Personal development at IIT Guwahati, India

See the Times Higher Education World’s Best Small Universities 2016 table here.

Kalind Baraya is a senior year undergraduate student in the department of mechanical engineering at IIT Guwahati

Studying at a small university such as the IITG, which has a dynamic student-faculty environment that works in synergy with the institution’s world-class infrastructure, has its own perks. The student-to-faculty ratio is quite low, and so at an optimal level to facilitate close student-faculty interaction during class hours. This is beneficial as it enables the faculty to personally know the weaknesses and strengths of each and every student.

Apart from regular departmental courses, we also have the option to take a minor discipline, which encourages an interdisciplinary research environment. For example, I could use the basics of data structures and algorithms that I covered in my computer science minor in my current projects in mechanical engineering, such as in the field of computational fluid dynamics.

The student community here at the IITG is actively involved in the research output of the university. Apart from our bachelor’s thesis project (BTP), which is compulsory for all final year undergraduate students, many students voluntarily undertake various research projects during their sophomore or junior years. In these projects they are assisted by an appropriate faculty member; this prepares a student for a research career, as he or she becomes familiar with the major challenges ahead in his or her field of research.

But it’s not all about studies and research. Students at the IITG are actively involved in numerous clubs and organisations, giving us the option to choose from a multitude of activities such as yoga, dance, singing and music. These activities further the overall development of our “grey matter”. As it’s a small university, we have more opportunities and can try our hands at more than one activity; we get to explore, innovate and improvise, and learn in an all-embracing manner.

IIT Guwahati is ranked 14th in the .