Bhubaneswar, June 25: The Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) is planning to offer short-term degree courses to professionals who have working experience of several years in the technology sector but lack a professional degree.

These specially tailored degrees titled 'customised degree programme through credit mapping and exemption' will be available in B Tech and MTech courses.

Explaining the procedure, Shyam Sunder Pattnaik, the vice-chancellor of BPUT said: "If a diploma engineering holder has been working as an industry personnel for a period of 10 years and wishes to have a professional BTech degree, the BPUT will provide him with a customised platform to acquire higher qualifications."

"The varsity will compute the industrial experience and give them credit exemption by slashing the time required for him/ her to acquire the higher degree," said Pattnaik.

"Industry personnel who have a particular degree, for example a BTech in civil engineering but have been working in the IT sector for several years can also enrol in a short-term course in IT that will be beneficial," Pattnaik said.

The varsity in association with the Silicon Institute of Technology is organising 'Industry Academia Integration Meet' at Rourkela tomorrow, where these ideas will be discussed thoroughly and finalised.

The event will host five top academicians of the country and over 40 top industry personnel. Discussions will be held on research and development, skill development, placement and entrepreneurship development and expanding linkages.

On the eve of the event, the BPUT authorities today signed an agreement with the Punjab Engineering College University of Technology (PECUT), Chandigarh, for collaborative research and students and faculty exchange programmes.

The PECUT agreed to provide 10 modules to BPUT students free of cost. These modules will be about the essential skills required as per the current industry standards and will help in the employment of the students in top firms.

To help the students get more industry exposure, the varsity is also going in for the Choice Based Credit System from this year.

"As per the new system, students will be asked to gain practical exposure in industries during the seventh and eighth semesters. The last semester will contain 20 credits and the industrial houses will be given the complete liberty to evaluate the students and give them grades," said Pattnaik.