Chennai: From the upcoming 2017 academic session, the B.Tech. and Dual Degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) students of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) will have an option to upgrade to an interdisciplinary dual degree (ID DD), programme. These ID DD students will study for five years and obtain BTech in parent discipline and MTech in an interdisciplinary area. The upgrade option is available to those students of UG and DD who have a CGPA > 8.00 at the beginning of the 5th Semester of their study. This is in addition to the B.Tech + M.Tech (Dual Degree programme), the Institute already offers in several conventional disciplines.
Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director of IIT Madras says, “As a part of its endeavour to offer more flexibility in education, IIT Madras will be allowing its UG and DD students to gain Dual Degree in four of the highly sought-after domains of the present times: (i) Advanced Materials & Nano Technology, (ii) Biomedical Engineering, (iii) Computational Engineering, and (iv) Data Science.” Gradually it may expand to include more areas such as energy systems, battery technology, Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 and management. UG or DD students from any branch of engineering can upgrade to the Interdisciplinary Dual Degree programme, provided they meet certain academic criteria.
Elaborating on the initiative, Prof. V. Jagadeesh Kumar, Dean of Academic Courses, IIT Madras said, “It is imperative that students of IIT Madras are given opportunities to learn and work in current areas that would define the future of engineering and technology in the world”. IIT Madras regularly updates its academic courses and offers good amount of flexibility.
This initiative will not only enable students to study and earn an added qualification in the area of their choice, but will also be useful to those who may have missed out on getting their preferred discipline at the time of admission. For instance, a student pursuing B.Tech in Metallurgy may probably be able to pursue B.Tech – M.Tech (ID DD) in Data Sciences by opting for this scheme.
