National Institute of Technology, Durgapur

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National Institute of Technology Durgapur

Motto	Udyoga Purushasya Lakshanam
Motto in English	Work Maketh a Man
Type	Public technical university
Established	1960; 61 years ago (1960)
Academic affiliations	UGC MoE[1] AICTE[2] Washington Accord[3]
Chairman	Sadanand Sadashiv Gokhale[4]
Director	Anupam Basu[5]
Academic staff	224[6]
Students	4,265[6]
Undergraduates	2,897[6]
Postgraduates	721[6]
Doctoral students	647[6]
Location	Durgapur, Paschim Bardhaman , West Bengal , India Coordinates: 23°32′54″N 87°17′29″E / 23.54833°N 87.29139°E / 23.54833; 87.29139
Website	www.nitdgp.ac.in

National Institute of Technology Durgapur (also known as NIT Durgapur or NITDGP), formerly called as Regional Engineering College, Durgapur (also known as REC Durgapur or RECDGP), is a public technical university in the city of Durgapur in West Bengal, India. Founded in 1960, it is one of India's oldest technical universities. It is located in a campus of 187 acres (0.75 km²).^[7]

NIT Durgapur is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India under the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007 and is one of the institutions of the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) system.^[8] The university focuses exclusively on science, technology, engineering, management, and architecture.^[9]

National Institutional Ranking Framework ranked the university 9th among the NITs, 47th for engineering,^[10] and 96th overall in India in 2020.^[11] The university has academic and research collaborations with universities and research centres in India and abroad including the United States and United Kingdom and is part of the World Bank-funded Technical Education Quality Improvement Program (TEQIP).

History[]

The National Institute of Technology, Durgapur (formerly Regional Engineering College, Durgapur) was established in 1960 under an Act of the Parliament of India as one of the eight such colleges, as a co-operative venture between the Government of India and the Government of West Bengal aimed to function as a pacesetter for engineering education in the country and to foster national integration.^[12]

In 2002, former Minister of Human Resource Development Murali Manohar Joshi decided to upgrade the RECs to NITs with the goal of modelling each institute based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with roots in Indian culture.^[8][13] In 2003, the institution was granted Deemed University status with the approval of the University Grants Commission / All India Council for Technical Education; it was renamed the National Institute of Technology Durgapur and was finally granting degrees under its own name. Thus it became a fully-funded institution administered by an autonomous Board of Governors under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The college was given autonomy in financial and administrative matters to achieve rapid development. In 2007, the National Institutes of Technology Act was passed, giving the NITs equal footing to the IITs in terms of pay scales, funding, etc.^[14]

^[15] National Institute of Technology Durgapur is the first institute in Eastern India to be selected as a Lead Institute under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) of the Govt. Of India funded by the World Bank.^[16] In 2007, the Union Government of India declared it as an "Institute of National Importance".^[17]

On 22 November 2013, during the institute's 9th convocation, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India addressed the Institution and appreciated its efforts in thrust Research and innovation.^[18]

Campus[]

Overview[]

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The campus spans 187 acres (0.75 km2). The main entrance is located on the eastern end of the campus, facing Mahatma Gandhi Road. The institute's academic facilities are located in the eastern half of the campus; these include the department buildings, laboratories and workshops, lecture halls, computer centres, and the central library. The campus has separate buildings for the departments of Computer Science Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, management, Chemistry, Biotechnology. Each department has its own library, in addition to the central library, which holds more than one lakh resources including books, periodicals, and journals in print and electronic format. A new lecture hall complex named was inaugurated as a part of the institute's campus development plans, and it currently serves undergraduate students. The old Academic complex has several departments and is currently used for the academic classes and lectures for undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students.

Administrative building[]

The newly constructed Administrative building with modern amnesties is one of the institute's landmarks. This building houses the administrative offices and also the offices of the director and deans.

Library[]

NIT Durgapur has a modern central library with more than two and a half lakh documents consisting of technical books, reports, standards, compact disks, and back volumes of journals. The library also provides air-conditioned and Wi-Fi-enabled reading halls. It is situated opposite the High Voltage Laboratory. The library is an institutional member of DELNET (Developing Library Network), American Centre Library, Kolkata, National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), and Current Science Association, Bangalore. It is also a beneficiary Member of INDEST-AICTE (Indian National Digital Library in Engineering, Science & Technology) Consortium, which provides Desktop Access to high-quality e-resources (online journals) like IEL Online (IEEE/IEE Electronic Library), Springer Verlag's Link, Proquest, ACM journals, ASCE, ASME, Nature Magazine, Indian Standards (Intranet version) and ASTM journals & Standards, etc. It has a collection of several thousand E-Books on computer science (published by Springer).^[19]

Organisation and administration[]

Governance[]

The President of India is the ex officio visitor of all the National Institutes of Technology (NITs). The National Institutes of Technology Council (NIT Council) works directly under him and it includes the minister-in-charge of technical education in Central Government, the Chairmen and the Directors of all the NITs, the Chairman of University Grants Commission (India), the Director-General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Directors of other selected central institutions of repute, members of Parliament, Joint Council Secretary of Ministry of Human Resource Development, nominees of the Central Government, All India Council for Technical Education and the Visitor.^[20]

Below the NIT Council is each NIT's Board of Governors. The Board of Governors of each NIT consists of the chairman and ten members, which include government, industry, alumni, and faculty representation.^[21]

