Vol.8, Issue 3 | September 2019 IIT ROPAR RANKED TOP IN INDIA IN THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2020 The Newsletter Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE IIT ROPAR RANKED TOP IN india in THE TIMES HIGHER Dear Friends, EDUCATION WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2020 The last few months brought about unexpected highs and lows in IIT Ropar campus. The highest point was obvious stunning performance at World University Ranking published by Times Higher Education and the most difficult time was the flooding of Ropar city and our campus. World Higher Education Ranking by THE n Made it to the top 350 on debut in is regarded as a very special type of ranking the list. in which research is given preference over other parameters. I am n happy to inform you that IIT Ropar entered this World Ranking for Made debut In World University the first time within a band of 300-350 rank. This is not completely Ranking- Sharing Top Spot in an unexpected result in view of the fact that IIT ropar has always been India with IISc Bangalore. encouraging quality and impacts of the research rather that quantity. n Got 100 in the research citation In Prajwalam itself issue after issue with demonstrations we have parameter Meanwhile, a new research shown that how we are top among the newer IITs in citations. The collaboration with the Massachusetts IIT Ropar has made an attractive current ranking is an indication of the approach that IIT Ropar has Institute of Technology’s Abdul consciously adopted. debut in the Times Higher Education Latif Jameel Water and Food World University Ranking 2020 IIT Ropar was hit by a severe natural calamity last month. The floods Systems Lab and a new Indo- in Punjab hit Ropar badly. Although IIT Ropar’s constructions with released on September 11. It has Taiwan Joint Research Centre on special measures took care of flooding from the mighty Satluj, a small bagged the top rank among the 56 Artificial Intelligence and Machine seasonal river Bhudki broke on the back side of our new campus Indian institutes that have made it Learning are already “showing and broke through our boundary wall and flooded our newly built to the list of best universities of the campus on the 18th of August afternoon. IIT Ropar Staff, Students results in terms of research quality world this year. and Administration fought back bravely and restored the campus and global outreach”, he says. operations within a record time and the classes were restarted on 28th Professor Das attributes these of August. I thank all our stakeholders who gave unmatched support to the institute at the times of such crisis and particularly the people of improvements to a string of Ropar who extended unimaginable support to the Institute. government initiatives aimed at The last few months were also periods of a plethora of activities in boosting the number of researchers the Institute such as Department of Mechanical Engineering and and the quality of research in the Department of Physics celebrated their Annual & Technical events, country. “Higher education in India IIT Ropar is the highest-ranked the Govt. of Punjab celebrated the World Environment Day at IIT is undergoing substantial change,” Indian newcomer in this year’s Ropar with the Hon’ble Chief Minister inaugurating Guru Nanak he says. Bagichi, International Yoga Day was celebrated and above all the table, ensconced in the 301-350 73rd Independence Day was celebrated in which the tallest and largest bands with its very high score for The ranking includes over 1,300 National Flag of Rupnagar District was hoisted at the IIT Ropar citation impact and its reasonably universities from 92 countries. campus. strong showing on the industry Rankings are done across 13 During this period some of the major research initiatives were launched. income measure. Professor S.K. Das performance indicators grouped programme has been started between IIT Ropar and Swinburne says, “The institute has established into five areas: teaching (the University of Australia. During this period, the entire administration of key areas of research focus of learning environment), research IIT Ropar has moved to the new campus. social and national relevance. This (volume, income, and reputation), In July, IIT Ropar got the Nation’s First Indo-Taiwan Joint is a proud moment for our institute citations (research influence), Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning international outlook (staff, students inaugurated. It is the first of its kind in the nation with a focus on which is the result of the hard works of our faculty, students, scholars and research) and industry outcome promoting research interaction between Taiwan and India. (knowledge transfer). Dear Friends, although we are hit by the recent floods, the spirit of IIT and staff. We have expanded and and its aspirations have not been deterred even to a slightest extent. We created infrastructure last few years, are even more determined to bounce back and establish ourselves as an brought talents