 "Delayed execution and staff crunch hits IIT Ropar")
Among the eight new IITs those were established in year 2008 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar topped among its peers as per the Scopus Data with an average citation of 4.93 and an h-index of 23.
The institute, set up with an objective to facilitate cutting edge research in the region has not been able to achieve as per its benchmarks due to severe shortage of faculty and infrastructure. Currently operating out of a transit campus of 25 acre against the actual 525 acre (located 4 kilometres from the existing make shift campus), the institute has been keeping a low profile in terms of creating interventions with the local industries and nurturing startups. It is located in the Roopnagar district of Punjab, about 50 kilometers from Union Territory of Chandigarh on the National Highway 21.
Delay in construction of new campus
Against an allocation of Rs 760 cr for the first phase of construction, the IIT Ropar utilized only Rs 294 cr till March 2015. This includes Rs 90 cr of advance payment made to CPWD in March 2015 to meet the deadline for the fund consumption. Despite a complete support from the Ministry of HRD and Punjab Government, the construction of new campus got delayed due to administrative laxity at the local level.
S K Das, the Director tells that teething troubles are over and the institute was graduating from Childhood to adolescence. The construction work has started and the new building would be ready by March 2017.
Faculty crunch
A teaching faculty of 65, against the sanctioned strength of 90 plugged the scope of extensive research and industry-academia collaborations.
Industry in Punjab is grappling with obsolete technology. The synergies with a premier institute like IIT is imminent to sail through the challenges posed by the global competition. The agriculture sector that is the lifeline of Punjab is also waiting for innovative, customized technologies for the useful disposal of agri-waste, depleting nutri-composition of soil and solutions for the agro based industries to match the need of the hour.
“We will be holding interviews here in December to hire faculty. In summer, 2016, a delegation from IIT Ropar will travel to UK, U.S.A and Canada to recruit post doctorates with Indian origin studying in foreign universities. I am doing preparations to meet Indian diaspora who have desire to get back to their roots and keen to work in our institute.” he informed.
Challenges in placement
The faculty is inadequate with this new IIT and at the same time the institute also faced the predicament of not being able to find jobs for all its graduates. The Director attributes it to more than one reasons. A tedious one and a half hour journey from Chandigarh to Ropar dampens the excitement of the big corporates to make a beeline for the hiring but more than this is the higher aspirations of the students. “The young generation hankers after the salary packages and ignores the career growth prospects, for this reason many of them miss the campus placement bus. Some of them refuse good career in expectation of a more lucrative remuneration. While the computer stream has 100% placement, the other two engineering branches offered here till now, mechanical and electrical have a lower placement ratio. We have formed a Centre for Career Development to mentor the students for the campus interviews and polish their soft skills”, apprised Das.
The 480 odd under graduates and 100 odd post graduate students, are now gearing up for the placement season that would kick off in October. One may notice students pacing up and down for the comprehensive viva classes. They understand that they have to work a tad harder than those in the mainstream IITs to become the future leaders in big corporate conglomerates. The lack of soft skills has been identified as a crucial area from the past experience where the students need attention, told one of the faculty member. So requisite care is being taken to scale up their presentation, he added.
Future Plans
The new courses are in the pipeline and would be introduced in a phased manner. Civil Engineering would be introduced from the April 2016 session and new Post Graduate courses would be offered in the next session.
“It is not possible to excel in every field so at IIT Ropar we would not be the replica of old IITs by developing in all areas. We have identified four core areas for making the research based interventions in this region. These would be Agriculture Engineering with emphasis on water resources, soil, bio-waste and food processing. Bio-medical, which includes image science and cancer related studies (Malwa belt of Punjab is severely affected with cancer). Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) and upgrading the traditional manufacturing in Punjab. Energy would be another area of research that may encompass solar, hybrid, photovoltaic and other emerging areas”, he told adding that this would be formally announced in February 2016 during a retreat.
The startup window
Interacting with students, one can sense the amazing passion and knack to join the league of successful startups, but there is no infrastructure and eco-system that can match their strength, skill and ambition.
The IIT Ropar set up an entrepreneurship cell in year 2010 and Centre for Innovation and Business Incubation in early 2014 and supporting some startups from other parts of India. Its own students are yet to begin their startup journey.
Limited access to funds and a small pool of mentors are the barriers to spearhead the startup wave that swept the established IITs in the last few years.
The creation of Task Forces and restructuring of administrative and academic structure in the last few months may give wings to the IIT Ropar and the relocation in the actual campus would provide the robust environment to shape the future leaders.
