BENGALURU: A committee led by the former director of the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, Prof. S. Sadagopan, to plan the upgrading of seven state engineering colleges to Karnataka Institutes of Technology (KITs) has proposed to combine the seven institutes under one single-brand options for faculty and students to move across campus.
After enacting a law to develop University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering along the lines of IIT, the government is keen to develop seven of its 13 engineering colleges, for which it has formed a committee chaired by Prof. Sadagopan.
“World-leading universities such as Tokyo University (in Japan) act as multiple campuses. The main campus will be relatively small. Pennsylvania State University has 45 campuses. One of the biggest challenges in the Indian higher education system is the lack of faculties. When they function as an institute, they reach a critical mass in one area. With the pandemic, we have already experimented with technology and the possibilities of sharing resources online,” said Prof. Sadagopan.
The bylaws should allow for the movement of students and faculty across campus. “We need to leverage resources and make the best use of the different sites,” he said.
The proposal also provides for centralized admission to these campuses. Colleges will have a single governing body, but with separate local committees for governance. The single-brand approach also helps with ranking.
Colleges selected include Government SKSJTI Bangalore and Government Engineering Colleges in Ramanagara, Hassan, Haveri, KR Pet, Karwar and Talkal. In each of these colleges, computer science, electronics and communications branches are developed in the early stages. In the Bengaluru Institute, textile technology is developed together with computer science. In addition, a center of excellence in a specific industry will be established at each of these campuses.
Under the proposal, Talkal will have a center of excellence for Internet of Things (IoT), Karwar for acoustic wireless sensor networks and cloud computing, Haveri for wireless sensor networks and advanced communications, and Hassan for cybersecurity with a data center. Bengaluru College will have a Center of Excellence in IoT, AI and ML. Similarly, Ramanagara College will have a Robotics and Automation Center.
The committee brought the rectors of the seven colleges to IIT-Madras to help them understand the nuances of IITs and has proposed an infrastructure transformation of about Rs 80 crore for the initial phase. This includes building infrastructure, labs, technology and maintenance expenses.
