Download - Guidebook 2013 - IIT Madras

1Freshman Guidebook, 2013

hello

ready to fly?iitian

Freshman Guidebook

www.mitr.iitm.ac.in

2 Mitr: In need and indeed for you

WelcomeThis a temple of learning aiding knowledge’s quest Where minds are pitted against the very best Where you strive to excel in every wayAs the merciless clock ticks away

Of many a friendship it’s a fairy tale In the others’ company you oft regale The fun and musings shared in the dorm, They subtly make your self transform …

The two grand elephants at insti’s heart Of your memories they’d form a joyous part Whilst the tranquil nature all around, Is a unique experience of beauty profound

With hope and courage march through the gate, learn to labour and to wait … As you embark on life’s journey anew Here’s a warm welcome from mitr


Contents457810121314161718212324263031313234

Greetings

IIT Madras

Mitr

Hostel Life

Academics

NCC, NSS and NSO

Training and Placement Cell

Campus, Landmarks etc.

Food for the Foodies

Student Activities

Student Clubs

C-Tides and CFI

IITM Research Park

Sports

Institute Festivals

Student Gymkhana

Prizes and Recognition

Words from Seniors

Things to get

Glimpses, Contacts & Credits


Firstly, congratulations on getting into one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world! It definitely would not be an

exaggeration to say that you are now going to enter the most beautiful phase and place of your life, the memories of which will linger in your lives forever.

Most of you, like any of us (your seniors), would be stepping into this esteemed institute without being quite sure as to how you would want to see yourself few years down the line. Be assured that IIT Madras is a place where you get exposed to multiple avenues, related to academics, co-curricular and extracurricular activities thus giving a chance for each one of you to identify your true interests and passion and pursue the same. The various activities and occasions associated with the institute not only aim at bringing to the surface the dormant skills of the students but also impart training and experience in organizational and leadership attributes. And this, doubtlessly, is the reason behind the success of the IITians and the peaks of excellence they often scale in the field of specialization they enter and explore, be it academics, industry, sports, arts, literature or politics.

Mitr (Mentoring for Individual’s Transformation) is an initiative of IIT Madras to guide you through your days here. As the name suggests, it is a body of senior student pals and some friendly faculty who will always be willing to help you in ANY matter. mitr has a long cherished tradition of introducing you to a responsible senior student who will meet you soon after you arrive here at IIT Madras. He/She will be your first friend on campus and will clarify any doubts you may have regarding the various aspects of life in the institute. Besides, he/she will also advise you on how to balance academics and extracurricular activities. Moreover, mitr will organize regular sessions with the faculty, alumni and senior students which will help you to make the best of your years in the institute.

Feel free to contact your mitr hostel coordinator (listed in the mitr Pocket Guide) or one of us if you have any query before/after reaching IIT Madras. We wish that you have the most wonderful and fruitful years of your life in the institute and hope that you scale great heights in your career. All the Best!


Greetings!Dear Freshie,

Mitr Student Core GroupSaptarshi, Nandita & Dheeraj


Welcome to Chennai, a fascinating blend of the old and the modern. Chennai is the third largest commercial and industrial centre in India, and is known for its cultural heritage and temple architecture.

It is also a hub for south Indian classical music and dance performances. Chennai is also one of the rare cities to accommodate a national park, the Guindy National Park, within its city limits (in fact, next to IIT Madras!). This city has its old-world charm still intact.

Right in the heart of this metropolis is the sylvan campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. With 632 acres of wooded land, home to many endangered plants and animals and a beautiful lake, it is a welcome respite from the bustling city environment.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras is one among the foremost institutes of national importance in higher technological education, basic and applied research. In 1956, the German Government offered technical assistance for establishing an institute of higher education in engineering in India and the Institute was formally inaugurated in 1959. It is an autonomous body under the administrative control of a Board of Governors appointed by the Government of India. IIT Madras is a residential institute with nearly 460 faculty, 5300 students and 1250 administrative & supporting staff and is a self-contained campus located in a beautiful wooded land. It has established itself as a premier centre for teaching, research and industrial consultancy in the country.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras

VisionTo be an academic institu-tion in dynamic equilibrium with its social, ecological, and economic environ-ment; striving continuously for excellence in the fields of education, research and technological service to the nation

Welcome to IIT


The Institute has sixteen academic departments and a few advanced research centres in various disciplines of engineering and pure sciences, with nearly 100 laboratories organised in a unique pattern of functioning. A faculty of international repute, a brilliant student community, excellent technical & supporting staff and an effective administration have all contributed to the pre-eminent status of IIT Madras.

IIT Madras offers B.Tech/Dual Degree in twelve disciplines, M.Tech and M.Sc in numerous disciplines; M.B.A and MA, apart from research degrees through the M.S. and Ph.D. programmes. Life at IIT Madras is a heady mix of academic, sporting and cultural activities. Our graduates have succeeded with brilliance all over the world, and leave a distinctive mark anywhere they go giving IIT Madras its global reputation.

Quality Policy of IIT MadrasTo pursue global standards of excellence in all our endeavors, namely, teaching, research, consultancy, and continuing education and to remain accountable in our core and support functions, through processes of self- evaluation and continuous improvement.

Core ValuesIn pursuit of its mission IITM will:

1. Develop human resources to serve the nation

2.Recognize teaching as a unifying activity

3.Nurture integrity, creativity, and academic freedom

4.Retain a willingness to experiment with new paradigms

Mission•To create and sustain a community of learning in which students acquire knowledge and learn toapply it professionally with due consideration for ethical, ecological, and economic issues•To pursue research and dis-seminate research findings•To provide knowl-edge-based technological services to satisfy the needs of society and the industry•To help in building nation-al capabilities in science, technology, humanities, management, education and research


In need and indeed for you

Mitr is a body comprising faculty and senior students. The objective of mitr is to provide guidance to the students on various academic and extra-curricularactivities on campus, and to counsel students

who are facing any curriculum-related, or personal problems.

When a new student joins the institute, he/she needs a lot of information and orientation to adjust to the new place. mitr plays a key role in making the transition from a new student to an IITian viz. the process of instilling a sense of pride and confidence in oneself, an essential to do anything to the expected level at IIT.

Mitr student volunteers will be your first friends on campus. For anything you may need, just contact mitr team and they will always be there to help you. Please meet your student mentor as early as possible. The responsibilities of mitr also includes helping out students who find it difficult to cope with the academic load with connecting to tutors who will do the needful. Look out for interesting talks and workshops by people from various parts of the institute, arranged by mitr, to facilitate acquaintance with them so that students can contact the right person(s) freely as and when necessary. Mitr is not just limited to first year students; mitr associates are also actively involved in counseling or offering any kind of help to the students even in the higher semesters. You can reach out to Mitr at any time for any kind of problems and they will be solved just the way your friend would.

