For the last three consecutive years, the department of architecture and planning at the National Institute of Technology- Calicut (NIT-C) has been bringing laurels to the institute when the Ministry of Education (formerly Ministry of Human Resource Development) released the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), a methodology adopted to rank institutions of higher education in India.
This time, the achievement of the department was stupendous when it notched up the second position in the architecture category. And that too when the ranking of NIT-C, which is celebrating its diamond jubilee year, slipped from 23rd to 25th position in the engineering category at the all-India level.
The overall score of the department was 76.50, while that of the department of architecture and planning, IIT Roorkee, which finished first, was 82.65. It was 69.24 in 2020; 65.52 in 2019, and much out of the picture in the race for the top 10 in 2018.
Even then, it has outshone the departments of several IITs and well as the prestigious schools of planning and architecture in Delhi and Bhopal in the recent past.
Dr. P.P. Anil Kumar, professor and former head of the department of architecture and planning, NIT-C, who was instrumental in the significant headway, attributes the success to team work by faculty members, staff, and students as well as engaging students to meet global challenges and connecting them to the social sphere.
“We have been able to integrate and evolve contextual aesthetic into design pedagogy. Exposure of students with professionals and research activities has helped us achieve a good rank,” Dr. Anil Kumar said.
A.K. Kasturba, head of the department of architecture and planning, NIT-C, said the milestone recognition was an outcome of commitment and contributions by the academic community consisting of faculty members, research scholars, and students and well-equipped labs.
“Every tiny effort of individuals will get invested in the growth of the department through their academic and research contributions, outreach activities, and social projects. We will strive to keep up this national recognition and ranking through steady and continuous efforts,” Dr. Kasturba added.
