Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Dubai Campus

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - Dubai (BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus or BPDC)[2] is a private technical research university and a constituent college of Dubai International Academic City. It became the international branch of BITS Pilani in 2000, making it the second branch established (other branches: Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad). It is the first Indian university to have an overseas campus. BITS Pilani is one of the first six institutes to be awarded the Institute of Eminence status in 2018.[3]

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Dubai Campus
Other name
BPDC
MottoInnovate, Achieve, Lead
TypePrivate
Deemed University
Established2000 (2000)
ChancellorKumar Mangalam Birla
Vice-ChancellorSouvik Bhattacharyya
DirectorR.N Saha
Students1,400 (2019)
Address
Dubai International Academic City
,
Dubai
,
UAE

25°7′54″N 55°25′11″E
CampusUrban; 14 acres (0.057 km2)
College Town; 2,960 acres (12.0 km2)
AlumniBITSAA
Colors  Sky Blue (Crayola)

  Fire Engine Red

  Yellow
NicknameBITSians
AffiliationsInstitutes of Eminence
BITS Pilani, DIAC, Government of Dubai, KHDA, UGC[1]
Websitewww.bits-pilani.ac.in/dubai/

BITS Pilani, Dubai offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in various fields of engineering and business management.[4][5][6] It enrolls about 1,400 students every year, mostly from India, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.[7]

History

Inception

The Birla Education Trust was founded in 1929; the intermediate college became a degree college and later offered postgraduate courses. The masters programme in electronics began in 1955.[8]

Reacting to early criticism about the project, contemporary advisor Thomas Drew said:

In my judgment to attempt to develop an American institution in India would be like trying to graft apples on a pine tree. We have not been asked to make such an attempt. We were asked to help devise in India an Indian technological school to produce graduates with the know-how to produce knowledge pertinent for India.... In many respects they consider us immature, rude, hypocritical barbarians who in certain respects happened to hit it lucky. To be viable in India an institution must be framed with Indian values in mind.[9]

BITS Pilani became a deemed university established under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 by notification No. F.12-23/63.U-2 of 18 June 1964.[10]

In 1964, the Birla Colleges of Humanities, Commerce, Engineering, Pharmacy and Science were merged to form the Birla Institute of Technology & Science. The board provided direction in developing a curriculum, selecting equipment, upgrading the library and recruiting (and training) an Indian faculty. To quicken the pace of reform he convinced C. R. Mitra to be the new director of the institute. Mitra advocated a "practice school" internship program as a requirement for faculty and students. The Practice School Program is still a requirement for students in BITS.

According to Robert Kargon and Stuart Leslie:

BITS offered an opportunity to build a leading technological university in India responsive to India's goals, to produce practising engineers who will be in a position to graduate and to build industries in India, under Indian conditions. With its emphasis on the Practice School and ties to Indian industry, it helped educate Indian industrialists along with Indian engineers who would remain in India, in contrast to many other engineering colleges in India, most of whose graduates would leave the country after obtaining their basic engineering education. The Ford Foundation Evaluators...proudly noted that the Indian government, despite having given no direct financial support, was looking to BITS to provide a model for future development in education in engineering and science in India.[11]

Multi-campus expansion

Ghanshyam Das Birla, was born on 10 April 1894 at Pilani village, in the Indian state then known as Rajputana, as a member of the Maheshwari Marwari community.[12] Later, Birla inherited the family business and moved to further diversify them into other areas. He became the founding president of Harijan Sevak Sangh founded by Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi in 1932 .[13] Birla was a close associate and a steady supporter of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he met for the first time in 1916. Gandhi stayed at Birla's home in New Delhi during the last four months of his life.

Envisioning infrastructural development in his hometown, Birla founded the Birla Engineering College (rechristened as Birla Institute of Technology and Science in 1964) in Pilani and the Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences in Bhiwani among other educational institutions in 1943. Both colleges have evolved over the years to develop into one of India's best engineering schools. Dr. K.K. Birla, who took over as the Chairman in 1983, realized the need for providing top class higher education facility to greater number of promising students in science and technology.