Mitr



The hostels are located sufficiently far from the departments. The hostels are named after the rivers. There are 17 hostels out of which two

are ladies hostels. The number is likely to touch 20 in a couple of years.

Though we have a vast campus with places spread out, the students are not allowed to drive powered vehicles in the campus. They can use bicycles only or walk. The institute operates buses and vans from the main gate to different parts of the campus and also around the Hostel and Institute Zone at frequent intervals for easy travel.

Except Cauvery, Krishna, Sindhu, Pamba, Tamiraparani, Mahnadhi and Sharavati hostels, there are around 350 rooms in each hostel. The first year B.Tech Students will be accommodated in a big double/triple room; in subsequent years, single rooms are allocated. PG students are given single rooms.

Internet and Local Area Network (LAN) facility is provided in every room and there is a computer room in all hostels as well. Internet and LAN facility is not given to first year UG students in their first semester. You will also be given an email account on the institute server and it will generally read [email protected]. You can borrow novels and other reading materials

from your hostel library. Most hostels also have a Garden. Every hostel has facilities for sports with all the equipment and gear. Every hostel has a Music room, tech-room. Washing Machines are provided in the hostels for washing clothes. You can also avail the laundry facility in the campus. There is also a room with television known as the ‘common room’ where most of the hostel gatherings happen. Students celebrate almost all the festivals like Holi, Diwali, Pongal etc. The Hostel Night and Ice-Cream Night are two other occasions where the entire hostel meets.

Each hostel has a Warden, who is a faculty member, and a resident Assistant Warden. The Warden and Asst. Warden, with the help of the office staff, handle all administrative work concerning the hostel. Hostel Council consisting of the Warden and a number of Secretaries, elected by the residents of each hostel, decides issues concerning the hostel.

It is expected that the residents of the hostels shall follow the rules and regulations, violations of which will lead to appropriate severe actions. A copy of the rules and regulations document is available at http://ccw.iitm.ac.in/ . Please go through this important document carefully especially the code of conduct section.

Hostel Life



Ragging must be a word that must be bothering you at the back of your mind. Well, at the outset, let us inform you that the practice

of ragging is not condoned by the institute in any form. Those who have indulged in this act of ragging have been strictly dealt with in the past, and will be dealt with if found guilty. If you have any problems regarding this, please feel free to contact your MITR counselor or the hostel warden. Just don’t get terrified by hearing this word. The word is forbidden now. All you would have, may be a small chat with a seniors, who would crack a joke or two, have some friendly conversation and would end up in getting to know you on first name basis. For the seniors it is the time to get rid of unwanted books and bric-a-brac. For the juniors it is an hour or two well spent getting to know the ropes. Nothing more, nothing less. We again point out; if at any time you feel uncomfortable, please contact your counselor or the warden.Please go through the information about the anti-ragging law and understand what you can do when ragged in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragging_in_India

A few minutes into the campus you will encounter students conversing among themselves in a tongue which comes across to you as plain gibberish. Welcome to IIT Madras! The IIT Madras lingo has words extending beyond the realm of the bulkiest OXFORD or the most exhaustive

WEBSTER. Students at IIT Madras, over the years (1959-2012) have come to develop their own indigenous vocabulary which symbolizes the two traits of an IITian which demarcates him from the average guy next-door-: creativity and brevity. Simple phrases like ‘I crashed da..’, ‘Pseud da..’, ‘Don’t put pseud’ will eventually come to make sense and you will marvel at ingenuity of the lingo as you come to terms with it…. In this age of time management gurus and their techniques, our lingo stands out as a wonderful example of concision. In fact, there is a thesis written on the lingo in use at IIT Madras!

Further, our lingo serves as a fool-proof verbal code, one that is known & extensively used by the IITM brotherhood. So if we were to meet a person who showed off a lot, we could loudly proclaim that he was “putting pseud” without really offending anyone. The IIT lingo is constantly evolving. Talk to any student of class ‘74 and chances are he will take a while to get what you’re trying to say. New and improved words are inducted into our glossary every year. Some are soon forgotten others live on, bridging generations..........For more on insti-lingo, please look into:http://students.iitm.ac.in/thefifthestate/2010/06/freshie-guide-how-to-speak-insti/

This will be the first time for many of you who will be staying away from home and leading an independent life. After the process of

registration has been completed, classes will begin in full swing and it might take a while for you to get accustomed to the new time-table, which by the way, is figured out by a few students only in their second year. At this point of time, you might feel home-sick. But be rest assured you will be surrounded by so many friends and will have so many activities to take up your time that you will soon get used to the concept of staying in a hostel. You can always contact your counselor anytime if you want help or want someone to talk to. Your counselor will be your first friend on campus. There are many cultural groups which organize festivals and celebrations to make you feel at home. Keep in mind that you will experience freedom like never before. Bear in mind “With great power, comes great responsibilities”

For more detailsPlease visit: http://students.iitm.ac.in/thefifthestate/2010/06/freshie-faq/

Hostel Life...Getting Along

The ‘Insti Lingo‘

Ragging


The Central Library, a 5-storey air-conditioned building, ishome to a large number of books and a wide range of journals and periodicals.

The library is divided into different sections - Text Book/Reference, General Stacks, Reading Halls, Journals and Current Periodicals, Media Research Centre (which regularly screens educational and scientific videos), and Book Bank.

The library has subscriptions to most of the renowned research journals of engineering, science, and technology including e-subscriptions to a palette of journals. Being a member of our Central Library by default, you can get access to books/journals and reference material from other libraries in the Chennai city also.

The institute ID smart card that is provided to all students is used to borrow books from the

In order to fulfil the teaching and research pursuits, IIT Madras has laboratory facilities ranging from the very basic to highly sophisticated ones. The

Institute houses many labs with cutting edge technological resources built in collaboration with industry partners.

The central lab facilities include Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility (SAIF), Material Science Research Centre (MSRC), Central Electronics Centre (CEC), Central Glass BlowingSection, Central Photographic Section, and Central Workshop.

A complete list of all the labs under each

The Computer Centre houses an excellent data centre that manages all the institute websites. It is also responsible for the creation

and maintenance of institute email ID’s, proxy servers etc. The computer centre also hosts the open source Linux server from which open-source

library. It can be used for borrowing books from the General Stacks for a month’s period. Books can be borrowed for an overnight loan from the Textbook reference section. Please note that this “smart card” is very important, as it serves as your principal photo identity. The Book Bank Section is open only to the B.Tech, Dual Degree and M.Sc. students. Each student can borrow fixed number of books from the book bank for the duration of one semester.

