Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), Dec 31 (IANS): Even during the pandemic, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has witnessed some of the top MNCs in the world participating in the placement drive this year, Prof Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Mandi, said on Friday.
These include Google, Microsoft, Samsung Bangalore, Adobe, Walmart, Sprinklr, Paytm, Amazon, Indeed, Cashfree, Nference, Flipkart, Mindtickle, Texas Instruments, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Ceremorphic, Addverb, L&T, ZS, Deloitte, Viscadia, Capgemini, KPMG, TCS, Reliance Jio, and LTI.
The IIT Mandi witnessed another year filled with achievements in diverse sectors ranging from R&D, academics, entrepreneurship, and innovations.
2021 saw a significant increase in the number of sponsored research projects and funding for IIT Mandi, a statement by the institute said.
The total number of projects sanctioned in the year 2021 are 32, with the sanctioned amount of over Rs 14.41 crore. Along with this 45 research scholars graduated this year.
Speaking about IIT Mandi's growth in the past one year, Chaturvedi said: "In spite of the challenging times, in the year gone by IIT Mandi has shown remarkable growth in terms of infrastructure as well as developing new academic programmes.
"This year IIT Mandi has also received 308 acres of land after clearance from the forest department. Further, we have reached a faculty strength of 134. Two new academic programmes --- M. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering and M.Tech in fluid and thermal science -- have also been launched. With this growth trajectory, we welcome the new year with renewed energy and enthusiasm to contribute to the development of the Himalayan region and India as a whole."
IIT Mandi is overseeing the integration of science, technology, and innovation to build a sustainable future in India.
Various research projects ranged from tracking the Covid-19 spread in India via social networks, to the development of catalysts to generate hydrogen using sunlight, from enhancing the power output of piezoelectric materials to development of algorithms to predict the functioning of vehicular internal combustion engines, among others.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning System developed by IIT Mandi during his visit to Mandi. The device reduces landslides by predicting the soil movement in advance and is a one-of-a-kind system in the world.
Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar visited the institute and took a tour of the recent developments at IIT Mandi. He also sought interventions from IIT Mandi on the prevention and mitigation of landslides in the state.
Speaking about the placements, Prof Tushar Jain, Advisor, Career and Placement Cell, IIT Mandi, said: "This year's placement drive at IIT Mandi can be seen as the benchmark drive with respect to the previous years. In this drive, the institute has noticed a significant growth in terms of the number of offers and an increase in participation from the diversified companies, which has become possible due to practicum-based and industry-oriented curriculum.
"The pandemic has also changed the recruitment process entirely from in-person to virtual mode, which offered new ways and means of interacting to explore among the students and companies."
On boosting the entrepreneurial culture in Himalayan region, IIT Mandi's Technology Business Incubator, Catalyst, hosted "HST Startup Grand Challenge" -- a start-up pitch competition with a winning cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 50 lakhs funding opportunity.
It is also notable that in its short journey, IIT Mandi Catalyst has supported over 160 start-ups across sectors like clean energy, healthcare, enterprise management, agriculture, manufacturing, biotech, education, and consumer internet.
Catalyst has hosted over 100 such programmes to date. Further, the funding needs of start-ups in the early stages are also met through the funding schemes hosted at Catalyst. Catalyst, to date, has disbursed or committed over Rs 6 crore for prototyping and commercialisation purposes to the startups.
Industry Connect and International Collaborations are two crucial aspects of IIT Mandi's engagement with the wider world.
The institute hosted a first-of-its-kind International Colloquium on Technology Readiness for High Volume Chip Manufacturing (FAB) 2021 (ICTFAB-2021) with Dr V.K. Saraswat, Member NITI Aayog, GOI, as the chief guest.
The international event facilitated the setting up of Advanced Semiconductor FAB facilities in India, and to develop its ecosystem to enable the Indian semiconductor industry to meet in-country demands and to participate as a globally competitive entity for comprehensive Electronics System Design and Manufacturing.
Recently, IIT Mandi also collaborated with the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Bilaspur on research and academic activities. The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at conducting joint research activities and academic exchange activities.