Vital Statistics

• WHAT IS IT? A postgraduate institute for information technology studies. • WHO’S THE BOSS? Prof. S. Sadagopan is the director. • HOW CHEAP IS IT? The tuition fee is Rs 50,000 for each semester. • WHAT ABOUT JOBS? The institute claims to have a 100 per cent placement record. • WHERE TO STAY? Hostel facility is available for both boys and girls. • WHERE IS IT? IIIT-B, 26/C, Electronic City (Opp Infosys Main Gate), Hosur Road, Bangalore 560100. Phone: 080-28527627 / 28527635.

This is one public-private partnership that works. The International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B) ? funded jointly by the Karnataka government and the IT industry ? made news when it was granted the deemed university status this year. That?s a pretty remarkable feat, considering that the institute was set up as recently as 1999.

?IIIT-B works in partnership with the corporate sector, while retaining the freedom of an academic institution,? says Dr S.S. Prabhu, a professor at the institute. The institute offers a masters programme in information technology (MTech) as well as a PhD programme, which was started this year.

Beyond tradition

The MTech programme in IT ? spread over four semesters ? goes beyond traditional computer science education, claims Prabhu. ?The programme also provides training in managerial skills, essential in a knowledge-based world,? he adds. Siddharth Reddy, a second-year MTech student at IIIT-B, agrees. ?The institute offers a good mix of technology and management. This is the USP of the curriculum,? Reddy asserts.

Prabhu feels IIIT-B?s faculty is its crowning glory. ?The faculty has direct links with the industry and provide practical education. They focus on a student?s all-round personality development,? he says.

Located in Bangalore?s Electronic City, IIIT-B has the city?s software biggies as its neighbours. And the institute matches them in infrastructure ? with 80,000 square feet of air-conditioned space, uninterrupted power supply and ?smart? classrooms with high-speed data network and projection systems. The institute has a fully wired campus and every student has a personal wi-fi -enabled laptop that ensures a minimum student-to-machine ratio. ?This helps students approach the course in their own way. They can work at their own pace,? says Prabhu.

Clicking as a team

The idea is also to promote the ?virtual classroom? concept. ?All visual material ? like presentation slides ? are available electronically. All assignments and projects are usually announced and submitted online,? Prabhu says. The intranet serves as a platform for knowledge-sharing among students, he adds.

Teamwork is a ground rule at IIIT-B. ?Students share their domain expertise. Knowledge sharing smoothens the learning curve,? Prabhu remarks. Extra-curricular activities at IIIT-B connote lectures and research seminars. Students organise a ?CEO in the Classroom? session and seminars. Industry honchos are invited to deliver lectures at the Saturday Research Seminars.

Research relief

According to Prabhu, the curriculum at IIIT-B is research-driven. ?Students have made remarkable progress in research activities relating to Linux Open Source Development and distributed Systems Development,? he says.

Reddy says he chose to study at IIIT-B because it gave him an opportunity to pursue his interest in web information systems.

?The institute has a strong research orientation. This was its most attractive feature to me,? he says.

IIIT-B holds an all-India entrance exam that is conducted in 12 cities across the country, including Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai. The eligibility criterion for students to appear for the exam is a first class degree in BE, BTech, MSc or MCA.

The institute boasts of a 100 per cent placement record since its inception. Companies like IBM, Infosys, Intel, Oracle and Yahoo visit the campus.

Varuna Verma

Old memories

Sripathi Kamath, software engineer, Allgo Embedded Systems, on his IIIT-B days

SINCE I HAD an electrical engineering background, the MTech degree from IIIT-B helped me make a smooth transition into the software industry. It’s an excellent institute to hone your IT application skills. Also, the curriculum ensures that students are taught all aspects of IT.

The residential courses at IIIT-B facilitate constant and healthy interaction among students. During my student days there, the faculty members were more like guides than teachers. They actively helped us with our projects and even during campus placements. There was a lot of personal interaction between the students and the faculty since IIIT-B had small batches of 100 students.

As told to Varuna Verma