Career Week' 2014: Interaction with Dr. Pankaj Jalote, Director, IIIT.

On 13^thOctober 2014, Dr. Pankaj Jalote, Director, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology ( IIIT-D) an autonomous university inDelhi,paid a visit to School to speak to the students of classes 10, 11 and 12 about the fields of Computer Science (CS), Information Technology (IT) and Software Engineering (SE).

Dr. Jalote initiated his interaction by asking his audience, Why choose CS/ IT?. " What do you know about the career opportunities open to you after pursuing this field?"

He mentioned the strengths one should possess for such careers. These are good computing skills, an analytic mind, extensive programming skills, a robust knowledge of the concepts of mathematics, an ability for perseverance, efficiency and a capacity to withstand the hard life in one's early career!

Dr. Jalote continued with an interactive session, stressing upon how to go about selecting a college/ university. We must know what we want to study and also what we should look for in making our assessment of a college/ university. For example, the suitability of the college in terms of subjects offered, faculty, post-grad opportunities, placement, infrastructure, facilities, etc. It was an eye-opener for all of us when Dr. Jalote told us that research is one optionafter post-graduation at IIIT-D.

The presentation shown to us by Dr. Jalote drew comparisons between CSE ( Computer Software Engineering) and ECE ( Electrical Communication Engineering) departments at IIT Delhi and IIIT Delhi respectively. Comparisons were also shown on the basis of quality of education , student teacher ratio and faculty qualifications, where IIIT-D was at par with NSIT and DTU.

We were further spoken toabout the various subjects and combination of subjects that IIIT provides. Dr. Jalote emphasised three key features of the university. These are 1) IIIT is not a college for those who feel college life is fun, 2) it's strong theory component and 3) it's emphasis on projects and practicality. He informed us about the places where IIIT have provided its students with placements. These range from the University of Washington, to Geogia Tech, University of British Columbia, Columbia University, Concordia University, Princeton University, etc.

Sir also told us that IIIT encourages its students in sports, has several clubs, extra and co -curricular activities. With its early strides, steps, IIT Dsees itself as another IIT Delhi for IT.