Rendezvous

To Zanzibar, With love

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:04:37 +0000

Six decades after its establishment, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras now has a campus coming up in Zanzibar, Tanzania, reflecting the longstanding friendship between India and Tanzania. The IIT-M Zanzibar is the first significant step towards the expansion of IITs beyond Indian borders, fostering an educational collaboration. Ahead of its launch, we meet the core team of the Zanzibar project to discuss the vision of the institution, its programs, and what the future holds

Srivatsan S

On July 6, 2023, barely a few weeks before marking the momentous occasion of the 60th Convocation Day, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras was etched in the annals

of history for an entirely different reason. For, nearly six decades later, the revered institution, which has consistently been the top ranked IIT in the country, became the first among IITs to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Education (MOE), India, IIT Madras, and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Zanzibar (MoEVT).

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that Tanzania’s Zanzibar will be home to the first-ever Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus outside of India. Sharing hisexcitement on X (formerly Twitter), India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar wrote, “Witnessed the signing of the agreement on setting up of IIT Madras Zanzibar campus. Appreciate President Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi gracing the occasion, as also the presence of his Ministers. This historic step reflects India’s commitment to the global South.”

The agreement was signed amid distinguished dignitaries from both India and Tanzania including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Zanzibar’s President Hussein Ali Mwinyi. Quietly seated among them were two IIT-M alumni who were instrumental in setting the balls rolling for the Zanzibar project.

One was Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean, Office of Global Engagement, IIT-M. The other was Preeti Aghalayam, who, on her part, made history by becoming the first woman Director of an IIT campus. It was a moment that could have been a flash. But Raghunathan clearly remembers the headspace he was in, when he held the MoU in front of Zanzibar’s President and posed for the picture. “It was a historic moment for sure. But the other thing that was running in my mind was the kind of responsibility the team has,” says

Raghunathan, seated in his office at the Sudha and Shankar Innovation Hub, IIT Madras.

Raghunathan Rengaswamy was appointed as Dean of Global Engagement, which facilitates every international collaboration-relation within the institution, ever since it was established in February 2020.

While the conversation around an IIT Madras campus outside India came much later, says Raghunathan, the idea – of an IIT outside India – has been floating around for quite some time.

One way was to go completely online. For instance, when someone takes an online M.Tech course from anywhere in the world and has enough credits, they get a degree from IIT Madras. But it required the approval of the senate. “We have had many user-oriented programs for industries but not a complete online program. This was the initial idea to take IIT outside India and we were going through the process of getting it approved in the senate,” says Raghu.

Everything was set. The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was reportedly interested in facilitating the technical process for an online only program. “I don’t remember his name but one of them [from TCS] talked about the difficulty of remote programs; the fact that students will be attending classes from random places. He suggested that we should tie-up with a college and run our program through them, so that we have students coming to the class even if remotely.” This, apparently, was a working model for several international universities.

Raghunathan saw the potential. Unlike a satellite or offshore campus, the idea was to establish a partnership with universities that will solicit applications for IIT degrees. “In doing so, we get students from their campuses and at the same time, we wouldn’t dilute the IIT Madras quality of education,” says Raghu.

After several brainstorming sessions and multiple site visits, Raghu and Preeti came close to executing this model in Sri Lanka, while in Nepal, they were trying to work out the other model, which was to set up an offshore campus. Both proposals fell through. They were back to square one. Then came hope disguised in the form of a mail from the MoEVT, Zanzibar, Tanzania to set up an offshore campus.

‘An opportunity and a challenge’

For IIT Madras’ Director V Kamakoti, it was a question of need more than anything else. “There should be a genuine need for IIT-M to be fully involved for the institution’s growth. But the need alone isn’t sufficient without the government’s support. And then without a good higher education school system in the country, it would be meaningless. Otherwise, we would become a training institution rather than a School of Excellence,” says Prof. Kamakoti, adding that Tanzania-Zanzibar met these three parameters.

The Indian National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommends that “high performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries”. It aims to find ways for “transformational reforms in school and higher education system to make India a ‘Vishwa Guru’.”

During NEP 2020, Kamakoti made a presentation to the Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, who, in fact, suggested Tanzania. “Our wonderful Minister Pradhan-ji, given his knowledge in the petroleum industry, has a good understanding about Africa. When he mentioned Tanzania, I didn’t know where it was,” laughs Kamakoti.

Director Kamakoti was unsure whether the Government of Tanzania-Zanzibar would show as much interest. But the Government took proactive steps and within a span of weeks, the entire contingent from Tanzania arrived at IIT-M. “From then on, things moved at an astronomical pace with our energetic Binaya Pradhan-ji [High Commissioner of India, Tanzania] involved,” he adds.

It still wasn’t clear whether it was going to be an International Institute of Technology, Tanzania, hand-held by IIT Madras, or an entire offshore campus. This was when Raghunathan Rengaswamy led the delegation to Tanzania-Zanzibar along with Prof. Preeti Aghalayam, Prof. Ligy Philip, Prof. A Mani, and Director of IIT Tirupati, Prof. KN Satyanarayana.

When the team arrived in Zanzibar, all their doubts and uncertainty were addressed. The Minister of Education, Science, and Technology, Tanzania, Adolf Mkenda, made it quite clear that they want an IIT Madras Zanzibar institution and not a campus hand-held by IIT-M.

Raghunathan says the delegation was given the freedom to do “whatever we wanted”. “But at the same time, we didn’t want to promise anything that the Government of India would later say ‘no’ to. Having said that, there was support all the time [from both Governments] and we could always circle back.”

For Preeti Aghalayam, Director-in-charge, IIT Madras Zanzibar, it was about finding an ideological match. She throws caution that the new campus wouldn’t mimic IIT-M in any way. “There are foundational strengths of IIT-M we will retain,” she says, adding, “We want to encourage homegrown talent and be sensitive towards people — whether it is faculty, students or parents.”

She sees the Zanzibar campus “as an opportunity and a challenge” to protect the foundational principles of IIT-M.

What the future holds

The IIT Madras Zanzibar offers two programs: a four-year Bachelor of Science in Data Science and AI, and a two-year Master of Technology in Data Science and AI.

Why Data Science? “We had a push from MoEVT Zanzibar for a computer literacy or computer heavy program. Of course IIT Madras has a very strong Data Science program and globally many universities are moving towards Data Science and AI,” says Raghu, adding that the programs were mutually decided.

The new campus has an Advisory Council chaired by Raghunathan Rengaswamy, while the rest include distinguished names: Prof. Robin Mason, Pro-Vice Chancellor (International), University of Birmingham, Prof. Leonard Wantchekon, Founder and President, African School of Economics, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University, Dr. Mridula Nair, Research Fellow, Distinguished Inventor, Distinguished Alumna of IIT-M, Eastman Kodak Company, USA, and Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder and Chairman, Harappa Education.

There is a Program Advisory Committee comprising Prof. Sharat Chandran, IIT Bombay, Prof. C Pandurangan, IISc Bangalore and Prof. Mark Lee, University of Birmingham.

“We picked international people that we know will contribute or have done similar things in the past. We wrote to them and almost everyone wrote back immediately with a ‘yes’. The notion of a program advisory committee is to take care of the execution part, while the advisory council will look at the institute from a broader, global context, because we want this institute to be internationally recognised,” he adds.

