centre is the host to most clubs, badminton courts, table tennis rooms and the gym

The college boasts of having great facilities for badminton, basketball, table tennis, carom, football, etc. The football and cricket grounds are slated to be completed soon. A well-equipped and well-maintained gym is present as well with weights as well as machines for training. Coaches are called regularly for training teams for various sports fests and the like.[18][37]

The college can boast of having strong teams in many fields and have healthy rivalries in many sports. The closest colleges to BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus are NALSAR, IIIT Hyderabad, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology and IIT Hyderabad. There regularly occur friendly matches between the various sports teams of these colleges as well as intra-Hyderabad championships. The sports include, but are not limited to Football, Basketball, Cricket, Tennis, Table Tennis, Chess, etc.[18]

In addition to intra-Hyderabad rivalries, the Hyderabad Campus sends teams to the various sports fests of its mother and sister campuses. The sports fest of BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus (BOSM) as well as the Goa Campus are frequented by the sports teams of the Hyderabad Campus on an annual basis.[18]

All-night Canteens

The all-night canteens are an important part of the culture of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. While not truly all-night on the correct sense of the word, the all-night canteens are open from 10pm to midnight everyday except for Sundays. Both messes are used as venues for the same. The payment in these night canteens is done by cash and they are managed by the same contractors who manage the messes.

Events

Pearl

Dark Tranquility performing at Pearl 2011

Pearl is the official National Annual Cultural Festival of the campus. The fest usually involves many enthralling events with music, dance, theatre and literary activities. The festival is wholly student run, right from getting the funding to the organisation. The Students' Union of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus is closely involved in the administration of the fest.

The festival started out as an intra-college event in 2009 and then went on to become a city level inter-college cultural festival in 2010, which saw several colleges from Hyderabad participating in more than 50 unique events encompassing the cultural diversity of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. 2011 saw it becoming a national level event with universities sending teams from many major cities in India.

Pearl is held in February and features competitions in quiz, music, dance and literary events. The first Pearl was held in 2010. The second edition of Pearl in February 2011 was headlined by the Swedish death metal band, Dark Tranquillity.[45] Thurisaz, a metal band from Belgium, performed at Pearl 2012.[46] In 2013, Pearl saw performances by Junkyard Groove, Amplifier and Nikhil Chinappa.[47][48]

ATMOS

ATMOS is the techno-management fest of the campus. The first edition was organized on 26 and 27 October 2012. It featured paper presentations, technical competitions and workshops on various topics.[49][50] The next (2nd) edition of ATMOS was scheduled from 11 October to 13 October 2013.[51]

Arena

Arena is the National Annual Sports Festival of the campus. The major tournaments it features are cricket, hockey football, throw ball, basketball, badminton, table tennis, chess, carom, athletics, tennis, volleyball and power lifting.[52]

TEDxBITSHyderabad

The first edition of TEDxBITSHyderabad was held on 25 November 2012. There were a total of 12 speakers, including the four student speakers selected by a panel.[53]

Verba Maximus

Two editions of the Literary fest, Verba Maximus, have taken place till now. The first was in 2012, the second in 2013. The fest offers a host of events, all literary in nature, as well as visits by authors and other notable literary figures. Verba Maximus 2013 saw a visit by bestselling author of the Shiva Trilogy, Amish Tripathi. The fest has traditionally ended with a comedy show. Both editions of Verba Maximus have featured Saurabh Pant.[54][55]

While most of the fest is organised by ELAS, the 2014 version of the fest has seen ELAS collaborating with the Journal Club, the Photography Club, the Hindi Club, Brindavanam (Telugu Association) and the Quiz Club.[56]

MUN

From BITSMUN 2011, the first college level Model United Nations Conference in the state BITSMUN 2013 grew into an international MUN conference with over 200 delegates shortlisted from 700 applications.[57]

Administration

The institute was named as a campus as opposed to a separate university. Graduating students are awarded degrees from BITS Pilani as only the parent university has the right to grant degrees. However, with respect to most other aspects, the Hyderabad campus is autonomous. As an example, the institute has its own faculty and administration. The institute fully uses the facilities provided by its parent university, e.g., the Practice School System, and uses a similar grading system.[4]

The administration is divided into six divisions:[58]

