LIRC@SFIT: Oct 6, 2021

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

IIT Madras Launches Two Diplomas In Programming And Data Science For Students, Working Professionals& Job Seekers

By India Education Diary Bureau Admin On Oct 5, 2021

CHENNAI : Indian Institute of Technology Madras is launching two Diploma Programs in Programming and Data Science. These top-of-the-line diploma programs, carefully designed by leading experts in the field, are the only official diplomas offered by IIT Madras.

The program structure enables learners of all backgrounds to build the necessary fundamentals, enhance their knowledge, and hone their skills through extensive hands-on training. Learners need not have an engineering or computer science background. The diplomas are open to students, working professionals, and job seekers who have completed at least two years of their undergraduate education in any discipline through any mode.

The portal for the diploma entry was launched today (4th October 2021) by Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in the presence of Mr. ThirumalaArohi, Senior Vice President, Infosys Limited and Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.

The Applications are open for the Diploma entry Qualifier Exam. The Last Date to apply is 15th November 2021. Those interested can apply through https://diploma.iitm.ac.in.

The Diploma entry qualifier exam is scheduled on 12th December 2021. Applicants must attend the in-person Diploma Qualifier Exam at an exam centre in the applicant’s city of choice. Those who clear this exam will be eligible to join the diploma program.

Addressing the launch event, Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), said, “It is important to have skilled manpower in data science and programming from India to meet the requirements of the global economy. I am happy to see that IIT Madras is launching relevant programs that are on par with the industry requirement.”

Further, Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe said, “Education is a continuous process of learning. Students and working professionals will have to continuously upgrade their knowledge and skills to stay competitive in today’s workplace. I am confident that these diplomas will reach a diverse set of learners who are passionate about building a career in programming or data science.”

A learner has to complete eight courses to obtain a diploma, either in programming or data science. One diploma can be completed in as short as eight months. As the content delivery will be in online mode, the program has the flexibility required for working professionals and students.

With these diplomas, IIT Madras aims to provide the highest-quality education and training to the largest possible audience. With this goal in mind, the program offers significant financial flexibility through its pay as you go model. Basically, the fee paid every term is based on the number of courses registered in that term. In addition, IIT Madras is offering course fee waivers upto 75% based on the socio-economic background of the learners.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. ThirumalaArohi, Senior Vice President and Head – Education Training and Assessment, Infosys Limited, said, “I am glad to be part of the launch of IIT Madras’ Diploma programs in Programming and Data Science. We are thriving in a world where technology is all pervasive. To navigate through this labyrinth of opportunities, the students and professionals must embrace an attitude of lifelong learning. Therefore, it is both timely and opportune that our premier educational Institution, IIT Madras is offering Diplomas in Programming and Data Science for college students and working professionals. The program structure is a perfect blend of curated best in class self-paced learning, live classes, hands-on activities, assignments and projects. The flexible and affordable nature of the program will help aspiring learners to accelerate their skills enhancement and be ready for the myriad opportunities, across sectors.”

The diplomas provide a unique opportunity for working professionals to upskill themselves without having to take a break. Even employers who want to upskill their employees can consider this option.

The courses would be delivered through a comprehensive learning delivery model that competes with a classroom learning experience. The courses include lecture videos, lecture-based activity questions, practice assignments, graded assignments, and mini-projects that reinforce problem-solving skills.

There are live sessions with course instructors where questions from the learners are answered for every subject. The evaluation would be done through in-person quizzes and end-term examinations, ensuring that this program meets with the same academic rigor of an on-campus program from IIT Madras. This one-of-a-kind combination provides high-quality training that is sought-after by recruiters.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “We are delighted to offer this program to the students, working professionals, and job seekers who are passionate about building a career in programming and data science. The convenience of online learning combined with in-person assessments makes the program flexible while retaining the academic rigor. With our rich experience in the online education space, we are well-equipped to handle scale, provide an enriching and engaging learning experience.”