from the entire Institute of global eminence. We are sure that we will get your support country and world and encouraged and co-operation in our endeavor. research initiatives.” Jai Hind. FIRST IN THE NATION INDO-TAIWAN JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING INAUGURATD AT IIT ROPAR & Technology, Taiwan, National Chung test and measurement of instruments used Cheng University,Taiwan and Indian in technology organizations and BMC has Institute of Technology Ropar, India. unmatched experience in IT management, It will be the first of its kind in the nation supporting 92 of the Forbes Global 100. with a focus on promoting research Ministry of Science and Technology interaction between Taiwan and India. The also launched distinguished Doctoral common ambition is to provide an academic Fellowship and India-Taiwan Research platform to strengthen the foundation of Cooperation. This Ph.D fellowship is to research in important applications, conduct encourage outstanding students to pursue research in AI & ML, promote student and academic degrees in Taiwan and to deepen faculty exchange programme and provide a their understanding of Taiwan’s academic platform for incubation. environment, thereby enhancing exchanges The delegation of 26 persons comprising and building friendships between Taiwan senior officials from Taiwan and officials and India. Adhering to the priority of India, IIT Ropar from tech giants like SIMCO Electronics, This centre has brought synergy to generate brought Nation’s first Indo-Taiwan Joint BMC, NXP, Emerson, Intel, L&T, Infotech real-world impact through AI and Machine Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence and also visited. An MoU was signed with SIMCO Learning. This bilateral centre is seen as Machine Learning. The centre was inaugurated Electronics and BMC after the inauguration. one of the key milestones towards the by the Hon’ble Deputy Minister for Science SIMCO Electronics is a leading provider internationalization of IIT Ropar campus. and Technology, Taiwan, Dr. Yu-Chin Hsu, of calibration and software services for the Ambassador of Taiwan to India, H.E. Tien Chung-Kwang, and Dean of R&D, National Chung Cheng Univ.,Taiwan, Dr. Shih-Ming Huang on 27th July 2019. It is focused on actionable programmes for the Indian AI ecosystem to contribute, collaborate and co- create. The centre is initially funded for a period of 3 years and is been coordinated by Prof. Pao- Ann Hsiung from CCU and Dr. Rohit Sharma from IIT Ropar. The INDO-TAIWAN JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE ON AI & ML is a new and exciting collaboration between the Ministry of Science IIT ROPAR ORGANIZED OPEN HOUSE FOR SUCCESSFUL JEE ASPIRANTS at par with any of the global class institutions in the world. He also briefly spoke about the rapid strides being made by IIT Ropar on several fronts, including education, infrastructure, research, and about the startup culture and entrepreneurship opportunities at the institute. This was followed by an introduction to unique curriculum at IIT Ropar by Dr. IIT Ropar successfully organized an Open Anupam Agrawal, Associate Dean, UG and House, JEE Counseling and Interaction presentation on Clubs and Boards available at chances of getting a seat in IITs. meeting on 22nd June 2019, for the benefit of the institute by current students and members IIT aspirants, in particular, those who qualified The Q & A session was highly interactive with of Institute Student Mentorship Program an active participation of all the participants. in JEE (Advanced) 2019 successfully. More (ISMP). than 100 students and their parents actively There were several very pertinent questions participated in the counseling session. The The inclusion of supernumerary seats for put by the IIT aspirants and their parents session started with welcome note by the female students from 2018 as per the policy regarding choice of branch, seat, suitable Associate Dean Student Affairs, Dr. C. C. of the Central Government, aimed at bringing career choices, dual specialization, sub Reddy. gender balance in the engineering education specialization, difference between regular was highlighted. The girl students were also and integrated dual degree programs, and Prof. S.K Das , Director IIT Ropar welcomed counseled by the JEE help desk team to fill as suitability of female students to branches such the students and parents to the permanent many choices as possible to maximize their as mining engineering along with several campus of IIT Ropar and congratulated questions pertaining to choice and seat the JEE (Adv.) qualified students for their allotment in Joint Seat Allocation Authority commendable achievement. He gave an in- (JOSAA). The participants expressed depth overview into the evolution of the IIT happiness on the initiative of IIT Ropar in system in India including a brief talk on the educating the students as well the parents 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation IITs, and IIT on various technicalities in IIT Education, education in general.