The Director serves under the Board of Governors and is the school's chief academic and executive officer. Academic policies are decided by its Senate, which is composed of some professors and other representatives. The Senate controls and approves the curriculum, courses, examinations, and results. Senate committees examine specific academic matters. The teaching, training, and research activities of various departments of the institute are periodically reviewed to maintain educational standards. The Director is the ex officio Chairman of the Senate. The Deputy Director is subordinate to the Director. Together they manage the Deans, Heads of Departments, Registrar, President of the Students' Council, and Chairman of the Hall Management Committee. Deans and Heads of Departments in NITs are administrative postings rather than career paths. Faculty members serve as Deans and Heads of Departments for limited periods, typically 2 to 3 years, then returning to regular faculty duties. The Registrar is the chief administrative officer and overviews day-to-day operations. Below the Head of Department, are the various faculty members (professors, assistant professors, and lecturers). The Warden serves under the Chairman of the Hall Management Committee.

Academic departments[]

National Institute of Technology, Durgapur has the following departments:^[22]

Engineering

• Computer Science and Engineering
• Electronics and Communication Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Chemical Engineering

Sciences

• Physics
• Chemistry
• Mathematics
• Biotechnology

Other major departments

• Computer Applications
• Earth and Environmental Studies

Allied departments

• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Management Studies

Management School[]

The NIT Durgapur's Department of Management Studies (DoMS) offers a Master of Business Administration program. They offered Dual specialization in Marketing, Finance, Business Analytics, and IT Consulting, Human Resources, and Operations. DoMS Curriculum is designed with inputs from industry experts, faculty from IIM's, and other reputed B-Schools.

Academics[]

NIT Durgapur offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in disciplines spanning engineering, science, architecture and management. The institute has 14 departments with about 224^[6] faculty members and more than 4,000 enrolled students.

Admissions[]

Admission to the undergraduate programs is highly competitive and is based on the rank secured in the Joint Entrance Examination (Main). Candidates must also secure at least 75% marks in the 12th class examination, or be in the top 20 percentile in the 12th class examination conducted by the respective Boards. For Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes students, the qualifying marks would be 65% in the 12th class examination.^[23][24] The examination is considered to be one of the toughest examinations in the world and the high school science students who clear the examination with top ranks generally opt for NIT Durgapur as their choice for admissions in undergraduate programs. NIT Durgapur follows the reservation policy declared by the Supreme Court of India, by which 27% of seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes, 15% for Scheduled Castes, and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes. The institute also accepts foreign nationals through scholarships awarded by the Government of India, and non-resident Indians through an independent scheme known as Direct Admission for Students Abroad that uses SAT scores.^[25]

Admissions to the postgraduate programmes are through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering for the Master of Technology (M.Tech.) and Master of Science programs (taught and research),^[26] and through NIMCET for the Master of Computer Applications (M.C.A) program.^[27] Admissions for Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme are through the Common Admission Test.^[28] Admissions to the Doctorate of Philosophy programmes are based on the written tests followed by personal interviews conducted by the institute.

Undergraduate education[]

The institute awards Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) degrees in nine engineering disciplines. As of 2019, the annual intake for the B.Tech. programs were over 1000, with a student-faculty ratio of 25:1.

The B.Tech. and B.Arch. degree programs are four and five years long respectively. Courses are allotted a number of credits according to their importance. Each academic year is divided into two semesters and teaching programs are organized around the credit system. Teaching includes lectures, tutorials, practicals, projects, seminars, dissertations, and field and industrial training. The first year of the B.Tech. programme is common across all disciplines, during which students take basic courses in engineering, mathematics, and professional communication. From the second year onwards, the students take courses offered by their departments that are known as "depth" courses. At the end of the third year, the B.Tech. and B.Arch. students undertake industrial training for a minimum period of eight working weeks as part of the undergraduate curriculum. In the final year of their studies, most of the students are offered jobs in industries and other organizations through the Training and Placement section of the institute. Some students opt out of this facility in favor of higher studies or by applying to recruit organizations directly.^[29]

Postgraduate education[]

The institute offers graduate programs in several disciplines, including programs in science and engineering, leading to a Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Master of Technology (M.Tech.) degree respectively, as well as a programme in computer applications (MCA) and management (MBA).

All of the institute's academic departments offer Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree programs. Admission to the Ph.D. degree programs is either through industry sponsorship or through an entrance exam conducted by the institute. The doctoral research scholars are given a topic by the professor or work on the consultancy projects sponsored by industry. The duration of the programme is usually unspecified and depends on discipline. Ph.D. scholars submit a dissertation as well as conduct an oral defense of their thesis. Teaching assistantships (TA) and research assistantships (RA) are provided based on the scholar's profile. After the completion of doctoral studies, the candidates are placed in reputed public or private companies and universities. Also, many of the students after finishing their doctoral studies, do post-doctoral fellowships at research labs and universities in India and abroad.^[30]

Student life[]

Cultural and non-academic activities[]

The annual Techno-management festival of National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Aarohan is usually held in the month of February every year. It comprises various events like competitions, exhibits, workshops and talks from guest speakers. Aarohan 2021 was conducted in virtual mode.^[31]

Notable alumni[]

Notable alumni include:-

• Bikramjit Basu, recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology
• Kamanio Chattopadhyay, recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology
• Subir Chowdhury, CEO and MD of
• Jayanta Kumar Ghosh, Executive of .^[32]
• Aloke Paul, recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology

• 

  Kamanio Chattopadhyay, Honorary Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru

• 

  Aloke Paul receiving the Bhatnagar award

References[]

External links[]

• Official website