With a blend of high-quality content, continuous mentorship, rigorous hands-on practice, active peer-to-peer support, and prompt feedback, these two official Diplomas from IIT Madras, prepare the learners of all backgrounds to build fundamental knowledge and gain industry-relevant cutting edge skills required for a successful career in Programming and Data Science.

Source: https://indiaeducationdiary.in/iit-madras-launches-two-diplomas-in-programming-and-data-science-for-students-working-professionals-job-seekers/

Classroom Teaching: AICTE Directs Institutes To Install Hi-Tech Gadgets To Beat Covid-19

Classroom Teaching: AICTE Directs Institutes To Install Hi-Tech Gadgets To Beat Covid-19

In its latest circular, the AICTE has asked its affiliated educational institutions to take the necessary steps for installation of air-sanitization devices based on Ultra - Violet C band irradiation in auditoriums, buildings, AC Buses etc.

VIKASH SHARMA
INDIA
PUBLISHED: SATURDAY, 02 OCTOBER 2021
LAST UPDATED: 02 OCTOBER 2021, 02:05 PM IST

Photo: For Representational Purposes

Classroom Teaching: AICTE Directs Institutes To Install Hi-Tech Gadgets To Beat Covid-19

The All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) has issued a circular directing institutions and universities to take special measures for the installation of several devices to put a check on the spread of Covid-19 during resumption of physical mode of teaching for the current academic session.

In its latest circular, the AICTE has asked its affiliated educational institutions to take the necessary steps for installation of air-sanitization devices based on Ultra - Violet C band irradiation in auditoriums, buildings, AC Buses etc.

The AICTE has also asked to install the 'Circulating Air Flow Purelevator’ technology' for lifts, toilets, washrooms and the 'Standalone Air- Circulation Technology ' for rooms to reduce cross-infections and restoring confidence among students during the physical classes in the current academic year.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the premier national R&D organisation under the Ministry of Science and Technology, has developed possible solutions and interventions that are required to contain the tremendous challenge faced by the country due to SARS-COV-2 virus that causes Covid19.

As a possible mitigation measure, CSIR constituent laboratories, CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIRCSIO), CSIR-Central Building Research institute (CSIR-CBRI) and CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR - lMTech) have developed and made available air-sanitization devices based on Ultra-Violet C band irradiation.

“These devices, once extensively implemented in community spaces like schools and colleges, have the potential of reducing cross-infections and restoring students' confidence in academic places,” the circular added.

Source: https://odishatv.in/news/education/classroom-teaching-aicte-directs-institutes-to-install-hi-tech-gadgets-to-beat-covid-19-160895

AICTE wants colleges to install air purifiers

Bangalore Mirror Bureau / Oct 6, 2021, 06.00 AM IST

By Dhanalakshmi TL

With classes slowly shifting to offline mode, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has now asked colleges to install air-sanitisation devices based on ultra-violet C band irradiation. AICTE member secretary Professor Rajive Kumar said that during the pandemic, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have developed possible solutions and interventions required to contain the tremendous challenge faced by the country due to covid. “The aerosol, air-borne route of the virus is now considered as the most likely cause for spread of infection. This mode of virus dispersal has been confirmed by major agencies like WHO. As a possible mitigation measure, CSIR institutes have developed air-sanitisation based on ultra-violet C band irradiation. These devices, once extensively implemented in community spaces like schools and colleges, have potential of reducing cross-infections and restoring students’ confidence in academic places,” he said. These AICTE-approved institutes have been suggested to take necessary steps for installation of these devices, auditoriums, buildings, and AC buses, etc. The circulating air-flow technology has been suggested for lifts, toilets and washrooms while a standalone air-circulation technology for rooms has the potential of reducing cross infections during physical classes in the current academic year.

Source: https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/aicte-wants-colleges-to-install-air-purifiers/articleshow/86798927.cms

Indian scientists working on 1st ever dengue DNA vaccine

This is the second dengue vaccine candidate from India.(Reuters file photo. Representative image)
Updated on Sep 28, 2021 04:25 AM IST

By Anonna Dutt, New Delhi

The world’s first DNA vaccine was approved for use in India recently. Developed by the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila, ZyCoV-D is, as the name indicates, is a vaccine against Covid-19. Now, some researchers believe the technology -- considered superior because DNA vaccines are easier to make and store, and, most importantly store an enormous amount of information -- can be used to develop a vaccine for another tropical disease, dengue, a viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes.

