Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

This article is about a technology institute in Gandhinagar, India. For the similarly named institutes, see Indian Institute of Technology (disambiguation).
Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान गांधीनगर
Type Public Engineering and Research Institute
Established 2008
Parent institution
 Indian Institute of Technology
Chairman Dr.Baldev Raj
Director Dr.Sudhir K. Jain
Location Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Acronym IITGN
Website www.iitgn.ac.in

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (also known as IIT Gandhinagar and IITGN), located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, is a public institute of higher education declared to be an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India.[1]

History

IIT Gandhinagar is one of the eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) announced by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2008.[2][3] The Institute began operating in a temporary campus at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College, Chandkheda, mentored by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The first batch of students were admitted in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering.[4]

IITGN was included in The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2011.[5] The Act was passed in the Lok Sabha on 24 March 2011[6] and by the Rajya Sabha on 30 April 2012.[7]

The permanent campus of IIT Gandhinagar, on the banks of Sabarmati near Palaj village, is under construction and is nearing completion.[8] In 2011, in his inaugural speech for the Amalthea technology summit, then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the land for the new permanent campus, saying, "[the] [s]tate government has decided to give [...] land on 99 year lease with a token amount of just one rupee for setting up a campus of IIT-Gandhinagar."[9] The institute took possession of over 400 acres of land in August 2012 and the classes and other activities were started on the new campus from July 2015. The institute will function as a fully residential campus and will be constructed in phases. The campus will be run on solar power. It is envisioned to be a pollution-free, green zone.[10]

Organization and Administration

IIT Gandhinagar Campus

Board of Governors

The institute is managed by a Board of Governors. The board comprises academicians, researchers, industrial leaders, and administrators. Dr. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar was the first Chairman of the Board of Governors of IITGN. Dr. Baldev Raj is the current chairman.[11][12]

Senate

The Senate is a statutory body responsible for all the academic matters of the institute, including monitoring and making improvements in course structure and curriculum. The current Senate of the IIT GN was constituted on April 5, 2010. It hosts members of faculty, and advisers from academia and industry. Prior to its constitution, the functions of the Senate were being performed by an academic council comprising the heads of departments at IIT Bombay, the mentor institute.[13][14]

Key academic officials

Key officials of the institute are the Director, assisted by the deans of Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Faculty Affairs, Research and Development, and the coordinators of individual disciplines.[15] Presently Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain is heading the institution as the Director.[16] He is on deputation from IIT Kanpur.[17] Prof Jain is one of India's leading earthquake engineers. He set up the National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at IITK and developed the National Programme on Earthquake Engineering Education (NPEEE), supported by the Government of India. He is president-elect of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering.[18]

Academics

IIT Gandhinagar offers Bachelor of Technology programs in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. Admission to these programs is through taking the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).[19] The institute also offers Masters[20] and Ph.D. studies in various fields in engineering, sciences and humanities, and social sciences. Admissions to these graduate programmes are through written test and/or interviews.

In 2011, 117 undergraduate students were admitted to the 2012 batch,[21] and 134 students were admitted to the 2013 batch. Admission to IIT Gandhinagar's graduate programs are even more competitive than the undergraduate programs, with a selectivity ratio 0f 0.5%.[22]

In July 2011, IIT Gandhinagar instituted a five-week immersion Foundation Program for all new undergraduate students. The program, inaugurated by Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy on 19 July 2011,[23] is meant to foster creativity, ethics, communication skills, teamwork, social engagement, and physical fitness.[24] Students take almost 20 percent of their coursework in the humanities and the social sciences, as well as compulsory courses in design and the life sciences. In April 2013, IITGN's undergraduate curriculum was awarded the World Education Award 2013 for innovations in higher education, by the World Education Summit.[25] Nearly a third of all IIT Gandhinagar undergraduate students receive study abroad opportunities during their time at the Institute.

