Interview/ Prof Rangan Banerjee, director, IIT Delhi
Q/ How are you preparing students to deal with the changing dynamics in industry and the economy?
A/ We are doing a full curriculum review and are revamping our curricula, whether it is BTech, MTech or BSc. We want to ensure that every IIT Delhi graduate has exposure to AI and sustainability, and additional skill sets like communication and working in teams. We are providing flexibility in curricula so that students have choice and more experience of doing things hands-on. We expect our graduates to be future-ready and excited about science and technology. We also expect them to be innovators. We have an incubation mechanism and want students to become entrepreneurs.
Q/ Any updates about IIT Delhi’s centres of excellence?
A/ Our centres of excellence are being funded by the industry. As we are talking, we are signing an agreement with Hyundai for batteries and advanced electrification. This is for a centre of excellence with three other IITs. IIT Delhi is the lead, and we have a hub and spoke model with IIT Bombay and IIT Madras. All the researchers will work with Hyundai. We also have a research and innovation park at IIT Delhi.
We have government-funded projects as well. For instance, there is a project to develop coal from methanol. We are also looking at carbon capture and storage. My colleagues in the civil engineering department have developed a new type of cement, known as LC3 (limestone calcined clay cement). It has only 50 per cent of the carbon footprint of normal cement. This has been tried out in cement kilns of 25 countries. We have created a centre in Africa with this and other technologies.
Q/ What about your recent initiatives?
A/ At our campus in Sonepat we have developed a high-end characterisation and fabrication facility. It does a host of things such as microscopy optics, photonics and a few bio related things. We are collaborating with science and technology related institutes in Haryana to upgrade their research. At the Sonepat campus, we are also going to have high-end computers dedicated to AI. This will be open to all researchers in the country.
Q/ What are other key areas of research?
A/ Many faculty members work on quantum computing and quantum communication. We have around 85 MoUs from around the world, including the University of Queensland, as we have a PhD research academy―there are more than 200 students registered for this. We also have a tie-up with Taiwan in cutting-edge areas. We have a campus in Abu Dhabi and are connected with the major research universities there. We are looking at energy, climate and sustainability; computer science and AI; and materials and chemical engineering. Subsequently, we will also look at life sciences.
We have the International Solar Alliance’s master’s programme in renewable energy and energy policy. This is an interesting programme because it has 20 students from 20 different countries. This is something we are targeting at mid-career professionals from developing countries so that they can take renewable energy forward and push solar energy further.
We also have consultancy projects, long-term sponsored projects and joint technology development projects with industry.