Indian Institute of Technology Mandi
Encyclopedia
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (lang-hi|भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान मंडी, IIT Mandi) is an autonomous university located in Mandi. It is the youngest Indian Institute of Technology in India, established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development
, Government of India, in 2009. It is mentored by IIT Roorkee, which hosted the first batch of students. Presently, IIT Mandi functions from transit campus at Mandi town in Himachal Pradesh
. Permanent campus (about 12 km from historic city of Mandi) is under construction along Uhl River
(a tributary of River Beas) at Kamand, Mandi. The institute admits students into various B.Tech., M.S, and Ph.D. programs (as of 2010). Timothy A. Gonsalves
joined as Director of IIT Mandi on 15 January 2010.
on 20 June 2009. Admission of the first batch of students took place in July 2009, and classes started in IIT Roorkee, the mentoring IIT, in 27 July 2009. The transit campus at Government Post graduate College, Mandi aws handed over by the Himachal Pradesh Government 16 November 2009.
A native of Ooty in the Nilgiris, Tamilnadu, Professor Gonsalves studied in local schools in Ooty. After graduation from Breeks Memorial School, Ooty, he joined IIT Madras where he completed his BTech in Electronics. He continued his education in Electrical Engineering, first at Rice University in Houston where he earned his MS, and then at Stanford University for his Phd. During his PhD, he did path breaking experimental research at Stanford and Xerox PARC that established the capabilities of the then nascent Ethernet data LAN for real-time voice traffic.
He began his career in teaching as an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department in WPI, Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1989, he joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras. He served IIT Madras for 21 years, becoming Professor and Head. He also served as Head of the PG Senapathy Centre for Computing Resources. On 15th January 2010, he took charge as the first Director of IIT Mandi. Working in the areas of Networking and Distributed Applications, he has published over 50 papers in journals and conference proceedings, and 2 chapters in books. He has guided/co-guided 4 PhD and 30+ MS theses, and 100+ MTech/BTech projects.
After joining IIT-Madras, along with 2 colleagues he started the TeNeT (Telecommunications and Computer Networks) Group with its vision of "world-class technology at an affordable price". Subsequently, he was a founding Director of the IIT-Madras Rural Technology Business Incubator (RTBI). Through TeNeT and RTBI, he helped IIT alumni and others found R&D and service companies that work towards the TeNeT vision. He placed a special emphasis on developing sophisticated telecom software with small-town talent. He accomplished this by choice of location in the Nilgiris, and by guiding programmers drawn mostly from towns and villages to develop telecom software products that are in commercial use in India and many other countries around the world.
Prof. Gonsalves is perhaps the first computer scientist working in academia in India to develop commercially successful products tailored to the needs of India. He was the software architect of award-winning telecom products including the corDECT WLL, DIAS, NovaSwitch and CygNet NMS. Some of these products are based on the pioneering soft-switching concept.
At IIT-Madras, he has been a Principal Investigator for R&D projects worth over Rs. 7 crores, with sponsors from India and the US. He was actively involved in many other projects with a total value of more than Rs. 15 crores. He collaborates with academia and industry in India, UK, US, Sweden and Ireland.
An inspiring and popular teacher, Prof. Gonsalves has taught diverse courses. These range from introduction to computing and programming for freshers, to core courses such as computer organisation, networks and operating systems, to electives including distributed systems, device drivers practicum and network management systems.
Prof. Gonsalves is a Senior Member of ACM, and a Member of IEEE and CSI.
School of Computing and Electrical Engineering
This School brings together faculty involved in the key technologies of the Information Age. These include computer science, communication, VLSI and microelectronics, and electrical energy. The underlying fundamental principles are information theory, theory of computation, communication theory, quantum mechanics and the laws of electromagnetism.
School of Engineering
This School covers tangible physical structures and artifacts such as transport vehicles, transport systems, machines, materials, manufacturing, designs etc. The underlying principles are classical mechanics, atomic physics, thermodynamics. Many faculty from the traditional departments of mechanical, civil, aerospace, metallurgy engineering would be in this School.