The Library has an online renewal system available for renewing the books and also one can send an online pre-request for the books they need. The Library building also houses the Digital Knowledge Centre (DKC) having computers with broadband internet connection. It is available to all students for their general requirements during the library hours.

department is available at the following link: http://www.iitm.ac.in/departments .You can select a department to view the list of labs it has.

Research-oriented students pursuing their B.Tech/Dual Degree may work in any of these labs under the guidance of professors and research scholars on various projects. Working in these labs will expose the student to the advances in research in that particular field.Alternatively, to get hands-on engineering experience, they can work in the Centre for Innovation (CFI), which is described later in this booklet

packages may be downloaded.In addition, the Computer Centre has a collection of CD’s of softwares like Matlab, ANSYS, Mathematica etc., along with their licenses. You can borrow these CD’s for a couple of days, if you wish, and install them on your PC using the license provided.

AcademicsCentral Library

Laboratories

Computer Centre


The working hours of the institute are from 8:00 A.M. to 5:35 P.M. with an hour’s break for lunch. Each class hour, called a slot is for 50

minutes. There is a small break between each class for moving from one class to another or possibly even an ultra-short snack. You will usually find a few free slots every day. A slot may be defined as a particular pattern of teaching hours of courses offered over a week. There are at least 72 working days for every semester.

Normally, you can register for up to 6 theory courses and 2 lab courses. Theory courses are offered in slots A through G and lab courses are offered in slots P through T. When you look at the Institute Timetable, you can find the slots listed there.

A new honours programme is being offered by the institute, where students will have to do 12 extra theory course credits, spanningover

the final four semesters.

Students interested in doing Honours programme must secure a minimum CGPA of 8.5 at the end of their fourth semester and should maintain that minimum CGPA till the last semester.

A B.Tech/Dual degree project is compulsory for such students to obtain an Honors degree. Some departments have made the Honours Program mandatory to do a B.Tech Project.

Grading is done on a 10-point scale. All the courses are given certain credits, usually 2, 3 or 4. The number of credits generally is the

number of hours of classroom instruction you will have to attend for that course, in a week; except for lab courses, where 2 credits will be given for 3 hours of work per week. At the end of the course and exams, you are given an overall grade. Grades S,A,B,C,D and E correspond to 10,9,8,7,6 and 4 grade points respectively.

Though difficult, there is a provision to obtain a branch change. This is done after your first semester. It depends on your first semester GPA subject to a decided criterion and a ceiling that only 10% of a branch’s strength is eligible to a branch change.

Being a residential institute, you are expected to attend all classes/labs. All leave on medical grounds and to attend very important family

functions should fall within 15% of leave allowed in a course. If you fail to obtain the re quired minimum of 85% attendance, you will have to repeat the course. For availing placement services of the institute you require a minimum attendance.

For more detailsPlease visit: http://www.iitm.ac.in/academic

Academic Schedule

Honours Programme

Grading

Attendance



Undergraduate students in all the IITs have to compulsorily choose between National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme

(NSS) and National Sports Organization (NSO) in their first years. The selections for the same usually happen during the first month of your stay in the institute. So please watch out for your hostel notice boards for details on them.

NCCNational Cadet Corps is a Tri-Services Organisation comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force, engaged in grooming the youth – ‘The Leaders of Tomorrow’ – into disciplined and patriotic citizens. Students enrolled as part of the NCC stay back in December for a camp as part of the curriculum. The aim of the NCC is to:• Develop Character, Comradeship, Discipline,

Leadership, Secular Outlook, Spirit of Adventure, and Ideals of Selfless Service amongst the Youth of the Country.

• To Create a Human Resource of Organized, Trained and Motivated Youth, To Provide Leadership in all Walks of life and be Always Available for the Service of the Nation.

• To Provide a Suitable Environment to Motivate the Youth to Take Up a Career in the Armed Forces.

NSOThe Government of India, through its National Sports Organization, provides a scheme in all IITs, could sign up for a particular sport, and undergo

training. NSO strives to improve the quality of sports talent in the country by providing coaching facilities to budding sportspersons for training in various sports, such as swimming, hockey, basketball, squash, badminton, tennis, athletics, table tennis, football, and cricket. Students enrolled under this scheme are required to attend the coaching sessions regularly over a period of two semesters as part of the prescribed curriculum.The selections for the same will happen usually during the initial days of your stay at the campus by the respective institute team captains and coaches. Watch out for notices on the hostel notice boards regarding details for the same.

NSSThe NSS at IIT Madras provides each student with a significant context in which he/she can arrive at a deeper understanding of social reality in India today. The NSS encourages the meaning of the life through service. By the spirit of seva, the NSS volunteers try to attain to the real knowledge of the person and the environment and a set of values integral to the Indian way of life. The National Service Scheme of IIT Madras looks forward for socially relevant initiatives, taken up as individual projects to create an impact on NSS volunteers as well as on the society. Even as we battle corruption, greed, hunger, poverty, and illiteracy, we must have hope that one day our country will once again be restored the title of the Golden Bird. You will also receive a separate booklet with details about NSS.For more details log onto http://www.nss.iitm.ac.in

NCC, NSS & NSO

After IIT, a majority of UG Students either choose to join the industry, (through the placement office) or go abroad for graduate studies. There are a few students who choose to do higher studies in management.

There are opportunities like civil services which are taken up by some students. In addition, students may pursue higher studies in the field of their choice.

Some students have gone on to become entrepreneurs by setting up their own companies or by joining other start-ups.

After IIT...


The Placement Office is involved in securing placements for students graduating from the institute. The office maintains a close

liaison with various industrial establishments (both private and public sectors), which conduct campus interviews and select graduate and post-graduate students from all disciplines. The Placement Cell provides the infrastructural facilities to conduct group discussions, placement tests and interviews. The Office interacts with over 800 industriesin the country, of which nearly 300 companies visit the campus for holding campus interviews. To give students an exposure to the application of technology in the industry and hands-on work experience, the institute mandates that students do an internship in an Indian Industrial core Company

for a minimum duration of six weeks, over the summer following third year. This internship is included in the curriculum and carries credits.To name a few well-known companies, we have had McKinsey, Google, Microsoft, GE, Schlumberger, ITC, Price Water Coopers, Airbus, Honda and Shell Technology in our campus last year.

The students of IIT join various kinds of industries:

1. Core Engineering2. Software/IT3. Manufacturing4. Consultancy5. Finance6. R & D laboratories

Training & Placement

Placements!



