Fast Facts
Campus: Unitary Campus at Coimbatore
Programmes: BE/ME/PhD/Part-Time BE/BSc/Msc/MCA and a few MPhil programmes
Fees: As stipulated by the Tamil Nadu government
Fellowships: Very few in number
Career opportunities: Diverse sectors, with IT and core being the predominant sectoral recruiters

V Muthuraman

The decade after independence, especially in Tamil Nadu, saw public-private partnership of a different kind wherein private philanthropists set up colleges and helped run them under state control.

Over time, some of these colleges emerged as very competitive sites of academic production and matched steps with the better endowed state-run colleges.

The Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT) was one such institution. Set up by an academic, P.R. Ramakrishnan, who was also its founder principal, it borrowed its structure and systems from MIT, from where its founder was educated.

So, within a few years after its inception it began awarding BTech degree in chemical engineering. What began in 1956 as an undergraduate engineering school has evolved in to a multi-disciplinary educational institution, all the while retaining its key focus as a tech school.

What is on offer?
The institute is primarily a technology school, with seven undergraduate and eight postgraduate programmes in different fields of engineering and technology. It also has a vibrant sciences department which offers programmes in applied sciences, and full-fledged research programmes.

Computing is a domain which straddles both sciences and engineering and the school offers both an MSc as well as BTech in computing and software, in addition to a regular MCA programme.

Unlike most other engineering colleges, CIT also has a well-developed PhD programme. Dr. Chelladurai, the current principal, claims the institute nearly generates 18-20 PhDs every year, which is a comparable number.

Infrastructure and resources
Being over five decades old and an aided institution, the campus has well-endowed infrastructure. Occupying more than 20 acres of prime land in the heart of the city, the institute has a very old-world charm. The imposing main building with its neo-colonial verandahs and broad staircases, is a throw back to the British era, and at times unwelcoming. Most other buildings are purely functional and efficient. Mr. K. Ramachandran, a product of 1972, reminiscences, “Next to Guindy College, CIT was the choice school at that time. Bunking classes was unthinkable”.

Academics and beyond
As an aided institution, CIT depends on either the Trust or the other projects to add to the infrastructure facilities, especially in the engineering labs. Coupled with a bright research faculty, who were recruited in the initial years, this has led to a vibrant research culture at CIT. But such research is unfortunately restricted to a few departments. For example, the civil engineering department has substantial research facilities and its Structural Testing Lab, the Head of the Department claims, is one of the best in the southern part of the country.

The embedded systems division, with its contingent of 12 PhD scholars appears to be doing exciting work. But the challenge probably is to spread the research culture across other departments and make it individually independent.

Getting on board
Entry into CIT is through the qualifying marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics at 10+2 level in TN State board. Cut off percentages are quite high with open seats getting filled up by students with 99.5 percent marks. So the peer group is of a very high calibre. As Suresh, a third year electronics engineering student says, “The pressure to perform here comes from your peers. When you study with such high capacity individuals, one has to be on one’s toes constantly.” The competition for management quota seats is also as intense.

Collaborations
Foreign collaboration is the new domain of focus for CIT. Dr. Prasad, Correspondent, CIT says, “This is one area, where the institute was not very proactive. But now, as India globalisies, CIT too is aggressively scouting for world-class academic partners so that we impart cutting edge education, which is global. The trust is committing time and resources to get it going.”

Concurs Dr. Chelladurai, “We recently concluded two comprehensive MoUs with Texas Tech University and Okalahoma University, Stillwater and faculty members would move to both the universities on a mutual exchange programme from Fall 2010. Student exchanges and joint research projects are also planned.”

Where does it all lead to?
With nearly 50 batches of engineering graduates out in the market, the school has an enviable alumni network spanning across core and applied sectors of the economy. Says Dr. K. Subhramanian, Professor of Civil Engineering as well as the Placement Head, “It has been a tough year during the last season, but situation is much better this academic year. We hope to place majority students this year even before the closure of this term.” Another trend visible is the healthy disdain for IT companies. Most of the students with whom I interacted expressed interest in core sector jobs, and Indian Oil appears to be the preferred employer in the campus.

No horizontal expansion?
A common grouse against CIT is that the institute, despite achieving autonomous status in 1987, never aggressively expanded itself. The period from 1987 to 2000 saw the launch of only a few programmes in the computing and IT sector and nothing else.Recently  in 2005 it launched three new masters’ programmes. Quiz Dr. Prasad on the same, pat comes the reply, “We are not a business”.

But unless good schools expand systematically, and provide opportunities to students, its place would be occupied by those that make education a business. Will CIT expand horizontally or will it rest on it’s laurels? 

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