“We know that there are four serotypes of the virus, but what we found was that there were genetic variations within the serotypes -- any sequence with over 6% difference is considered to be a different genotype. So, the team created a consensus sequence that is the same across the genotypes as well,” said Dr Easwaran Sreekumar, senior scientist at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology-Thiruvananthapuram and one of the corresponding authors of the yet-to-be peer-reviewed paper uploaded on MedRxiv.

With the DNA vaccine platform allowing them to pick pieces of genetic material that can be used in the vaccine, the researchers resorted to sequencing the virus from four regions in the country that report dengue cases and selecting the common parts.

The virus that causes dengue has four types with four different viral antigens – essentially proteins that cause the infection and against which antibodies are created.

The researchers selected a part called EDIII (short for envelope protein domain III) from all the four serotypes of the virus, which is widely considered the most important viral protein. In addition, the researchers also selected the NS1 protein from the DENV2 serotype, which is known to cause severe dengue with internal bleeding and drop in blood pressure.

“In the traditional vaccines, the whole envelope protein is used that can lead to Antibody Dependant Enhancement (a phenomenon where the viral antigen is bound to less effective antibodies, something that actually makes the virus more effective) . We have used only the domain III of the envelope protein from all four serotypes to avoid ADE. And, we have added the NS1 protein from DENV2 that is known to generate both T cell and B cell response,” said Dr Arun Sankaradoss, project lead and scientist at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research-Bangalore. T and B cells are lymphocyte or white blood cells that are part of the immune system.

This, they say, is likely to provide effective immune response against all four serotypes of the virus, without causing ADE or antibody-dependent enhancement where antibodies generated against some of the serotypes by the vaccine can lead to a severe disease by the other serotypes.

This is what is believed to have happened with the only approved vaccine against dengue, where the vaccinated individuals developed more severe disease in the Phillipines. The vaccine uses live weakened virus to elicit immune response.

The DNA technology based vaccine candidate was tested on a mice model for DENV2 dengue and a good response was seen.

“We still do not have mice models for the other three serotypes; we are trying to create it. The vaccine candidate was found to be protective in the mice model and also neutralised the other three serotypes of the virus effectively in lab experiments. It is usually the DENV2 against which the immune response is the least and we have tested that,” said Sreekumar.

This is the second dengue vaccine candidate from India, with the other one being developed by researchers from International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). The ICGEB vaccine uses a virus-like particle using the same EDIII portion of the dengue virus.

“So far, DNA vaccines hadn’t been successful in producing good immune response; but with ZyCoV-D we now have a safe and effective DNA vaccine. It is a very versatile platform. It brings down the manufacturing cost. It is stable at room temperature for a year, and at 4 degrees forever. This means it will be a very good candidate for resource constrained settings. That is the reason we have also used sequences from Eastern Africa for the vaccine,” said Sankaradoss.

Globally, there are at least five vaccines under development against dengue. Traditionally, the four serotypes have posed a challenge for dengue vaccine.

Once developed, the vaccines cannot only help India but the neighbouring countries. Asia contributes nearly 70% of the total dengue burden in the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 390 million dengue virus infections every year, of which 96 million become symptomatic.

One hundred twenty-six countries or territories saw dengue infections according to Global Burden Disease (GBD) 2019.

The global number of dengue episodes increased 85.47% from 30.67 million in 1990 to 56.88 million in 2019, highlighting the importance of developing an effective vaccine against the viral disease that is a major public health concern globally.

