Flexibility Ingrained In Engineering Solutions

Interdisciplinary studies, shorter modules, option to attend online courses and choices given to students to design their own courses are answers that engineering institutes have devised for industry and societal needs

- Meha Mathur

At Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), students now can choose about 40 per cent of their courses, which enables customisation and personalisation. These changes have A been implemented, orienting the curriculum towards employment, research, innovation and entrepreneurship. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, emphasises that the flexibility offered will address the needs of the country, especially infrastructure requirements. "The PM has announced that 3 crore new houses would be built in the next five years. This requires tremendous infrastructure boost. But civil engineering figures low in the priority list of students.