One of the things we keep hearing about IIT-M is campus placements. Are there any measures being taken for campus placements at the Zanzibar campus?Raghunathan has no second thoughts about placements, given that the first batch of students to get their degrees will be in 2025, while the BS students will graduate in 2027.

“What we are trying to do with our teaching is to integrate a project with a company, followed by a longer project. That is how we are going to look at placements. Plus, Zanzibar and African regions are growing. Those companies need manpower and what better than local talent?”

For a relatively new and younger cousin in IIT-M Zanzibar, KN Satyanarayana foresees the key challenge — at least for the next few years — to be the campus culture.

“It is important to set the culture right for the campus and that is not happening anytime soon. Setting up a culture takes a long time,” he says, adding that, because it is a new campus and there is a lot of work to be done that might get overwhelming at times, it is always safe to determine the larger goal of the institution for the next 10 years.

As far as the future is concerned, Raghunathan has the last word. “It’s going to be a trade-off,” he says. The challenges at the Zanzibar campus seem to arise out of a chicken and egg problem: without generous funds for tuition, it is difficult to generate reputation, and without a great reputation, it is difficult to generate funds.

“IIT Madras has a great reputation, for instance, but that is not going to transfer lock, stock and barrel to the Zanzibar campus,” says Raghu.

Naturally, the campus has to develop a reputation by itself through merit, which would take a couple of years easily. So, how does one accelerate to achieve it? “I think we have to be technologically visible in Zanzibar and Tanzania,” he says, “As an institute, we should not just be educating students but bring about a technological change in the country. If that happens, everything will fall into place.”

Q&A

When you got a call from IIT Madras about a possible international campus in Zanzibar, how did you react?

Basically, they wanted my guidance because we established the IIT Tirupati campus. I was a little sceptical initially because I wasn’t sure whether IIT-M is going to be fully involved [like in the case of IIT Madras, where Germany played a major role in setting up the institution in the ‘50s and 60s] or going to assist them. But later when I visited Zanzibar along with Raghu and Preeti, and the kind of warm reception we got from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, I was convinced.

What were your initial impressions of Zanzibar from your visit? Did you have any suggestions from your side?

Zanzibar, I feel, is a strategic location for us to set up the campus. With tourism and a blue economy thriving there, Zanzibar is a central location in Tanzania. One of the briefs I gave them was, if you are going to set up a campus like IIT Madras, you need at least 500 acres of land. Or at least 300-400 acres. But eventually, I think they are getting more than 200 acres for the permanent campus.

As the Director of IIT Tirupati, what are the ways in which you can work with the Zanzibar campus?

Having worked at IIT Madras as a faculty, I have established some strong connections with the mother institution and Zanzibar campus too. I think research is one area where IIT Tirupati can collaborate and work with them in the future.

Prof. KN Satyanarayana

From the horse’s mouth

What was the first thought that crossed your mind when you heard about this idea from the Ministry of Education to set up a campus outside India?

First and foremost, how did IIT Madras come up? Back then, there was a need to establish a highly technical institution in the country. Germany offered us the help so they came to India and set up IIT-M. In fact, we had a lot of German professors as late as the late ‘80s who have contributed to the growth of this particular institution.

Today, some of the best practices we see at IIT-M have the German legacy, which also reflects how closely we work with them even today. We have visitors from Germany almost every week; it is a long standing relationship we have with them. These thoughts came up the moment we talked about Vishwa Guru during the National Education Policy [NEP] 2020. The Indo-German relationship that we enjoy at IIT-M, we wanted to have that with some other country.

Recently we had our 60th convocation and the time has come for us. This was my initial thought.

As the Director of IIT Madras, what do you think would be the ideal short and long term goals for the Zanzibar campus?

Short term for me is five years. I want to get at least three undergraduate and two postgraduate or two undergraduate and three postgraduate programs that would be of relevance to East Africa. Like our next next generation IITs, I would like to see if we can have five programs running in the institution. This is one.

A lot of Tanzanians are coming to IIT-M for their PhDs. So we want to generate local manpower who can become great teachers. We have been recruiting faculty and I didn’t expect five excellent resumes to come in short notice. A lot of our own faculty members are also going to contribute so the institute, as a whole, will be excellent.

My gut feeling is that we should start admitting 250 students every year. So that will be 125 in UG and 125 in PG. We should at least have a thousand students for some 10 years and see how everything turns out. We are now looking at interdisciplinary courses, not conventional engineering programs. That is going to make a major difference in Africa.

The other thing is, within the 215-acre, we want to start a Research Park. Imagine a G20 at the Research Park in Zanzibar. We would also like to expand more on Humanities and Management programs because Indo-african cultural relationships can be defined. That is very important. This is not just an education institution but also a meeting of two different cultures. We have a lot of commonalities and we have differences. While we should address the differences, we should cash in on the commonality.

The other thing is, like how we have a partnership with Purdue University for dualdegree programs, I want something like this in Zanzibar. These are my visions for the new campus.

One of the things we keep hearing about public-funded institutions such as IITs is that the net return is way less compared to the rate of expenditure. If implemented successfully, do you think international campuses will add another layer of revenue to the IITs?

No, I am not looking at revenue at this point. As Indians, we have a very big culture of sharing knowledge. So this is not a commercial proposal at all. At this point of time, whatever money is generated will be pumped back into that campus for its growth.

Any word of advice for Preeti Aghalayam, Director in-charge of the Zanzibar campus?

Preeti has done a great job. I think she is now in a state where she can advise me on how to go about this [laughs]. She has been with our Office of Global Engagement for quite some time and has understood Zanzibar very quickly. Preeti has a complete grip over the situation there. I am very happy that she is managing it so much on my behalf.

We are only a month away from the official launch. Excited?

In the history of IIT Madras, going over six decades back, we are the first to set up an international campus and the first class is going to happen. That is the most exciting thing for me. And that is also a message we are giving out to others. I think we are setting a good example with Zanzibar. It is going to be a learning lesson for us too. And from these lessons, we can help other IITs in the future.

Beyond the beaches

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 07:13:29 +0000

There seems to be significant interest in Tanzania now more than ever before, thanks to the upcoming IIT Madras Zanzibar campus, which is gearing up for a grand opening in October. The time is ripe for some of us to brush up on history: from when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama stepped foot on the shores of Unguja, to the time people’s revolution led to the formation of the United Republic of Tanzania, we bring you some of the (fascinating) lesser-known facts about Zanzibar that you might not have come across

By The Office of Global Engagement

Islands of joy

There is a common misconception that Zanzibar is an island; it is an archipelago located in the Indian Ocean. There are several smaller islands and two large ones; Unguja (colloquially known as Zanzibar), and Pemba Island. If you go further down South, there is Mafia Island, which is part of Tanzania’s Mafia Archipelago. With secluded sandbars, nesting turtles and migrating whale sharks, Mafia Island is a unique destination. The place is known to be quieter than Zanzibar.

A trade hub

Zanzibar was once a thriving trading hub. According to multiple reports, traders from Arabia, Persia and India began arriving in the islands of Zanzibar during the 1st century AD by sailing across the ocean. Wealthy port cities began to spring up along the coast, and a large, sheltered harbour was constructed at present-day Zanzibar city. Therefore, Zanzibar became a hotspot for trade and to explore the coast of Eastern Africa. It also made a perfect stop-off location for traders en route to Asia, the Middle East and the interior of Africa.