Convocation

On 22 July 2012, the first convocation] of IIT Gandhinagar was held, within the temporary campus premises. 86 students graduated with Bachelor of Technology degrees in Chemical, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering. The Chief guest for the occasion was Shri N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor and Chairman Emeritus of Infosys Ltd. Mr. Murthy spoke about patriotism in his Convocation address.[26][27][28] Dr. Mashelkar, Chairman of the Board of Governors, and Dr. Sudhir Jain, Director, IIT Gandhinagar, also addressed the graduating students. The President's gold medal, outstanding researcher's medal, and other performance awards were handed out by Dr. Mashelkar. The degrees of Bachelor of Technology to the graduating batch were handed out by Dr. Jain. Swetava Ganguli received the first President's Gold Medal of IIT Gandhinagar. The convocation attire for IITGN was designed by the National Institute of Design (NID).[29][30]

India-Ki-Khoj

India-Ki-Khoj (Discovering India) is an intensive program fostering the understanding and appreciation of India through lectures and field visits. Designed and led by members of the Humanities and Social Sciences Program, the ten-day program brings together IITGN students and visiting students from overseas. The first India-Ki-Khoj was held in December 2011 and hosted students from Caltech. India-Ki-Khoj has been designed to help overseas students understand how a tradition-bound and diverse country such as India has survived as a nation, and understand the many layers of that diversity. Through a combination of academic lectures and field-visits, the program takes the students through India of the past, present, and future, helping them relate India’s ancient traditions of philosophy, science and technology to a present-day India, and helping to identify continuities as well as changes that India has made through the centuries. The programs includes discussions of modern India’s economic trends, culture and history, poetry and films, caste and community structures, and enables participants to "appreciate a country that eludes easy definitions".[31]

Global health and development

Over 40 students from various institutes learned how to contribute to global health and development at IIT Gandhinagar in a month-long event called Summer Institute on Global Health and Development, which concluded on June 12, 2015. The event was jointly organised by IITGN and the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, with the support of Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL).[32]

Research

In 2011, IIT Gandhinagar and the Physical Research Laboratory signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that ensures research collaborations and exchanges between the two institutions at the level of advanced Ph.D. programs in theoretical physics, astro-physics, and atmospheric sciences.[33] The collaboration facilitates exchange of research ideas between Ph.D. students and the faculties of both institutions.

NTT Facilities, Japan, and Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA), Gandhinagar, have each provided a 10 kW roof-top solar photovoltaic (PV) system to the Institute. The system provided by NTT Facilities consists of sixty-four thin-film modules (rated 150W) made by Solar Frontier, Japan, while the system sponsored by GEDA consists of forty-four multicrystalline silicon modules (rated 230 W) produced by Jain Irrigation Systems, India. Each PV system is expected to generate about 15000 kWh of electricity every year and reduce total CO2 emissions by about 28 tonnes. These systems have already started to reduce the energy bills of the Institute and are being used for research in collaboration with Underwriters Laboratories.[34]

Socio-Cultural Outreach

Sakar

Sakar is an initiative by the students of IIT Gandhinagar to promote interest in maths and science among school girls in classes 6 through 9. It is an effort to remove the fear of these subjects from their minds, by simplifying concepts and presenting them in way that encourages everyone to participate and helps encourage innovative methods to understand troublesome areas of the subjects. Sakar is meant not to force maths or science on the students, but to raise them to a level where they take up subjects conscientiously, based upon their interests and not reject them merely out of fear. It is to spark their inquisitive minds with the true magic of maths and science, and to provide them the courage to delve deeper.

The ITTGN student team conducts weekend sessions on the school premises on Saturdays and in the institute on Sundays. A typical session has a beginning activity that triggers the thought process through a puzzle, a math trick, or interesting videos. Then the team members present maths and science topics in the form of activities, stories, or real life examples, the goal being to relate the topics to their daily lives, and rise above the usual learning methods that involve cramming without understanding. The students find interesting the stories of the periodic table, demonstrations of science concepts through small experiment, the live demos of the calculation of simple and compound interest, examples of ratios and proportions taken from prices at malls, and making pyramids, cones, cylinders and learning their areas and volumes, etc. Regular quizzes, presentations, and competitions with handsome prizes help in keeping the spirits of the students high all throughout the sessions.

The project has completed phase I at Sakar English Medium School with over 100 sessions in the last two years, and the plan now is to extend the activities to other nearby schools.

Nyasa

Nyasa is an initiative to promote the welfare of campus construction workers and their families, begun by the IITGN community in 2011. On Republic Day (January 26), the Nyasa team distributed more than 100 woolen winter clothes to children and organised a community lunch for 400 construction workers and their families. Students, staff, and faculty now also organize weekly educational engagement sessions for children ranging from 3–10 years of age. The activities involve coloring, playing with building blocks, watching interactive and educational plays, and flying kites. During the session, food, such as fruit and dairy, which is often missing from the workers' diet, is provided.

