Coming Up: IIT, Bombay-New York

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, could be the first Indian institution to have a campus in the United States. The institute has submitted an “initial proposal to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)” for setting up a campus in New York City. The initiative by NYCEDC, launched in December 2010, seeks a university, institution or consortium to develop and operate a new or expanded campus in NYC.

IIT-Bombay plans to start post-graduate programmes in five disciplines at the proposed campus. “Having a campus there will make a huge difference. We will be able to engage with US universities on a closer basis and they too will be able to see our capabilities first hand,” said A Q Contractor, Dean of Alumni and Corporate Relations, IIT-Bombay. Officials said a detailed proposal will be submitted by October-end.

“The proposed campus will lead to exciting possibilities of sharing human capital, research funding and infrastructure. It will create seamless twinning opportunity for students of New York and Mumbai campuses. The students at IITB-NY campus will receive excellent quality of education, exposure to Indian culture and business practices. Budding entrepreneurs at the proposed campus will find a landing space in India through a well-established business incubator and a window to an economy slated to be the world’s largest by 2050,” says the initial proposal accessed by The Indian Express.

“It will provide IIT-Bombay an opportunity to create an off-shore campus that will bring in much needed diversity…We expect IIT-Bombay’s experience in designing niche academic programmes will be very helpful to the US clientele at the proposed campus,” it adds.

The initial plan is to start masters’ and doctoral programmes in five core engineering disciplines. “They include electrical and communication engineering; computer science and engineering; chemical science; industrial design and aeronautical engineering. We have selected those five areas where IIT-Bombay has standing and strength and which are also areas where applied research today is most likely to translate into processes and products useful to the market,” said Devang Khakhar, IIT-Bombay Director.

The proposal talks about a “modest beginning” with around 50 faculty, 150 post-doctoral fellows and about 100 graduate students. Assuming that both land and building will be made available, an approximate estimate of the initial grant required is put at $100 million.

Further, the operating budget has been worked out to be $43 million per year. “The yearly operating budget for the campus for the first three or four years includes salary and benefits to faculty ($7 million), salary of 100 post-doctoral fellows and stipends for 150 graduate students ($9 million) and seed fund for new faculty ($12.5 million). While salary of 150 supporting staff has been worked out to be $9 million, overheads towards various services and running expense for labs, libraries etc have been estimated at $5 million.

“The proposed campus requires significant amount of funding. We are exploring the possibility of setting up a partnership with a well-established US-based university where the budget will have to be reworked in consultation with the partnering institution,” said Khakhar. Several other factors are being looked at by IIT-Bombay. “Setting up a campus in New York is not an easy proposition. We have to take into consideration several factors like funding, regulatory mechanisms and accreditation issues. Hence, we are looking at the possibility of having a local partner,” said Subhasis Chaudhuri, Dean, International Relations, IIT-Bombay.

The proposal says the focus will be on fundamental research leading to creation of knowledge and publications, technology development initiatives including those leading to patents and transfer of technology through start-ups, licensing or collaborative ventures with industries. The initial aim will be to actively support such initiatives so as to create at least five major initiatives that can attract large quanta of extra-mural funding.

From the given list of site choices for the proposed IITB-NY campus, some of the preferences given by IIT-Bombay include Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital campus; Roosevelt Island, Goldwater campus; and Staten Island, Farm Colony.

Source: The Indian Express, August 10, 2011