The IIT Madras Campus was carved out of a natural forest that formed part of the Guindy National Park. The Guindy National Park and

IIT Campus come under Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest type - the least common vegetation type seen in India. The campus can be considered as an ideal example for the co-existence various types of mini-ecosystems. The main inhabitants of these ecosystems are the blackbuck, spotted deer, jackals, mongooses, monkeys, squirrels, toddy cats, wild cats, various types of reptiles, a plethora of insects including about 40 different species of butterflies and about 100 species of birds. IITM campus also hosts large groups of migratory birds and butterflies every year.

IIT Madras campus is a heaven for bird-watchers in the city. There are about 100 species of birds seen at different times of the year. There are quite a number of resident species as well as few migrants like Forest Wagtail, Pied Crested Cuckoo, Golden Oriole etc. which are migratory.

A large number of native wild plants are seen in our campus. Quite a number of them possess medicinal properties. IIT Madras campus is blessed with a large number of beautiful and exquisite wild trees which are native to the dry, evergreen forest type that exist here. There are quite a number of exotic species of trees that are introduced for

IIT Madras campus is spread over 250 hectares of lush green forest with a variety of plants or trees and animals. Our campus can be proud of having one of the most elegant antelopes in the world - the Blackbuck. We also have the graceful Spotted Deer (Cheetal) and the ever-entertaining monkeys (Bonnet Macaque). Don’t be surprised if you see a large group of monkeys running around in your hostel making a lot of chatter! We also have a lot of other smaller and exquisite life-forms that play a major role in the biodiversity of the campus.

horticultural purpose over a period of time.

Prakriti, the Wildlife Club of IIT Madras, was founded in April 2002 by a group of wildlife enthusiasts comprising of students, faculty, staff, residents and alumni of IIT Madras. The formation of the club was spurred by a growing recognition of the need to protect the unique biodiversity of the IIT Madras campus. Getting a campus like this to spend your most formative years at, is nothing but a dream come true. It is expected that all campus residents will lend their support in maintaining the harmonious existence with the wild life on the campus.

Campusphere

Sylvan surroundings


The first landmark that greets every visitor is the GC (Gajendra Circle), which is about two and half km from the gate. The area from

the main gate to GC is the residential zone of our campus where professors and staff live. After the GC you’ll find the academic zone with various Departments, Laboratories, Workshops and the Computer Centre spread over a large area in a big array of buildings. Further into the campus, towards the end, you will find the hostel zone with various facilities for students.

HospitalWe have an Institute hospital with facilities to take care of general health problems faced by the students. The hospital is located near the central workshop. Apart from regular doctors there are a set of visiting specialist including a general surgeon, ENT surgeon, ophthalmologist, orthopedist, cardiologist and psychiatrist. Well-equipped laboratories for all tests X-Ray and inpatient ward are also present. Ambulance facility is also available. Apollo hospital runs the pharmacy in our hospital. All students are covered under medical insurance with a premium of Rs. 530/- per year.

OATIn between the GC and the hostel zone, you will spot a large arena called the OAT (Open Air Theatre), where the week-end movies are screened by the Film Club. Probably you will never miss any movie here as best of the latest movies in English, Hindi and Tamil are screened. Movies in other languages are also screened by the cultural associations. OAT is the venue where the Saarang Proshows are held. This is also a sought after venue for many other events in the city. The capacity of this place is about 7000 and it looks splendid when it gets lit up during shows for Saarang. You better watch out for getting to sit comfortably at the OAT during any of the programmes is tough for almost everybody in campus lands up there.

CLTThe Central Lecture Theatre is just opposite to the OAT in the middle of the Humanities and Sciences Block (HSB). This is an auditorium with a capacity of about 500, which is used for almost every in-house activity in the institute. Fully air-conditioned,

it is known for its superb acoustics and ambience. The Lit-Soc Schedule uses only this venue, not to mention the associations of the Institute which use this place all the time. Getting a free evening slot at the CLT is probably as tough as getting a seat in IIT itself!

Other Important PlacesVery close to the GC is the administrative block (Ad-Block), a place you will have to visit quite often the seat of the administration. Just opposite the Ad-Block is the Central Library. The campus also has a Post Office with telecom facility. A Shopping centre that includes a book shop, grocery shop etc. is located in the residential zone which is used mostly by the staff of IITM. State Bank of India has a branch just down the road from the GC. Canara Bank has a branch in the Shopping Centre. The Institute has two State Bank of India ATMs - one at the Bank and the other at the Taramani Guest house located in the hostel zone and two Canara Bank ATMs: one at the shopping centre and another one at Gurunath. Also a new Indian Bank ATM is opened near the Ladies Club. The SBI ATMs can be used to make all payments to the institute. There is also an ICICI bank ATM in the Office of Hostel Management (CCW Office). The CCW office is located in the hostel zone and is centre for all student hostel and residential procedures and you will be visiting it often. Down the road from the CCW Office, you would be finding the Students Activities Centre (SAC). SAC is a fully air-conditioned auditorium with a capacity close to 2500 and is mostly used for huge gatherings.

The Institute has two guest houses within the campus. The guest house near the Admin Building is called the Bose-Einstein Guest House and the guest house in the hostel zone is called the Taramani Guest House (TGH). VIPs, Institute guests and invited guests are usually accommodated in the Bose-Einstein Guest House. Housed in an imposing double storeyed building and located at a central place, TGH provides boarding and lodging facilities for the institute guests and visitors. If you want to book a room for your parents who will be visiting you, you need to do it well in advance as TGH will be running full because of the various activities happening every day.

Landmarks


There are two schools located inside the campus viz. Kendriya Vidyalaya IIT, located between GC and the IITM Post Office and Vanavani Matriculation Higher Secondary School, located within the residential zone.If you are thinking of how you would be commuting to places in IITM, we would suggest cycling is the best option. You can buy a cycle once you come here. Apart from that, IITM also provides bus facility from 6 AM to 9.30 PM at frequent intervals.

Student Facilities CentreStudent Facilities Centre, popularly known as Gurunath, named after the main shop is a shopping

centre in the hostel zone opposite to the Narmada hostel where items of daily use can be purchased. It has a Patisserie cum Coffee shop located here, which is open from 9.30 A.M. to midnight. Other shops include a hair cutting saloon, PCOs, travel agency, printing and photocopying centre, a Canara Bank ATM and the Gift shop. This is the place to haunt when you are looking for gifts or goodies for loved ones. GC also sells a range of IIT Madras goodies like bags, T-Shirts etc. Also, on popular demand from the students a fruit shop has been opened. This is a great place to spend your evenings as it is also a place for people to chat with their friends.

Institute has two large dining facilities namely Himalaya and Vindhya. Students of Sarayu and Sharavati hostel dine at Vindhya mess while the

other students dine at Himalaya mess. Institute provides its catering facility in two other places in Krishna and Cauvery hostels. We have a multitude of caterers operating the Himalaya dining facility, with the availability of both North Indian and South Indian cuisines. Students get to choose the caterer and the cuisine every month on a first-come-first-serve basis. There is also the facility of food courts which can be booked for the whole semester which is a pay-as-you-eat facility.

