Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Dubai Campus

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani-Dubai

Motto	ज्ञानं परमं बलं gyanam paramam balam
Motto in English	"Knowledge is Power Supreme"
Type	Private
Established	2000
Accreditation	[NAAC]
Chancellor	Dr. Kumar Mangalam Birla
Vice-Chancellor	Dr B.N Jain
Director	Dr R.K Mittal
Undergraduates	1800
Location	Dubai International Academic City, Dubai 25°15′0″N 55°19′59″E
Campus	14 acres (57,000 m2)
Alumni	BITSAA
Affiliations	BITS, Pilani
Website	BITS-Dubai Campus
File:Molecule (Science), Lotus (Humanities), Rocket (Technology)

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani–Dubai (Hindi: बिरला प्रौद्योगिकी एवं विज्ञान संस्थान, पिलानी-दुबई ) (Known as: BITS, Pilani-Dubai and BPDC) is a premier technical institute for higher education located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a campus of the internationally reputed Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, India (BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan). The Institute is privately supported and fully residential.

Established in September 2000, there are presently 1,800 students who originate, apart from the UAE and other Middle East Countries, also from India and other parts of the world. BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, follows the same rich traditions and academic standards of BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, India, delivering excellence in technological learning by maintaining very high standards through quality inputs, traning and internship.

NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council), an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India accredited BITS, Pilani along with its campuses in Goa and Dubai with Grade A ( 3.71 on a 4 point scale ), which is the highest grade, awarded by NAAC, among all private accredited universities in India.

BITS, Pilani - Dubai at Dubai International Academic City was inaugurated by the then Chancellor of BITS, Pilani, Late Dr. K.K.Birla on 5 December 2007.

It should not be confused with the Birla Institute of Technology, which is a completely different university.

Highlights

BPD has made tremendous progress in span of 10 years, under the guidance of the Former Director Prof. Dr. M. Ramachandran, achieving phenomenal growth and innumerable accolades. It has become the worthy choice of over 2600 students from UAE, India, and across the globe, who are currently studying and have graduated from BITS Pialni-Dubai. BPD graduates are recruited by internationally reputed companies world-wide and several BPD graduates have been selected by top-notch universites for Masters and PhD programmes. Apart from academic excellence, equal stress is laid on the holistic growth and development of each student through various innovative co- and extra-curricular activities.

• Spread over 14 acres (57,000 m²), the institute is located at Dubai International Academic City
• World class infrastructure with state-of-the-art laboratories for Science and Engineering, mechanical engineering block cum workshop, sports facilities etc.
• Spacious Academic Block with Central Library.
• Practice school offered at reputed companies in UAE.
• Six Hostels (5 boys' and 1 girls) with fully furnished single-seater rooms, and mess facility.
• Academic flexibility like Dual Degree offered.
• Scholarships under various categories based on merit and need.

Academics

BITS, Pilani-Dubai offers the same courses as BITS, Pilani - India. From its inception, BPD has endeavored to maintain high quality in its academic programs.The programs are designed not to allow many components of science & applied science as are necessary for the graduates of the programs to function effectively & efficiently in the technological society. The courses are designed carefully through a process of continuous review & interaction with the alumni & the industry.

Dual Degree

One of the most popular flexibilities provided in the BITS, Pilani's educational structure is the Dual Degree Scheme. Under this scheme, it is possible for a student to work for and complete two Degrees within a reasonable period of time. All the admitted students are given an opportunity to take up a Dual Degree based on their performance in the first year of the programme.

Laboratories

The campus has attached to it the following Labs of international standards manned by highly qualified technical staff:

1. Manufacturing process Lab (Workshop)
2. Engineering Graphics Lab
3. Computer Aided Design (CAD) Lab
4. Computer Networking Lab
5. Measurement Techniques - I (Physics Lab)
6. Measurement Techniques - I (Chemistry Lab)
7. Measurement Techniques - I (Biology Lab)
8. Measurement Techniques in Electrical & Electronics Engineering Lab
9. Measurement Techniques in Chemical, Civil, and Mechanical Engineering Lab
10. Digital Electronics Lab
11. Analog Electronics Lab
12. Communication Lab
13. Instrumentation Lab
14. Electromechanical Energy Conversion (EMEC) Lab
15. Microprocessor Programming & Interfacing Lab
16. Production Techniques Lab
17. Transport Phenomena (TP) Lab
18. Prime Movers and Fluid Machinery (PMFM) Lab
19. Heat Transfer Operations (HTO) Lab
20. Selected Chemical Engineering Operations (SCHEO) Lab
21. Process Control Lab
22. Genetic Engineering Lab
23. Bioprocess Engineering Lab
24. Microbiology Lab
25. Advanced Molecular Biology Lab
26. Biotechnology IMA Lab

