IIT-Madras gets requests for satellite campuses from UK, African countries

Hyderabad: Indian Institute Technology (IIT) Madras director Prof. V Kamakoti said there were requests from African countries and the United Kingdom on opening satellite campuses of the Institute in those countries besides offering joint degree programmes. “We are in discussions and nothing is concrete now,” Prof. Kamakoti said at a press conference at T-Hub 2.0 […]

Hyderabad: Indian Institute Technology (IIT) Madras director Prof. V Kamakoti said there were requests from African countries and the United Kingdom on opening satellite campuses of the Institute in those countries besides offering joint degree programmes.

“We are in discussions and nothing is concrete now,” Prof. Kamakoti said at a press conference at T-Hub 2.0 here on Saturday.

The Institute had opened up several MTech programmes for international students for which admissions had gone up by four times this year. The Institute was also establishing joint degree programmes at the postgraduate level with foreign countries. As part of this, the Institute along with Kathmandu University had launched a course in energy systems as well, he said.

With focus on research, the Institute would launch a course in Medical Sciences and Technology at BTech and PhD levels from next year, he said, adding that the programme at the undergraduate level would be of four years and the PhD would be open for candidates with MBBS or MD degrees.

Speaking on 6G connectivity, he said countries advanced in 5G had already started looking at 6G. The amount of infrastructure required for bringing in 6G would be much larger and different than that for 5G.

Stating that 6G would be an economic changer, he said the work on 6G had to be taken up at the earliest so that India becomes an early bird besides grabbing some of the most important aspects of the protocol.

The hyper-loop model being developed by IIT-Madras would be scaled up into a larger model, he said, adding that within the next eight months, the Institute would be conducting a test on a 550 meter track, which would be Asia’s only test track for hyper-loop.

As for new courses, IIT-Madras Dean-Alumni and Corporate Relations, Dr. Mahesh Panchagnula said a new and ‘exciting’ course at BTech level would be launched next year. At the MTech level, the Institute has added 10 interdisciplinary dual degree programmes for BTech students in the fifth semester, he said, adding that on completion of these programmes, students would be awarded a dual degree in BTech and MTech.