School of Process Technologies
Faculty whose interests are in the process industries would belong to this School. It encompasses the traditional departments of chemical engineering, biotechnology, and some parts of chemistry.
School of Basic Sciences
This School includes mathematics, physics, chemistry and life sciences. While some faculty may work in pure research, others would work on applied research in collaboration with colleagues in the engineering Schools.
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Modern engineers work in teams to create, improve and apply technology for the good of society. A good understanding of language, culture, sociology, economics, management, ecology, etc. is essential for the well-rounded engineer, for development of technologies, products and processes that will see widespread use. This School is thus an important part of IIT Mandi.
Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden - MoU signed for exchange of faculty and students, and collaboration in research.
IT University, Copenhagen, Denmark - exchange visits of students and faculty.
Stuttgart University and the TU9 Institutions, Germany - MoU signed for exchange of faculty and students, and collaboration in research.
Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland - joint research in atomic and molecular physics.
University of Western Ontario, Canada - discussions in progress.
India-UK Advanced Technology Centre www.iu-atc.com - participation in research on next generation networks
Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)
The Ministry of Human Resource Development is an Indian government ministry, responsible for the development of human resources...
, Government of India, in 2009. It is mentored by IIT Roorkee, which hosted the first batch of students. Presently, IIT Mandi functions from transit campus at Mandi town in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
. Permanent campus (about 12 km from historic city of Mandi) is under construction along Uhl River
Uhl River
Uhl is a Himalayan stream which is part of the watershed of Beas river. The river originates at the Thamsar Glacier in the Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas, flows through the Uhl valley crossing Bada Gran and Barot, both villages in the Uhl valley. In the lower part of its course, it is also known...
(a tributary of River Beas) at Kamand, Mandi. The institute admits students into various B.Tech., M.S, and Ph.D. programs (as of 2010). Timothy A. Gonsalves
Timothy A. Gonsalves
Timothy A. Gonsalves is a computer scientist and professor, and is the first and present Director of IIT Mandi. He is also the founder of Nilgiri Networks Of TeNet Group, IIT Madras. He was Head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras...
joined as Director of IIT Mandi on 15 January 2010.
History
The laying of the foundation stone at Kamand, the site for the permanent campus of IIT Mandi, took place on 24 February 2009. IIT Mandi was registered as a society in UttarakhandUttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
on 20 June 2009. Admission of the first batch of students took place in July 2009, and classes started in IIT Roorkee, the mentoring IIT, in 27 July 2009. The transit campus at Government Post graduate College, Mandi aws handed over by the Himachal Pradesh Government 16 November 2009.
Director
Prof. Timothy A GonsalvesA native of Ooty in the Nilgiris, Tamilnadu, Professor Gonsalves studied in local schools in Ooty. After graduation from Breeks Memorial School, Ooty, he joined IIT Madras where he completed his BTech in Electronics. He continued his education in Electrical Engineering, first at Rice University in Houston where he earned his MS, and then at Stanford University for his Phd. During his PhD, he did path breaking experimental research at Stanford and Xerox PARC that established the capabilities of the then nascent Ethernet data LAN for real-time voice traffic.
He began his career in teaching as an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department in WPI, Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1989, he joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras. He served IIT Madras for 21 years, becoming Professor and Head. He also served as Head of the PG Senapathy Centre for Computing Resources. On 15th January 2010, he took charge as the first Director of IIT Mandi. Working in the areas of Networking and Distributed Applications, he has published over 50 papers in journals and conference proceedings, and 2 chapters in books. He has guided/co-guided 4 PhD and 30+ MS theses, and 100+ MTech/BTech projects.