Practice Schools

BITS is a pioneer in the field of University - Industry linkage & its bold & radical innovations in this regard has no parallel. The most important & successful of them is the Practice School Program. The Practice School (PS) Program is a controlled simulation of real life where the student relates & applies his classroom knowledge & skills to real life situations faced by industry. Practice School is a part of the total programme & takes the classroom for a period of 7 and a half months to a professional location where the students & faculty get involved in real life situations. PS institutionalizes the efforts to build the long needed bridge between the professional world & the educational world. The program requires the students to undergo the ass kicking of professional world in form as well as in substance, providing an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to real life situations.

The PS Program for the first degree has two components, namely PS - I which is exposure - oriented of two months duration implemented during the summer following the 2nd year & PS - II, which is project - based & of 5 and a half months duration implemented during either of the semesters of the final year. All the degree programs of the campus provide for a practice school option, a student who exercises such an option, is awarded a degree that carries the tag 'Practice School' on successful completion of the program.

Nearly all PS - II students of BITS, Pilani - Dubai are paid monthly stipend by the industries during their 5 and a half months internship.Currently 274 industries/companies are offering internships to BPD students.

Programmes offered

File:Bits dubai perspective.jpg

BITS, Pilani - Dubai International Academic City, Dubai

Admission to the institute is completely based on the merit of the candidates, with preference given to GCC candidates. The current student ratio is about 73% boys and 27% girls.

BITS Pilani-Dubai offers 4-year Integrated First Degree programmesat the undergraduate level in the 7 following fields:

1. B.E (Hons.) Chemical Engineering
2. B.E (Hons.) Electrical & Electronics Engineering
3. B.E (Hons.) Electronics & Communication Engineering
4. B.E (Hons.) Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering
5. B.E (Hons.) Mechanical Engineering
6. B.E (Hons.) Computer Science Engineering.
7. B.E (Hons.) Biotechnology

Normally a student is able to finish any of the above undergraduate programmes in 4 years (8 semesters). These degree programmes have both Practice School and Thesis/Seminar options. By judicious choice of electives, students of any of these programmes can make themselves prepared for (i) admission to higher degree programmes in the best universities of the world; (ii) a good career in teaching & research; (iii) multi disciplinary, professional career, etc.

Higher degree evening programmes offered are:

1. M.Sc.(Tech.) Engineering Technology
2. M.Sc.(Tech.) Information Systems
3. M.E. Design Engineering
4. M.E. Microelectronics
5. M.E. Software Systems
6. M.E. Biotechnology
7. M.B.A. Engineering and Technology Management
8. M.B.A. IT Enabled Services Management

The above are highly structured Modular programmes with classroom lectures and lab components. Classes are held at flexible timings in the evenings to suit the convenience of working professionals

All the programs have a Practice School option during the summer following second year (2~3 months) and part of the final year(5~6 months).

Admissions and Scholarships

Admission to BITS, Pilani - Dubai Campus(BPDC) is based entirely on the candidates merit, his/her preferences, facilities available and availability of seats in the discipline preferred. The merit position of the candidate for admission will be based only on the overall aggregate secured by the candidate in the Qualifying Examination and not based on any entrance test. While the Dubai Campus has been set-up, specially to cater to the educational requirements of the residents of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, candidates from other countries are also eligible to apply. Admissions are open to all nationalities.