Other campuses of BITS Pilani

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "BITS-Pilani Hyderabad in ₹400-cr expansion mode - Business Line". The Hindu Business Line. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  2. ↑ "BITS Pilani-Hyderabad to launch technology incubator". GyanCentral. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  3. ↑ "BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus Placements 2012". myEngg.com. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Practice School". BITS Pilani. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Learning curve's deTour". Times of India. 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Life at BPHC". BITS360 Forums. 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "BITSAT 2013" (PDF). BITS Admissions. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  8. ↑ "Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony - BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus on 28th April, 2007". BITSAA. 2007-03-20. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  9. ↑ "Library inauguration at BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus by ESL Narasimhan". Coolage. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  10. ↑ "Over 680 students pass out from BITS Pilani - Siasat". Siasat. 2014-09-10. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  11. ↑ "BITS Pilani 1969 Alumni". BITS69. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  12. ↑ "BITS campus to be R&D hub for IT cos". Times of India. 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  13. ↑ "Integrated First Degree". Universe.bits-pilani.ac.in. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  14. ↑ "Higher Degree". Universe.bits-pilani.ac.in. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  15. ↑ "Doctoral Programmes". Universe.bits-pilani.ac.in. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  16. ↑ "Some statistical information on BITSAT-2013". BITS Admission. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  17. ↑ "BITSAT is more competitive than IIT JEE says Times of India, do you agree?". 100/100 Marks. 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 "Hyderabad: Beginner's Guide". BITS360 Forums. 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  19. ↑ "Revised Curriculum Details" (PDF). BITS Pilani. 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Details of Progs" (PDF). BITS Pilani. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Dual Degree in BITS Pilani". LearnHub. 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  22. ↑ "Research Overview". Universe.bits-pilani.ac.in. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  23. ↑ "Publications & Citations - yogeeswarigroup". Sites.google.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  24. ↑ "Blood sugar test for Rs 2, in 10 seconds". Times of India. 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  25. ↑ "My Homeplace: Now check your blood sugar in 10 seconds, for just Rs. 2". My Homeplace. 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  26. ↑ "Digital Finger-Pricking Blood Sugar Test In 10 Seconds". Jollyga. 2012-07-05. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  27. ↑ "Cisco deploys virtual lecture facility in BITS Pilani". Times of India. 2013-03-25. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  28. ↑ "BITS has all its campuses connected now". Times of India. 2013-03-25. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  29. ↑ "Centres". BITS Pilani. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  30. ↑ "GSS America sets up 'Center of Excellence' in collaboration with BITS Pilani". IndiaPRWire. 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  31. ↑ "Bharat Dynamics, BITS Pilani Sign Pact". Department of Science and Technology, India. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  32. ↑ "A ‘centre of excellence' for BITS". The Hindu. 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  33. ↑ "BDL Signs MoU with BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad" (PDF). Bharat Dynamics Limited. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  34. ↑ "Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management". BITS Pilani. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  35. ↑ "Visit Hyderabad Campus". Universe.bits-pilani.ac.in. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  36. ↑ "Student Facilities". BITS Pilani. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 "Bits Pilani, Hyderabad Campus - An introduction". Scribd. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 "Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership". BITS Pilani. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  39. ↑ "Technology Business Incubator". BITS Pilani. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  40. ↑ "Startup Weekend Hyderabad". Startup Weekend Hyderabad Official Website. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  41. ↑ Deccan Chronicle, 22 May 2013
  42. ↑ "Desi Inu promises to redefine social networking". Times of India. 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  43. ↑ "BITS Pilani-Hyderabad to set up technology incubator". The Hindu. 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  44. ↑ "About Us - The Daily Bitsian". Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  45. ↑ "Dark Tranquillity to perform at BITS Pilani in February". MetalIndia Magazine. 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  46. ↑ "Pearl 2012: Unseen Underground". Unseen Underground. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  47. ↑ "Pearl 2013: Unseen Underground". Unseen Underground. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  48. ↑ "Pearl-2013 Tickets, Event Tickets, Other Tickets". Book My Show. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  49. ↑ "ATMOS 2012, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus, Technical Fest, Hyderabad, Telangana, October 26-27 2012". KnowaFest.com. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  50. ↑ "ATMOS 2012, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus". BITS ATMOS. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  51. ↑ "ATMOS 2013, BITS Pilani Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Techno-management Fest, Telangana, October 11-13 2013". Knowafest.com. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  52. ↑ "Arena 2014, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus". Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  53. ↑ "TED/TEDx/Event Detail". TED. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  54. ↑ "Saurabh Pant @ BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus". Coolage. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  55. ↑ "Verba Maximus 2013 by Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - Hyderabad - Jan 19, 2013 – Jan 20, 2013". College Khabar. 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  56. ↑ "Verba Maximus 14". BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  57. ↑ "BITS Hyderabad - A successful Journey". Best Delegate. 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  58. ↑ "Offices & Administration". Universe.bits-pilani.ac.in. 1964-06-18. Retrieved 2012-12-18.

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