As a matter of fact, Persian traders gradually settled in Stone Town permanently and their influence on architecture, cuisine and culture can be seen even in present-day Zanzibar. One of the interesting facts is that it was often believed that traders from Yemen built the earliest mosque in the village of Kizimkazi on the southern coast of Zanzibar. But based on an inscription on the wall of the mosque, it was found that it was built in 1107.

The birthplace of Freddie Mercury

He was one of the famous musicians in the world who goes by the name Farroukh Bulsara. Doesn’t it ring a bell? Perhaps you might know him as Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist and pianist of the famous rock band Queen. Till today, you can see so many tributes to Freddie Mercury at various places around Stone Town. Fans of Queen often flock to the Shangani area of Zanzibar, where Mercury grew up.

Born in 1946 in Zanzibar to Parsi-Indian parents, Mercury attended English boarding schools in India from the age of eight and returned to Zanzibar after secondary school. In 1964, his family fled the Zanzibar Revolution, moving to Middlesex, England. The charismatic performer, along with the other members of Queen, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, following 15 studio albums and unprecedented global success.

When Vasco da Gama arrived in Zanzibar

The famous Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who was the first European to successfully reach India by sea, was said to have arrived in Zanzibar in 1499. It is believed that the European way of life and culture was introduced to the islands upon his arrival. Zanzibar became officially part of the Portuguese Empire in 1503 0r 1504, where Portuguese ruled with the mutual assistance of Zanzibari leaders. In fact, it has been reported that the people of Zanzibar had assisted the Portuguese in attacking the coastal city of Mombasa in Kenya more than once.

The land of spices

While tourism is the major source of economy for Zanzibar, the second is spices. So much so that the islands of Zanzibar are sometimes referred to as the Spice Islands. Some of the popular spices are cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper. Some tourists take a trip to Zanzibar in order to experience the smell and tastes of spice farms.

A British Protectorate

In 1890, the remains of the Sultanate in Zanzibar were proclaimed a British protectorate. On the death of the ruling Sultan in 1896, however, the royal palace was seized by Khalid bin Barghash who proclaimed himself Sultan. After he refused to step down, the British attacked the palace, leading to the Anglo-Zanzibar War, which was otherwise known as the shortest war in history, which lasted under an hour.

After Khalid bin Barghash’s defeat, the British installed a Sultan of their choice, and British rule through a Sultan became the norm. In 1897, the new Sultan brought an end to Zanzibar’s reputation as a centre for slave trade by banning slavery and freeing all the slaves on the islands. In 1913, the British appointed their own governors and implemented important public health initiatives such as the construction of a sewer system, garbage disposal system and burial system so that the beaches of Zanzibar reeked no more of bodies, excrement and garbage, finally eliminating the foul smell of Stone Town.

On 10 December 1963, Zanzibar received its independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy under the Sultan. This state of affairs was short-lived, as the Sultan and the democratically elected government were overthrown on 12 January 1964 in the Zanzibar Revolution led by John Okello, a Ugandan citizen who organized and led the revolution with his followers on the island. Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume was named president of the newly created People’s Republic of Zanzibar, which was a short-lived African state founded in 1964, consisting of the islands of the Zanzibar Archipelago.

The People’s Republic of Zanzibar existed for less than a year before it merged with Tanganyika to create the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which would be renamed to Tanzania in October of 1964.

When IIT Madras was Bonn

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 06:46:51 +0000

As a new chapter unfolds in Zanzibar, Tanzania, in the event of the historic memorandum that was signed between the Government of India, IIT-M, and the Government of Tanzania for setting up the first IIT overseas campus, we roll back a few decades to unearth the story behind IIT Madras and its connection with the German Cold War that resulted in the formation of the now-revered institution

Srivatsan S

At the end of the Second World War in 1945, Germany was on the cusp of facing another bout of unrest. Over the next decade-and-a-half, political, social and economic factors resulted in the formation of the Berlin Wall, which divided the country into the German Democratic Republic (GDR, also known as East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR, also known as West Germany). During the Cold War (between 1947-1991), it was common for the two rival countries to offer development support to then developing and under-developed countries, in their larger goal to muscle their influences and to benefit from the bilateral relations they shared.

One of the “largest and most successful educational projects” that emerged out of Indo-German relations during the Cold War, was the establishment of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) in 1959, which, when seen from the perspective of FDR, was largely driven by the Cold War foreign policy it shared with India.

While the Sarkar Committee in 1946 recommended that India set-up “at least four technical institutions on the lines of the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, in the eastern, western, northern and southern regions of the country”, the IITs came into existence only post-Independence.

The rationale behind setting up an institution as influential as IIT-M, which has been ranked as ‘The No: 1 Engineering Institute’ in the country for over five [as of 2023, six] consecutive years by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), caught the attention of German Roland Wittje, Associate Professor, History of Science and Technology, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras.

Anecdotal history

In his research paper titled Engineering Education in Cold War Diplomacy: India, Germany and the Establishment of IIT Madras, a part of a series of papers published in Wiley’s journal under the title History of Science and Humanities, Wittje unearths this rather fascinating nugget of history, examining the social-political events and the motivation behind the formation of IIT-M. Wittje stumbled upon IIT-M’s connection with the Cold War when he was doing the preliminary work for setting up the institution’s archive and was working with Kumaran Sathasivam of the Heritage Centre, IIT-M. A historian of science, Wittje says he was not too familiar with political history and wanted to understand the dogma behind science diplomacy between India and Germany.

Just before West Germany made an offer for IIT-M, IIT Bombay was established in 1958 with support from the Soviet Union. “With [Jawaharlal] Nehru spearheading the Non-Alignment Movement during the Cold War, what West Germany wanted was that India shouldn’t acknowledge East Germany as a sovereign nation,” says Wittje, “During the early phase, Germany got what it wanted from India, in terms of the larger picture of development. In fact, IIT-M is its largest project as far as higher education was concerned worldwide, even though Germany did assist countries like Egypt and South America.”

During the course of his research, which involved talking to German experts and their practices at IIT-M, Wittje found out that German faculties were quite specific on the type of character that IIT Madras should embody, as a technical institute. The paper also argues how Mechanical Engineering was and continues to remain the largest faculty at IIT-M.

“The German connection continues to thrive at IIT Madras, and it is always interesting to learn various nuggets about how the relationship evolved in the initial years. IIT Madras has benefitted from the attention paid by the Germans in the formative years to foundational technical education and research, as well as to skill development,” said Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi, [former] Director, IIT Madras.

About the German style of technical education that subscribed to the model focussing on practical exposure than theory, Wittje says, “They [Germany] insisted on practical and a strong workshop-based education. When I spoke to older faculties for the research, they felt that the education students got was actually good. Although the practice-oriented education did not prevail over the years.”

What has changed

Wittje’s paper also brings to the fore the social-cultural relevance of Madras and what the institution meant for its people, though he admits that he is not an expert in South Indian history.

He argues that the location for IIT-M itself had political reasons, “Madras was not the first choice for Germany and they preferred somewhere close to Delhi, also for political reasons,” he says, adding, “They were not opposed to Madras but they definitely didn’t want Kanpur, as they felt it was far more isolated.”

