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Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India (popularly known as 'BITS Pilani') is one of the oldest and leading technology schools of India. In addition to Pilani, BITS has campuses in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Goa, India, an extension centre in Bangalore, India, and a fourth campus under construction in Hyderabad. The institute is privately supported, fully residential, and admits both men and women students.

Brief history

It was founded by Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla in 1929 as an intermediate college.

During World War II, the Government of India established a technical training centre at Pilani for the supply of technicians for defense services and industry. At the end of the war, in 1946, it was converted it into the Birla Engineering College with degree programmes in electrical and mechanical engineering.

In 1964, the Birla Colleges of Arts, Commerce, Engineering, Pharmacy and Science were merged to form the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS). In this period of inception (especially during 1964-1970), BITS Pilani received support from the Ford Foundation and benefited from an alliance with the MIT.

BITS Pilani started to expand in India and abroad since 2000. New campuses were established in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2000) and Goa, India (2004), and a fourth campus is to be opened in 2007 at Jawaharnagar (near Hakimpet Air Force station), Hyderabad. BITS also runs a virtual university and an extension centre in Bangalore.

Reputation and Rankings

Many reputed sources, including the UNESCO Science Report 2005 (ISBN 92-3-103967-9) make use of Asiaweek magazine's latest rankings of science and technology schools in the Asia-Pacific region, 2000. According to this ranking, BITS Pilani was ranked in the Top 20 in Asia (overall), and in the Top 5 in Asia in terms of 'Student Selectivity'.

The management programmes offered by BITS Pilani have also been ranked by Asiaweek (Top 30 Best Full-Time MBA, Top 30 By Reputation, Top 5 Distance MBA). These programmes have also been profiled by Business Week Online (The Best B Schools).

Annual rankings of engineering colleges in India have been published by the magazine India Today since 1997. BITS Pilani was ranked in the Top 10 consistently (1997-2004), but opted out of the survey since 2005. However, the institute participates in the Dataquest-IDC Survey as well as in the Outlook-Cfore Survey and was ranked in the Top 10 T-Schools of India 2006.Dataquest-IDC ranked it at 9th place while Outlook-Cfore survey placed BITS Pilani at 6th position.

BITS Pilani was also the only Indian university to be ranked in the Top 20 Wired organisations of India by Business Today (January 18, 2004 issue).

The institute is accredited (with a five-star rating) by the Government of India's National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

BITS Pilani also offers an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates.

Undergraduate Admission Procedure

BITS admits students through revised admission procedure since 2005 via on-line computer test (BITSAT). BITSAT is held between May 1 and June 10 in many cities all over India. The exam tests subject-content in English, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Logical reasoning, and is focused on higher secondary curriculum in India. Prospective students are required to obtain minimum 80% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in their higher secondary examinations to be eligible for admission.

Toppers of higher secondary examinations are exempted from taking BITSAT test and are considered admitted. This exemption helps ensure that BITS retain the significant number (about 20) of first rank holders from across the country who join BITS every year.

Acceptance rate in BITS is very low (about 3% in 2005) making it one the toughest schools in India and the world to get admission into. For more information, see official policy.

Pilani Campus

Highlights

  • 328 acre (1.3 km²)[ This is the area under BITS. The total area of the Vidya Vihar campus , which houses several other smaller facilities - some of them under the Birla Education Trust- encompasses an area of over 1000 acres )
  • Museum
  • Saraswati Mandir
  • An excellent library
  • Shiv Ganga
  • Sky Lawns
  • BITSConnect
  • Gliding Club( Now inoperational )
  • The newly constructed Students Activity Centre.
  • Information Processiong Centre (IPC)
  • C'not Shopping Area

Hostels

There are 12 student hostels or 'Bhawans' on campus named after historical or mythological characters of India (such as Ashok, Bhagirath, Budh, Gandhi, Krishna, Malviya, Meera, Ram, Rana Pratap, Shankar, Viswakarma and Vyas). One of these hostels (Meera) is exclusively for women, one (Malviya) is for both men and women, and the rest are exclusively for men. There are 7 dining halls or 'messes' associated with these 12 hostels.

