The IIT Kanpur program is aimed at upskilling the practicing engineers and architects in the infrastructure sector of the country

IIT Kanpur and the Association of Infrastructure Industry (India) have agreed to jointly launch an Executive Excellence Program, which will comprise short courses of 2 to 3 days duration offered at different places in the country. This program is aimed at upskilling the practicing engineers and architects in the country, equipping them with diverse tools, and enabling them to deal with challenges better. Professor Sudhir Misra from the Civil Engineering Department, IIT Kanpur will be the Program Director for the initiative, and will lead the curation of various courses under the programme, which will then be drawn up and examined by a Board comprising eminent faculties from IIT Madras, Indore, Kharagpur and Delhi and IIM Lucknow, and industry experts. Later on, the courses will go through approval by the Centre of Continuing Education, IIT Kanpur.

Infrastructure creation and maintenance are at the centre of lots of initiatives aimed at all-round development in the country and there is an urgent need to complement college education and up-skill the practicing engineers and architects. Engineers from consulting firms, contracting and construction agencies, client and owner organizations and academic institutions are all stakeholders in the creation, operation and maintenance of infrastructure. The needs of professionals working with these diverse employers cannot be met only through college education. Apart from in-house training, there is an urgent need to create and deliver material that treats “infrastructure engineering” in a comprehensive framework. It is to fulfil this need that this joint program has been designed.

The arrangement is presently for one year. Whereas the details of the courses to be offered are being worked out, the first course is likely to be offered in July, 2022,” said Prof. Sudhir Misra, the EEP Program Director.

The courses under EEP would relate to different aspects of infrastructure management, including developments in construction and other technologies, sustainable infrastructure and infrastructure financing, quality and safety issues in the construction industry, contract management, etc. Efforts will be made to expose the participants to upcoming technological advancements in infrastructure creation and management as well. The initiative will also focus on familiarizing engineers from government departments with developments in these areas.

Whereas the content of some courses will be initially determined by the EEP, the content will be modified according to the feedback from the participants. Also, suggestions will also be invited from professionals to better understand the areas in which courses are needed, and the content will be worked out in consultation with experts in the industry. Industry leaders will also be part of the courses and deliver special lectures on topical issues.

Though classes in the EEP will, in general, be held in offline mode, some special sessions may be held through video-conferencing for optimal utilization of resources without compromising the quality of material available to the participants. Courses, in the initial stage, are likely to be for specific industries or companies, and they may be open to participants from different industries. Besides IIT Kanpur, participating faculty in the program will also be drawn from the best in the country in academia and industry. Basically, the program is an initiative to offer flexible and customizable industry-relevant short courses to participants or organizations, based on their specific requirements.