In 1999, enrollment expanded from 2,500 to 4,000[14] and campuses were founded in Dubai (2000) and Goa (2004). In 2006, BITS Pilani acquired 81 hectares (200 acres) of land from the Andhra Pradesh government through the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority for a new campus. The land is located in Jawaharnagar, Shameerpet Mandal in the Rangareddy district.[15] The BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus opened in 2008; the school also has a virtual university[16] and an extension center in Bangalore.[17]

Consequent upon the sad demise of Dr. K.K. Birla in 2008, Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla was elected as the Chancellor and Smt. Shobhana Bhartia was appointed as the Pro-Chancellor.

Dubai Campus

BITS Dubai was the second branch of the university, set up in 2000 in Al Ghurair University Campus. It was then relocated to Dubai Knowledge Village, and again, to its permanent campus with student housing at Dubai International Academic City (a university town in Dubai) in September 2007.

BITS Pilani Dubai is approved by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and University Grants Commission (UGC), India and is permitted by Knowledge & the Human Development Authority (KHDA), Government of Dubai.[18]

Campus
New Campus in Dubai International Academic City

Academic City

The campus is a twenty-minute car ride away from the heart of Dubai and takes an hour or two via public transportation- RTA Dubai Metro and Bus.

BITS Pilani, Dubai has nine buildings spanning over 5.7 hectares (14 acres) in Dubai International Academic City campus area of 1,200 hectares (2,960 acres):

  1. The Main Block Building of three floors has lecture rooms, professors chambers, two conference halls, a sports complex, an auditorium and technical labs.
  2. Mechanical Block of two floors has a Workshop area on the ground floor and various labs on the next two floors including Civil Engineering Labs.
  3. The Library block consists of a library spanning over two floors, an activity room and a cafeteria.
  4. The Girls' Hostel consists of two buildings, one which is used to accommodate students, while the other is equipped with a common mess, prayer hall, laundromat and gym facility.
  5. The Boys' Hostel consists of four buildings, equipped with the same facilities as the Girls' Hostel.

The campus also consists of a full length football field, indoor badminton court, race track, lawn tennis court, cricket nets, basketball court, volleyball court and indoor games section.

Labs

Labs at campus include - Advanced Molecular Biology Lab, Analog Electronics Lab, Biology Lab, Chemical Engineering Lab I & II, Chemistry Lab Communication Lab, Computer Aided Design Lab, Computer Programming Lab, Concrete Lab, Creative Lab, Digital Design Lab, Electrical Machines Lab, Engineering Graphics Lab, Environmental Lab, Fluid Machinery lab, Genetic Engineering Lab, Heat Transfer Lab, Industrial Microbiology & Bioprocess Engineering Lab, Instrumental Methods of Analysis Lab, Instrumentation Lab, Mechatronics & Robotics Lab, MEMS Lab, Materials Testing Lab, Microbiology Lab, Microprocessor Programming & Interfacing Lab, Petroleum Lab, Physics Lab, Power Electronics Lab, Prime Movers and Fluid Machinery Lab, Process Control Lab, Production Techniques I & II Labs, Signal and Simulation Lab, Software Systems Lab, Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering Lab, Survey Lab, Transport Phenomena Lab, Transportation Engineering Lab, Workshop Prime Movers & Fluid Mechanics Lab.[19]

Main building

University Campus

The main building of BITS Pilani Dubai is where all classes are held. It has 3 floors, an auditorium, sports stadium, conference hall and academic labs. All the admission, administration and academic departments are located here.

Main building of BITS Pilani, Dubai as seen through a park in campus in a 2018 photo
Classroom
Triangular Park
Palm Trees

Library block

Library Block in a 2019 photo

Mechanical block

Mechanical Block in a 2019 photo
Creative Lab


Cafeteria

Cafeteria in a 2019 photo

Hostels BITS Pilani Dubai offers residential facility in campus itself. It has separate boys' and girls' hostels. Boys' hostel consists of 4 blocks (A,B,C,D) and girls' consists of 2 blocks (G and H). These blocks have common room for meetings, Gym facility, T.V. room, Mess facility, laundry facility.