Current Initiatives

BITS Pilani is the pioneer of university-industry linkage program in India. It is also setting new standards in distance learning programs with its virtual university going online. BITSConnect, an alumni initiative, has commissioned a $50 million VLSI Lab initiative which aims to conduct semiconductor research and development, now called as the "O-Lab". BITS Pilani is a key partner in several international initiatives like the development of JournalServer open-access digital library, the Project IPV6, MIT iCampus initiative, etc.

Dubai Campus

Highlights

  • Currently located in Dubai Knowledge Village.
  • Currently has over 900 students on its rolls.
  • The biggest IEEE, Students Section in the U.A.E
  • Started with just 2 programmes but currently has 5 programmes comprising of

--B.E.(Hons.) Mechanical Engineering
--B.E.(Hons.) Computer Science
--B.E.(Hons.) Electrical and Electronics Engineering
--B.E.(Hons.) Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
--B.E.(Hons.) Chemical Engineering

Future Plans

  • Shifting to Dubai Academic City by the next academic year.
  • Introduction of new programmes and faculty base expansion.

Annual Festivals

CONQUEST

The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) has been set up “to create business leaders in all spheres of life with an entrepreneurial thinking.” It is one of the top five Entrepreneurship Centers amongst Indian universities and is a Co-founder of the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN).

Unprecedented in its reach and a well-etched out stratagem, Conquest - The Business Challenge has trailed off a success story that’s for real. Conquest is a unique business event conducted by CEL which helps to transform ideas into reality. This business-plan competition includes intensive mentoring by industry champions and a rigorous simulation involving real-life start up conditions.

The Winners share a prize money of INR 1 lakh and they are offered free incubation in the Technology Business Incubator at BITS Pilani. They are also given an opportunity to pitch their business ideas to some of the best VC forums in the country.

APOGEE

A Professions Oriented Gathering Over Educational Experience (APOGEE) -- it is the annual Technical Festival of BITS, Pilani with projects ranging from Mac OS on x86, Generational Garbage Collector for .NET ,MaveRak AV Player,Hide n Seek.jpg,Via Voice,Highway Traffic Control Systems to Natural language Parsers to Optical Character Recognition Tools. The highlights of this 5 day festival are the many projects on display by the students, technical paper presentations, numerous contests (both fun science and hard-core tech) , Cyberfiesta (software design contest)and the two quizzes: Brain of BITS (BOB), which have teams of one, and Over Head Transmission (OHT), a team quiz. Also, the Computer Science Association conducts an event called Gamophilic for all the gaming freaks, wherein famous multiplayer games like Quake and CounterStrike are organised. For more information on the fest, please click on APOGEE

INTERFACE

Interface, the annual All India Management convention organized by the Management Association of BITS, Pilani encompasses a wide spectrum of activities. During the three days through which the convention spans, the organizing and the innovative skills of the students are tapped to the maximjhjhguum.

The main objective of the convention is to bridge the gap between management theory and practice. Scheduled to be held from the 4th to the 6th of February 2005, Interface-2005 will serve as a meeting place for the top notch professionals from the business world and the students from premier business institutes.

Over the past 27 years, Interface has metamorphosed into one of India’s foremost management conventions. Management students and professionals from all corners of the country meet for a three-day showdown, to exchange ideas and to update themselves on the latest developments in the world of management. To this is added a splash of entertainment in the form of Management games, Business quiz and Workshops, conducted on an all India basis.

This year Interface 2005 is being launched with the theme ‘Creativity in Entrepreneurship'. Interface 2005 focusses on creativity and innovation that is required to make an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is one of the emerging trends in the world of managerial careers and hence the focus. The activities during the three days would focus on varying topics revolving aroung the latest management strategies.