Gurunath is one place where you can eat snacks in the hostel zone. “Quark” a.k.a. “Basera“ a.k.a. “Zaitoon“ (a mini restaurant) is another eating joint in the hostel zone that will soon become your favourite place to haunt when you wish to take ‘break’ from the food in the mess. It is open from 3:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M. During class-hours,

there is a staff canteen, called Campus Cafe (CC) in the Academic Zone, next to IC&SR building (in front of the workshop). Another eating joint called “Tiffanys” is located at the first floor of the Vindhya mess. Vindhya mess is near central library. It runs from 7:30 A.M to 1:00 A.M. There is also a “Cafe Coffee Day (CCD)” in the Institute very near to the library which runs daily from 11:00 A.M to 1:00 A.M. There are several other food joints outside the campus too. You will find out more about them once you come here.

When you want to go out of the campus to spend an evening, the nearest places are Adyar and the Beach at Besant Nagar. Adyar has several shopping centres. Most of the theatres and restaurants are on or near the Mount Road, to which there are many buses from the gate. In fact, the bus 23C gets you to most of these places. These days there are good restaurants in Adyar as well, which is just outside our gate.

Food for the Foodies



The Fifth Estate:The Fourth Estate is defined in a dictionary as ‘the press, including journalists, newspaper writers, and photographers’. As IIT Madras’ official magazine, we are all this and more. The Fourth Estate that we represent comprises a bunch of mild-mannered doe-like sweet-souled beings who wouldn’t dream of hurting a fly, unless of course the fly started it. Similar treatment would be meted out if the fly in question decided to interfere with our tireless striving towards bringing you the best of Insti’s literary talents. The Fifth Estate, the online segment of The Fourth Estate, brings to you the latest on-campus buzz and a forum to voice your opinions on everything from Shaastra to Sharavathi.For more details, visit http://students.iitm.ac.in/thefifthestate/

Lit Soc:Lit Soc is an epic yearlong inter-hostel battle royale. All the hostels go head to head over the course of the academic year and battle it out with each other trying to win different competitions in an effort to get the necessary points to take the Lit Soc cup home at the end of the year and be crowned champions. The various events have different points and special points are awarded to enthusiastic and talented freshers! Freshie events will also be held towards the beginning of the odd semester to initiate them into Lit Soc and give them a feel of how intense and enjoyable Lit Soc events can be. It is a matter of great pride for a hostel to win Lit Soc and as a resident of your hostel; it will be up to you to help your hostel win it.For more details, please visit http://students.iitm.ac.in/thefifthestate/litsoc/

Tech Soc:Very simply put, Tech-Soc was first born as a tournament where hostels could compete against each other in all tech-related events for points, power and glory. Tech-Soc was first born, very recently in 2005 and has since then grown steadily adding events to its repertoire every year. Together with Schroeter and Lit-Soc, it forms the three independent “Big” trophies that hostels battle for every year. However this year, we have something special in store. Tech-Soc is being re-envisioned as forum with a much wider reach than just inter-hostel events. It has now become the umbrella

under which all tech-related student initiatives will be encouraged and nurtured. In the odd semester, various informal sessions like “Fundae” sessions, Tech interaction sessions will also be organized so that the freshmen can learn about the tech world they are about to step into. Apart from these, there are various clubs related to the technical world which one can join.For the tech-savvy we always have something or the other going on. You get to dirty your hands and build stuff on your own or participate in tech quizzes or watch the spectacle as the different hostels battle it out in tech-soc.

Clubs:Apart from the cultural activities, technical activities and sporting events that go on throughout the academic year, there are many other forms of recreation open to the students. There are a number of clubs including the Music Club, Astronomy Club, Film Club, Hiking Club etc. IITM has a unique Hobby Club, which assists not only in the crafting of skills in the various activities but also in all rounded development of the personality of the students. The Hobby Clubs encompass various activities varying from Photography to Robotics, Computer Security to Ham Radio. Each club conducts various events throughout the year like inviting eminent people for lectures and demonstrations. Various competitions are also conducted by the clubs sessions are also organized to disseminate knowledge and skills in popular areas. Some of the clubs are the Music Club, Astronomy Club, Film Club and Photography Club.For more details, please visit http://students.iitm.ac.in/hobbyclub/

Reflections:Percept ion. Introspect ion.Retrospect ion. . . Reflection. The transformation every human goes through - and to keep the spirit alive, up and fighting, Reflections was born. Reflections works towards bringing out various unexplored horizons that lie within and lead to a better living. We are a team of people who in our own way are trying to help keep the spirits up and alive. Reflections conducts programs to encourage discussions on issues pertaining to everyday life which have a far deeper impact than normally perceived. It brings

Student Activities


out “The Reflections” magazine, which contains articles from alumni, professors and students. Many writers from outside the campus have been actively contributing every year. It provides a platform for expression to everyone. Various talks, touching various topics, by speakers ranging from the fields of engineering to science to psychology are conducted, which encourage thinking and help in understanding things which we normally neglect in our day to day l ives. Panel discussions are held to question, share, contradict and explain, and movies screened to touch, teach and inspire.

EMLs (Extra Mural Lectures):As children, we admire; as adolescents, we aspire; as adults we perspire; and as responsible, successful citizens, we inspire. It is this inspiration that one gets in these lectures. One cannot achieve big without listening to people who have done it before. It is as they say; we shall not live long enough to learn from our own mistakes. We shall have to learn from others’ too. The Extra Mural Lectures in IITM, cover diverse topics, and bring in people from across the globe; those people,

who have been pioneers and who have received the highest honours in their fields. Where else do you get to interact with people so knowledgeable, so experienced and so successful? The faces that are closest you’ve been to through a television screen are brought before you to talk. These lectures unfold tales of unfathomable perspiration and unmatched genius. It is said that we cannot discover new continents with the fear of losing sight of the shore. We provide you with the tales of these conquests.

The Open Forum:It is an ambitious plan to get students closer to professors and the topics of research undertaken by them. It is often characteristic of research that progress happens in steps and not in continuity. Be it the professors or their doctoral students, many a times they’re stuck at a stage which ranges from a conceptual hurdle to a tough mathematical equation to solve. Our proposal shall have these students/professors put these problems they face on an open forum such that it could be tackled by any student at IITM.

A large number of student managed clubs exist here in the institute. It is strongly encouraged that the students actively take

part in at least a few of them. They play a key role in all-round development as well as honing skillset. Further no prior knowledge is required in many of these clubs. A keen interest and enthusiasm is all that is necessary to participate and excel. These clubs act as very important pathways in developing hobbies to a higher level.

