The newly formed Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), which was established by an Act of Parliament, began its classes as scheduled here in Andhra University on Monday.
The institute that offers two B. Tech programmes, Petroleum Engineering and Chemical Engineering, with intake of 50 students for each course, has already enrolled 75 students.
According to Advisor Academics and Director (in-charge) of IIPE V.S.R.K. Prasad, for the B. Tech programme in Chemical Engineering, 38 students have joined and for Petroleum Engineering 37 students, with two girls in each of the streams.
The remaining will be filled through spot admissions in the next few days, he said. The admission was based on the rank in the IIT-JEE Advance examination and the cut off for general category was 13,000, for OBC it was 5,000 for SC it was 2,600 and for ST it was 1,100.
The institute that has an MoU with IIT-Kharagpur as mentor university, has attracted students from across the country.
“For a start-up institute achieving 75 per cent admission is a record. We have students from West Bengal, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, apart from Andhra Pradesh,” said Prof. Prasad.
While AP leads with 12 admissions, followed by West Bengal and Assam.
Students overwhelmed
For the time being , the AU has leased a floor to IIPE to run the show, till the institute moves to its own campus at the State government allotted 200 acres at Sabbavaram.
Talking to The Hindu, Vivek Ruhil, a student from Haryana said, “This institute has state-of-the art facilities and is on par with any of the top IITs in the country. I have chosen this institute as it’s industry-backed, mentored by IIT-Kharagpur and caters to the energy sector.”
The institute is backed financially and academically by industry-majors such as HPCL, IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL, OIDB, BPCL and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The temporary classrooms were also renovated by the HPCL using state-of-the-art facilities. It is learnt that the oil-major has pumped in about Rs. 2 crore for the renovation.
There are about five classrooms with one 108-seater e-classroom. “Each classroom has the capability to be converted into e-classroom, and there can be live sessions from IIT-Kharagpur,” said Prof. Prasad.
Sheryas and Vamsi, both from Visakhapatnam, said that they had opted for the IIPE, as the courses being offered were industry-driven and different from the engineering courses.
Both intend to pursue research in renewable energy, as they feel that renewable energy is the future, as the conventional sources are fast depleting.
As of now the entire teaching will be taken care of by the IIT-Kharagpur professors, a couple of them who are here in person, and some part will be through live video conferencing from Kharagpur.
IIPE will start its PG and research programme from 2017, and will move to its own campus in about four years.
For a start-up institute achieving 75 per cent admission is a record. We have students from West Bengal, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, apart from Andhra Pradesh
V.S.R.K. Prasad
Director (in-charge), IIPE