Department Sneak Peek Deep Tavker, Imaad Ansari, Kireeti Akkunuri, Pranil Joshi, Santanu Rathod, Sucheta Ravikanti, Soumil, Kumar Sounack With the freshie year nearing an end, one would like to know what insti has in the bucket for a freshie-no-more. There are several aspects to the changes one encounters after the Freshmen year, of which we cover the academic and department side of things in this article. Starting off with variation of course load over the semesters, we then take a look at Minors, Honors and Electives, thence moving on to Research and Core exposure which gives the students a flavor of their respective fields. We then take a look at the Semester Exchange program followed by a brief description of the Department Council and DAMP Mentors. We also touch upon the roles of a Fac-Ad and uncover some lesser known programs that the institute offers. Finally, we take a quick peek into the demographics of the departments.
Curriculum Analysis
One might wonder how the course load is going to vary over the coming semesters. Here’s an insight into the statistics. Note that the depicted credit structure is the curriculum recommended by the department, it is possible to take up extra courses in a semester, the total credits change accordingly.
Minors, Honors and Electives FAQs Can a Dual Degree student do a minor? What is a minor and what is an honor?
A minor is an additional recognition awarded when one takes up additional courses amounting up to 30 credits in total, over the course of 4/5 years in another department. Similarly, an Honor is awarded when one takes up additional courses amounting up to 24 credits in total in one’s own department.
Is it compulsory to take a Minor/Honor/ Elective?
While Minors and Honors are only an option for those who wish to pursue it, every program does have a minimum number of electives that are to be completed by the end of 8/10 semesters.
Does the Minor grade count in your overall CPI ?
No, it is calculated independent of the overall CPI. It will be reflected in the marksheet once the minor has been successfully completed.
How flexible is the system to take a minor? Can we take a minor from a totally different department every semester? Or • All the four year programs and all the Dual degree should we stick to minor courses from the programs each have comparable number of total same department? credits.
• The distribution of credits is not the same across Yes, one can take up any minor course in any semester, all programs. While Energy and Chemical have it spread it out quite evenly, Chemistry and Metallurgy DD have a relatively sparse distribution. • The Energy DD program has the least lab credits, by a decent margin. This combined with the fact that it is a Dual Degree program, gives it the lowest ratio of lab to theory credits. • Between the two Electrical Dual Degree programs, the Microelectronics specialisation is more lab intensive than CSP. • The last two semesters, especially in the case of the Dual Degree programs comprise mostly of electives, seminars and projects.
subject to availability in pre-registration and individual course prerequisites. A minor will be awarded in the department where you first complete 30 credits. It is also possible to take up more than one minor course per semester.
Pre registration?
Many minor courses have limited seats and high demand. Therefore there is a pre registration, which usually opens a couple of weeks before the semester starts on the ‘external asc’ website where course preferences are filled. The final allotment is done on the basis of CPI and waitlist.
A DD student is only allowed to take a minor course if they belong to Category I. However, this varies on a case-by-case basis and is done in consultation with the FacAd.
What all departments offer a minor program ?
All the departments that offer a UG program also offer a minor program. In addition, other departments like Humanities and Social Sciences, CSRE, IEOR, etc too have their own minor programs.
Where can I find more information about the minor program? A lot more information can be obtained in the Sophie booklet published by the Academic council and department websites.
Familiarising with the Fac-Ad One might remember them as the prof(s) who were present during the department orientation back in July. Indeed, the Faculty Advisors or FacAds do help and approve with the registration process, but that is only a slice of the bigger picture. Their overall aim is to take on an advisory and mentorship role in a student’s academic life and act as a faculty point of contact between students and the department. Overloading / underloading a semester can be done only after due consultation with the Faculty advisor. While many may not be well acquainted with their FacAd, they will come to play an increasingly important role from sophomore year onwards.
Research and Core exposure Research Projects and URAs
Right from the summers after the freshie year, students are introduced to research through SURP (flip a few pages to the Summer bucket list article to find out more about this.) There are several other programs aimed at exposing students to research and hands-on work related to the subject. These include B.Tech Project (BTP), Supervised Learning Project (SLP) and Dual Degree Project (DDP) which also carry credits. Apart from the aforementioned programs, one can simply approach the professor (from any department) whose research focus matches with his/her interests and take up a project under the professor’s guidance. To further encourage research, the institute gives an Undergraduate Research Award (URA) to those who do significant research work. There are three different types : URA01 (for projects usually completed before the fourth year), URA02 (for B.Tech/B.S Projects) and URA03 (For Dual Degree Projects). URA can either be applied for with approval from the professor, guide and the academic office or the professor under whom the project was done can nominate the student if he/she feels that the work done was of sufficient quality.
Industrial visits, Open Days and Seminars
Apart from the lab courses which are aimed at giving the students a hands-on experience of the technical nitty-gritty, some courses and projects include industrial visits which provide an insight into the real-world applications of the subject. Moreover, throughout the year a number of colloquia are organised by various departments which include workshops, lectures and tutorials. Some departments also have Open Days, where a number of labs are open for all to come and see. Students