Indian colleges step up drone studies amid skill crunch

While students in India’s technical colleges have been interested in drones for years, most universities and colleges are not offering specialized courses for drone study.

It’s starting to change.

NIT Andhra Pradesh, for example, is set to become one of the first engineering institutes in India to offer a minor degree on drone studies in the coming months, said V. Sandeep, assistant professor and head of the institute’s electrical engineering department. According to.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati is also offering drone related activities and courses. God K. Iyer said, “In terms of education, we are soon starting courses for training Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and officers of the state of Assam on the use of drones, and also a drone pilot training program for them.” are doing.” Dean of Public Relations at IIT Guwahati.

In August 2021, the central government liberalized the country’s rules for the use of drones to introduce the new Drone Rules, 2021, bringing private startups and institutions under its purview. The move sparked interest in an area that had long been restricted by regulations.

The government also introduced 120 crore Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in September last year to boost drone manufacturing in India. In February this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined a consolidated cross-industry effort called Drone Shakti, under which the government seeks to strengthen manufacturers, drone application providers, pilots and the entire ecosystem of the industry.

According to data from staffing firm TeamLease Digital, the drone industry has the potential to create close to 100,000 jobs, directly or indirectly, over the next five to seven years. TeamLease vice president and business head Gautam Vohra told Mint last month that 750-900 jobs are listed every month. The industry is also facing a severe shortage of drone pilots.

With this significant push coming from the government and industry, educational institutions are offering more drone-based student activities to help them take up jobs related to this sector after graduation and to boost the number of drone pilots in the country. are doing.

Sandeep of NIT Andhra Pradesh said the institute’s first drone workshop, held on March 5, was a “level one approach” to introduce engineering students to drone technologies and pilot training. The workshop was executed in a cross-industry approach with a technology innovation hub. Autonomous Navigation (TIHAN), an innovation center funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India at IIT Hyderabad.

“The next level workshop will involve students applying for drones – such as defence, agriculture and so on. Many have even taken up drone projects as part of their final year project. One of them is working on the use of drones in rescue operations and emergency disaster management as part of a final graduation project in the Department of Electrical Engineering,” Sandeep said.

Amit Shukla, assistant professor of robotics and drones at IIT Mandi, is gathering postgraduate and research students under his drone laboratory at the institute. “Here, we are working with students on designing indigenous drone technologies for industrial inspection and aerial manipulation,” he said.

The work done by the students at IIT Mandi under Shukla’s leadership has also attracted industrial attention. Shukla said that GAIL has expressed interest in using locally developed drone technologies in inspection of its oil and gas pipelines.

The ‘minor’ course of NIT Andhra Pradesh serves as an additional certificate along with the main course, which includes a B.Tech degree in any discipline. This strategy is in line with the institute’s offering of educational courses in new technology areas, which Sandeep said are already being done in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, electric vehicles and 3D printing. Next in line are drones.

“Our smaller degrees will all focus on interdisciplinary studies, and drones are a perfect example of an interdisciplinary field. We are also looking for industry alliances to help establish a hub for this kind of innovation.” The institute has also issued proposals to raise funds for the drone centre, and Sandeep said he expects the center to be operational by the end. 2022.

At IIT Guwahati, Iyer said, drone pilot courses are being certified by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). In November 2021, the institute opened India’s first Center of Excellence in research of drone technology supported by MoCA. Although this has sparked interest in drone studies among students, Iyer said there are no imminent plans to introduce drones into the formal academic fold.

However, IIT Mandi has a different view. Shukla said the institute is looking at starting a standalone engineering course on robotics, which will allow students to study drone technologies and related subjects dedicatedly instead of specializing in drones along with their core, traditional engineering curriculum.

According to Karan Kamdar, CEO, Indian Drone Racing League, apart from IITs and NITs, smaller colleges are also offering specialized courses. While the latter remains largely a crowd-pleaser at college festivals, Kamdar said it is having an effect on students taking an interest in drones beyond just a sport or hobby.

“We are seeing faculties also taking interest. Colleges that do not have large funds or sponsors for events are also eager to see drone activities organized on their campus. For example, our latest drone racing event was at the Father C. Rodriguez Institute of Technology in Navi Mumbai, which was a huge success.”