NIT, Jamshedpur: More on the platter

Jamshedpur, April 7: The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Adityapur, can now look forward to undertake large-scale research activities on information technology.

The Union human resource development ministry has granted a special fund of Rs 60 lakh to the engineering institute for this purpose.

The fund, released under Special Manpower Development Programme (SMPDP), will be utilised by the electronics and communication engineering department to carry out extensive studies, particularly in the field of integrated circuit (IC) chips. Malay Neeraj, a senior professor of NIT, said: “The aim is to promote research and development of very large-scale integration (VLSI) technology, which is being used for different kinds of industrial activities.”

Niraj explained that a VLSI, a 1/1 centimetre chip, can accommodate 10,000 to 1,00,000 transistor circuits. Earlier, research was carried out on large-scale integration (LSI).

“NIT has already received the money from the HRD ministry. Necessary equipment for research work will be procured with the help of the grant. Efforts will also be made to start an MTech course in electronics and communication,” said Neeraj, who is also the spokesperson of NIT.

A seminar on VLSI technology was organised at NIT recently. Professors from six leading colleges, including IIT-Kharagpur and NIT-Rourkela, had participated in the programme.

The seminar, organised at the behest of Rajneesh Srivastava, director, NIT, Jamshedpur, was aimed at educating faculty members and students about research activities in the field of VLSI.

Arvind Choubey, a noted professor of electronics and communication engineering department, had conducted the seminar.