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was installed on campus. It hosts a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, a compact astronomical instrument, the first for any technical institute in India. The telescope will be used for amateur astronomical observa-tions, research and photography as well as to gather information about objects in the solar system, stars, comets, spectrum and brightness of astronomical objects and extraor-dinary astronomical events such as eclipses and occultations.

While good grades obviously get the pride of place at the institute, IIT-Kanpur also continues its efforts towards maintaining a balance between academics and extracur-ricular activities.

It is compulsory for every stu-dent to take part in on-campus sports activities—all of which goes into producing dynamic graduates who go on to become top scientists, engineers and technocrats. The in-stitute retained its overall champi-

ons’ title in the men’s category and also secured second place overall in the women’s category in the 50th Inter IIT Sports Meet held in IIT Bombay last year.

IIT-Kanpur has also introduced an energy savings and sustainabil-ity championship among various hostels called the “Green Opus”, a measure that resulted in students markedly reducing the average en-ergy consumption.

Follow the writer on Twitter @ashudj

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TOP 20 ENGINEERING

National rankings are derived from a combination of perceptual and factual scores. Colleges that did not provide factual information were not ranked. New entrants Back on the listNEW

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, Pilani

Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi

Delhi Technological University, Delhi

Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore

Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

SRM Engineering College, SRM University, Kattankulathur

Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Delhi

National Institute of Technology, Karnataka

Government College of Engineering, Pune

PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore

National Institute of Technology, Calicut

National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli

M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology Bengaluru

Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal

Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala

Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

Nirma Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad

Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi

20142015

NEW

NEW

NEW

Z O N A L R A N K I N G S

North1. IIT-Kanpur2. BITS-Pilani3. IIT-BHU, Varanasi4. Delhi Technological University5. Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology

South1. Vellore Institute of Technology2. SRM Engineering College3. NIT, Surathkal4. PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore

5. NIT, Calicut

East1. IIT-Kharagpur2. IIT-Guwahati3. BITS, Mesra4. NIT, Durgapur5. NIT, Rourkela

West1. College of Engineering, Pune2. Nirma Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad3. K.J. Somaiya Institute, Mumbai4. VJTI, Mumbai 5. DAIICT, Gandhinagar

E N G I N E E R I N G

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ademic institutes in Asia. The object of curiosity—or rather, the cynosure of all eyes—is an ‘Autonomous Flapping Wing Unmanned Air Vehicle’, something the students have designed under the guidance of Assistant Professor Deepu Philip. The UAV, the first designed in any in-stitute in India, runs on gas or petrol

and can fly at a height of 5,000 feet at a speed of 150 km per hour. Word is that it is headed for the Indian Army in the coming days. But before it does, the department is trying to tweak it some more and add more features so that it will be even more effective not only for better surveil-lance—which is what the army is likely to deploy it for—but for func-tions as diverse as pollution checks and crop dusting. Don’t be surprised if the UAV finds takers in other fields as well.

It’s cutting-edge endeavours such as this that make IIT-Kanpur India’s engineering institute of choice. Says the Deputy Director of IIT-Kanpur, Professor A. K. Chaturvedi, “Seeking excellence in all respects is our aim. That sets IIT-Kanpur apart from other institutions.” No wonder then that it has topped the India Today Group-Nielsen Best Colleges Survey’s engineering rankings for the second year on the trot, staving off a bunch of sister IITs and National Institutes of technology, among others.

Each academic year, IIT-Kanpur seeks to delve into newer and newer frontiers of research and technology. It is, incidentally, also the only insti-tute in the country to have a helicop-ter lab. Last year, the central government’s Department of Science

Agroup of students are hud-dled around something at the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Flight

Laboratory of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur campus, the only lab of its kind among all ac-

86 INDIA TODAY u JUNE 29, 2015

I N D I A ’ S B E S T C O L L E G E S T H E I N D I A T O D A Y - N I E L S E N S U R V E Y E N G I N E E R I N G

TOP GUN O F TECHBy Ashish Misra

TOP 10IIT-Kanpur

IIT-Kharagpur

BITS-Pilani

IIT-BHU, Varanasi

Delhi Technological University, Delhi

Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore

IIT-Guwahati

SRM Engineering College, Kattankulathur, Chennai

Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Delhi

NIT-Surathkal

IIT-Kanpur retains pride of place with cutting-edge research, including the first unmanned aerial vehicle to be designed by any Indian institute

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING This field is in demand in the manu-facturing sector, given the increasing emphasis on planned factory layouts and efficient material management.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING It offers opportunities for a career in fields such as waste-water management, air pollution con-trol, waste disposal, industrial hygiene and public health.

NANOTECHNOLOGY The demand for it is primarily from the medi-cal field, where cutting-edge devices are the order of the day.

ROBOTICS It is an emerging field with application in manufactur-ing processes, medicine etc.

MECHATRONICS This multidisci-plinary field offers career options in automobile, electronics, computer manufacturing etc.

HOT TRENDS

Of 1,092 students appearing for place-ments in 2014-15, 902 students got jobs in 240 companies.

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MANEESH AGNIHOTRI

BC-Engineering-Jun29.indd 1-2 18-06-2015 12:35:30