Also in 2011, a clothes' drive, for donation to construction workers, was started, in conjunction with Service Day (May 7). Nyasa intends to expand its activities into literacy programs, and compilation of oral histories of these workers. Nyasa currently runs three schools for the children of construction workers.

In April 2014, IIT Gandhinagar's construction workers welfare programs won the HUDCO Award for "Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment 2013-14".[35]

Amalthea technology summit

Amalthea is the annual technical summit of IIT Gandhinagar. Amalthea encompasses 4 activities: Conclave, Symposium, Exhibition, and Events. Meant to bridge the gap between academia and industry the Conclave hosts talks by speakers from the corporate world, who share their knowledge and experience. The Symposium is a place to share information on academic research and technological advances. The Exhibition showcases technology and products to the interested public.[36] Various technical and non-technical Events are organised. The spectrum of events has changed every year, but have included quizzes and competitions with prize money awarded.[37]

Amalthea history

In 2010, "Amalthea 2010" , in Amalthea's foundation year,[38] had "Non-Conventional Energy, its importance and scope" as its theme, and hosted a simple Conclave where lectures focused on the energy crisis.[39]

In 2011, for "Amalthea ’11", the theme was "Infrastructure in India: Present Scenario and Future Scope".[40] The summit was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi.[9] There were presentations of infrastructure projects such as the One Laptop Per Child Project, Bandra-Worli Sea Link, T-3 terminal at IGI Airport, New Delhi, etc., by their respective firms. For the new Exhibition section, exhibitors included iNDEXTb, L&T, Ricoh Innovations, DRDO. A new, technical Events section for students visiting Amalthea was organised, events included making a task-specific robot and a portable water purifier. The 2-day event was concluded with a discussion on the topic "Gujarat Growth Story", among a panel of industrialists, academics, and government officials.

In 2012, an international safety conference was held as part of "Amalthea '12", which along with other affairs was a prelude to Vibrant Gujarat 2013, a biennial investors' summit held by the government of Gujarat.[40] So, there were two themes, "automobiles" and "safety". Along with the Conclave on autos, Amalthea '12 included the International Conference on Safety, ICS 2012.[41] The summit was inaugurated by Vinnie Mehra, Executive Director, ACMAI, and Maheshwar Sahu, of the Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat.[42][43] The Exhibition featured Design Expo whose major exhibitors included Tata Nano, AUDI, DC Design, Avanti, Gift City, DRDO, ISRO. Events hosted the usual quiz and robotic competitions.

In 2013, "Amalthea '13" had "innovation" as its theme.[44] It was inaugurated by Manu Seth, of HTC, and Maheshwar Sahu, of the Industries and Mines Department. The Conclave included as speakers Kamlesh Lulla, Chief Scientist and Research Director of NASA, and Alan Emtage, developer of the first Internet search engine Archie.[45] Exhibition featured the Design and Innovation Expo, showcasing the products of KPIT Technologies, ITER-India, DC Design, iNDEXTb, ISRO, Sarvajal, Trutech Webs, BISAG, Metalmate Robotics, NDRF, Gridbots Technologies. Events included Robo Militia, Chemcar, online coding, and quizzes.[46][47]