Scholarships

Meritorious and students with excellent sports achievements are awarded financial aid for their study at BPD, on the following categories:

1. Merit Scholarship for students securing above 90 % and 80 % in the qualifying examination.
2. Scholarship for Higher Secondary Board Toppers from different states/boards.
3. Scholarship for sports excellence.
4. BITSAT Scholarship for candidated with outstanding performance in BITS Admission Test ( BITSAT )
5. Merit-cum-means Scholarship

Academic and Research Collaboration

BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science),Pilani is at the forefront of scientific research and Industrial consultancy apart from imparting high quality engineering education. The state of scientific and technological developments and advancements in any nation can be judged by the quality and extent of research activity in centers and academic institutions in the Nation.

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani and its branch campuses are actively engaged in the pursuit of knowledge through its various Programmes for developing and training highly skilled technical manpower ever since its inception in 1964. A well organized and systematic approach has been developed for the selection of research scholars, and training programs.

Research at BITS is a component of an integrated activity encompassing teaching as well as its linkages with the outside world of Academia and Industry. A large number of students at all levels in the three-tier structure of the Educational Programmes are involved in research.

BITS Pilani-Dubai Campus has entered into research collaboration with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE

BPDC has also established Academic Collaborations with reputed American and Canadian universities.

Former Academic Block, BITS, Pilani - Dubai

1. Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A.
2. University of Maryland, College Park, U.S.A.
3. Kansas State University (KSU), Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.A.
4. Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, U.S.A.
5. University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, USA
6. George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
7. University of Ontario, Canada
8. University of Windsor, Canada

The scope of Academic colloboration includes;

• Preferential admission into graduate programmes for BITS Pilani Dubai Campus students
• joint research activities
• Credits transfer
• Student and faculty exchange

Directors of BITS Pilani Dubai Campus

BITS, Pilani-Dubai was headed for 10 years since its inception by Prof. Dr. M. Ramachandran. Dr. Ramachandran obtained his B.E in Mechanical Engineering and PhD trom the Indian Institute of Science and belongs to the Indian Engineering Service. He came to BITS, Pilani as a full Professorin 1997 after a 31-year career in different ministries of the Government of India. He was appointed Dean, Research & Consultancy at BITS, Pilani in 1999. Prof. Dr. M. Ramachandran is a Senior member of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, and a Life Member of the Solar Energy Society of India. He has also supervised a number of doctoral theses projects in energy areas. Prof. Dr. M. Ramachandran retired from the post of the Director of BITS, Pilani-Dubai on 16 July 2010, after completing a very fruitful 10-year tenure.

A renowned expert in the field of Robotics, Prof. Dr. R. K. Mittal took over the baton of Director from Prof. Dr. M. Ramachandran at the start of the 11th year on 16 July 2010.

Prof. Dr. R.K. Mittal has been deputed from BITS, Pilani-Rajasthan as the director for BITS, Pilani-Dubai Campus. Prof. Dr. R. K. Mittal is a B.E.(Hons.), M.E. and Ph.D from BITS, Pilani. He commenced his academic career in BITS, Pilani in 1975 and has about 35 years of academic and administrative experience to his credit. Prof. Dr. R.K. Mittal is an expert in the area of Robotics and has co-authored two textbooks and published over 40 articles in national and international journals. He is also the founding member of the Centre of Robotics and Intelligent systems at BITS, Pilani.

He was serving as the Deputy Director (Administration) at BITS before being deputed to the Dubai campus. He has led and been instrumental in computerization of the academic and administrative processes of the institute. He is the president of the BITS Alumni Association since its inception in 1989.

Faculty

BITS, Pilani-Dubai has a highly qualified and committed team of faculty members. Currently there are 70 teaching faculty and 28 lab instructors. The teaching faculty comprise of 10 Professors, 16 Associate Professors, 28 Assistant Professors, 9 Senior Lecturers and 7 Lecturers. 80% of the teaching faculty are PhD holders from highly reputed Institutions such as IISc-Bangalore, BITS, Pilani-Rajasthan, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Bombay, Anna University- Chennai, University of Delhi, etc. and 20% of them are having M.E, M.Tech, M.Phil degrees with several years of teaching experience from reputed Institutions, who are currently pursuing PhDs in their respective fields. The faculty has an average experience of 12–14 years and have served in reputed Institutions.

All newly inducted faculty are oriented to the BITS, Pilani system of conduct of programmes. BPD constantly ensures high quality of performance by the faculty by a system of confidential feedback system by the student.

There is a constant endeavor to add to the strength of the faculty as per the requirements from time to time.

