Industry Relations

Industry Academia Interaction 2010, first of its kind, was held on 3rd April 2010 where students of 6 departments had fruitful discussions with their respective companies: Electrical- Sun Microsystems, Computer Sc.- Kritikal Solutions, Biotech – Lead Invent, Civil- iTrans, Engineering Physics- Entreanet & Textile- Shriram Institute of Industrial Research. The companies showed exceptional interest in taking students for collaborative projects in the form of MiniProject, BTP,MTP and even summer internship. Students, too, showed enthusiasm with the presence of about 15-20 students from each department , majority of whom were 3rd and 4th year students. The companies briefed the students about the projects they could offer , followed by queries by students and thus, building a healthy interaction.

The follow-up of the meetings was at par with many students getting associated with the companies in one way or the other. Four 2nd year students of electrical engineering decided to work with the Sun Microsystems in this summer on their project, Indian Microprocessor, which they plan to carry forward in the form of MiniP and BTP. iTrans, an incubated company of IIT Delhi, also offered summer internship and MiniP on their Patna Highway project and Transportation algorithms project. Entreanet detailed about their project on the development of a material with high dielectric constant for the fabrication of a energy storage unit useful in the transport sector, which would require a year of commitment. Interested students came forward and decided to segment it in phases: Summer project followed by a MiniP. The Shriram Institute of Industrial Research also took students for their interdisciplinary projects. Many interested students decided to collaborate with Kritikal Solutions in their projects as summer projects and MiniP. 

Few set of meetings were held prior to the 3rd April , considered to be the phase I of IAI 2010.Professors, who are working in collaborative projects with the industry, arranged for similar meetings between the students and companies. Companies involved in the phase I were Samsung, AOL(America Online) , ST Microelectronics & US Corporation, CSR-SIRF. Six 3rd year students have decided to do their BTPs with Samsung . A 2nd Year student has taken up the project by AOL, dynamic search engine, as his summer project and is very much interested in pursuing it for MiniP and BTP.

The success of the Industry Academia Interaction 2010 reflects the bright future that lies ahead. The next responsibility upon the shoulders of the Industry Relations Team would be expansion of IAI and reaching out to each and every student of IIT Delhi, which can be accomplished by involvement of many more companies in the process. More Companies would mean more options for the students, hence, they can make a better choice in choosing their field. Also, to associate more research opportunities at IITD like SURA & TDP-IAS with IAI, we need to introduce more phases. Continuing with the efforts of IAI, we can soon expect a time when students of IIT Delhi would realize the essence of research through the projects with industry and the research standards of IIT Delhi could match to those of MIT and Stanford.

The Alumni of IIT Delhi can play a prominent role in realising this dream. IIT Delhi Alumni have always desired capable students to work with them in their startups and established firms. IAI , with its established background and support, can prove to be a perfect platform where alumni can approach the students in a better way. As an incentive, Technocracy can also monitor the projects and provide extra support in the form of professor’s advice whenever needed. Such a framework would definitely create a winwin situation for both, Alumni as well as the students.