Wittje observes that the collaboration created friction between Indian and German faculties initially, with regard to the mode of teaching. But there was nearly no political influence over the institution soon after the Cold War, he says. “In the beginning, West Germany did not think from a long time perspective. They saw this [IIT-M] as a goodwill gesture. But it was only in the ‘70s did they want to have a techno-scientific international collaboration. And they developed a strategy which was different from other IITs.”

Acknowledging that the paper is still a German perspective, Wittje says he wanted to shift the general narrative: of IIT graduates settling in the US and engaging with software. “That sort of mass exodus didn’t happen with Germany because of the immigration laws that made it a lot easier for Asians to move to the US,” he says, adding that a lot of students continue to reap the benefits of the Indo-German relations.

Which is why even as recently as when Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany, paid a visit to the IIT-M Research Park in 2018 to further that collaboration. “Part of the reason behind this research was to make the institution understand its own history,” he adds.

This article was first published in The Hindu, Metroplus, and has been reproduced with permission. You can read the article here: https://bit.ly/3R6Mdc9

Destination: Zanzibar, on a dhow

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 06:22:44 +0000

Did you know that before the 19th century, Indians arrived and served as traders, financiers, agents and artisans in many of the East African coastal regions? Here’s an interesting piece of history that connects India and Zanzibar

Santhosh Abraham

In early July 2023, while browsing through the India Office Records in the Asian and African studies section of The British Library in London for documents related to ivory trade that happened during the British Raj in India, I stumbled upon a report published in 1919 on the trade conditions that existed in the East Africa Protectorate, in regions such as Uganda and Zanzibar. The report was a response to the British colonial inquiry on the possibilities of stimulating trade between East African territories and the Union of South Africa of the British Empire.

The report also includes an interesting map of Zanzibar along with notes on its people, climate, commodities that were traded and, more importantly, a note on the Indian trading community on the island. At the time when I was reading this report, back home in Chennai, IIT Madras was all set to start its first global campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

My focus immediately shifted towards Zanzibar. While looking at the early 20th century map of the city, I realised that it is indeed a small island, but as historians say, “It is a territory with a long history that has evoked romantic notions far beyond its shores. More importantly, Zanzibar has occupied a prominent place in the history of East Africa.”

Before becoming a protectorate of the British Empire’s armed forces in 1890, Zanzibar port did control the external trade of a large part of East Africa and turned into a trading, cultural and intellectual hub. Being a vital location in the Indian Ocean region, what was Zanzibar’s connection with the western coast of India?

When I teach the history of the Indian Ocean to my Masters’ students at the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, IIT-M, I often get excited introducing the dhow boats that sailed through the Indian Ocean — during the 13th and 16th centuries — carrying sailors from the Arabian Peninsula, along the East African coast and to Indian coastal regions.

Before the Europeans arrived, these wind-powered dhow were historically identified as representing a pulsating and cosmopolitan movement of trade goods and a diverse population. This also meant trade and exchange of knowledge in the Indian Ocean.

According to historians, before the 19th century, Indians arrived and served as traders, financiers, agents and artisans in many of the East African coastal regions. The rise of the British’s influence in the Indian Ocean during the 19th century, and passenger ships and cargo services of the British India Steam Navigation Company, resulted in the dawn of a new era in trade routes and commercial activities in the Indian Ocean, particularly between Western India and East Africa. During this period, the East African coastal regions witnessed a flourishing network of traders, merchants, indentured labourers, bankers, officials, and professionals who originated from different parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Due to the rise in trade networks in the Indian Ocean, the island of Zanzibar with bazaars, mosques and a cosmopolitan society effectively became a “huddled, unplanned block of Asia”. During the 19th century, the Indian traders from Gujarat had reportedly visited Zanzibar on a seasonal basis that further allowed trade connections to exist between East Africa and the then growing markets in Western India.

Though it was for economic reasons, especially trade, that made the early presence of Indians possible in Zanzibar, the other striking aspect as a result of migration was the exchange of ideas, practices and administrative and institutional knowledge. Rather than characterising it as imperialistic or hegemonic, the migration of Indians to East African coasts; for example, the transnational migration of Indian medical professionals during the height of British rule, was perceived as a means of social welfare projects. Such exchanges between East Africa and India under British rule have reflected and reinforced the bond between the two countries and created a sense of mutual trust and reciprocity.

India’s long history with its relationship with Africa and the similarities two countries share – in the struggle against colonialism, non-aligned movement and concerns over various socio-economic and demographic challenges in the Indian Ocean, are some strong reasons that forged a mutually beneficial relationship.

The new IIT Madras campus at Zanzibar is but a natural step to further revive the historical and transnational associations that characterise the East African regions of the Indian Ocean. As far as Humanities and Social Sciences is concerned, the latest offshore campus certainly gives us the opportunity to understand the development of transnational cultural, economic and intellectual exchanges between India and Zanzibar – both from a historical perspective, and in the current socio-political context.

The author teaches history at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT-M.

Nuggets of history

Indians were part of Tanzanian society long before Tanzania appeared on the world map as a nation in the 1960s. For centuries, trade between the Indian continent and East Africa was controlled by the pace of the monsoon winds and was at times dangerous for tradesmen. The main trade items that were transported by dhows included cotton fabrics, ivory and spices. Before Arabs occupied the East African Coast where they introduced a new architecture by constructing strong towns and mosques, most Indian traders had a few temporary establishments in African ports. However, if the great sailor Vasco da Gama is to be believed, it is possible that there was a large number of Indians in the two towns of Mombasa and Malindi.
When Zanzibar became the capital of Oman in 1832, many Indians who were living in Muscat followed Sultan Seyyid Said to Zanzibar where they benefited from his protection. Indians were appointed to key administrative positions like port captains and heads of customs. Once again, Indian communities, especially those that had acquired British citizenship, benefited a lot after the arrival of the British in East Africa. A trade agreement between Seyyid Said and the British gave Indians the right to live in Zanzibar and trade under the protection of the sultan. With the establishment of a British consulate, the number of traders from the Indian subcontinent grew progressively from 2,500 in 1870 to 6,000 in the beginning of 1900.
Most Tanzanian Indians speak Gujarati. According to reports, Gujarati was an optional subject in schools apart from languages such as English, French and Swahili. Apart from Gujarati, some of the other languages spoken among immigrants are Hindu, Punjabi, Urdu, Konkani, Dalda and Goan. Interestingly, some of the Swahili words such as kabat for kabati (cupboard), madaf for madafu (coconut) and fagyo for fagio (broom) were added to Gujarati language.

Going global can do wonders for brand IIT

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 06:03:29 +0000

Now that IIT Delhi and IIT Madras have been granted permission to start their international campuses in Abu Dhabi and Tanzania, respectively, Prof V Ramgopal Rao examines the benefits IITs can gain from these international campuses, and what needs to be done to leverage this opportunity

The National Education Policy released in 2020 opened doors for India’s public funded higher educational institutions to open campuses abroad. IIT Delhi was the first public funded institution in the country to approach the government in 2020 for permission to open a campus abroad. Now, IIT Delhi and IIT Madras have been granted permission to start their international campuses in Abu Dhabi and Tanzania, respectively. Other IITs may follow suit. This is indeed a historical moment for India with our public funded institutions venturing into foreign shores. Let’s examine the benefits IITs can gain from these international campuses, and what needs to be done to leverage this opportunity?

Increased diversity — Operating campuses in different countries helps attract a diverse pool of students from various cultural and educational backgrounds. This enriches the learning experience, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and prepares students for a globalised world. It is important, therefore, to not rely on just the Indian diaspora to study in these campuses but rather to attract students of diverse nationalities.