BITS Pilani Education Process

BITS is strongly wedded to orienting education to meet the rapidly changing needs and challenges of the environment. If university education is an organised attempt to help people become intelligent and able to face open-ended real-life situations, it must at least have an economic relevance to society.

Evaluation

All courses are conducted and evaluated in a continuous & internal manner by the faculty who teach these courses. The student registers for a certain number of courses each semester; the year being divided into two semesters, and a summer term, whenever offered. A faculty member, as registration advisor, helps a student to draw up his programme, suitable to his pace and needs, which is made possible by the course-wise time-table of the Institute. Every student gets, incidentally, a training in decision-making through (i) choice of load, i.e. number of courses per semester to suit his pace, (ii) selection of his own time-table to suit his convenience, and (iii) picking up courses as electives to meet his own aspirations. It is the responsibility of the student to attend classes regularly and to maintain a required level of scholastic standing.

Assessment

All courses are conducted and evaluated in a continuous & internal manner by the faculty who teach these courses. The student registers for a certain number of courses each semester; the year being divided into two semesters, and a summer term, whenever offered. A faculty member, as registration advisor, helps a student to draw up his programme, suitable to his pace and needs, which is made possible by the course-wise time-table of the Institute. Every student gets, incidentally, a training in decision-making through (i) choice of load, i.e. number of courses per semester to suit his pace, (ii) selection of his own time-table to suit his convenience, and (iii) picking up courses as electives to meet his own aspirations. It is the responsibility of the student to attend classes regularly and to maintain a required level of scholastic standing.

Grading

The system discards the conventional emphasis on a single final examination and numerical marks as the only absolute indication of the quality of student's performance. Thus, at the end of the semester the teacher of the course awards letter grades A, B, C, D, E to the student based on the total performance of the student and it is relative to the performance of others taking the same course. These letter grades stand for quality performance : A-Excellent, B-Good, C-Fair, D-Poor and E-Exposed.

Further, these letter grades have points associated with them in a quantified hierarchy. There are also courses in which the teacher awards non-letter grades which have only a qualitative hierarchy. The teacher may also pronounce the performance of a student in a course in terms of certain reports which should not be misconstrued as grades.

Facilities

The Institute is located in Dubai International Academic City and offers excellent infra-structure and state-of-the art facilities to its students. Apart from the various facilities offered to the students on the campus, the Institute also provides Student visas, Hostel facilities and Transport facilities.

Alumni

Six batches totalling 982 students have graduated from BPD to date. More than 50 reputed universities have offered admission to BPD graduates for Masters and Ph.D programmes. Some of them are Stanford University-California, Cornell University , University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, University of California , University of Pennsylvania , Texas A&M University-Texas, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan , Purdue University , New Jersey institute of Technology , University of Toronto etc.

BPD Graduates have been recruited both through campus placements and on their own initiative by more than 200 prestigious companies globally such as Microsoft, Oracle, Sony Ericsson etc. in USA, Seimens, MAERSK, J.Ray Mc Dermott, Steinweg Sharaf, Mott Mac Donald, Standard Chartered Bank, Emirates Airlines etc. in UAE, Infosys, Wipro, DELL, Baker Hughes, Tata Consultancy etc. in India and several other global corporations in other countries.

BITS Alumni Association- BITSAA International

BITSAA International engages in charitable and educational activities by raising funds for setting up endowments, creating scholarships, rewarding teaching and research and generally promoting the development of resources at Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani, Dubai, Goa & Hyderabad campuses.

BITSAA International also aims to strengthen the ties, friendship and communication amongst former students, current students, faculty and friends of the Institute. BITSAA International provides a number of channels for people to stay connected with each other and with Birla Institute of Technology & Science.

Extra-Curricular and Co-Curricular Activities

The Institute places great emphasis on extra-curricular activities which help enhance students' abilities and help them utilize their free time through active participation in various sports, cultural and social activities. The main objective is to help students to develop their interests and abilities thereby contributing to their overall development.

