Army Institute of Technology

Template:Infobox Army Institute of Technology The Army Institute of Technology (AIT), one of India's premier technology schools, is an undergraduate engineering college located in the Dighi Hills area in Pune, Maharashtra, India and affiliated to the University of Pune. AIT functions under the aegis of the Army Welfare Education Society (AWES)^[1] and has the seniormost officer of the Indian Army, the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army (COAS), as the President of its Board of Governors.

History

It was the late Gen. B.C. Joshi, PVSM AVSM, ADC (1935–1994), the then Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, who had a vision for an engineering college for the children of all ranks of the Army. The view was that children of army personnel were disadvantaged as far as education was concerned as a direct consequence of soldiers serving under difficult conditions in forward areas where educational facilities are not always available. Additionally, the regular rotation of army personnel, potentially across the country, affects continuity of education.

AIT, born as a result of this vision, was formally inaugurated by Gen S. Roy Chaudhary PVSM, ADC on 24th Feb, 1995. The first batch of students graduated in 1998.

Academics

AIT offers the following four engineering courses: Computer Engineering, Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering, Information Technology and Mechanical Engineering. All four courses are approved and accredited by both the All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). The three courses which have been offered at AIT since its inception, i.e. Computer Engineering, Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, are also accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).

Each course lasts for eight semesters and these are spread out over four years, referred to as FE (First Year Engineering), SE (Second Year Engineering), TE (Third Year Engineering) and BE (Bachelor of Engineering). The annual First Year of Engineering intake for each class is sixty students, thus leading to a total of two hundred and forty freshmen entering AIT each year, apart from this there is also a provision for migration from other colleges subject to certain rules.

Graduates receive a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree from the University of Pune.

Campus

The AIT campus benefits from its location on the outskirts of Pune in that it is not plagued by air and noise pollution and that the ample space allows for planned expansion. The largest building is the Academic Block, which houses the lecture halls, most laboratories, offices for the administration and an auditorium. The lawn in front of the Academic Block is the first view that visitors to the campus have, and is one of the preferred spots for a sit-down in the evenings. On either side of this centre are located the hostels for students and residential quarters for staff. As AIT is intended to be a residential college, the campus attempts to be self-contained and has various messes and cafés, along with a shop for common household products and an ATM of the HDFC Bank.

Sports are an especially popular pastime at AIT and the campus boasts a basketball court, a cricket field, a tennis court, a rugby field, a volleyball court, a football (soccer) field, a badminton court (which sport, of course, originated in Pune), fitness studio, a croquet lawn and two squash courts. Indoor sports are also enjoyed, be it chess, pocket billiards or table tennis.

The AIT library is open to all students and staff and is one of the most frequented locations on campus. The library has a very technical bent and, as of 2009, had 5154 titles and 16927 volumes, and subscribed to 43 national periodicals and 14 international journals. The current focus is on augmenting instruction media to include Computer Based Teaching.

The campus is well serviced through public transportation links to the nearby suburb Vishrantwadi and also to the most popular locations in Pune: the University, Deccan, Main & East Streets and the railway station. The village of Dighi is a short walk away, as are the hills which lend their name to the locality. The College of Military Engineering (CME) is in the vicinity, and allows students access to its cinema and lakes.

Administration

Solutions

Solutions is a Technical event

Clubs and Student Activities

The college hosts an inter-collegiate technical meet called "Solutions". In earlier years, AIT also invited fellow-students to PACE (a sports festival) and to the Gen. B.C. Joshi Memorial Quiz. The annual AIT cultural fest is called Aakriti, and is both eagerly awaited and hotly contested.It is currently an intra-college event, only once having been hosted as an intercollegiate - in 1999.

Apart from the many sporting teams, there are also some formal clubs that offer other extra-curricular opportunities. The NSS Club organizes blood donation camps, cleanliness drives, treks, visits to orphanages and old people's homes. The Heritage and Spiritual Club facilitates celebrations of festivals such as Janmastami, Navaratri, Ganesh Chaturti, Shivratri etc.. Students with a musical bent are encouraged to join the Music Club. The student magazine, "Srijna", is published annually by the Maganize Board. The Board also organizes two treasure hunts every year and circulates an online newsletter called "eMAGe", once every semester. Students are encouraged to form their own clubs, if none exist that cater to their interests. The newest student club is the AIT Hackers Association (2009). AIT also have a club know as VOICE it stands for "Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education".It name as AIT VOICE http://www.aitvoice.com ^[2]

Alumni

The first batch of engineers graduated in 1998, and they, like their successors, keep in touch with AIT and each other through the Alumni Association. The aim of the Alumni Association is to allow each alumnus - a fresh graduate or one from the first batches - to leverage professional contacts, renew or build social ones and to constructively contribute to the community and the Alma Mater. An annual Alumni Meet is hosted on campus, where alumni get to interact with students and faculty. As alumni are dispersed across the world, an online mailing list helps alumni keep in regular touch with each other. AIT Alumni website link ^[3]

Governance

AIT has a three-tier governance structure. At the highest level is the Board of Governors with the COAS as President, and the VCOAS and all Army Commanders (except the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Command) as Vice Presidents. The Managing Director of AWES is designated as the Member Secretary, with the following officers being Members: DCOAS (IS & T), DCOAS (P & S), Adjutant General (AG), Quartermaster General (QMG), Master General Ordnance (MGO), Military secretary (MS), Engineer-in-Chief, three Heads of Arms/Services in rotation, Director General (Discipline, Ceremonials & Welfare) and the Judge Advocate General (JAG). Siddharth Tiwari is the General Secretary of AIT Pune.

This is followed by a twelve-member Governing Body, which includes nominees from AICTE, the University of Pune and the Government of Maharashtra, and a ten-member Local Managing Committee, which includes representatives from each of the teaching faculties.

References

External links

[1] AWES

[2] AIT VOICE

[3] AIT Alumni

[1]

[2]

[3]