Astronomy Club:Enthusiastic about astronomy, gazing and studying stars? Then this is a must visit club for you. There is no need to get intimidated even if you don’t have any prior knowledge of the subject. Theory sessions are organized, where interesting observations in astronomy and astrophysics are discussed. There are members having astrophotography equipment. Even an interested rookie can learn a lot from these sessions. Members of this clubs

Student Clubs



watch out for planets, open clusters, globular clusters, galaxies etc.For more info please visit:http://www.astro.iitm.ac.in/Home

Linux Users Group:Also known as LUG, itis a club which provides support and education for Linux users (read particularly inexperienced users). It also helps in promoting the use of such open source software. Those with an interest in developing stuff need not worry. There are a few very good developers in the group. Lectures and workshops are conducted regularly for the people not well-versed in this.For more info please visit: http://www.cse.iitm.ac.in/~osslab/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Design Club:The Design Club of IIT Madras is a great way to immerse yourself into the graphic design community. We intend to inspire you to become active and creative. You can meet other designers, present and share ideas, ask questions, talk about the latest design news, ask for critiques of your work and much more. Being active in a design community is also another great way to promote your own work and get your name out there. Above all it is also a learning platform for all the budding Graphic Designers. Anybody can become a collaborator of the Design Club by contributing designs and ideas by means of Blog posts, Facebook Posts etc.Blog:http://designclubiitm.blogspot.inFa c e b o o k : h t t p : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m /DesignClubIITM

Music Club:If you think of yourself as a Music lover, then this is the ideal place. This is a club specially formed for promoting Indian traditional music in the institute. It strives to make students realize and appreciate Indian traditional (Carnatic) music. For the past 30 odd years, it has been responsible for bringing famous musicians to the institute. It is quite active engaging the music enthusiasts with concerts almost every month. A series called ClassFest is also organized wherein the leading performers play. The budding musicians need not worry as Young talent is also encouraged and there are opportunities for them to showcase their skills over here.For more info please visit: http://musicclub.iitm.ac.in/

Institute adventure club: “Adventure is not outside man. It is within.“It is with the sole purpose of exploring this wild side of students that three adventure freaks started the club in 2011. The activities of the Club include Trekking and Cycling. Treks to Nagala, Tada, Talakona, Yercaud are organized by our organizers on a fortnightly basis. Cycling to Mahabs, Kovalam Beach, Elliots beach are organized on a monthly basis. Started in February last year, the club has already made 3 trips - 2 Trekking trips to the famous Nagala hills and 1 Cycling trip to Kovalam. The club has also nurtured sister clubs in other colleges like NIFT, thus helping in socializing with other college students for greater exposure to the outside world. IAC gives you a great platform to interact with like-minded people who love adventure. Also, IAC seeks to help you out with ways and means to explore the unexplored and dare the daring! “It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves “.

For more details visit our blog: http://iac-iitm.blogspot.com/ .Follow us on Facebook at “Institute Adventure Club IITM“.

Quiz ClubQuizzing has always been a popular pastime on campus. Consisting of a bunch of people united by a common passion, the IITM Quiz Club conducts several quizzes throughout the academic year. Quizzes are conducted on a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from sports and entertainment to science and technology. The quizzes at Saarang and Shaastra (as well as LitSoc and TechSoc) are also organized by QC members. Whether you’ve quizzed before or are new to quizzing, this is a great way to meet people and have a lot of fun!

IITM Word Games ClubInterested in quirky word origins, bamboozling anagrams and cryptic crosswords? If you love scrabbling, solving word puzzles and other whacko word weirdness; if any friend of the English language is a friend of yours; if you never met a homophone that you didn’t like; if the polymorphous perversity of language enthralls you – then this is your Mecca. Our primary activities are Scrabble, Cryptic Crosswords and WTGW (What’s the Good Word?) with a lot of other random word puzzles and the like. We meet every fortnight or so for WGC


activities. We organize an insti Scrabble tourney, a national Scrabble tourney and a Crossie Open in addition to various activities for both Saarang and LitSoc. For further info you can follow us on: http://www.facebook.com/groups/315045335237355/

IVILA completely student-run initiative, IIT for Villages (IViL) has been a life-changing experience for many. Whether it is helping women self-help groups or working towards rural sensitivity amongst urban students, IViLians have no boundaries restricting the scope of their work. With members across all batches and courses, the only prerequisite to joining the group is a desire and willingness to get down to the ground and understand grass root level reality. Whether it is the Integrated Knowledge Centre that IViL helped set up or cottage industries that it helps promote, IViL helps you make a difference in the lives of those around us, and grow in the process. Being an IViLian is known to help in more ways than one – seeing the India most IITians don’t, sharing life-changing experiences and having stories to tell, learning to be proactive and always spreading the joy! Join us at www.ivil.iitm.ac.in or www.facebook.com/ivil.iitm to know more!

PrakritiThis is a group of environmentally conscious people, which mainly works towards making young students aware of environmental issues on our campus, our country and on planet earth. It also strives to preserve and improve the ecology of the IIT campus. The forum also strives to createawareness among the campus residents in preserving the endangered species that inhabit our campus.For more, visit http://hsb.iitm.ac.in/~prakriti

VSCYouth is the time for amazing possibilities, the time when one is filled with zeal and energy to achieve greater heights; it is the time which constitutes the very foundation of one’s life. But rather unfortunately, in this blind chase of success and achievement, many lack behind in ‘character’ based on certain core values. With this motto of continuing towards a path of sustained excellence, Vivekananda Study Circle (VSC), the oldest student group at IIT M, endeavors to explore the core

values, uniquely distinguished lives, and above all, the inherent disguised identity of ours. We believe that there’s something you have to believe in and from there one can start building one’s perspective towards life and others. VSC, as we call it, primarily has a very motivated group of students at its helm who sincerely manage / organize its activities. The activities include, organizing Sunday lectures, Friday discussions, and Special lectures by eminent people and relevant book sales on personality development. Every year we start our activities with an inaugural lecture in the odd semester.Primarily, VSC is a dedicated group to:a) Explore lives of great Indian spiritual giants (Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and Aurobindo), b) Realize the diversified and rich Indian cultural heritage,c) Grow an appreciation for these sublime ideas,d) Explore relevant symbolism, poetry and art work involved, ande) Spread these ideas across.

Food for thought:Can you guess why Swami Vivekananda is regarded as Icon of Indian Youth? To learn more about Indian Values, Please visit us at www.vsc.iitm.ac.in .