International rankings — In this year’s QS World University Rankings, our older five IITs received an average of 1.3 points out of 100 for international students and 2.9 points out of 100 for international faculty. This pulls down their international rankings considerably. Given the challenges with infrastructure, admission policies and cultural differences, it is difficult to expect international students to come and study in IITs in India. By having international campuses and offering Bachelor of Science (BS) programs (so as not to dilute the brand value of B.Tech degrees offered in Indian campuses), there is an opportunity to expand the IIT brand globally and attract more foreign students to its Indian campuses as well. This cross-pollination of talent and ideas can elevate the institution’s status and rankings. Another way to improve cultural diversity is to have students in these international campuses spend time on the main campus in India for a minimum of one semester to a year, as part of their curriculum requirements. The enhanced fee charged from these students can help support the infrastructure requirements to host them. This will also significantly enhance our international rankings.

Global reputation enhancement — One of the reasons for the poor showing in international rankings is also because of low perception scores. In the last QS Global University Rankings, the five older IITs scored an average of 21.9 points out of 100 in the total weighted reputation score. Having an international footprint will help improve perception of our institutions which, in turn, can help our standing in international rankings.

Revenue generation — International campuses can add an additional revenue source for IITs. They can charge higher fees, and if properly managed and with rules permitting, surplus funds can be reinvested in the main campus back in India, improving infrastructure and academic facilities here.

Collaboration opportunities — They can also serve as hubs for collaboration with foreign universities, research institutions, and industries. This facilitates knowledge exchange, joint research projects, and technology transfer, leading to innovations and advancements in various fields.

International faculty recruitments — Freed of rigid salary slabs that exist on Indian campuses, these foreign campuses may attract more international scholars as faculty. Main campuses need to utilise this global talent pool. For example, it is well-known that research papers co-authored with international scholars receive twice the number of citations as compared to purely national collaborations.

Alumni engagement — Having overseas campuses can strengthen ties with IIT alumni spread across the world. This support can be crucial for funding research, scholarships, and infrastructure development.

Addressing brain drain — By offering quality education and research opportunities abroad, Indian institutions can potentially retain some of the top Indian talent that might otherwise have gone elsewhere.

Policy influence — Global presence of our institutions can also provide India with greater leverage in shaping policies, both in India and the host countries of their international campuses. This soft power can help improve India’s prestige abroad.

However, establishing and maintaining international campuses also come with challenges such as meeting regulatory requirements, availability of resources, ensuring quality control, and maintaining the institution’s core values and standards across all campuses. It is also important not to overdo this. We need to see how the two extension campuses perform before expanding on this model further with other IITs. With careful planning and execution, the benefits can outweigh the challenges, contributing to the overall growth, reputation and global rankings of our institutions.

The author is currently the Group Vice-Chancellor, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, and has served as the Director of IIT Delhi between 2016 and 2021. This article was first published in The Times of India and has been reproduced with permission. You can read the article here: https://bit.ly/45QyFWZ

When worlds converge

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 05:28:16 +0000

IIT Madras Zanzibar is located in Zanzibar Island, off the East African mainland, and is being planned as part of a unique educational partnership between India and Zanzibar-Tanzania. Since it is the first ever IIT campus outside of India, all eyes are quite literally on the Zanzibar campus.
Apart from a comprehensive curriculum that includes all aspects of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, students will have several academic opportunities during the course of their career. These include study abroad/semester exchange programs with IIT-M’s partner institutions in the UK and Australia among other countries; internships with various globally-relevant companies; and a chance to meet some of the course requirements at IIT Madras in Chennai, India.
Does this all make you even more curious about how the campus looks? Say no more. Here, in this exclusive photo feature, we take you on a campus tour on things to look forward to in the Zanzibar campus. Yes, it’s a picturesque location!

Captions by The Office of Global Engagement

Until the 215-acre permanent campus is fully ready for operations, students will be put up in the temporary campus at the Bweleo district of Zanzibar. For the permanent campus, the land has been identified and approved.

The hostel can accommodate 70 students in total from both programs. It must be noted that the building that was given to IIT-M wasn’t designed for a residential program. The work for the dining facility too is currently underway.

Initially, it was decided that faculty will either be deputed from IIT Madras or recruited from India. Along with admissions, faculty recruitment drives also took place simultaneously and so far, five faculty members have been recruited. At Zanzibar, all faculty members and staff will be put up in an international housing colony next to the main campus.

Interlocking bricks have been used for flooring all through the campus. Most of the remaining work for the campus will be ready before classes for the first academic year (2023- 24) commence in October 2023. Like IIT-M, sustainability will be the priority at the Zanzibar campus too.

Plans are underway to install IIT-M’s iconic Gajendra Circle at the campus. Unlike the Gajendras of IIT-M, the Zanzibar campus will have Indian and African elephants holding the respective country flags

IIT Madras Zanzibar offers two full-time academic programs: a four-year Bachelor of Science in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and a two-year Master of Technology in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. The total student intake will be 70.

Pulling off a feat

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 05:06:38 +0000

Planning and designing infrastructure for the first ever IIT campus outside India sounds like a ton of paperwork and a logistical nightmare, given that the project involves the Ministry of Education (MoE), Govt. of India, IIT Madras and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) Zanzibar-Tanzania. Prof. Ligy Philip, Dean, Planning, IIT-M, discusses what went into the making of the historic campus at Zanzibar, and the challenges that lie ahead

Srivatsan S

When Ligy Philip was chosen as the professor-in-charge of infrastructure for IIT-M’s first offshore campus at Zanzibar, Tanzania, the news did not come as a surprise. As the Dean, Planning, Ligy has been responsible for IIT-M’s thriving and futuristic infrastructure, on campus, over the last decade.

She became the Chairperson of Engineering Unit in 2014 and later the Dean, Planning (Infrastructure and Finance), in 2017, and has been involved in various aspects of planning, development and sustainability of IIT-M as well as the 163-acre Discovery Campus at Thaiyur.

Ligy casually namedrops some of the mammoth projects she has undertaken at IIT-M: construction of B-type apartments, New Academic Complex (second version), Biotechnology Block (second version) Mandakini Hostel, Sports Complex and so on.

She sees the latest distinction — as Professor-in-charge of infrastructure at the IIT Madras Zanzibar — as an “extension” of her decorated portfolio. “The only difference is, it is not in India this time,” laughs Ligy, as we sit for a conversation on what went into the planning of the Zanzibar campus.

Before we start, Ligy acknowledges the responsibility bestowed upon her. “It is going to be a challenge since it is our first international campus and I am aware that all eyes are on us. Our aim is to make a truly world class institute that has a mix of [Indian, Zanzibar and global] cultures. In a way, it’s not a new challenge for me; I’m confident that we will do a good job,” she says.

The first step towards planning an international campus of the size of IIT Madras Zanzibar — with a promised 215-acre land — was to determine the larger relevance of having such a global institution. “We have to plan in such a way that there are no missteps. That is very important to us. For instance, we are not going to get extra land for the next 20 years. Our goal right now is to set up a campus for 3,000 to 5,000 students,” adds Ligy.

