Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, recently conducted a virtual ceremony to introduce seven new academic programmes, which will be offered to the students from the upcoming autumn session (2021-2022). The institution added six postgraduate degree programmes and one five-year Integrated programme into its curriculum. These programmes were specifically designed to address the rising demand for new-age technologies, governed by rapid digitalisation and advanced technology.

The seven new programs included MTech (artificial intelligence) and MTech (data science) under the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (CAIDS), M. Des. (Industrial design), and MIM (masters in innovation management) under the Department of Design, online M. Tech. (microelectronics and VLSI) for working industry professionals under the Department of electronics and communication engineering, MS economics (five year integrated program) under the department of humanities and social sciences, and M. Tech. (dam safety and rehabilitation) under the proposed ‘International centre for dams’.

These degree programmes will facilitate quality education in select areas of engineering, architecture, economics, and management along with in the specialised areas like Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. The institution, in line with the transformative reforms introduced by National Education Policy, 2020, has launched these courses to widen the scope of its offering, making it accessible to more, including working professionals. These courses have been designed to equip students/ working professionals with theoretical knowledge and technical know-how to add value to their respective fields.  

Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, said, “I am so delighted to see the launch of these 7 new academic programmes and to hear about their outlines and philosophy. New Initiatives of this kind separate the leaders from followers. I wish everybody all the very best in going forward with it. Thank you so much for having me here with all and learning about all the great things going on at IIT Roorkee”
M. Tech. (Microelectronics and VLSI) is a 3-year program designed for working professionals. It is a flexible course for those who want to upgrade their career and cannot attend regular on-campus classes. This online degree will intend to prepare students for managerial engineering roles in the industry.

M.Tech. in Dam Safety and Rehabilitation program is a two-year program. It will train the sponsored officers working in the area to deal with challenges of safety and rehabilitation of the older dams and design of new dams. Any graduate of the relevant area can join this course.

The MS Economics (Five Year Integrated program) is a five-year integrated program to equip students with the tools needed by a professional economist in government or other organisations or to carry out research. A student can exit from this course after four years by getting a BS degree.

The M. Des. (Industrial Design) and MIM (Masters in Innovation Management) are two-year programmes, which focuses on developing Documentation and Archival Repository of Design Innovation practices at the grassroot level. It also aims at building a friendly environment between academia and the industry to address the relevant societal issues through co-creation and their transformation into products.

The virtual centre CAIDS is offering, two-year masters’ programs MTech (Artificial Intelligence) and M. Tech (Data Science) to develop new and skilled manpower, by offering focused training and promoting research and consultancy. Besides, it aims to aid the projects related to Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, running at national and international levels.