ColloquiumThe Colloquium is an informal student discussion forum that conducts open discussions on various current affairs and topics of social relevance. The forum seeks active engagement from its participants and promotes debate and exchange of ideas through weekly discussions. The forum maintains an active online presence in the form of a facebook page which serves as a hub for sharing interesting thoughts and articles, initiating and scheduling discussions.http://www.facebook.com/thecolloquium

Oratory Club:The perfect place for all the literature enthusiasts. This is the longest running literary club in the institute. As a completely student managed club, it has helped a lot of students overcome their public speaking inhibitions and improve skills. Its informal nature has attracted all kinds of students. It creates an ideal platform wherein all the people can participate and learn a lot from their as well as others mistakes. If you are thinking that all this


is serious boring stuff, then you are completely wrong! This club has organized JAM sessions, extempore among a host of other activities. Spending time with this club guarantees to make

you anorator and probably a good one at that!For further info please visit: http://the.speaking.club.googlepages.com

The Cell for Technology Innovation, Development and Entrepreneurship Support acts as a platform that bridges

the gap between established entrepreneurs and aspiring students of IIT Madras. It is to foster and encourage this spirit of entrepreneurs, C-TIDES, the entrepreneurship cell of IIT Madras, was established in 1998. The cell provides budding entrepreneurs with a platform to support them, thereby realizing their ideas and converting them to reality. Events and workshops are conducted all-round the year emphasizing at leastone of the many aspects of entrepreneurship. So if you are a person who is constantly dreaming and striving to get the best

out of things around, looking for places where you can make a difference, you are similar to a class of people opting for their own ventures in their careers and becoming entrepreneurs.

C-TIDES is something in between being a Student Club and an institute body. Though primarily a student managed cell, it is mentored by professors and renowned entrepreneurs and alumni. C-TIDES also organize Breakthrough, a technical Business Plan competition and Genesis, which is one of the largest Social Entrepreneurial competitions in the whole world.For more, see http://www.c-tides.org/

C-Tides



Envisioned at promoting student invention and innovation, with a focus on technology environment, this ‘student lab’ at IIT-Madras

was set up with funds donated by the batch of 1981. It is located in the building that houses the Central Workshop, right in the middle of the academic zone in the beautiful IIT Madras Campus. It hopes to make a positive impact to the environment and society with its contribution.This lab serves as an intellectual environment to provide facilities to the students to work on hands on engineering stuff. This lab supplements the engineering learnt in class with another important part of engineering, innovation.

Since its inception, CFI has played a major role in fostering student interest in technical activities, through the various projects that it has funded and

supported, a few of them even being patented, owing to the social impacts of the project. CFI has also been associated with several major, long-term projects and competitions such as Robocon and Formula-SAE. The Spirit of Engineering projects, displayed at Shaastra (Annual Technical Festival) are a major highlight. To name a few, the Yu-Fly VTOL Craft, Robo-fish, the paper suspension bridge (the world’s longest paper bridge of 11m in length), the automatic page flipper, have all been SOEs in the past. CFI fosters and channels students’ interest through its various clubs such as the Ibot club, Auto club, Aero club, 3-D Animation club, Computer Vision group, the HAM Radio club and the Electronics club.

To sum it all, CFI is a place where a student can ‘walk in with an idea and walk out with a product’.

CFI

IIT-Madras is well known for the diversity in the range of activities that its students and the administration take up. The Institution aims, not

only at the academic development of its students, but their overall development. It has been in the

past and is actively involved in several initiatives which helps its students put their technical knowledge to practical use, encourages them to hone their interests, and also target at making a difference to the Society and Environment.

Techno-Entrepreneurial Social Initiatives


IIT Madras Research Park aims at bringing together companies with a research focus to leverage the expertise of IIT Madras. It is modelled on the lines

of successful Research Parks such as Stanford, MIT and Harvard. These technology parks have been known to add value and impetus to industry and business enterprises. The macro guiding principles behind the park are:

1. Creating a collaborative environment between industry and academia through joint research projects and consulting assignments

2. Creating a self-sustaining and technologically fertile environment.

3. Encouraging and enabling R & D activities that are aligned towards potential needs of the industry.

4. Providing world class infrastructure for R & D activities.

5. Enabling development of high quality personnel and motivating professional growth for researchers in the companies through part time Masters and PhD Programs.

The ingredients for a recipe for successful innovation are all there. Let us get together and make it happen. Let us truly celebrate research!

Many students intern in the companies associated with research park. Since it is almost within the campus, it is possible for a student to associate with a company and build on mutual research and development interests.

IITM Research Park



Sports at IIT Madras generate a lot of enthusiasm, not only from within the campus, but from other colleges in the city and the

country as well. The academic calendar is crowded with sporting events, be it the intra-hostel and inter-hostel events, or the inter-collegiate and inter-IIT tournaments. All hostels actively compete to win the coveted Schroeter Cup which is the Inter-Hostel sports championship.

The institute has excellent sporting facilities in the campus which include:

• An impressive IIT-ChemplastCricket field.• A perfect Athletics stadium• Four synthetic floored Tennis & wood-floored

Badminton courts• A Swimming pool of Olympic standards• Hockey & Football field with flood-lights.• Two Basketball & two Volleyball courts• A well-equippedGymnasium• Two newly constructed World Class Squash

courts• Weightlifting Arena• Table Tennis Facility

All this, combined with the untiring commitment and enthusiasm of the student community, with encouragement and guidance from the faculty has created tremendous opportunities for students to hone their talents. It is no wonder then that tournaments in IITM have continued to draw teams and colleges from all over the country.For more details log onto http://www.sports.iitm.ac.in

Blessed with the most spacious of the campuses, IITM has a match for the wants of the most voracious among sportsmen.

During the course of the year, all the 17 hostels compete for the ‘Schroeter’ (pronounced as “shroy-eter” ... read more about it on the IITM sports website) – a trophy for the best hostel in sports. So fierce is the competition, that you might just be reminded of an India-Pakistan Cricket match! You have got to witness it to believe it. In September, every year, the institute hosts Sportsfest, an intercollegiate meet for local colleges, in Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball, Hockey, Football, Table Tennis, Badminton and Aquatics. Other specific sports events are also hosted

Sports

Sports @IITM


Held annually by rotation at the five IITs at Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kharagpur and Kanpur.Inter-IIT meets aim at promoting the

interaction between students of the various IITs and encouraging sportsmanship. The meet is held in December after the end of the odd semester. IIT Madras had hosted the event a couple of years ago in conjunction with its Golden Jubilee celebrations. A General Championship (GC) is awarded to the team with the best performance in the Inter-IIT Sports meet and the Inter-IIT Aquatics meet (held in October).

In these games, a fierce competition coupled with

such as SanmaK tournament for cricket where theinsti-cricket team plays with different clubsand GF&KR (Gerhard Fisher and KokilaRajaiah) Allindia Basketball tournament for Boys and Girls.

