NIT-Trichy gets accolades for optimum use of resources

The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy has achieved the rare distinction of having been chosen as the numero uno institution in the country by scoring 9.8 marks out of 10 in the World Bank-funded project of property utilisation and the objectives met. The World Bank had advanced Rs 22 crore for undergraduate (UG) projects in NIT in the last academic year and in the current academic year the institution has availed Rs 12.5 crore in the phase two of TEQIP-2 (Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme) for postgraduate (PG) and research programmes.
As a result, the NIT-T has signed a memorandum of understanding with MITACS (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems), an association of 95 Canadian Universities along with the participation of four other Indian institutes including two IITs, BITS-Pilani and NIT-K, Surathkal.

Talking about the projects, Venkataramani, dean (research and consultancy) told TOI that another first to NIT-T's credit was that under these World Bank-funded projects, the highest number of 85 faculty members had gone abroad last year. This was the highest number for any NIT or IIT in the country. Moreover, more than 50 foreign faculty members had arrived and stayed in NIT-T for more than month under the exchange programme.
Venkataramani said the World Bank follows a rigid "evaluation mechanism" in choosing the best NIT in the country and the funds are used to create a centre of excellence in order to enhance research. The fund is used for both hardware and software. While a mentor encourages the institute to reach out for innovation, an auditor evaluates how effectively the funds are spent.
The latest MoU with Canadian universities who offer a global platform and act as a nodal agency would pave the way for about 20 to 30 NIT-T students to pursue their PhD projects abroad, said Venkataramani.