M.TECH. STUDENTS :: Backbone of Research Activity

The engineering streams, unlike the basic science, humanities and social sciences, have always attracted a small number of candidates for doctoral research. Consequently, the onus of conducting research in engineering departments often rests on the shoulders of the M.Tech. students. This is probably more true of IIT Kanpur, where M.Tech. students go through a research thesis-based programme as against the non-thesis versions of the M.Tech. programmes prevailing at the other IITs. DIRECTIONS spoke with seven M.Tech. students about their perception of the programme. These students include Mukul Pant (Civil Engineering), Akilur Rahman (Aerospace Engineering), G. Kanaka Raju (Computer Science & Engineering), M. Ravikumar (Civil Engineering), Sanjeev Sharma (Electrical Enginnering), N. Sridhar (Materials & Metallurgical Engineering) and Anshuman Tripathi (Electrical Engineering).

Most students who join the M.Tech. programme at IIT Kanpur are graduates of universities and regional engineering colleges. IIT Kanpur is viewed as an institute where serious research is conducted, and many students choose to come here in order to enhance their technical knowledge and skills. There is the added attraction of acquiring a degree from a premier institute for better opportunities at the job market. Students at this level appreciate the facilities for learning that the Institute has to offer them: the availability of "unlimited resources", the exposure to the openness in conducting science and the free excercise of the fundamental rights. M.Tech. students also acknowledge that after coming to IIT Kanpur, they broaden their horizons, gain a new level of self-confidence and become better equipped to face the real world.

The Current M.Tech. Programme

The M.Tech. programme at IIT Kanpur is quite simple: coursework and thesis. Students do 4 to 8 courses, mostly in the first two semesters; the number varies between the different engineering departments. In some departments, M.Tech. students of a certain specialisation are required to credit at least one course from another specialisation within the department. Some departments require students to credit at least one course offered by other departments. These steps are considered necessary to widen the perspective of students. IIT Kanpur believes that the M.Tech. programme is not intended for superspecialisation. Students graduating from the programme should still be able to appreciate the broad aspects of the discipline of engineering they have chosen to study.

In the second leg of the M.Tech. programme, the focus is on thesis work - an independent study of an unsolved mystery (of engineering, of course!). An area of research is identified, and a suitable faculty member is identified as the thesis supervisor. Depending on the level of initiative and motivation shown by the student, the role of the supervisor changes from merely overseeing the broad aspects of the thesis to chalking out the nitty-gritty details of day-to-day work. After satisfactorily addressing the research problem, the student prepares a written document of the contention of her/his thesis, submits it to the Institute and defends the same orally before an examination committee. This part of the work is expected to be completed by the third semester. But, some students do stay back for another semester to bring their thesis work to a logical stand point.

Culture Shock

The continuous assessment system of monitoring students learning, that is in use at IIT Kanpur, keeps the students on their toes. Two sets of mid-semester examinations, occasional quizzes, some term papers, a few seminars, weekly home assignments, and all this tipped with a final end- semester exam, is enough cause for concern for M.Tech. students at IIT Kanpur, particularly if the student has done a Bachelors programme at a university where there are only the final end- semester examinations to worry about. Fortunately, most of them get over this academic culture shock after the first rnid-semester examination, and the few others by the end of the semester. This culture shock that M.Tech. students experience becomes pronounced when B.Tech. students get all the limelight, academic and otherwise, on the campus. There is a perception among the M.Tech. students that this Institute is primarily an undergraduate institute, and there are occasions where they feel alienated.

The Bridge to the Future

The current M.Tech. programme at IIT Kanpur is rigorous with a strong backup of good research infrastructure, excellent faculty resource and wide exposure to professional issues. The cosmopolitan cross-section of the M.Tech. student body, unlike that of the B.Tech. student body, adds a refreshing dimension to the M.Tech. student personalities. The overall assessment of the M.Tech. programme by the students may very well be an affirmative "very good", but there are still avenues for improvement; some of them are significant. These include:

• The M.Tech. programme is expected to be completed in three semesters. But, lately, many students are having to stay back for yet another semester. It is believed that this extension is primarily due to delays in experimental work or sometimes the open- endedness of the research problem. It would only be fair on the part of the Institute to provide financial relief in the form of tuition fee waiver and/or stipend for the overstay period. This will stop the students from having to fall back again on their personal financial resources.

• The thesis supervisor selection in some departments is done within the first week of the arrival of the M.Tech. students, when students hardly knows about the institute, not to talk of the individual faculty members or the research area. This aberration should be corrected immediately, and made consistent with the other departments wherein faculty supervisors are chosen by the student by the end of the first semesters.

• The students must begin on the research problem in a formal way in the second semester itself. Methods may be identified to do this; the time-over-runs in the fourth semester can be minimised significantly.

•  Even though a large number of students feel that they are doing front edge research, the practical utility of their work is not obvious to them. For this reason, the M.Tech. theses may be developed around an industry-institute partnership. This may also help revive the culture of experimental work.

• Bureaucratic procedures such as signing in attendance registers everyday may be done away with. Likewise, submitting work reports every month is a ritual that has been counter productive sometimes, thanks to some clerical slip-ups. "Trust" in the M.Tech. students can be brought into the system in place of "suspicion."

• There is a perception of dearth of technical jobs by the M.Tech. students. Senior faculty members may come forward to demystify this myth, by communicating with the industrial houses and setting up interviews for the students. Of course, the students have to prove themselves in the interviews.

• Lastly, but not the least significant, the experimental work must be revived. Laboratory component in courses may be a good starting point.

In Closure

The M.Tech. students are a precious group of persons whose contribution to the growth of the Institute, in particular to the research aspect, is often overlooked. IIT Kanpur should take more care of this valuable human resource if it believes in remaining on the forefront of technology institutes in the country in the years ahead.

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