The catch? There are two governments involved in the Zanzibar project. Which means that unilateral decisions offer little to no help. Which is why Ligy says that the Zanzibar project will have a Planning Committee consisting of distinguished members from India and Zanzibar, who have envisioned such campuses both locally and internationally. “The committee will decide on how the permanent campus should be. We have been thinking of recruiting a few international consultants as well,” she says.

Winds of change

Setting up an international campus as big as IIT-M Zanzibar sounds like a ton of paperwork and a logistical nightmare, given that the project involves a lot of back and forth between the two countries. Ligy’s primary concern, however, is the execution part. “I don’t see any challenge in terms of planning since we will have a committee with experienced people who will be helping us out. Whether we get good quality construction workers, materials and so on…those are the challenges.”

For the permanent campus, the land has been identified, inspected and reported to the Government of Zanzibar that has given its approval. Once the formal paperwork is done, plans are on to lay the foundation stone in November 2023. “There is a lot of weed growth in that area, which has to be cleared. We have to put a boundary mark and construct walls. Before that, we have come up with a budget and get it approved [by them] because the entire funding comes from there.”

Unlike the 630-acre IIT-M, whose current student count stands at a staggering 12,500, the Zanzibar campus is primed to have a lot of interactive spaces for students; something the parent institution lacks, believes Ligy.

Facilities are being planned to cover the demography of students from undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes. “Naturally, there will be a lot of laboratories,” she says, adding, “At the same time, we are going to give regional importance. We want to factor in all of these during the planning phase.”

There isn’t a concrete time frame as to when the permanent campus will be fully functional, although the work is likely to begin by the end of this year. Which is why Ligy hopes to execute the monumental task at hand in carefully-planned phases.

Phase I will have the essentials: “Like hostel accommodation, for instance,” says Ligy, adding, “Depending on the requirement, we will come up with the skeleton, which can later be converted into an actual project.”

A new building, which was constructed for the Karume Institute of Science and Technology, has been given to IIT Madras by the Government of Zanzibar to set up a temporary campus in Bweleo district of Zanzibar, until the permanent campus is ready for operations.

Since the building was constructed to serve the purpose of a regular college, Ligy says, a lot of modifications had to be made to classrooms as well as other facilities. The modified building is now equipped with smart classrooms, seminar halls and an open air auditorium for students to meet and interact with.

“It wasn’t a residential campus, so dining facilities were not there. We had to do a dining hall and a laundry dispensary facility,” says Ligy, adding that the hostel had to be renovated too.

The temporary facility can now house 70 students for the first year. “But we do plan to rent out some place for other students nearby so that they can stay together. There is an international residential colony that is not even 5kms from the campus,” she adds.

The Government of Zanzibar, informs Ligy, did not insist for the campus to be a 100 percent residential institution. But the team from IIT-M felt that having a residential campus has its merits on students, benefitting them from co-living and co-learning. At the same time, an international housing colony right next to the campus has been selected to put up faculty and staff, so that they don’t need to stay on campus like the IITs.

Ligy says that 70 percent of civil and electrical work are complete for the Zanzibar campus, which is eyeing for a grand inauguration on October 24, 2023. Furniture, mostly flexible types that can easily be converted to meet other purposes, has been sourced from India. “What we are thinking in the new campus is, we don’t want to make anything rigid. If it’s a classroom then it should not just serve the purpose of a classroom forever [like in IIT-M, where classrooms are mostly empty in the afternoon]. Like, it can be converted into a conference room too, for instance. We don’t want to waste space,” she says.

Gajendras at Bweleo

In September, IIT-M was certified with a platinum rating (with a score of 80 out of 90) from The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) as a result of an independent audit for its performance towards achieving a green campus. Similar plans have been envisioned for the permanent campus at Zanzibar, with sustainability being the root of their development master plans.

“We want the new campus to be climate resilient since it’s on an island. Right from the materials to construction, we will be looking into each and every aspect. The design will be in such a way that there is minimum use of air conditioners since we will benefit a lot from the sea breeze,” she says, adding, “We will also be looking into renewable sources of energy. We will definitely be recycling water [like we do at IIT-M] as the campus grows. Solar is another area we are looking at.”

Ligy will leave for Zanzibar in the first week of October to supervise the remaining work before the official launch. But what about the permanent campus? Will it have the characteristics of IIT-M or have its own character?

“Certainly both,” assures Ligy, adding that IIT-M Zanzibar will have the facets and features of both India and Tanzania. “We want the international campus to have a mix of cultures [from India, Tanzania and global]. Though the goal is to set up an institution that is world-class, we have to respect the regional culture at the same time.”

As a matter of fact, work has already begun to install IIT-M’s iconic Gajendra Circle, which has been the symbol for what the institution stands for, at the temporary campus. “Instead of two Indian elephants, there will be one African and one Indian elephant on either side,” she says, “The African elephant will hold the Zanzibar and Tanzania flags, while the other elephant will hold the Indian flag.”

An experience like none

Srivatsan — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 04:53:21 +0000

Two IIT-M students had the opportunity to visit and explore Zanzibar as part of an initiative to train students for the screening test. During the course of their stay, they also got the chance to take a peep into the new IIT Madras Zanzibar campus

Vuppanapalli Chaitanya

Our adventure to the enchanting island of Zanzibar, Tanzania, began right from the bustling Chennai Airport, where an unusual question at the checkin counter puzzled us. The airline staff asked us whether we would need one window seat or two, as if the seat could be shared. That was the beginning of the many surprises that awaited me and Arvind Ragghav V.

Our next stop was the Oman Airport, where we were greeted by an amusing mix of people. Passengers around us were in a frenzy, worried about missing their flights. They kept waking us up at odd intervals causing confusion. It turned out that our flight was scheduled for the next day, a humorous start to our Zanzibar adventure.

Later, all our anxieties were eased when we received a message from Mr. Shabu K George, Consul of India in Zanzibar, immediately upon landing. Knowing that someone was there looking out for us, this gesture gave us confidence in a foreign land.

As we reached our accommodation – Africa House Hotel – we were pleasantly surprised to discover that it was managed by an Indian named Mr. Manas. Little did we know that he would soon become a cherished friend, a guiding figure throughout our stay.

The reason Arvind and I were in Zanzibar was to conduct coaching classes for the screening test at the Karume Institute of Science and Technology. Dr Mahmoud Abdulwahab Alawi and Dr Zuhura Juma welcomed us with open arms, ensuring that our classrooms were equipped with all the necessary requirements. Their support was invaluable, setting the stage for our teaching journey. In fact, Dr Zuhura Juma ran from pillar to post, assisting us with the monumental task of printing out stacks of question papers. In the classroom, we met with students who were eager to learn and were deeply passionate about sports.

To make our lessons more engaging, we drew parallels between scientific concepts and the world of sports, connecting two seemingly disparate realms. The students’ enthusiasm made teaching an absolute delight.

Our journey would not have been complete without experiencing the vibrant Indian community in Zanzibar. We were honoured to be invited by the Consulate General of India to celebrate the Indian Independence Day, where we had the opportunity to interact with fellow Indians and gain insight into their lives in this distant corner of the world.

Days turned into weeks as we were immersed in work, visiting the institute every morning with packed lunches lovingly prepared by Manas. We would return to the hotel in the evening. Weekends in Zanzibar were a treasure trove of exploration. A visit to Prison Island introduced us to the gentle giants of the sea – 100-year-old tortoises. The pristine beaches with their picturesque beauty felt like they were scenes plucked from a postcard.