The institute, set up with an objective to facilitate cutting edge research in the region has not been able to achieve as per its benchmarks due to severe shortage of faculty and infrastructure. Currently operating out of a transit campus of 25 acre against the actual 525 acre (located 4 kilometres from the existing make shift campus), the institute has been keeping a low profile in terms of creating interventions with the local industries and nurturing startups. It is located in the Roopnagar district of Punjab, about 50 kilometers from Union Territory of Chandigarh on the National Highway 21.
Delay in construction of new campus
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The construction of new campus has been delayed by two years and IIT Ropar is the slowest among its peers in the execution of this project.
Against an allocation of Rs 760 cr for the first phase of construction, the IIT Ropar utilized only Rs 294 cr till March 2015. This includes Rs 90 cr of advance payment made to CPWD in March 2015 to meet the deadline for the fund consumption. Despite a complete support from the Ministry of HRD and Punjab Government, the construction of new campus got delayed due to administrative laxity at the local level.
S K Das, the Director tells that teething troubles are over and the institute was graduating from Childhood to adolescence. The construction work has started and the new building would be ready by March 2017.
Faculty crunch
A teaching faculty of 65, against the sanctioned strength of 90 plugged the scope of extensive research and industry-academia collaborations.
Industry in Punjab is grappling with obsolete technology. The synergies with a premier institute like IIT is imminent to sail through the challenges posed by the global competition. The agriculture sector that is the lifeline of Punjab is also waiting for innovative, customized technologies for the useful disposal of agri-waste, depleting nutri-composition of soil and solutions for the agro based industries to match the need of the hour.
“We will be holding interviews here in December to hire faculty. In summer, 2016, a delegation from IIT Ropar will travel to UK, U.S.A and Canada to recruit post doctorates with Indian origin studying in foreign universities. I am doing preparations to meet Indian diaspora who have desire to get back to their roots and keen to work in our institute.” he informed.
Challenges in placement
The faculty is inadequate with this new IIT and at the same time the institute also faced the predicament of not being able to find jobs for all its graduates. The Director attributes it to more than one reasons. A tedious one and a half hour journey from Chandigarh to Ropar dampens the excitement of the big corporates to make a beeline for the hiring but more than this is the higher aspirations of the students. “The young generation hankers after the salary packages and ignores the career growth prospects, for this reason many of them miss the campus placement bus. Some of them refuse good career in expectation of a more lucrative remuneration. While the computer stream has 100% placement, the other two engineering branches offered here till now, mechanical and electrical have a lower placement ratio. We have formed a Centre for Career Development to mentor the students for the campus interviews and polish their soft skills”, apprised Das.
The 480 odd under graduates and 100 odd post graduate students, are now gearing up for the placement season that would kick off in October. One may notice students pacing up and down for the comprehensive viva classes. They understand that they have to work a tad harder than those in the mainstream IITs to become the future leaders in big corporate conglomerates. The lack of soft skills has been identified as a crucial area from the past experience where the students need attention, told one of the faculty member. So requisite care is being taken to scale up their presentation, he added.
Future Plans
The new courses are in the pipeline and would be introduced in a phased manner. Civil Engineering would be introduced from the April 2016 session and new Post Graduate courses would be offered in the next session.
“It is not possible to excel in every field so at IIT Ropar we would not be the replica of old IITs by developing in all areas. We have identified four core areas for making the research based interventions in this region. These would be Agriculture Engineering with emphasis on water resources, soil, bio-waste and food processing. Bio-medical, which includes image science and cancer related studies (Malwa belt of Punjab is severely affected with cancer). Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) and upgrading the traditional manufacturing in Punjab. Energy would be another area of research that may encompass solar, hybrid, photovoltaic and other emerging areas”, he told adding that this would be formally announced in February 2016 during a retreat.
The startup window
Interacting with students, one can sense the amazing passion and knack to join the league of successful startups, but there is no infrastructure and eco-system that can match their strength, skill and ambition.
The IIT Ropar set up an entrepreneurship cell in year 2010 and Centre for Innovation and Business Incubation in early 2014 and supporting some startups from other parts of India. Its own students are yet to begin their startup journey.
Limited access to funds and a small pool of mentors are the barriers to spearhead the startup wave that swept the established IITs in the last few years.
The creation of Task Forces and restructuring of administrative and academic structure in the last few months may give wings to the IIT Ropar and the relocation in the actual campus would provide the robust environment to shape the future leaders.