Survey places city institute
behind IIT-Kanpur, but it is still first choice for 70 of 100 top students, finds JEE rankings
The news that the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) is placed second to IIT-Kanpur, according to the latest Zee News-DNA-Ipsos survey conducted to rank engineering institutes in the country, has received mixed reactions.
The survey was conducted by Zee News, which commissioned the world’s third-ranked research agency Ipsos to carry out the extensive study.
“The ranking is fair enough. We are one of the top institutes in India,” said Devang Khakhar, director of IIT-B.
“But, while we are happy at this position, we have also been engaged in activities to assist other institutes to excel. There are several initiatives running at the institute which are targeted mainly towards non-IIT engineering institutes such as providing training to their faculty and making IIT-B faculty lectures available for non-IIT students.”
Providing tips on how other institutes can grow too, Khakhar said: “It is actually a kind of planning that any institute needs to do individually, based on the factors that will contribute to the development.”
But, Bakul Desai, member of the board of directors of the IIT-B Alumni Association, did not agree with the survey.
“In the worldwide rankings, IIT-B has appeared in top 60s; whereas other IITs have been ranked beyond 100. Also the JEE (Joint Entrance Exam) rankings have always shown that 70 of the top 100 students choose IIT-B. So, when it comes to comparing the institutes in India, IIT-B undoubtedly should stand at the top,” Desai said.
“It is also IIT-B which has given many eminent personalities to this nation in different fields from core engineering sectors to politics and also economy. Moreover, the young faculty award introduced by this institute has always managed to attract young and talented faculty members,” he added.
Uday Athvankar, faculty member from the Industrial Design Centre at IIT-B, too pointed out JEE reports have always shown that IIT-B is the students’ first choice. He added that the faculty makes a huge difference in how an institute is developed. “IIT-B over these years has always been lucky to have good faculty.”
“The institute is fairly dynamic in several aspects and I feel there might be just a marginal difference between the first positioned institute and IIT-B, or this might be the opinion of the sample people that the survey conductors spoke to,” Athvankar added.
Ketav Mehta, a third-year student of energy science and engineering at IIT-B, gave a thumbs-up to his institute.
“Considering pure academic records, IIT-Kanpur would have scored higher, but if you consider the holistic development of a student, IIT-B has to be at the top. The institute has been giving adequate industry exposure to students. In fact, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows lectures by IIT-B faculty to their students,” said Mehta.
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