The desired condition of IIT Mandi 20 years hence
It is based on the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's vision for the IITs: "The primary objective of the Indian Institutes of Technology is to provide scientists and technologists of the highest calibre who would engage in research, design and development to help in building the nation towards self-reliance in her technological needs." Modern engineering is strongly science-based, hence the word technical includes science, engineering and technology. The emphasis on innovation and relevance to particular types of society highlights the role of the humanities, social sciences and management.
The past few decades have seen India advancing technologically. However, it is still a country of great disparities with large numbers of people barely touched by technology. It is in this context that we desire to achieve inclusiveness, as repeatedly enunciated by the current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The world has witnessed extraordinary changes thanks to science and technology over the past few centuries. However, this has also caused enormous problems due to pollution, depletion of resources and degradation of the environment. Especially given India's vast population, inclusive development must be ecologically sustainable.
As IITs are Institutes of national importance, the vision is to be a leader nationally. Given India's size, as it develops it will certainly be a leader among nations. Hence, this implies that IIT Mandi will also be a global leader. Similarly, the stress on inclusiveness implies that IIT Mandi will be a leader in its local region.
[edit] Mission
1. To create and impart knowledge through team effort and individually for the benefit of society.
2. To produce professionals capable of creating knowledge and conceiving, designing and developing products and processes for the benefit of our society, through team effort and individually.
3. To impart the ability to analyze problems of the society and devise globally recognized innovative approaches and solutions.
4. To inculcate a spirit of entrepreneurship.
5. To work intensely with industry in pursuit of the above goals.
6. To train teachers capable of inspiring the next generation of engineers and researchers.
7. To be an efficient and decentralised organisation with overriding respect for ability and merit.
[edit] Concrete steps towards achieving the Vision
The core activities of knowledge creation (research) [1] and teaching [2, 3] in IIT Mandi will be focussed in a direction to achieve high impact. The direction is dictated by the desire to achieve development for all Indians. This is a daunting task that requires engineers, scientists, sociologists and managers to work together in inter-disciplinary teams. They will need to innovate, drawing on the state-of-the-art globally. They will need to understand the problems facing society, design technical solutions, and deploy them. This requires a spirit of entrepreneurship in faculty and students [4]. As the fruits of our activities are intended to be useful and applied to society, the close involvement of industry in research, teaching, entrepreneurship, etc is necessary [5].
IITs alone cannot produce the engineers and scientists that India needs. This requires a legion of other institutions most of which today lack inspiring teachers. Hence training of such teachers is essential. This includes producing fresh teachers (PhDs and MTechs), and training mature teachers. [6]
The best research and teaching can flourish only when faculty and students are free from onerous bureaucracy and hierarchy, when ideas stand only on their technical merit. The disruptive ideas that could transform society often come from fresh young minds. These must be given free rein to change the status quo.
[edit] Purpose of Vision and Mission statements
The intent is that the Vision and Mission statements of IIT Mandi will drive decisions and actions of the faculty, staff and students of IIT Mandi. For example, a proposal for large Institute funding, or for starting a new academic programme, will be more likely to be approved if it furthers the Institute Vision and Mission. It must be emphasised that while the Vision and Mission are broad goals of the Institute, individuals will always have the academic freedom to work towards their own academic goals which may be quite different. It is expected that most faculty will voluntarily align most of their individual goals with the Institute goals to achieve greater impact by team effort.
It is based on the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's vision for the IITs: "The primary objective of the Indian Institutes of Technology is to provide scientists and technologists of the highest calibre who would engage in research, design and development to help in building the nation towards self-reliance in her technological needs." Modern engineering is strongly science-based, hence the word technical includes science, engineering and technology. The emphasis on innovation and relevance to particular types of society highlights the role of the humanities, social sciences and management.
The past few decades have seen India advancing technologically. However, it is still a country of great disparities with large numbers of people barely touched by technology. It is in this context that we desire to achieve inclusiveness, as repeatedly enunciated by the current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The world has witnessed extraordinary changes thanks to science and technology over the past few centuries. However, this has also caused enormous problems due to pollution, depletion of resources and degradation of the environment. Especially given India's vast population, inclusive development must be ecologically sustainable.
As IITs are Institutes of national importance, the vision is to be a leader nationally. Given India's size, as it develops it will certainly be a leader among nations. Hence, this implies that IIT Mandi will also be a global leader. Similarly, the stress on inclusiveness implies that IIT Mandi will be a leader in its local region.
[edit] Mission
1. To create and impart knowledge through team effort and individually for the benefit of society.
2. To produce professionals capable of creating knowledge and conceiving, designing and developing products and processes for the benefit of our society, through team effort and individually.
3. To impart the ability to analyze problems of the society and devise globally recognized innovative approaches and solutions.
4. To inculcate a spirit of entrepreneurship.
5. To work intensely with industry in pursuit of the above goals.
6. To train teachers capable of inspiring the next generation of engineers and researchers.
7. To be an efficient and decentralised organisation with overriding respect for ability and merit.
[edit] Concrete steps towards achieving the Vision
The core activities of knowledge creation (research) [1] and teaching [2, 3] in IIT Mandi will be focussed in a direction to achieve high impact. The direction is dictated by the desire to achieve development for all Indians. This is a daunting task that requires engineers, scientists, sociologists and managers to work together in inter-disciplinary teams. They will need to innovate, drawing on the state-of-the-art globally. They will need to understand the problems facing society, design technical solutions, and deploy them. This requires a spirit of entrepreneurship in faculty and students [4]. As the fruits of our activities are intended to be useful and applied to society, the close involvement of industry in research, teaching, entrepreneurship, etc is necessary [5].
IITs alone cannot produce the engineers and scientists that India needs. This requires a legion of other institutions most of which today lack inspiring teachers. Hence training of such teachers is essential. This includes producing fresh teachers (PhDs and MTechs), and training mature teachers. [6]
The best research and teaching can flourish only when faculty and students are free from onerous bureaucracy and hierarchy, when ideas stand only on their technical merit. The disruptive ideas that could transform society often come from fresh young minds. These must be given free rein to change the status quo.
[edit] Purpose of Vision and Mission statements
The intent is that the Vision and Mission statements of IIT Mandi will drive decisions and actions of the faculty, staff and students of IIT Mandi. For example, a proposal for large Institute funding, or for starting a new academic programme, will be more likely to be approved if it furthers the Institute Vision and Mission. It must be emphasised that while the Vision and Mission are broad goals of the Institute, individuals will always have the academic freedom to work towards their own academic goals which may be quite different. It is expected that most faculty will voluntarily align most of their individual goals with the Institute goals to achieve greater impact by team effort.
