Envisioning IIT Bombay

Students’ perspective: Krishna Ramkumar

20 August 2011

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The Problem: Exhausted student base with diverse interests

• Pursuing anything other than science in school considered inferior

- Few explore real interests

• Demand-supply mismatch in quality higher education institutions

• IIT degree key to a better future- Better jobs in industry- Prestige in society

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Student population is

• Exhausted from the highly competitive JEE

• A group of high-achievers with diverse interests

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3 large changes required to make the IIT education more relevant to the students

Interaction with Industry &

Government

Continuous Academic Reform

Focus on Innovation &

Entrepreneurship

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Interaction with Industry and Government

• Engage with industry stalwarts to identify key challenges and breakthrough research topics

• Intern with companies to work on these problems and build practical problem-solving skills

• Work on government projects to gain an appreciation for grass-root challenges

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Focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Take on a leadership role by defining key innovation themes

• Spend significant time trying to solve these problems and broadening knowledge

• Build an ecosystem to foster innovation and entrepreneurship

- Identify professors to push the agenda- Invite VC funds and ex-entrepreneurs to run

competitions & associated mentoring programs- Encourage recruitment by serial entrepreneurs

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Faculty

Students

Institute

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Continuous Academic Reform

• Allow students to take more courses from other departments

• Review process of branch allotment

• Move the focus from textbook to practical learning

• Inculcate mental framework for scientific enquiry

• Design more courses at the interface of disciplines• Encourage collaboration on research projects

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Academic flexibility

Well-rounded course

structure

Inter-disciplinary academics

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In the long term, should IITs move to a university structure?

• Is the need of the hour a purely technical institute?

• Or, with an intake of bright students with varied interests, should the IITs create tangible avenues to explore these diverse interests?

• Should we create strong engineering, medical, social science and business schools that work in close collaboration with each other?

While this will need a complete overhaul of the system, it might be the only way for the IIT brand to deliver