At the end of 2022, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) issued a summary of its accomplishments and development. This report detailed the institute’s research findings, inauguration of new programs, social effect, student invention and IIT-M campus placements of that year.
In the year 2022, Union railways minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, conducted the first 5G call in India on a test network that was established at IIT Madras with homegrown technology. IIT-M was recognized with the National Intellectual Property Awards for both 2021 and 2022, which were presented by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade, coming from the ministry of commerce and industry.
The Institute has implemented multiple projects like online courses on ‘Out of the Box Thinking’ for people living in India and anywhere else. IIT Madras has given 87 students from government and corporation schools the opportunity to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree through the ‘Anaivarukkum IITM’. Furthermore, IIT Madras has also offered a BSc in data science for those in 11th and 12th grade. The Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards 2022 has acknowledged the digital education programmes at IIT Madras.
The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) – a joint venture of the IITs and Indian Institutes of Sciences (IISc) – was awarded the ‘Lifelong Learning Award – Gold’, and IIT Madras’ BSc in Data Science and Applications programme won the ‘Best Online Programme – Silver.’ IIT-M retained its No. 1 ranking for the fourth year in a row in the ‘Overall’ Category and No. 1 position in the ‘Engineering Institutions’ category for seven consecutive years in NIRF Rankings. It also kept its No.1 spot in Atal Ranking of Institutions in Innovations Achievement.
The Institute experienced a rapid growth in its research capabilities, which led to the creation of the Sudha Gopalakrishnan brain centre. This centre is dedicated to conducting a comprehensive global project that looks into the cellular and connectivity of the human brain through high-resolution imaging. By doing so, it intends to create a vast amount of data, scientific content and technological tools. IIT Madras also aims to teach undergraduate and postgraduate students about neuroscience, computing and machine learning techniques, using the most advanced brain data.
The scientists from the institute created an AI program called PIVOT, which can forecast gene mutations that could potentially lead to cancer in a person. This tool utilizes data about gene mutations, gene expression, gene copy number variations, and disruptions in biological networks resulting from modified gene expression to generate its predictions. The results of the study have been published in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Frontier in Genetics’.
Professor R Krishna Kumar at IIT Madras carried out research at Panimalar Medical College and Research Institute to identify a treatment for Covid-19. The team published their results in the Nature Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed journal, which demonstrated the potency of Indomethacin – a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug – as an antiviral agent to treat mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.
This year, IIT-M has started a new Interdisciplinary Dual Degree (IDDD) Masters programme in Electric Vehicles for BTech and Dual Degree students from IIT Madras. Those who join the Electric Vehicle Masters programme will be given the required knowledge to start their career in the electric mobility sector. Recently, the institution also released an IDDD programme on ‘Quantitative Finance’ provided by the departments of Management Studies, Computer Science and Engineering and Mathematics to Dual Degree BTech students.
At the end of the first session of placement season for the 2022-23 academic year, IIT Madras had a record-breaking 445 offers, including Pre-Placement Offers (PPO). This is an increase of 10% compared to the 407 offers from the previous year. Among those offers, 25 of them had an annual pay package of over one crore rupees. Additionally, 15 international offers were also received from four different companies. The placements process at IIT Madras is running until May 2023.
The TTK Center for rehabilitation research and device development at IIT Madras, led by Sujatha Srinivasan, recently unveiled the country’s first indigenously designed Polycentric Prosthetic Knee, called ‘Kadam’, which is designed to enhance the life of thousands of above-knee amputees. The project was done in collaboration with the Society for Biomedical Technology (SBMT) and Mobility India.
IIT Madras has been utilizing technology to create a positive effect in energy, education, agriculture, AI, water, waste management, health, housing, and community development. The institute has partnered with corporations, PSUs, and other organizations under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Act to work on technology-driven CSR projects. During the 2021-22 financial year, IIT Madras was able to raise Rs. 131 crore from alumni, donors, and corporate firms to support its philanthropic and social initiatives.
The Railway Ministry granted a sum of Rs 8.34 crore to IIT Madras Students Team Avishkar to collaborate on a Hyperloop technology project. Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, presented the approval letter to IIT Madras at the beginning of this year. The students of IIT-M also unveiled their first electric Formula Racing car, ‘RF23’, during a gathering on campus.
Recently, the experts at IIT Madras designed a robot, ‘HomoSEP’, which is capable of cleaning septic tanks without human aid. Ten of these robots will be set up in Tamil Nadu and the researchers are consulting with sanitation workers to pick out the sites.