A view of B,C,D block from football field
G & H Block

Campus map

Satellite view of campus as per 21 October 2019 (Source: Google Maps)

Academics

Departments

BITS Pilani has 9 academic departments:[20]

  • Biotechnology
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Electrical and Electronics Engineering
  • General Sciences
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mathematics

All major and minor courses for undergraduate and postgraduate studies fall under these departments. Experiment and research labs along with other facilities set-up in departmental buildings or floors are also governed by their respective departments.[21]

Undergraduate programs

BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus offers 4-year Integrated bachelor of engineering (B.E.) programs at the undergraduate level.[22]The university also offers 5-year dual bachelor degrees in two major fields. These programs are offered directly under the 9 academic departments. Course structure is flexible and curriculum allows students to enroll in general science, engineering, mathematics, management, humanities and other inter-disciplinary courses. Minor degrees in Aeronautics, Data Science, Finance, Material Science, Robotics, Philosophy, Economics and Politics are also awarded along with the undergraduate degree after completion of additional courses.

Graduate and research programs

The Master of Engineering (M.E.) in Design engineering, Microelectronics, Software Systems, Electrical (with specialization in Power Electronics and Drives) and Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Engineering and Technology Management and IT Enabled Services Management.

Doctoral programs

PhD and research programmes are offered:[23]

  • Full-Time
  • Part-Time[24]

BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus has also entered into a research collaboration with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai, UAE[25]

Practice School

Practice School (PS) is a programme unique to BITS Pilani university, through which students are placed in the industry for hands-on learning experience. PS-1, a two-month internship programme for the summer after second year, is a compulsory for all students. PS-2 is an extended internship programme, usually of five and a half months duration that students may go for in their final year. The students are graded by the off-campus BITS faculty and the PS mentor. The allocation is based on the academic record of the student and is managed centrally. Every PS station roughly accommodates 6-7 students.[26]

Practice School is aimed at familiarizing students with the work environment and technical standards in the industry. Students can also opt for a thesis instead of Practice School II where they will have to work under a professor either on campus or off campus on some research area related to his discipline. In case of an off campus thesis, an on campus guide will co-ordinate with the off campus guide for a smooth process.

Admissions

BITS Pilani is offered to students based on their performance in the All-India Entrance Examination, called BITS Admission Test (BITSAT). BITS Pilani also has the policy of accepting State and National Board toppers. There is no reservation of seats on the basis of caste or category. BITSAT.[27] is a computer based test and is held at BITS authorised test centres. The examination chiefly covers topics, based on the NCERT higher secondary curriculum, in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, and reasoning and analytical skills in Logic and English. Any student having a minimum aggregate of 75% in Physics, Maths and Chemistry, and a minimum of 60% marks in each of the BITSAT subjects individually is eligible to apply to the campus.

For international students, Dubai Campus also accepts SAT Subject Tests. Since mode of instruction is English, students who have passed the qualifying examination in non-English medium must satisfy the minimum requirement of TOEFL or IELTS.[28]

Student life & culture

Students get to participate in various extra curricular activities and are encouraged and prepared to compete in various international competitions. The university also provides a great platform for entrepreneurship. Students are of mixed nationality and day-scholars are mostly from Dubai and Sharjah. All kinds of facilities are available for students in their hostels and university campus has a well maintained mess and canteen for students living on-campus and day-scholars.[29][30]

Clubs and associations

The university has various clubs, societies, student bodies and student chapters of international associations like Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Institution of Engineers (India), American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Toastmasters International. Student chapters are mentored by academic departments of their respective fields.