Media and publicity

Newspapers such as The Times of India,[48] Ahmedabad Mirror,[49] DNA,[50][51] Divya Bhaskar,[52] Bilkul Online, Sandesh,[53] and Gujarat Samachar have published articles about Amalthea. TV channels such as Vtv News and radio channels such as Radio Mirchi have also covered Amalthea in the past.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Parikh, Runa Mukherjee (6 June 2014). "IIT-Gandhinagar attracts summer interns from top institutes". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Locations for 8 new IITs, 7 IIMs announced". Business Standard. 29 March 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Verma, Prachi (18 August 2015). "Eye on Gen Y: How new IITs are building their brand". The Economic Times. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "With 103 students, IIT Gandhinagar opens on Aug 2". India Edunews. IANS. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010: A Bill further to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961" (PDF). 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "LS passes bill to provide IIT status to 8 institutes, BHU". deccanherald.com. March 24, 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "Parliament passes IIT bill". ThetimesofIndia.com. April 30, 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  8. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/IIT-Gandhinagar-calls-achitects-for-new-campus/articleshow/35559147.cms
  9. 1 2 "Hon'ble CM inaugurates technology summit of IIT-Gandhinagar". www.narendramodi.in.
  10. ↑ http://www.iitgn.ac.in/pdf/TOI-01-08-2012.pdf
  11. ↑ "Board of Governors". IIT Gandhinagar. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Vora, Rutam (23 November 2012). "Baldev Raj new chairman of IIT Gandhinagar board". Business Standard. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Bachelor of Technology: Courses of Study" (PDF). IIT Gandhinagar. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Umarji, Vinay (12 July 2010). "Q&A: Sudhir Jain, Director, IIT-Gandhinagar". Business Standard. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "Academic Officials". IIT Gandhinagar. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Director". IIT Gandhinagar. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "Civil Engineering IITK: Faculty Profile: Sudhir K. Jain". IIT Kanpur. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "IIT-Gn director elected IAEE presidentIIT-Gn director elected IAEE president". The Indian Express. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  19. ↑ http://jee.iitm.ac.in/[]
  20. ↑ http://education.oneindia.in/news/2012/03/12/iit-gandhinagar-opens-m-tech-and-pg-diploma-admission.html
  21. ↑ http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/IIT-admission-comes-with-a-bestseller/Article1-885046.aspx[]
  22. ↑ 8,160 Vie for 66 PhD Seats, Times of India, April 22, 2013, http://www.iitgn.ac.in/pdf/DNA-22-04-2013.pdf 8,160 vie for IIT-Gn’s 66 PhD seats
  23. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GHU7jJ_HCc&feature=relmfu
  24. ↑ http://dsanghi.blogspot.in/2011/06/iit-gandhinagar-innovative-orientation.html
  25. ↑ IIT-Gandhinagar wins World Education Award 2013 for BTech programme, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/IIT-Gandhinagar-wins-World-Education-Award-2013-for-BTech-programme/articleshow/19758323.cms
  26. ↑
  27. ↑ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/86-students-pass-out-at-maiden-convocation-of-iit-gandhinagar/978157/2
  28. ↑ http://iitgn.vmukti.com/
  29. ↑ http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2012071920120719020943109821e97d7/East-meets-West-at-IITGn.html#ftr2[]
  30. ↑ http://www.nid.edu/
  31. ↑
  32. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Students-learn-global-health-and-development-at-IIT-Gandhinagar/articleshow/47646518.cms
  33. ↑ "IIT Gandhinagar, PRL join hands to promote research - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  34. ↑ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iitgn-gets-two-solar-power-plants-for-research/911920/0
  35. ↑ Parikh, Runa Mukherjee (25 April 2014). "IIT Gandhinagar bags prize for construction workers' welfare programme" (PDF). The Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  36. ↑ "Amalthea 2013 IIT Gandhinagar". nriGujarati.co.in. 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  37. ↑ "About Amalthea". Amalthea '15: Towards the future... Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  38. ↑ http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=search&keyword=%22%20tech%20festival%22&from=0[]
  39. ↑ http://www.studyfreak.com/collegeHome.php?exam=IITGN
  40. 1 2 "Vibrant Gujarat 2013 / VG 2013 / Completed Events / Event Outcome". vibrantgujarat.com.
  41. ↑ "ICS 2012". iitgn.ac.in.
  42. ↑ "IIT Gandhinagar to host tech summit this month". The Times of India.
  43. ↑ "IIT-Gandhinagar students plan automobile conclave". timesofindia-economictimes.
  44. ↑ "Clipping of Ahmedabad". sandesh.com.
  45. ↑ "'Future of search is both dangerous and exciting'". The Times of India.
  46. ↑ "D". HackerRank.
  47. ↑ "Innovations with a heart". The Times of India.
  48. ↑ "Article Window". timesofindia.com.
  49. ↑ http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2013102020131020022623218166601b9/IIT-tech-fest-fuels-patentcreativity-debate.html[]
  50. ↑ "DNA E-Paper (Story, Photo, Infographic, Advertisement) Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur". dnaindia.com.
  51. ↑ "Emtage interacts with IITGn students". dnaindia.com.
  52. ↑ http://epaper.divyabhaskar.co.in/detail.php?id=272236&boxid=102115128375&view=print&editioncode=12&pagedate=10/21/2013&pageno=9&map=map&ch=0[]
  53. ↑ "Clipping of Ahmedabad". sandesh.com.

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