Student Clubs

Student Clubs are formed around academic and national themes to add to the rich mosaics of student life. Students who have common interest in debating come together to form a debating club; those committed to traditional life come together to form a club for preservation of culture and so on. At present BPD has 15 students clubs namely Dance Club, Music Club, Art and Craft Club, Photography Club, Drama Club, Science and Technology Club, Debating Society, Management Club, Quiz Club, F1 Club, Social Activities, Pixel, Literary Club, Environment Club, etc. The aim of such clubs is to enrich the social and cultural life on the Institute campus.

Social Services

BITS, Pilani -Dubai actively promotes and participates several socially relevant activities every year. The faculty and students of BPD have formed a Social Activities Club, through which, they actively conduct several campaigns and activities that contribute to the service of the society and help create awareness against social issues. Some of these events include:

1. Blood Donation Campaign
2. Environmental Public Speaking Competitions, organised by Emirates Environmental Group
3. City Clean-up Campaigns
4. Celebration of Earth Day

Sports Activities

The Campus encourages students and faculty to be involved in recreational sport through intramural, extramural competitions and tournaments. The Student Sports Committee is committed to health and well-being of student community. To achieve the above mentioned aim the Campus provides separate boys and girls sports facilities in addition to an outdoor court for playing Basketball, Volleyball, Throw ball, Tennis and Handball. The facilities are supervised and maintained by separate instructor who is also responsible for training the students and supervising their activity.

BITS organizes an Inter University Sports festival called Bits Sports Festival every year in which more than fifteen colleges / universities from across the UAE participate. It includes tournaments such as throw ball, football, cricket, table tennis, chess and badminton. BPD has been the first institution to introduce Badminton as an inter-university sport event in UAE for both boys and girls. BITS has won the overall-championship for 5 consecutive years. Besides this, BITS has also won several laurels in various other inter university events organized by other colleges.

Student Professional/ Scientific Bodies and Acitivities

BPD encourages student to meet each other in a friendly atmosphere to conduct professional / scientific activities such as institute-wide technical festival, Techno-fest, and also to form scientific and professional bodies of international repute such as a Student Branch of the IEEE, SAE, ASHRAE, Dot-Net, Linux Users Group, Science and Technology Club, etc. Currently with more than 200 student members, IEEE BPD 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.

Cultural Activities

BPD provides facilities & services that encourage the personal development of every student in the social, cultural & interpersonal domains. These are in direct support to its mission to produce self - reliant young professionals. A Cultural Committee coordinates events almost every fortnight & all round the year to give students a change from routine and to make their life enjoyable

It also provides ample opportunities to each and every student to showcase their talents.Committee coordinates activities based on the feedback from the students

Extracurricular activities are like refreshing symphony in the academic atmosphere of BITS, Pilani - Dubai . A variety of extracurricular activities such as elocution, debate, essay / story / slogan writing, painting, sketching, singing, dancing, Salad Dressing, Gift Wrappng, Flower Arrangement, Indian art - rangoli etc. have become a regular feature of the Campus calendar

Campus Placements

While an Engineering qualification can be critically important, it is not the only factor that employees and head hunters take into account. They are looking for people who offer more than just a formal qualification. They want to recruit Engineers with drive, innovative ideas and vision who can express themselves effectively and demonstrate confidence and maturity. At BPD effort is taken to give a well rounded development to the student and we are conscious of the fact that a top quality engineering programme should provide significant career support.

In keeping with the BITS tradition and recognizing the importance of career services as an integral part of an engineering institution, BITS, Pilani-Dubai organizes successful campus placement programmes for the graduating students. Placement Brochures providing information about the institution and its academic programmes along with the profiles of the graduating students are distributed to the heads of reputed organizations in UAE inviting them for the programme.

The response received from the companies was overwhelming for the past five placement programmes. The total number of jobs offered by the firms exceeded the total number of job aspirants. Many multinational companies participated and recruited students from this premier institute. The selected students got placed with good salary packages in their chosen line.

Relocation

BITS, Pilani - Dubai , was first located in Al Ghurair University Campus, then at Dubai Knowledge Village, and to its permanent campus with student housing at Dubai International Academic City in September 2007.

Other campuses

• Pilani Campus
• Goa Campus
• Hyderabad Campus

External links

• BITS, Pilani - Dubai Campus
• BITS, Pilani - Dubai 360 Virtual Tour
• BITS, Pilani - Dubai Student Forum