1. Envisioning IIT Bombay Students’ perspective: Krishna Ramkumar 20 August 2011

2. 1 The Problem: Exhausted student base with diverse interests Pursuing anything other than science in school considered inferior -Few explore real interests Demand-supply mismatch in quality higher education institutions IIT degree key to a better future -Better jobs in industry -Prestige in society 1 2 3 Student population is Exhausted from the highly competitive JEE A group of high- achievers with diverse interests

3. 2 3 large changes required to make the IIT education more relevant to the students Interaction with Industry & Government Continuous Academic Reform Focus on Innovation & Entrepreneurship 1 23

4. 3 Interaction with Industry and Government Engage with industry stalwarts to identify key challenges and breakthrough research topics Intern with companies to work on these problems and build practical problem-solving skills Work on government projects to gain an appreciation for grass-root challenges 1

5. 4 Focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Take on a leadership role by defining key innovation themes Spend significant time trying to solve these problems and broadening knowledge Build an ecosystem to foster innovation and entrepreneurship -Identify professors to push the agenda -Invite VC funds and ex-entrepreneurs to run competitions & associated mentoring programs -Encourage recruitment by serial entrepreneurs 2 Faculty Students Institute

6. 5 Continuous Academic Reform Allow students to take more courses from other departments Review process of branch allotment Move the focus from textbook to practical learning Inculcate mental framework for scientific enquiry Design more courses at the interface of disciplines Encourage collaboration on research projects 3 Academic flexibility Well-rounded course structure Inter- disciplinary academics

7. 6 In the long term, should IITs move to a university structure? Is the need of the hour a purely technical institute? Or, with an intake of bright students with varied interests, should the IITs create tangible avenues to explore these diverse interests? Should we create strong engineering, medical, social science and business schools that work in close collaboration with each other? While this will need a complete overhaul of the system, it might be the only way for the IIT brand to deliver