Vision for IIT Delhi
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In January 2009, senate of IIT Delhi had called for vision statements for IIT Delhi from students, and this document was prepared as a response to the call. This document was prepared by me along with Bhushan Shinde.
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Introduction
We would like to submit the ‘Vision for IITD’ on the basis of the experiences we have had and the observations we made throughout our stay of 5 years as a Dual Degree student and as an alumni of this institute, respectively. Our stay here has had an overwhelming influence on the qualities we have imbibed and we are very obliged and proud to be a part of the phenomenon called IIT Delhi.
Since last year we have taken an initiative to motivate other members of the student community of IIT Delhi to be proactive in achieving positive goals for a virtuous academic system through the ‘V.I.S.V.A.S.’ endeavor. A tremendous response and appreciation from the student and the faculty community alike has strengthened our belief in the system and we are absolutely confident that IIT Delhi would successfully achieve whatever it sets as its vision coupled by dedicated efforts for its implementation.
Background
We understand that IITs were conceived as centers of excellence meant to produce technocrats for a newly-resurgent India. But the Indian economy could not absorb the products of IIT for a long time, and until nineties IITs ended up producing some of the finest technocrats for global corporations. With the current growth of India and its recognition worldwide there is a demand for technical expertise here as well. We thus need to focus on research professionals also as it is the demand of our booming industrial growth. Industrial growth require technological research and with the brand such as IIT already available at hand it would be sensible to develop these as centres for research excellence as well than creating separate research facilities for technological purpose. Basic science research centres can obviously be looked at to be built separately. There should be a well defined national and global level objective in all our endeavors backed up by strong and proactive feedback and review mechanism. Only then can we achieve all of the following visions.
We present a 4 point ‘Vision for IITD’, as per our understanding.
- To be the preferred employer globally: IIT-Delhi currently has some of the best professors, it not only needs to retain them but also continue to attract the best minds from around the world. Today, opportunities for bright minds are tremendous, and IIT Delhi needs to continuously evolve itself to provide a most welcoming environment for its faculty. Besides providing desirable research infrastructure and research funding, there is a need to provide opportunity to faculty to innovate through new styled courses, or through activities introduced in an IAP (Independent Activities Period)
- To be the preferred institute for undergraduate program:
- To promote interaction of UG students with research scholars (PhD) for projects and thus expose them to the ways of research.-These would have (govt. /industrial sponsorship (kind of monetary work, campus job during semester) for UG students. UG students would benefit from research experience of ongoing PhD work and get a feel of research.
- To promote interdisciplinary projects among students, exposing them to the wider aspects of academic world, within and beyond engineering disciplines. IITD would produce aware students, capable of handling current world crisis relating to global climate change, healthcare concerns, global economic meltdown etc
- Present student led papers and research at national and international level seminars/conferences-One way could be to award some credits for the work done and resultant recognition at the conferences.
- Student Scientific publication: Establish prominence through publication of an online scientific journal. It is necessary, as it not only provides a platform for IIT students to showcase their ideas, but it also acts as a window into the IITD’s academic arena.
- Industrial Interaction of students: Focus on preparing the students for the world, through exposure to industrial processes. Semester long industrial internships, industrial visits and lecture series may be incorporated to provide the same.
- Multiple Majors in different Dept.: To allow students to declare his/her major for B.Tech in second year. This would enable students to make an informed choice of their majors and pursue it with more interest.
- Build research centers of International repute: It would promote research interest among students, and idea generation. Research exchange programs may be conducted to create international exposure, and develop cutting-edge products through collaborative efforts.
- To bring about a positive change in the world: Initiate involvement in community work on the institute level by recognizing such work for due credits in the semester rather than NSS which doesn’t have stronger incentive. The focus should be on creating socially responsible citizens.
Reflection …
, // @ Vinayak Garg // 3 Comments
Every now and then comes a point when we stop to think about the path we are going at, and wonder whether it is really the right one for us. I do admit that initial choices in my life were not really informed choices and so yes I do suffer from all the dilemmas and contemplations that I discussed in my earlier post.
For past few days I was wondering whether I really want to create social enterprises and be a part of educational system throughout my careers? Is it really what I want to do, or just a temporary fad ? What if it is that I struck with one idea and just want to stick to it for life?
It was then that I came across something that convinced me beyond doubt that I would be happy doing what I plan to do. This was an article that I had written just after my 12th class boards. I gave my engineering entrance exams, and even under the stress and pressure of the entrance exam season I had chosen to reflect on the way the examination process and systems in place could be improved. (article included below)
It gives a comfort cushion to feel that yes, subconsciously that is what I enjoy doing. Hopefully going forward I would be able to say with complete conviction and truth that I have a job that doesn’t feel like one !
Resonance
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In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at larger amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system’s resonance frequencies (or resonant frequencies). At a resonant frequency, even small periodic driving forces can produce large amplitude vibrations, because the system stores vibrational energy. When damping is small, the resonance frequency is approximately equal to the natural frequency of the system, which is the frequency of free vibrations.
The diagram below explains the case of resonance frequency in a simple case.
Fb is resonant frequency here, and thus we can see that amplitude is much larger for Fb than it is for Fa or Fc.
We would now extend this to explain career choices, social pressure, student potential and career rise through the following case. In the following case, the main frequency has been superimposed by a noise frequency.
In this case Ff is resonant frequency, and Fe, say is a noise frequency. In reality we would have a wide array of noise frequency and little peaks but for simplicity I am taking just one here.
The point I want to make here is that any system attains maximum amplitude only when it is allowed to vibrate at its natural frequency. You can make it vibrate at a lower or higher frequency, but you would never get that kind of amplitudes. In the same manner, with our careers it is important for us to realize our interest and true potential and then realize that. It is only in that field that we can truly excel and reach the top.
It doesn’t matter whether the natural frequency is low or high, what matters is whether the system is vibrating at that frequency or not. Following others in making career choices can result in a disaster. No career should be deemed as low or high when making choices, what matter is whether the stream really interests you or not. Each and every field has its own peak, and only the one who is truly passionate about the job can reach that peak.
Point E may be confused as resonant frequency in a case when the full picture is not visible to a student. It is here that the importance of informed choices is truly represented, it is necessary to make student aware of the entire spectrum so that he can identify his true natural frequency!
Teaching teachers
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Currently there is a dearth of well qualified teachers, at all levels. A teacher forms the backbone of an education system and it is required that attention should be paid towards providing this basic necessity to the education system of India.
Considering the fact that education, especially the basic education, is pre-requisite for development of an area, it is necessary to have adequate, well qualified teachers in all areas. Availability of teachers at grass root level could lead to enhanced awareness of general public towards development in various sectors and could enhance general health and economic levels.
Increased number of trained teachers in the states highlighted by the chart would have brought in more development and prosperity to the region, than presence of an IIT (Guwahati)& IIM (Shillong) can ever bring!