The lone state-run engineering cradle of Dhanbad BIT-Sindri is all set to get its first smart class before March 15, benefiting more than 3,000 of its undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The facility will help students of the institute get expert tips and lessons from faculty of top universities in London, Florida, New York, Copenhagen and other European and American countries. Industry captains from abroad and India can also mentor projects and conduct placement interviews for BITians from their respective locations.

The first smart class, coming up at the conference hall of the administrative block, beside the director's chamber, is being developed by the cradle's BTech 1984-batch alumni. The class will be equipped with videoconferencing facility and a digital podium.

Similar smart classes in all the ten engineering department of BIT Sindri - mechanical, electrical, production, metallurgy, chemical, civil, electronics and communication, mining, computer science engineering and information technology departments - will also be developed in phase-wise manner with financial help from BIT Sindri Alumni Association.

The first smart class will be launched before the scheduled meeting of the Research and Development (R&D) cell of BIT Sindri Alumni Association (BITSAA) on March 19. More than two dozen alumni of the institute settled in various European, American and West Asian countries will be brainstorming on the measures to strengthen the research and development activity and mentorship in their alma matter.

BIT-Sindri director D.K. Singh, a 1984-batch alumni of the institute, said, "We will be signing MoUs with some foreign universities, institutes and industries with the help of our alumni working there as faculty, researchers, directors and CEOs." He added that the smart classes will help the institute to increase its reach as recruiters, in foreign countries and also other Indian cities, can conduct placement interviews of BITians from their respective locations.

Confirming the decision, president of BITSAA Shashank Shekhar Garuryar said, "Besides the smart classes, the association will also help in developing a state-of-the-art convention hall at the cradle that will also come up within a year."

Notably, the newly-appointed director, D.K. Singh, has recently initiated a host of measures to improve the academic and research activities of the institute, including the launch of a incubation centre to promote start-ups, launch of MBA programme from next academic year, restructuring of the training and placement cell, appointment of two academic faculty for undergraduate and postgraduate courses and appointment of two administrative officers.