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General Forum: Information Technology | | Put Harvard, MIT and Princeton together | |
| Put Harvard, MIT and Princeton together . . .
. . . and you begin to get an idea of the growing status of India Institute of Technology Its graduates are building companies a
Call them a new wave of Indian gurus. Nope, not the spiritual kinds who propose to tell you how to attain nirvana in 10 easy steps.
They are the IIT-ians, tech gurus whose mantras involve complex algorithms, computer networking and bridging the digital divide.
Graduates from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), one of India's most prestigious, male-dominated academic institutes, IIT-ians have also been called India's hottest export item.
These IIT alumni are some of the most successful and influential immigrants in North America, who have either made their way to top management positions in various corporations, started up multi-million dollar companies or joined senior faculty positions in prestigious North American schools.
Some of the more famous IIT alumni in the United States include tech guru Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems (nasdaq SUNW) and partner with heavyweight venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Victor Menezes, a senior vice-chairman at Citigroup, Rajat Gupta, managing director of global consultancy firm McKinsey and Co. and Desh Deshpande, founder of Sycamore Networks.
In Canada, heavyweights in the academia and industry with IIT background include Mohan Mathur, vice-president, training support and services division at Ontario Power Generation and former dean, faculty of engineering science at the University of Western Ontario, and the media shy Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited.
Earlier this year, when the 50th anniversary of the institute gave occasion for a large celebration in Silicon Valley, which included Microsoft chairman Bill Gates as keynote speaker amongst other dignitaries, 60 Minutes ran a segment on IIT.
The program called the institute, currently comprised of seven universities all over India, the "most important university you have never heard of ... Put Harvard, MIT and Princeton together, and you begin to get an idea of the status of this school in India."
IIT graduates have had a large impact on the American technology revolution and Fortune 500 headhunters and American companies love kids from IIT, reported 60 Minutes.
The achievements of the IIT aren't far from the vision that laid the foundation of the institution.
After winning freedom from colonial rule in 1947, the first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, envisioned a modern India which included technocrats who could build state-sponsored power plants, dams, bridges and other such infrastructure for the newly independent country.
Following Nehru's vision, the 22-member Sarkar committee, headed by N. R. Sarkar, recommended the establishment of four higher technical institutions in the four corners of India, along the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the States, with several secondary institutions affiliated to it. Such institutes would not only produce graduates at par with top institutions abroad, but would also be engaged in research, and produce research workers and technical teachers.
With funds from UNESCO and international aid in terms of academics and exchange programs from the former Soviet Union, the U.K., the U.S. and Germany, the first IIT university was built in 1950 in a former detention camp in Hijli, Kharagpur. The first session started in August 1951 with 224 students and 42 teachers and 10 departments. In 1952, Nehru laid the foundation stone of the new building. In 1956, the Indian parliament passed the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Act declaring the institute as one of national importance, also giving it the status of an autonomous university.
Since then, six other universities have been added in the cities New Delhi, Chennai (Madras), Kanpur, Mumbai (Bombay), Guwahati and most recently Roorkee.
Today, IIT offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in over 25 different engineering, technology and business/management disciplines. In IIT Kharagpur alone currently there are 450 faculty members, 2,200 employees, 2,700 students and 18 departments. The annual tuition fees for India's most technologically advanced and state-of-the art institute is approximately Rs. 40,000 (a little above $1,200 CAD) a year.
Joseph Kurian, who started the now multi-million dollar Don Mills-based Alpha Laboratories Inc. with $8,000 in 1971, joined the IIT Kharagpur in 1954 for a doctorate in applied chemistry.
"At that time that was the only IIT," recalls 69-year-old Kurian. "I had applied to two universities, but IIT offered fellowships for PhD students. Financial incentives were fairly new at the time. Also IIT was more pro-active in recruiting me. Now I understand it's much more difficult (to get in)."
Besides the national prestige associated with it, the global success of its alumni has made IIT one of the most sought after universities in India. According to 60 Minutes, last year 178,000 high school seniors took the IIT entrance examination called the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination). Just over 3,500 students were accepted. That's less than 2 per cent. (Harvard accepts about 10 per cent of its applicants.)
Some students who don't merit in the top 200 or so often get admission in Ivy League schools in the States.
On a particular date, IIT aspirants, who are just a number until the results are declared, write the JEE exam. The exams are centrally marked. The students are ranked by their performance and it's expected that the higher the rank, the better the scope for tougher programs such as electrical or computer engineering.
"JEE is the fairest exam in India," says Mitali De, associate dean in the business department at the University of Waterloo and current president of IIT alumni association of Canada. "It truly weeds out the cream of the crop. In India, kids learn by rote in high school. But this examination tests whether you have your fundamentals straight and whether you can apply them to a complex problem."
Some students begin preparing for the JEE exam years before they become eligible to sit for the test. It isn't rare to see grade nine students attending coaching classes held at IIT-specific tuition centres that have mushroomed in the cities, or subscribing to a postal coaching course to pass the rigorous JEE exam.
But De, who graduated from IIT Madras in 1973, clarifies that IIT graduates aren't just geeks who can calculate complex problems in seconds.
"Nehru wanted a wholesome education for the IIT students," she says. "That's why even as early as 1951, engineers were given a humanities course. And there was always a link to sports and culture and arts. Then IIT-ians had to live on campus, even if your family was in the same city, which helped foster a bond between them."
This "all-round" education that emphasizes on analytical thinking is what makes IIT-ians successful, adds De.
"These days you will see IIT graduates pursuing higher studies in management," she says. "I can say with certainty that a B Tech from any IIT in India will get admission in Canadian universities into a masters or PhD (program) because of the mastery of his subject. That's not true for other Indian universities."
Canadian industry is another story.
"Well, maybe bigger companies such as Nortel might hire an IIT grad, because they now know the name," says De. "But other medium, even smaller sized companies aren't aware of the institute. By comparison, the U.S., especially the IT industry, recognizes IIT grads."
Yet, that doesn't deter young IIT-ians like Tauhid Khan from testing the job market waters in Canada. Khan, who graduated from IIT Kharagpur in May 2002, recently immigrated to Toronto.
Currently looking for a job, Khan hopes to pursue a Master's at U of T but eventually wants to do an MBA.
"You need that Canadian experience, right?" says Khan. "So I think an MBA will be helpful."
Born and brought up in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, Khan wanted to study at IIT because he'd been hearing about the institute from his father ever since he was in grade 5. So he gave the IIT international exam and got accepted as an international student.
"IIT is the best of the best of the best," grins Khan. "It was tough initially, getting used to new a system, living away from home. They make you work very hard but they really treat you like family. They have a saying in IIT. If you can live four years at IIT, you can live anywhere in the world."
Posted by: Mr. Sreedhar Venkata Sunkara At: 10, Apr 2003 7:46:47 PM IST
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