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ShareThe launch of Chandrayaan-I not only drew the world's attention towards India, it also excited young minds in the country, many of who are now keen to pursue a career in space sciences. BN Suresh, director of Indian Institute of Space Technology (IIST), spoke to DNA on exclusive space education and career opportunities available for the youngsters.
What are the options available for those keen to pursue a career in space science?
At IIST, we have come up with three departments -- avionics, aerospace engineering and physical sciences (meaning space sciences). This is the only space institute, not only in India but in the whole world, to offer under-graduate Btech courses, completing which, a student can directly pursue their specialised area of study.
How are the courses offered at IIST different?
While general courses are taught at premiere educational institutions, at IIST we also focus on the application part. This means, when we recruit, say, IIT students, they need at least six months of training to be inducted in a project. But our students can directly start working in a project. Also, since IIST is located near to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centre, our students get the opportunity to interact with working scientists frequently. This provides them with an onsite exposure.
What are the qualifications required to get admitted to IIST?
As of now, any plus-two science student appearing for IIT and JEE entrance exams, can apply for IIST. Based on his/her rank, a student is selected. But we are planning to start our own entrance exams soon and the pattern will be similar to that of IIT and JEE entrance tests.
How will a student benefit from studying at IIST?
The students will have access to ISRO labs for real-time experiments that are related to space programmes. Also, we encourage them to take up internships at ISRO labs for a month that will help them know about different technologies in space-related systems. We also encourage them to take up full projects in the areas of robotics, unmanned aerial vehicle, advanced solar cell, autonomous fire fighter and so on. Also, students can study at premiere institutes in Europe and the US since we have signed a MoU with those institutes for student exchange programmes.
What are the job opportunities?
If a student gets admitted to IIST, he/she is certain to be given an opportunity to work with ISRO for a minimum period of five years. This will give him/her enough opportunity to put his knowledge into use. With the sixth pay commission's proposals being implemented, we will pay more than what Infosys offers a fresher.