Journey to the East

We were curious about the new IIT Madras campus in Zanzibar, which was still under construction. The well-engineered structure hinted at a promising future for education on this enchanting island.

Another unforgettable memory was a day at the Zanzibar Zoo, where we interacted with ostriches, zebras, camels and observed many other wildlife species up close. It was a remarkable opportunity to connect with nature in a way we had never imagined. In between our regular classes, we took out a student, Saleh, shopping. His connections in the market came in handy and helped us purchase things we needed, fostering a cultural exchange that enriched our understanding of local life.

As our coaching classes drew to a close, our students surprised us with heartfelt gifts, showing their gratitude and appreciation in a unique and thoughtful way. This touched the both of us deeply. One of the most memorable days was when we played cricket with fellow Indians in Zanzibar. This event, organised by the Consulate General of India during the National Sports Week, brought us closer to the local Indian community. It was a day filled with camaraderie between the batting and bowling side.

As our journey neared its end, a last-minute challenge awaited us at the airport. A check-in counter issue had us making a 3am panic call to Mr. Shabu George.

Remarkably, he arrived with the Consulate General of India at the airport, to assist us. We felt deeply thankful for their unwavering support, which tells a lot about the strong sense of community among Indians in Zanzibar.

To wrap up our journey in one sentence: it was a tapestry of unexpected encounters, warm friendships, and unforgettable experiences. This island – with its picturesque locations and vibrant culture – left an indelible mark in our hearts.

Zanzibar is a must-visit destination, offering much more than a typical vacation. It is a place where you can truly immerse yourself in the local way of life and create lasting memories. Our adventure is a testament to the incredible connections and discoveries that await those who dare to explore this hidden gem in the Indian Ocean.

Vuppanapalli Chaitanya, a PhD student from the Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT-M, and Arvind Ragghav V, a dual degree student from the Mechanical Engineering Department, were in Zanzibar in the month of August.

The pursuit of happiness

Srivatsan — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 05:21:07 +0000

While academic pursuits might have taken her to various universities including the University of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Rochester, Prof. Preeti Aghalayam, who has now been appointed as Director-in-charge of the IIT Madras Zanzibar campus,

feels that IIT-M has seeped into her blood ever since she walked into the campus way back in 1991

Srivatsan S

The first time Preeti Aghalayam stepped into IIT Madras is a day she cannot forget. It is now part of a memory that beautifully resides in a bank at the back of her mind. With her roots in Mysore, Preeti vividly recounts arriving on campus in a rickety taxi with her parents, carrying big city dreams. “We were speechless,” says Preeti Aghalayam, almost three decades later, about that day in 1991 when she was just a fresher — and long before she became an alumna and later, a faculty member of the institution.

Even after all these years, Preeti takes a moment to pause and marvel at the trees whenever she drives down Delhi Avenue. “It was so quiet and peaceful. Looking at this place back then, it gave us the feeling that one can do well in academics. That is what my parents and I thought,” she says.

“It was love at first sight,” smiles Preeti rather sheepishly. Mind you, she is referring to IIT-M, not her husband, also an alumna and whom she met on campus much later.

While academic pursuits might have taken her to various universities including the University of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Rochester, every time there was a call from IIT-M, it was a call that was hard to resist.

For, life is full circle for Preeti Aghalayam who has now been appointed as Director-in-charge of IIT’s first offshore campus in Zanzibar. Her appointment has been described in the media as “breaking the glass ceiling”, while for women in engineering and academia, it has become a joyous occasion to celebrate the spirit of representation.

Preeti, however, has been trying to dial down the attention. “I’ve been trying to tell people that it [the appointment] is a job, not an award,” she states, characteristically. In a long and elaborate conversation, Preeti discusses her decades-long association with IIT-M — from being a student to becoming the Director-in-charge — and what to look forward to, in the new campus. Excerpts:

I cannot not ask you about your JEE experience.

I am from Mysore, which still feels like a very small city. And I’m from a family of academicians; my dad was a Chemistry professor and mom was teaching linguistics at that point of time in class. I did not have a formal coaching for JEE because Mysore did not have that kind of a set-up for coaching. But I used to sit with a Maths colleague of my dad’s and also occasionally with his colleagues from Physics and Organic Chemistry departments. They also didn’t know how one prepares for JEE, but they would give me conceptual ideas.

I have been in and out of college campuses. My dad took me for my NTSE [National Talent Search Exam] interview when I was in 10th standard. Later we went to IISC, and both of us loved the campus. But when I came to IIT-M back in 1991, it felt like it has seeped into my blood since then.

This was the 1990s and it wasn’t too common for women to take up engineering at that point of time…

Not in mine because we come from a family of academicians. My elder sister is also an engineer from Mysore. Some of my older cousins studied science and engineering, and later became professional teachers. But you are right. It wasn’t very common, but in my family, it was.

When you had to come to Chennai, to IIT-M, was there any apprehension about living in a new city and away from your family?

My mom, in fact, pokes fun at me saying that I entered the hostel and never looked back [laughs]. There was no emotion, as if I was moving on and moving ahead. Growing up in a small city, I had a very protected upbringing since I’m the younger of two daughters.

More than anything, I was excited by the possibility of living by myself. In terms of academic opportunities, I was beyond excited about what IIT-M would present.

Let’s roll a few decades back. Preeti Aghalayam is a student now. What was your average day like?

I was just crazy. My friends laugh at me for how over excited and enthusiastic I was about a lot of things. In Chemical Engineering, we didn’t have labs in the second year so the rest of the departments would be very jealous of us saying, “You have the whole afternoon to sleep.”

There wasn’t even Netflix or anything at that point of time; one shady common room where one could watch some TV. But my friend and I would occasionally go to the British Council and also walk or cycle around the campus.

We would take up every Mardi Gras [later renamed as Saarang, the annual social and cultural festival of IIT Madras] related opportunity that they would give to us for second years. One of our profs said that we have to do a lot more India focused extracurricular activities. So, we organised a lot of quizzes, vernacular-only debates, and elocution. I remember going to Giggles and Scribbles [a small bookshop back then] with my girlfriends asking if they could give some small coupons as prizes for IITans.

Right from a very young age, I was into basketball and running. My school [Demonstration School in Mysore] encouraged us to take up sports. I participated in many district level running events. When I came here, I wanted to make sure that I continue sports. In fact, I remember, right from the first week on campus, I was like, “Where’s the basketball court?” One of my seniors is Shanti [from Electrical Engineering] and I glommed onto her and said, “We have to play basketball.”

When there was nobody to play basketball with and when I would have excess energy to burn, I would run till the gate and back. During my four years here, we would elbow our way into every inter-hostel sport.

I remember you mentioning about having a reunion with your friends recently. Could you talk about your batchmates, the number of women at that time, and how has it changed over the years?

We were 5 percent women in my batch. It’s 20 percent now and evenly distributed year upon year. Now when I teach in, let’s say, a class of 100 students, there are 20 plus women which is fantastic. This wasn’t how it was. Our batch was considered an anomaly because we were 20 women across all branches in a class of 360.

In the beginning, one of the batches had seven women, and if you go a little further down, for example, in Raghu’s [Rengaswamy, Dean, Global Engagement] batch, there were two women. The spread was good in our batch and somehow people kept telling us that we were anomalous and special.

