NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, TIRUCHIRAPPALLI (NITT): Soaring High

On the banks of river Cauvery sits an institution, which figures prominently

in every leading companies’ campus-recruiting itinerary. National Institute of

Technology, Tiruchirappalli (NTTT), formerly Regional Engineering College, came

into being in 1964 through a co-operative venture between the Tamilnadu state

and the central government. NITT achieved the status of a deemed university in

2003. Spread across 800 acres, NITT is a mini town in itself. It offers under

graduate courses in 11 disciplines and PG courses in 22 branches, besides PhD

programs.

Over the years, NITT, like other high profile institutions in the country,

has forged key collaborations with the industry. One major development that has

happened in the recent times is the institute’s MoU with C-DAC. The MoU would

enable NITT to set up a cluster-computing lab; probably NITT will become one of

the few institutions in India to have such a high computing backbone that will

propel various research initiatives. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

has a faculty exchange program with the institution.

The institute also has a similar engagement with University of Salford, UK.

On the industry side, major infotech and communication companies have installed

labs. For instance, Texas Instruments has set up a Digital Signal Processing Lab

and VLSI design center at the Department of Electronics and Communication

Engineering. The institute also has tie up with other big IT majors like

Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and Motorola India among others.

One of the biggest achievements of the institute is the creation of the

Octagon Computer Center in the campus. This is in fact the nerve center of NITT

as it caters to a campus wide LAN, which is used by 900 users across the

institute.

The computer center has 20 servers and around 200 high-speed computers. The

center is being maintained by the Computer Support Group (CSG), which also does

lots of consulting work.

With so many academic streams, thousands of students graduate every year. Its

placement record is indeed impressive. For instance last year, the placement

average was 94.3% with computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering

graduates commanding 100% placement.