The National Institute of Technology-Karnataka (NIT-K) at Surathkal in Mangalore, in its golden jubilee year, has many reasons to cheer.
The government has sanctioned for the institute 67 new faculty positions which will help it to strengthen the academic and research programmes. In addition, the government is likely to choose it as the nodal agency for selecting and admitting foreign students for all National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and some other engineering institutes for the academic year 2010-11.
Sandeep Sancheti, Director, NIT-K, said that the Ministry of Human Resource Development has given preliminary clearance for the institute to this effect. It is under a programme called DASA (Direct Admission of Students from Abroad). “The final clearance is awaited,'' he said. Once it comes through the process of selecting and admitting foreign students will begin from next year.
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The NIT Council, in its October meeting, selected NIT-K as one among a three-member committee of NITs in the country for updating curriculum and improvement. In addition, the NIT-K has been chosen as one among a five-member committee of NITs to study and reform admission aspects to NITs. Admission is based on the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). There are 20 NITs in the country.
Prof. Sancheti said that the Union Government has recognised the institute as a full-fledged centre for its quality improvement programme. Government teachers serving in engineering colleges and polytechnics all over India can pursue M. Tech. and Ph.D. courses at the institute on full-time basis. It is the second NIT in the country to be recognised under the programme after Rourkela NIT.
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The NIT-K has proposed to start a post-graduate course in Information Technology from the next academic year. The institute will have a student exchange programme with Dublin City University from next year. The Union Government and the Government of Ireland will support it. The ambassadors of both the countries have taken keen interest in this regard. In addition, it will have student exchange programmes with the University of Applied Sciences, Western Switzerland.
Prof. Sancheti said that NIT-K will sign a memorandum of understanding with Bosch Limited this month to set up a mechatronics laboratory at the institute. The company will sponsor the laboratory. In addition, it will fund the institute to set up a professorial chair and support joint research activities. NIT-K will open two more inter-disciplinary centres of excellence. They will be in the domains of sensor networks and graphical system design. Presently it has inter-disciplinary centres of excellence in materials research and engineering, disaster management and sustainable technologies.
The institute is also planning to set up a centre to support innovators.
The director said that now the institute offers B.Tech courses in nine disciplines and M.Tech courses in 16 disciplines with 23 specialisations. In addition it is offering MBA and MCA courses and M.Sc. in two disciplines.
The B.Tech and M.Tech courses which have completed five years of existence have been accredited by the National Board of Accreditation, most of them with the highest rating.
Science Congress
The NIT-K will host the 24th Indian Engineering Congress from December 10 to 13 in association with the Institution of Engineers (India). The theme will be “national growth and security technological challenges.” The meet is being held in Karnataka after a gap of nine years. It had been held in Bangalore nine years ago.
He said that 80 technical papers will be presented in 12 sessions from December 11 to 13. Of these 20 are invited papers on five major topics. They are nuclear energy, ecology and environment, Geographic Information System and applications, ports and shipping, and oil and gas sector.