Where Vision Takes Shape

NIFT Hyderabad, now three decades old, is bringing advanced technologies into the classroom to complement hands-on skills and keep design students market-ready

- By PRASAD NICHENAMETLA

When NIFT Hyderabad moved into its new, permanent campus at the then-suburban Madhapur over two and a half decades ago, its most prominent neighbour, just across the road, was the cylindrical Cyber Towers, inaugurated six months earlier in November 1998 to house the emerging IT industry in undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Next to it, the state government built Shilparamam, an arts and crafts village that has since helped preserve Indian artistic skills and cultural traditions. NIFT Hyderabad, too, thrived, inspired by this confluence of tradition and technology at its door.