After joining IIT-Madras, along with 2 colleagues he started the TeNeT (Telecommunications and Computer Networks) Group with its vision of "world-class technology at an affordable price". Subsequently, he was a founding Director of the IIT-Madras Rural Technology Business Incubator (RTBI). Through TeNeT and RTBI, he helped IIT alumni and others found R&D and service companies that work towards the TeNeT vision. He placed a special emphasis on developing sophisticated telecom software with small-town talent. He accomplished this by choice of location in the Nilgiris, and by guiding programmers drawn mostly from towns and villages to develop telecom software products that are in commercial use in India and many other countries around the world.
Prof. Gonsalves is perhaps the first computer scientist working in academia in India to develop commercially successful products tailored to the needs of India. He was the software architect of award-winning telecom products including the corDECT WLL, DIAS, NovaSwitch and CygNet NMS. Some of these products are based on the pioneering soft-switching concept.
At IIT-Madras, he has been a Principal Investigator for R&D projects worth over Rs. 7 crores, with sponsors from India and the US. He was actively involved in many other projects with a total value of more than Rs. 15 crores. He collaborates with academia and industry in India, UK, US, Sweden and Ireland.
An inspiring and popular teacher, Prof. Gonsalves has taught diverse courses. These range from introduction to computing and programming for freshers, to core courses such as computer organisation, networks and operating systems, to electives including distributed systems, device drivers practicum and network management systems.
Prof. Gonsalves is a Senior Member of ACM, and a Member of IEEE and CSI.
Campus
The permanent campus is about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Mandi town. The location is in the forested hills of Kamand on the banks of the Uhl, a tributary of River Beas. A total of 565 acres (228.6 ha) of land has been allocated for the campus by the government of Himachal Pradesh.Temporary campus
The sites allocated for the use of IIT Mandi transit campus are located within the Mandi town, They are- IIT Mandi Academic Block :Vallabh Degree College campus, Mandi for academic activities
- IIT Mandi Administrative Block :Mandav Hotel for Administration, staff residences
- RENUKA HALL :IIT Mandi women's hostel
- DASHIR HOSTEL :IIT Mandi boys Hostel at Jail Road (approx 2 km away)
- SUVALSAR HOSTEL: IIT Mandi boys hostel (1st year) adjacent to Academic building, IIT Mandi
- SAULI KHAD HOSTEL :IIT Mandi boys hostel at Manali Road (approx 2.5 km away)
Schools
Currently, the Institute has 5 Schools. This may change in the future.School of Computing and Electrical Engineering
This School brings together faculty involved in the key technologies of the Information Age. These include computer science, communication, VLSI and microelectronics, and electrical energy. The underlying fundamental principles are information theory, theory of computation, communication theory, quantum mechanics and the laws of electromagnetism.
School of Engineering
This School covers tangible physical structures and artifacts such as transport vehicles, transport systems, machines, materials, manufacturing, designs etc. The underlying principles are classical mechanics, atomic physics, thermodynamics. Many faculty from the traditional departments of mechanical, civil, aerospace, metallurgy engineering would be in this School.
School of Process Technologies
Faculty whose interests are in the process industries would belong to this School. It encompasses the traditional departments of chemical engineering, biotechnology, and some parts of chemistry.
School of Basic Sciences
This School includes mathematics, physics, chemistry and life sciences. While some faculty may work in pure research, others would work on applied research in collaboration with colleagues in the engineering Schools.
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Modern engineers work in teams to create, improve and apply technology for the good of society. A good understanding of language, culture, sociology, economics, management, ecology, etc. is essential for the well-rounded engineer, for development of technologies, products and processes that will see widespread use. This School is thus an important part of IIT Mandi.
International Ventures
The important organizations / Institutions with whom collaborations have been finalized / under progress in respect of IIT Mandi are as follows:-Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden - MoU signed for exchange of faculty and students, and collaboration in research.
IT University, Copenhagen, Denmark - exchange visits of students and faculty.
Stuttgart University and the TU9 Institutions, Germany - MoU signed for exchange of faculty and students, and collaboration in research.
Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland - joint research in atomic and molecular physics.
University of Western Ontario, Canada - discussions in progress.
India-UK Advanced Technology Centre www.iu-atc.com - participation in research on next generation networks