Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a leading multi-campus, multi-disciplinary teaching and research institution in the country, has become one of the pioneers in offering M.Tech in Defence Technology, the post-graduate programme jointly developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the R&D wing of Ministry of Defence, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a national-level council for technical education, with the objective of meeting the burgeoning skill needs of India’s fast growing defence sector.

The university seeks admission for the academic year 2021-22 from engineering students with undergraduate degrees. Since Defence Technology is a multi-disciplinary domain, students from a wide range of engineering streams - from chemical engineering to computer science, can apply.

M. Tech. in Defence Technology courses has been designed to produce post graduates who will have the necessary theoretical and experimental knowledge, skills and aptitude in various defence systems and contemporary technologies to carry out R&D. The program will be based on class lectures and main thesis work. During the program, the students will be given the opportunity to do their main thesis work at DRDO labs, defence PSUs, and private defence industries.

India’s defence sector is fast expanding with the central government continuing its emphasis on defence-indigenisation to make the country, currently the world’s third largest importer of weapons and defence equipment, self-reliant. Hence, the domestic defence market is booming and the defence industry in the public and the private sector are on the hiring spree. A specialised program like the current one is expected to create a large pool of talented workforce for the defence sector, and to give a fillip to the startup ecosystem in the defence sector.

Commenting about the launch of M.Tech in Defence Technology, Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Chairman, DRDO, said, “There is an urgent need to expand the research base for developing advanced technology and for accelerating India’s tech self-reliance in defence. Amrita has been working with DRDO on many of the advanced technologies - particularly in the defense R&D. I am sure that the university will be a fountainhead of talent for the robust defence R&D, and manufacturing ecosystem for the defence industry in the country.”

In his comments, Dr. P. Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor, Amrita University, said, “Our vision is to contribute to nation building by offering quality higher education in the fields of strategic importance to the country in engineering, medicine, education, and social sciences. We are committed to training young professionals in the emerging defence technology arena with the support of DRDO and AICTE. Through the M.Tech in Defence Technology program, students will have an opportunity to dive deep into theoretical and experimental aspects of defence technologies and their applications. They will also have opportunities to interact with top scientists at DRDO labs, and experts in defence PSUs and private industries.”