IIT Mandi welcomes new batch of students for Academic Year 2018-19
Mandi: Indian Institute of Technology Mandi welcomed the new batch of students today, 8th August 2018, with a special five-week Induction Program (5WIP). This year, a total of 196 students have joined the B.Tech. course at IIT Mandi, course including 2 preparatory candidates, out of which 38 are girls and 158 are boys.
Increase in No. of women students in B.Tech: Year-on-Year Data
Year
No. of women B.Tech. students enrolled at IIT Mandi
2015
8
2016
6
2017
22
2018
38
Welcoming the new batch of students, Prof Timothy A. Gonsalves, Director, IIT Mandi, announced the launch of new Data Science courses that would be offered from the First Year of B.Tech. to equip students with advanced skills to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Prof Gonsalves also outlined the diverse career paths taken by IIT Mandi alumni, which range from public service in in Government and administration to industry, the corporate sector, academia and research. He explained the importance of Data Science to the current environment.
Dr. Rajendra Ray, Acting Dean (Students), IIT Mandi, outlined the facilities and opportunities in extra-curricular activities available to students. Dr. Pradeep Parameswaran, Dean (Academics), IIT Mandi, introduced students to the academic system of IIT Mandi.
IIT Mandi is the perfect IIT for young women engineers in the making. The Institute provides a merit scholarship including full tuition fee waiver and a monthly stipend of Rs. 1,000/- in the first year irrespective of category and parent’s income. This merit scholarship will continue for all 4 years of B.Tech. subject to good academic performance of the candidate indicated by minimum SGPA criteria of 7.0 for the previous two semesters and no disciplinary action.
A break-up of the admission data has been given below:
Branch
Joined
Male
Female
Civil Engineering
39
32
7
Computer Science & Engineering
57
45
12
Electrical Engineering
54
44
10
Mechanical Engineering
46
37
9
Total
196
158
38
The 5-week Induction programme
In 5WIP, students spend the first 5 weeks in an intense daily programme before regular classes commence. Students are divided into batches of 20 and given personal attention by mentors to hone each student individually. This ‘Unique Pedagogical Experiment’ precedes the regular classes.
The components of the 5-week long induction program are classified into four categories:
Ø Exploring Engineering:
Through interactive group-work, students are exposed to the excitement of real-world engineering. Faculty members from different engineering disciplines guide students to discover what exactly a career in engineering entails. Students are given carefully chosen projects to create and are encouraged to experiment with conceptual and material tools.
Ø Academic Skills:
The Academic Skills component is intended to bring all students up to a minimum level in skills essential for the rigorous classes. This includes English and Computer Proficiency modules. Each student, irrespective of his/her initial proficiency level, spend time acquiring or honing his/her English and computer skills. Other skills are acquired in the Communication and Soft Skills and Visual Thinking modules. Visual Thinking, a critical skill for engineers, is an activity-based module in which students learn the power of pencil sketches for engineering design.
Ø Life Skills:
In the Life Skills component, students are encouraged to explore the inter-connected worlds of self, family and society, i.e. human values. The idea is to equip students with the capacity to reflect on their decisions and actions, to develop their values and ethics, and to conduct themselves in society with maturity and finesse. The students participate in a variety of sports, including yoga and creative activities (theatre workshop, visual arts and music etc.)
Ø Inspirational Activities
The above-mentioned components are complemented by the Inspirational Activities. Here, eminent speakers from all walks of life are invited to address students.