About my girl friends, they have all taken different paths and are doing extremely well in their professions. Even at the reunion, they were so enthusiastic about coming to the campus, maybe more frequently.

Is there a favourite memory you have as a student? I’m sure there are lots but if you could pick one, what would it be?

There is one memory that captures what IIT-M is. What happened one year during the inter-IIT tournament was, there were a lot of injuries. This is normal even now in sports. But back then, one of the professors from the Aerospace Department, who was our sports advisor, said, “Let’s stop contact sports for women.” I hadn’t even heard that word before but I figured that it means no more basketball.

I was livid. I sat outside his office and said, “I cannot let you do this.” I don’t know why it meant so much but somehow I felt it was so wrong to make a rule like pulling a horse out in the middle of the race. Also because I was 18 and rebellious.

But what I really appreciate, though, is when I went to him and very passionately and probably over-emotionally, made the case, he was so good about it. I don’t exactly remember what he said, but he didn’t go forward with the rule. So, I think that typifies IIT Madras.

That, we have the best interests for students at heart. Although, I mean, there are generation gaps and our world is different from theirs but we are open. We listen. We listen to students and try to accommodate different viewpoints.

After you earned a B.Tech, you did a PhD and worked briefly at IIT Bombay. Later when you came back to IIT-M as a faculty, what were some of the aspects that you brought to your teaching?

First of all, I love teaching. I think it feels so satisfying to be a teacher. It’s stressful, by the way, even today. My family makes fun of me because they ask me why I still prepare for classes. I’ve seen my dad do it. After teaching Chemistry for 35 years, one can expect him to walk into the classroom with his eyes closed and be able to write whatever that is missing on the board. But I saw him every day thumb through the books and made new notes. This is what I do as well.

Monday morning 8am classes are religious for me. I have picked up many things from all my academic experiences including this textbook. It’s a very basic Chemical Engineering textbook. When I left MIT, even though I was there only for a year-and-a-half, they saw how passionate I was and gave me this book, which has an inscription by my guide.

So methodology-wise, a little bit from various universities I have been to [MIT, University of Rochester, University of Massachusetts]. There is science and methodology behind teaching. This is what I have grown up with and imbibed from other places.

The important thing I believe is the interaction between faculty and students and not creating any barrier where none is needed. In recent times we have been doing some game-based learning and small activities for the class that will help them realise this interaction in a more practical way.

Before you joined the Office of Global Engagement as an Advisor, at what point during your teaching career, did you warm up to the idea of ‘internationalisation’?

It was absolutely only after being in the Office of Global Engagement. Before that I have participated in a lot of non-department, non-teaching type of activities in the institute. But I did not have any particular exposure to international students. In fact, now it has really exploded, even our international visits. It wasn’t this many earlier. We have at least two visitors a day.

Of course Raghu and I go a long way back. Our paths didn’t cross that much when we were in IIT Bombay. But it was only after he called and asked me to work as the Advisor that I had any exposure to this. Plus, it has been really intense the past couple of years because post-Covid, things opened up in a really dramatic way.

It’s mind-boggling if you look at the number of trips we had taken to Sri Lanka, Nepal and even to the US. Of course, Africa was the one that sort of solidified in a very dramatic fashion.

Does this stamp — of being the first “woman” Director — bother you or have you come to terms with it?

It didn’t bother me but it feels like a big burden. This is what I sometimes try to tell people: this appointment is a job, not an award. It’s a job that I’m really excited about. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it till the whole woman Director thing blew up. It is a job I would be really excited to do even if I was a man [laughs].

While I do believe that we should have equality, not just in gender, but in other aspects as well, I think in academia, we are all very similar. So it feels like all these barriers are fake or false. If you see our training, there is no difference between the way, um, women

professors train or are trained from men. Likewise our students and researchers.

I mean, yes, there are aspects like physical safety. And experiences for men and women are not always identical. But within the walls of this campus, it can be. I believe in that. While one has to be conscious about gender equity and not just assume that it’ll happen in due course of time and make efforts to achieve that, I also believe in the fact that, as academicians, we should work hard at gender equity.

How has the reception been for admissions at IIT Madras Zanzibar?

It has been very good. We started things late in the cycle. We are also simultaneously recruiting faculty and the responses have been phenomenal. It’s been lovely to interview candidates and it’s been lovely to see a very good gender mix – both in the student and faculty talent pool.

Apart from East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, where we have students from these countries studying at IIT-M, we have been getting a lot of questions from other parts as well. The interest has been phenomenal. Locally also, in India, parents and students have been reaching out which is very heartening.

Aside from what people have been saying about the Zanzibar campus outside, the kind of reception we have been getting from faculty within IIT-M has also been heartening. So many faculty members from various departments have enthusiastically said that they will help us out.

For someone to come all the way from Mysore, to study at IIT-M and then become a faculty member, and now getting to head IITs’ first international campus, it does feel like a long journey. If there is something you wish to tell that 20-something Preeti Aghalayam, what would it be?

Right now, when I am talking to you, I feel I’m the same over enthusiastic, jump-at-everything Preeti. So it doesn’t feel like that has changed. But it has been a long journey with pregnancy, childbirth and raising a teenager among other things. Sometimes it has felt hard because our work itself is such that it doesn’t start at 9am and finish by 6pm. There are so many things we do and it’s very difficult to compartmentalise. And there are many threads to keep track of, aside from home, family and friends. So yeah, the thing I would tell my younger self, even though it feels strange, is to be myself and believe.

Fishing for ideas

Srivatsan — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 08:43:43 +0000

As the Chair Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Madras, R.I Sujith heads one of the high-profile laboratories in the world through the Centre of Excellence for studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems – both in engineering and nature.

In a career spanning decades, Sujith has over 390 technical publications, 14 patents and has written a book on Thermoacoustic Instability. His research particularly focuses on complex systems such as turbulent thermo-fluid systems, climate systems, cloud dynamics, and infectious diseases exhibiting critical transitions that can lead to disastrous consequences.

The Centre of Excellence, which boasts of world-class facilities, strives to unravel the science behind these transitions in diverse systems and develop trained manpower and translational technologies. We take a deep dive into the high-functioning lab in this photo feature.

Captions by Jayesh Dhadphale, a PhD student from Aerospace Engineering

Setting up the laser receiver for Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA) to study the effect of turbulence on droplet formation.

Laboratory-scale setup to study thermoacoustic instability in axial combustors. The setup is equipped with facilities to acquire pressure, chemiluminescence images, and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements at high sampling rates.

Captivating patterns found in clouds are seen in the laboratory setup used for studying the formation of rain droplets.

One of the few facilities in the world to study thermoacoustic instability in annular combustors used in gas turbine engines. The setup is uniquely built with large transverse dimensions to facilitate axial and transverse instability.

Stabilising the flame on the burner with rectangular slots is not an easy task. One needs to be focused and patient.

The slotted burner setup provides a test bench for rapid prototyping and testing new ideas related to thermoacoustic systems. The dynamics observed in the slotted burner belies its simplicity.

Listening to the loud singing flames is an overwhelming experience. The lab members regulate the combustor operation from a separate control room adhering to safety measures.

The state-of-the-art facilities trigger the creativity of students, helping them come up with fresh ideas. Hands-on experience of these facilities transform students into expert researchers.

Prof. Sujith frequently participates in brainstorming sessions with students from which innovative ideas emerge. He believes in knowledge sharing and collective learning.