“The dengue vaccine is very important as there are pockets across the country that report a flare up in cases every few years, and lead to deaths especially in children like we saw in Firozabad. A vaccine can prevent these deaths. Dengue cases are going up not just in urban centres but also across the rural parts of the country wherever construction activities such as for the roads are being undertaken,” said Dr PL Joshi, former head of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indian-scientists-working-on-1st-ever-dengue-dnavaccine-101632765827609.html

As crypto booms, exchanges need a variety of engineers

TNN | Oct 6, 2021, 08.04 AM IST

The world is still divided on whether cryptocurrencies will survive. But for now, there’s intense action in the field. Including in India.
Market research firms have put Indians among the biggest users and holders of cryptocurrency. Several cryptocurrency exchanges – which allow you to trade in cryptocurrency, and even use them to purchase goods & services – have emerged in India, and most are doing phenomenal business. Coin-DCX became India’s first cryptocurrency unicorn in August when the exchange raised $90 million from investors. Coinswitch Kuber hit 10 million registered users in September, just 15 months from launch, making it perhaps the biggest exchange in India.

Exchanges need talent to build, maintain and improve multiple components. They need user-interface designers and front-end engineers to build a visually appealing application that is also simple and seamless to use, more so since users are new to crypto. They need engineers to build a trading engine that can quickly match buyers and sellers, and enable immediate transactions. They need to provide a variety of ways for people to use their cryptocurrency – not just as investment, but also for, say, payments (Unocoin allows users to recharge their Fastag, make bill payments). This requires building those interconnections.

They need to enable wallets for users to keep their cryptocurrency. They need to provide extremely high levels of security. The whole transaction system is typically built on a blockchain network, and while that provides for a lot of trust and security, blockchains have been hacked.
Exchange responsibilities

Avinash Shekhar, co-CEO of Zeb-Pay, says the talent around crypto deposit infrastructure is turning out to be a key requirement. “The exchanges have three responsibilities. One, if you are depositing Bitcoin from somewhere, we should have an automated system that takes this into account. The transaction typically happens on blockchain infrastructure. Two, as exchanges can be hacked, you need infrastructure to keep it safe. Three, when you place a withdrawal request, it needs to be processed in an automated manner – again using a blockchain infrastructure that is secure enough. Crypto engineers need to understand every block in the chain and how the data moves. There’s great demand for a blockchain engineer with an understanding of blockchain security, platforms, architecture, and standards.,” he said.

Ashish Singhal, founder of Coinswitch Kuber, says they look for skills in problem solving, product development, data, engineering, and security. The blockchain industry, he says, is putting a new face to security, but blockchain security talent has not evolved in India. “We had to go to Israel and the US for security experts,” he says.

Another major evolving area is smart contracts, built on the Ethereum blockchain network. These are collections of code that carry out a set of instructions when certain pre-stated conditions are met. These contracts, which make tampering of transactions impossible, are powering decentralised applications. Ethereum is also what has enabled the rise of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which are digital assets designed to represent ownership of unique virtual items.

Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO & co-founder of Unocoin, says smart contracts allow users to create decentralised financing protocols, create NFTs, create automatically executing escrow contracts.

Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, says smart contracts have created good demand for developers specialising in Solidity, the programming language preferred for smart contracts. He says developers familiar with Python will find it easy to learn Solidity as they have similar syntax.

Almost every company in the business is expanding. ZebPay’s head of HR, Geetika Mehta, says they plan to raise headcount from 220 now – of which 30% are engineers – to 400-450 in 6-9 months. WazirX had 35 employees in January; it’s now 300.

Coinswitch Kuber’s Singhal said they have grown to 350 people, from 20 last year, and they expect to be a 1,500-strong team by the end of the 2021-22 financial year. “A third of the talent will be engineers, specialising in data, security, and solving complex engineering problems,” he says.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/cryptocurrency/as-crypto-booms-exchanges-need-a-variety-of-engineers/articleshowprint/86799920.cms

Lam’s India engineers build complex chip fab machines

TNN | Oct 6, 2021, 07.59 AM IST

Lam Research may not be as known in the semiconductor sector as those like Intel, AMD or Samsung. But the capital equipment that it provides to chip fabrication facilities enable the manufacture of some of the most advanced semiconductors. “We’re probably the world’s most underappreciated company responsible for critical output,” says Rangesh Raghavan, corporate VP and general manager at Lam Research India.