BOSM

The BITS Open Sports Meet (BOSM) is the annual All India sports festival organised entirely by the students of BITS, Pilani. It attracts as many as 1000 participants from all over India.

Oasis

Oasis is an All India cultural festival organised entirely by the students of BITS, Pilani. Oasis is organised in the month of October. The Budget of the fest is around 20 lakhs (i.e., Rs 2 million). For the past 35 years, Oasis has been providing a platform to students from all over the country to showcase their talent and is a highly coveted event.

Visit the page http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in:12348/oasis2k5/home.html for further details

BITSians of Note

Award Winners
  • Dr. D. Balasubramanian - Director, LV Eye Institute - Padma Shri and Order of Merit by the President of France

Winners of the Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation, India's Highest Award for Technology

  • Dr. Vijay Chandru - Inventor of the Simputer, Founder of Strand Genomics, Professor of IISc Bangalore
  • Rajesh Hukku, Chairman & CEO, I-Flex Solutions

Indian Government & Government Institutions

  • Prithviraj Chavan - Minister of State, Prime Ministers Office, Government of India (2004 onwards)
  • RK Arora - Former Executive Director / Head of CDAC, Inventors of the PARAM Supercomputer
  • SN Zindal - Chairman, Software Technology Parks of India

Corporate Leaders

  • Shivan Subramanian, Chairman & CEO of FM Global, $3 billion commercial and property insurance company in the US
  • Vivek Paul, Partner in the Texas Pacific Group, Ex-Vice Chairman of Wipro Ltd. & CEO, Wipro Technologies - Named one of the world's 10 best managers by Businessweek in 2003 and one of two Indians (Vivek, Balaji both happen to be BITSians) as 2004 Business influencials by Time in 2004
  • Balaji Krishnamurthy, CEO of Planar Systems - Named as 2004 Business influencials by Time in 2004 (one of two Indians - Vivek, Balaji both happen to be BITSians)
  • Rajesh Hukku, Chairman & CEO, I-Flex Solutions - Named Star of Asia, Businessweek 2003
  • Prem Jain, Former Senior Vice President, Cisco Systems, founder of Crescendo, sold to Cisco for $90 million
  • Gunendar Kapoor, Board of Directors & Head of Foods Division, Hindustan Lever Ltd.
  • Sunil Duggal, CEO of Dabur Group
  • Rakesh Kalra, CEO of Eicher Motors
  • Baba Kalyani, CEO of Bharat Forge
Well Known Entrepreneurs
  • Sabeer Bhatia - Founder of Hotmail (sold to Microsoft for $400 million), left for Caltech after two years.
  • Mukesh Chatter - Founder of Axiowave and Nextabit (sold to Lucent for $900 million)
  • Jayan Ramankutty - Co-founder of Lara Systems (sold to Cypress Semiconductor for $250 million)
  • Ajay Chopra - Founder & Chairman of Pinnacle Systems ($300 million NASDAQ traded company: PCLE sold to )
  • Vinod Agarwal - Founder & Chairman of SEMINDIA, India's first semiconductor fab, and Founder & Former Chairman, LogicVision ($100 million NASDAQ traded company: LGVN)
  • Diaz Nesamoney Co-Founder, Informatica ($500 million NASDAQ traded company) and Founder, Celequest
  • Manoj Saxena Founder, Chairman and CEO, Webify Solutions Inc. Founder, Exterprise (sold to CommerceOne for $78 million)
  • Dr K R V Subramanian Founder & CEO, Ascendum Systems Pvt Ltd, a Global technology service provider
  • Sriram ChandraSekaran Founder & CEO, Logical Digital Corp, an international OpenSource technology developer
NGO's

Professors/Educators

Writers

Movie Stars & Directors

External links

Engineering colleges in India | Engineering colleges in United Arab Emirates | Universities and colleges in India | Universities and colleges in Rajasthan | Universities and colleges in Dubai | Universities and colleges in Goa

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Birla Institute of Technology and Science".

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