  • AOEE - Association of Electronic Engineers.[31]
  • ACM - The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is an international organisation and the world's largest scientific and educational society in computational and information technology.
  • Institution of Engineers (India) BPDC chapter - The first international student chapter of I.E.I.
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) - Student chapter of ASME.
  • BPDC Editorial Board - The university editorial board, responsible for the biannual publication and other literary works. Board is also responsible for compiling various writings for administration department.[32]
  • The Guild - Video Gaming Club at BPDC.[33]
  • Intelligent Flying Object for Reconnaissance (IFOR) - The IFOR Team of BITS Pilani Dubai Campus is a student based organisation in which students from different departments come together to design and build autonomous and aerial robotic systems.
  • Microsoft Tech Club - The Tech club in association with Microsoft.[34]
  • BITSMUN - Model United Nations of BITS Pilani.
  • Sports Club - Responsible for organizing:
  • BITS Sports Festival (BSF) - UAE's largest inter-university sports event, over the last 16 years. Universities from all over UAE compete against each other with the spirit of victory.[35]
  • Recharge - Inter-hostel sports competition supported by various fan clubs. All the events are sponsored by big brands like Coca Cola for BSF 2020 and all the events proudly brag their own merchandise.
  • Reflexions - Photography Club of BITS Pilani
  • Shades - Art society of the university, responsible for organizing ARTEX and art exhibitions for faculty and students.
  • Flummoxed - Quizzing club of BPDC.
  • Groove - Dance club of BPDC.
  • Allure - Fashion club of BPDC.
  • Make A Difference - The Social and Environment club of BPDC. This club actively conducts several campaigns and activities that contribute to the service of the society and help create awareness against social issues.
  • IEEE - Professional association for electrical engineers (and associated disciplines). IEEE BITS Pilani, Dubai student branch has been recognised as the largest student branch of IEEE in the Gulf; by the IEEE Association of New York, USA and received UAE section's student membership growth of the year award.[36]
  • Paribhasha[37] - Theatre and entertainment club
  • Toastmasters - Nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication and public speaking skills
  • IORTA[38]- Deals with making of autonomous robots and drones for the use of civilians and government.
  • Event Management Committee (EMC) - Organizes BITS Jashn Dubai's largest cultural college festival.,[39] Sparks, technofest, enginuity, Ethnic day and other such events.
  • The Wall Street Club - Finance club of BPDC.

BPDC Unplugged - Radio Station

BPDC unplugged is campus radio station (CRS) of BITS Pilani, Dubai. It is an in-house radio that generally broadcasts various events around the campus and conducts podcasts on regular basis.[40]

Notable alumni

Other campuses

See also

References
  1. "History" (PDF).
  2. BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus Archived 4 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi, Bombay, are now among six Institutes of Eminence".
  4. "B.E".
  5. "Graduate Programs".
  6. "Ph D".
  7. "Overview of BITS Pilani".
  8. "Prof V Lakshminarayanan – a Legend for BITS Pilani". India PR Wire. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  9. Leslie, Stuart; Kargon, Robert (26 March 2004). "History of BITS Pilani" (PDF). OSIRIS Workshop 2004. Georgetown University. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  10. "Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani)". www.bits-pilani.ac.in.
  11. Leslie, Stuart; Kargon, Robert (26 March 2004). "History of BITS Pilani" (PDF). OSIRIS Workshop 2004. Georgetown University. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  12. "Birla, Ghanshyamdas (1894–1983), businessman and politician in India". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52776. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  13. Ratna G. Revankar (1971). The Indian Constitution--: A Case Study of Backward Classes. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 124–. ISBN 978-0-8386-7670-7.
  14. "Chancellor KK Birla's Speech" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  15. "Campuses of BITS- Hyderabad Campus Website". Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  16. "BITSVirtual University". Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  17. "BITS Pilani Professional Development Centre Bangalore".
  18. "History" (PDF).
  19. "Campus".
  20. "Academic Departments".
  21. "Department Facilities".
  22. "Bits Pilani Dubai Campus: Bachelor, Master courses from Engineering colleges in Dubai". bits-pilani.ac.in. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  23. "Research and Doctoral Programs".
  24. "Academics".
  25. ICBA Website Archived 1 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  26. Practice School
  27. "BITSAT 2019". CollegeSearch.in.
  28. "Eligibility Criteria".
  29. "Overview".
  30. "Clubs".
  31. "AOEE".
  32. "Editorial Board".
  33. "Guild".
  34. "MS Tech Club".
  35. "BSF".
  36. "IEEE".
  37. "Paribhasha/".
  38. "IORTA/".
  39. "Jashan".
  40. "BPDC Unplugged".
  41. "Gaurav Chaudhary".
  42. "The Mail Runner - Ram Arun".
  43. "Adil Ibrahim".
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