Lam Research has a large presence in India, with over half of the R&D resources of the company based out of its offices here. So the work done out of India has a huge impact on the firm’s capabilities. The research done here is what allows the machines used to make the world’s chips run. Lam is also building a new state-of-the-art lab in Bengaluru which should be ready by the middle of next year and which will more than double its footprint.

“On the software side, some of the engineering work that our people do here is actually very sophisticated. They enable precision control in our machines. The machines are extremely expensive and therefore have to run flawlessly,” says Raghavan.

Raghavan says one of the product groups the India centre is best known for is the one involved in deposition systems. “A major shift that has occurred in the semiconductor industry is the switch from 2D architecture to 3D. Instead of just shrinking everything (like transistors), we can fit more by building vertically (stacking dies on top of each other and interconnecting them). This vertical flip has particularly played to Lam’s strengths because our core technologies are able to deposit and pattern the films correctly,” he says.

Here, one of the responsibilities Lam’s India team had was to develop a new product that would enable deposition of a low resistivity film for 3D NAND applications. “The team was responsible for the design, development, and integration of the key mechanical, electrical, and software systems for this module. This equipment’s stateof-the-art gas distribution and delivery technology were critical to the success of the application. The topnotch design ensured a high-quality product developed in record time, keeping up with our customer expectations,” says Raghavan. In order to develop the product, the team needed to have experts in the fields of systems integration, fluid and gas delivery, electrical distribution and controls, and thermal competencies.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/lams-india-engineers-build-complex-chip-fab-machines/articleshowprint/86799861.cms

Computer science, communications most lucrative

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Computer science, communications most lucrative
TNN | Oct 6, 2021, 07.44 AM IST

Prof Debabrata Das, director of IIIT-Bangalore, says the engineering fields of computer science and communications are certain to stay the most lucrative in the coming years because of the job opportunities in the fields.
“Demand for computer science, data science and communication science has gone up, apart from interdisciplinary subjects such as robotics, mechatronics, and biomedical engineering,” he says. Mechatronics is the branch of engineering that focuses on the integration of electronic and electrical engineering systems, apart from robotics, computer science and telecommunications.

Das’s own work has been in the field of computer networking, mainly on broadband wireless network, 5G and 6G, and medium access control protocol (MACP). MACP protocols enforce a methodology to allow multiple devices access to a shared media network.

“If two of us communicate at the same time with the same wi-fi and the medium is wireless, both will have the same frequency and will collide. How the machine will intelligently understand this without talking to each other is what MACP is about,” he says.

Das adds that such communications will gain more importance in the Industrial 4.0 world, where industrial devices communicate with each other. “You probably need about 700 billion IoT devices for the 7 billion population in the next 15 years, and these will be communicating in the cloud, and storing information. This will also result in a change in the protocols that carry the information for efficient routing,” he says.

To become an expert in the subject, he suggests a better understanding of how the internet works, in depth understanding of heterogeneous system communication, and conversion of wireless communication to optical communication. For that, he says, students need to be good in mathematics, probability, computer networking, signal processing and mobile architecture.

But he is concerned about the state of engineering education in India. “Engineering schools have improved due to the support from UGC, but that is not enough. Most schools need to improve with two mandates: being atmanirbhar, and improving skills of students.”

He also suggests starting individual and group projects at the UG level that give students more exposure to the world of technology. His views mirror that of Hari Balakrishnan, professor of computer science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who compared it to being an apprentice. “Research is best learnt in a way one becomes an electrician – not just theory, but you learn by doing it,” he had told Times Techies.

Students, Das says, should also learn to communicate, show proficiency in technical writing and know how to speak. “Also, face success and failure with the same gusto. Nobody takes failure seriously these days,” he says.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/computer-science-communications-most-lucrative/articleshow/86799694.cms

LIRC@SFIT