An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has donated ₹110 crore to establish a school for data science and artificial intelligence.
A memorandum of understanding to this effect was exchanged on Tuesday between the Institute’s Director V. Kamakoti and Sunil Wadhwani, a distinguished alumnus of the institute. Mr. Wadhwani, a B. Tech graduate of the 1974 batch and co-founder of IGate and Mastech Digital, who made the endowment said, “Data-based technologies are starting to transform sectors around the world. I see a strong need for a dedicated data science and AI school focusing on foundational and applied research in these areas. With the advancements in science and technology, India holds immense potential and can be a world leader in AI and allied sciences.”
Mr. Kamakoti said the fund came at an appropriate time. Apart from looking at AI from an application perspective in niche areas such as healthcare, agriculture, sustainable cities, manufacturing and financial technologies, the institute planned to conduct research in AI.
“We are committed to starting a state-of-the art first of its kind B.Tech programme AI and Data Analytics. We want to launch in July 2024,” Mr. Kamakoti said. Within the next three - four years, the department would have 50 faculties and 500 students, he said. Currently it has 15 faculties from nine departments.
Admission to the new B. Tech programme to be offered by the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI will be through JEE (Advanced) scores. Mr. Wadhwani’s family foundation the Wadhwani Impact Trust has been supporting social welfare, affordable healthcare and scientific research through the Wadhwani Institute of Sustainable Healthcare (WISH Foundation) and Wadhwani Institute of Artificial Intelligence.
The new school in the institute will offer B.Tech, M.Tech and MS and Ph.D in data science and AI. A joint M.Sc with the university of Birmingham, U.K.; an international interdisciplinary master’s programme in DS; an interdisciplinary dual degree in DS; and a web-enabled M.Tech in industrial AI are on offer.
