S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Madras is organizing a ‘Demo Day’ on the campus on 15 and 16 June 2024.
During this event, JEE 2024 aspirants can visit the campus and experience what IIT student life is like. This is the only such opportunity for aspirants across all the top IITs.
Interact
This is also an opportunity to interact with current students, faculty, and alumni and receive authentic and up-to-date information directly from the source, say sources from IIT Madras.
Students can also seek clarification about recent changes, like the introduction of B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics, offered by the newest department at IIT Madras — The Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
Objective
The objective is to create awareness about the salient features of IIT Madras that made it the top-ranked engineering institution in the country for eight consecutive years—from 2016 to 2023—in the NIRF Rankings.
Those who cannot
Students who cannot travel to IIT Madras can also participate in an online session on 17 June 2024, during which Prof. V. Kamakoti, the Director, other faculty, and alumni will respond to various queries related to academic and non-academic life on campus of IIT Madras.
Bengaluru and Hyderabad
Aspirants in and around Bengaluru and Hyderabad may also choose to attend the satellite Demo Day events at SD Auditorium, IISc, in Bengaluru on 11 June 2024 and T-Hub in Hyderabad on 12 June 2024.
Senior faculty, current students, and alumni will be present at these events, too, say sources from IIT Madras. There is more to it than meets the eye.
Registration
Interested JEE Candidates are advised to register at the earliest since there are only a limited number of seats at these events. Those interested can register on the following website – www.askiitm.com/demo
Director of IIT Madras
Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, this is a crucial juncture for the Young children to decide their career path and they must make an informed decision.
Through this event IIT Madras provides an opportunity for the young children to visit our campus and get to know about various engineering and other disciplines before making a choice, said IIT Madras director.
Ask IITM initiative
The Demo Day is part of the AskIITM initiative, designed and run by alumni and students.
In addition to these events, on the website askiitm.com, aspirants can ask questions about courses, faculty, campus life, placements and more, say sources from IIT Madras.
A team of alumni and student volunteers will answer these. Aspirants can also browse through existing answers.
Also read – AAT 2024 Application Submission: Registration Date, Exam Centers, Exam Pattern Explained Here
Additionally, the team has put up more than 200 videos on Instagram and YouTube about various topics related to IIT Madras.
Unique Academic Environment
Highlighting the unique academic environment at IIT Madras, Prof. Prathap Haridoss, Dean (Academic Courses), IIT Madras, said, aspirants can learn more about the academic flexibility that we offer through electives, minors and the IDDD programs. They can build a path that is unique to them.
Unique opportunities
Throwing light on the unique opportunities available for students at IIT Madras, Mr. Amrutash Misra, an IITM alumnus who is leading this initiative, said they say that Madras is the best place to build, with the perfect mix of academics, research labs, maker-spaces, pre-incubators and incubators.
Students need to see it to believe it, he said.
Important Dates
Ø 11th June 2024 – AskIITM Demo Day in Bengaluru
Ø 12th June 2024 – AskIITM Demo Day in Hyderabad
Ø 15th and 16th June 2024 – AskIITM Demo Day in Chennai
Ø 17th June 2024 – AskIITM Demo Day in Online mode
Flexibility
The current IITM academic system offers students a very high degree of flexibility in their choice of courses via the elective system.
Students can choose between 40-50% of their courses as electives, including courses from any other department.
Students can also opt for a ‘minor’ or switch to an ‘IDDD’ (Inter-Disciplinary Dual Degree).
Because of this flexibility, the ‘branch change’ system is no longer necessary and has been discontinued.
The number of credits a student must complete to graduate has been reduced from 432 to 400, which eases the academic workload by almost 10%, say sources from IIT Madras.
Scholarships and Financial Aid
IIT Madras Alumni and CSR partners have rallied together to provide financial support to 100% of BTech students whose annual parental income is in the ‘Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh’ category for two consecutive years (2022-23 & 2023-24).
The ‘Merit-cum-Means’ (MCM) Scholarship is one among the numerous financial assistance and scholarship support provided to students by IIT Madras, the Central and State Governments.
SC/ST students admitted to the BTech program are exempted from paying tuition fees, irrespective of their parental income.
This support frees up the students to focus completely on their studies and future academic pursuits without having to worry about their financial situation or education loans.