Tag: Short-term courses

Towards Farm Digitization

IIT Kharagpur Training Researchers in Application of Digital Technologies in Agriculture for bringing Digital Revolution in the Farm sector

In 2015, the Government of India had launched the Digital India programme to transition India’s public service sector into the digital space. Agriculture is the largest employment vertical with a GDP share of 14% holds a key place in this mission to digitization. Over the years, India has witnessed a substantial increase in yields, crop diversity due to mechanization and knowledge dissemination programmes. However, the steeping consumption due to population explosion and rising income has been a constant challenge despite the progress in the agricultural sector. While the Govt. of India has set up several programmes to achieve the dual solution of automation and digitization, technical institutions can facilitate the transformation. Towards this end, IIT Kharagpur is training the farming community and organizing outreach programmes. 

The Dept. of Agricultural and Food Engineering has launched an online course on “Application of Digital Technologies in Agriculture” under the Centre of Excellence for Digital Farming Solutions for Enhancing Productivity by Robots, Drones and AGVs project sponsored by NAHEP-CAAST, ICAR, New Delhi. The short-term course will focus on engaging smart technologies for enhancing productivity with minimal effort and cost. These would include Sensors, Drones, Robots, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Machine Vision Techniques, Computer-Aided Design and Advanced Digital Technologies application in Agriculture.

“Outreach projects in agricultural digitization are of paramount importance towards development and adoption of knowledge-intensive agriculture education. Globally researchers have been extending their support to precision farming and smart farming through innovations and data analytics. While our Prime Minister had announced a digital marketplace for the farming community, the technical institutions like ours also need to facilitate farming technology requirements of India. The recent calamities and their aftermath has shown why we need to be ready for bad monsoon or climate change or even return to organic farming ways while enhancing agricultural yields by means of technology,” said Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur and Principal Investigator of NAHEP-CAAST-IIT Kharagpur.

The NAHEP centre is integrated by three interdisciplinary research divisions such as Agribots, Agri-Drones and Agri-AGV’s based on four portfolios – 1. Climate-based Digital Knowledge Support Centre; 2. Seed/Seedling Processing and Nursery Automation Centre; 3. Smart Portable Machinery Centre; 4. Food Processing Automation Centre. It envisages the enhancement of quality and relevance of agricultural higher education to the agricultural university students.

“It is crucial to empower the human resources with digital technologies in the field of agricultural science and technology, particularly in less-explored domains. The penetration of such knowledge will drive further R&D and create a culture to understand and expedite the adoption of advanced technologies in agricultural practices,” said Prof. Rajendra Machavaram, joint Principal Investigator of NAHEP-CAAST-IIT Kharagpur.

The current course piloted with the postgraduate and doctoral students, faculty members, and scientists from the Vasantarao Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Maharashtra. However, it garnered significant interest among students and researchers from other institutions and also alumni of IIT Kharagpur. The online lectures for the course have been made available on the Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/mwg-cgbn-ddy

Media Coverage:

Careers 360       LiveMint         Outlook        NDTV         DataQuest        The Week

Contacts: 

Project Information: Prof. Rajendra Machavaram rajendra@agfe.iitkgp.ac.in;

Institute Related: Prof. B N Singh, registrar@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in; 

Media Outreach: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in;

More News:: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/; 

Follow IIT Kharagpur on Social Media: Facebook:@IIT.Kgp; Twitter: @IITKgp; Instagram: @iit.kgp

IIT KGP and UMass Dartmouth, USA to Explore Blue Economy

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IIT Kharagpur and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth have signed an MoU for collaborative research, training and the exchange of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students, and academic and research information.

The two institutions have initiated discussions to formulate a joint international programme on Marine Science and Technology targeting the huge potential of the Blue Economy, confirmed Prof. P P Chakrabarti, Director of IIT Kharagpur in a social media post. He also mentioned that discussions are ongoing regarding the way forward with Chancellor Dr. Robert Johnson and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Dr. Mohammad Karim of UMass Dartmouth.

UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology focuses on interdisciplinary basic-to-applied marine sciences and the development of related innovative technologies. Some of the focus areas are biogeochemical cycling, coastal ecosystem dynamics and restoration, computational modeling, marine renewable energy, ocean observing/remote sensing and ocean physics. IIT Kharagpur too has been making a significant impact in renewable energy, computer modeling, remote sensing, studying ecosystem of marine bodies etc.

Possibilities for a joint PhD/Masters programs would be explored, preferably in association with other reputed academic, research or industrial organizations. The scope of the MoU also includes possible short courses, seminars, workshops or conferences, and joint distance and computer-based learning activities.

IIT KGP and Carleton University to Explore Academic Exchanges

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IIT Kharagpur signed an MoU with Carleton University of Canada on September 11, 2018, to support research collaboration, capacity building and other forms of academic partnerships. Under this MoU, both institutions will typically focus on opportunities in student exchange, faculty exchange and professional development programs.

The two institutions will also explore possibilities of collaborative Masters Programs and jointly supervised Ph.D. students. The MoU will cover the scope of interaction among members of faculty relating to joint research projects, research visits and when necessary, joint applications for research funding from external funding agencies.

“We are happy to have the MoU signed with Carleton University. We look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with the different units of the university,” said Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya, Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur.

Carleton, which is among the best comprehensive universities in Canada, with a high research focus and diverse academic programs, has been recently focussing in areas such as autonomous vehicles, technology enablers for smart cities. IIT Kharagpur has similar areas of research such as Intelligent Transportation, Future of Cities, Digital Convergence and Centre of Excellence in Artificial intelligence.

“I am excited about this new partnership. This is the beginning of a long-term collaboration, having students from IIT Kharagpur come to Canada and Carleton students coming here and launching of exciting professional development programmes. This is a wonderful opportunity and an auspicious day,” said Dr. Karen Schwartz, Associate Vice-President, Research and International at Carleton University.

Discussions are ongoing between the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University and the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communications Engineering at IIT Kharagpur for dual degree programs for masters and doctoral students. Plans are also in place for distance education offerings in Data Analytics, Cyber Security and Management leadership which will be jointly taught by experts from both institutions. This activity will be coordinated by the Continuing Education office at IIT Kharagpur and targeted towards professionals in Indian industry and academia.

Quite similar to IIT KGP, Carleton has a history connected with World War II. The University was founded by the community in 1942 to meet the needs of veterans returning from the Second World War. Currently, it has 26,000 students and more than 125,000 alumni.