The even semester (Jan – May semester) arrives and you have a feast of informal events starting from 6-a-side hockey, 3-a-side-baski, 6-a-side footer (football), 9-a-side cricket, 3-a-side volley and so on. All this and more await you— a seemingly endless list of events-all played at Sangam (look up campus map to locate it!) under floodlights. The Gymkhana Day marks the culmination of all the sports activities for the academic year. Sign of true celebrations is sure erupt from the Schoeterwinning hostel (best hostel in sports).

a great spirit of sportsmanship mark these as the most memorable moments of any IITian’s student life. It is during this week-long event, that IITians get perhaps their only opportunity to meet and interact with students from other IITs.

IIT Madras has excelled continually at these games, winning the general championship (GC) eleven times in a row in the past. The GC at the recent inter IIT hosted by IIT XXXXX was again back to IIT Madras after a gap of a couple of years.IIT Madras has a great history in inter-iitwith over 19 wins in the 47 inter-iits sports meets, thanks to an excellent performancefrom the students.

One sec… Where does it all begin?? Where do you start off if you are like a big zero in sports? Well, the answer won’t lie far away once you are in the hostel. In addition to a playing area within its quadrangle where Cricket, Football, Hockey, etc. are played, every hostel has facilities for TT, carrom, chess, volley ball and baski. There is nothing bashful about being a beginner. Every year, there are a few people in every sport team, who had started playing only after they came to the institute, and learnt to play well enough to represent the institute in INTER-IIT, one of the highest honours in sports that an IITian sportsperson can hold. Everyone has to make a beginning somewhere. Use the available resources to the fullest.

Inter IIT Sports


Shaastra is the annual technical festival of IIT Madras. True to its name, Shaastra (signifying ‘science’) is a celebration of science and technology; a confluence of minds and a melting pot of diverse disciplines. It provides a chance to unleash the engineers and scientists

within us, providing glimpses of the elegance and scope of evolving technology.

Shaastra has so far seen twelve editions, having started in its current avatar in the year 2000. It used to be held over four days and four nights during the last week of September and the first week of October. This academic year onwards, Shaastra has been proposed to be solemnized in the month of January. Shaastra is a veritable engineer’s paradise where fervent enthusiasts congregate, compete, learn and enjoy. Intense competitions, spectacular demonstrations, world-class lectures and a variety of informative workshops are just the tip of the iceberg. Shaastra attracts an immense number of participants from diverse technical, scientific and managerial

backgrounds ranging from college students to graduates, from academicians to professionals, from design engineers to managers.

The fest holds the distinction of being the first student managed event in the world to implement a Quality Management System and earn the ISO 9001:2000 certification given byTUV, which was further upgraded last year to the ISO 9001:2008 certification. This has been done to ensure that the standards of the festival are maintained at the highest level and assure our sponsors a consistent degree of exposure at Shaastra.

This is the platform to showcase our knowledge and enthusiasm. Shaastra is our way of celebrating our love for the spirit of engineering. And in the process we plan to give the visitors a show they can never forget. Shaastra has always been a phenomenal learning experience for the organizers and the participants alike. So at the end of the day we go back feeling that much wiser and happier.Of course If you are not a hard-core techie, don’t worry we’ve got you covered too. Just walk in for a pleasant surprise. Shaastra nights are the icing on the cake. Laser shows, fireworks displays and so much more each year, proving that you don’t always need the know how to appreciate what science can do.

This is just a glimpse of the sort of stuff we have in Shaastra every year. How much more you uncover is entirely up to you. So welcome, make yourselves at home, and remember don’t be shy when it comes to revealing the engineer in you.

After all, the geek shall inherit the earth.

Institute FestivalsShaastra


IIT Madras has seen a glorious 53 year journey, punctuated by many milestones – one of which was the advent of Mardi Gras, a pioneer student cultural extravaganza. Mardi Gras has the distinction of having hosted Uriah Heep, in one of their rare world tours,

Buddha’s Babies and even A R Rehman as a college student. Almost forty years later, the legacy lives on, albeit in a new avatar as Saarang.

Saarang has always made heads turn. It is one of the largest cultural festivals in India attracting over 50,000 people from around the country. Held in the month of January every year, Saarang is commonly acknowledged as the mother of all cultural festivals, a reputation that we and soon you are honour-bound to uphold!

This five-day festival is the traditional meeting place for the young and those young at heart. Saarang is characterized by days jam-packed with enough events and competitions to make your head and your heart do cartwheels. Be it the

theatre arts, musical displays such as Decibels or the laugh out loud wackiness of extempore and Just-A-minute, Saarang always has the crowds screaming for more.

The mainstay at Saarang has always been the 4 Professional Shows, with past editions having seen performances by prominent classical artists such as Balamurli Krishna, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit HariprasadChaurasia; international acts such as Opeth and Skidrow; as well as light music shows by Shaan, S.P. Balsubramanian, Shankar Ehsan Loy, Karthik, KK, Benny Dayal, Lucky Ali, Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam.

Be it the Acoustics, Sound Systems, Stage or Seating Capacity, Saarang promises a memorable experience for everyone. A large fraction of the student community works around the clock for months to ensure a better Saarang each time around. Cherishing the support of a bevy of sponsors throughout previous years, Saarang has always managed to strike a chord with the people who flock to see it all happen.

On the events front, we cater to all genres. We have quizzes on all topics. We also have other exciting events like WTGW, Picto and Tinto blend into Pot Pourrie along with DumbCs, painting and modelling apart from theatre, speaking events, creative writing, music and so on. So just turn up, let loose and figure out what floats your boat because this truly is the place to be!

Saarang


Genesis stands for creation; the building of everything from nothing, the beginning of human society. It is derived from a biblical

story about the day when the earth was created and life took shape. It aptly describes this business plan competition, which is about “initiating innovations” that combine enterprise with social responsibility.

Starting a business means starting from scratch and working your way through a maze of problems, the biggest of which are generally the capital required and lack of sufficient guidance. Genesis plans to encourage budding entrepreneurs by providing them the required guidance and financial incentives.

What makes Genesis different from other run-of-the-mill B-Plan competitions is the underlying social message. The intent is to use the zeal and creativity of budding entrepreneurs for the greater

good.The competition also aims to develop an eco-system surrounding social entrepreneurship that brings together students, NGOs, incubators, social entrepreneurs, venture-capitalists and corporations. The focus is on developing a symbiotic relationship among a group of individuals having different skill-sets but who are driven by same ideals and can aid in capturing, enhancing and disseminating knowledge on social entrepreneurship.

Behind the limelight of all these fests is a dedicated and committed team of faculty, co-ordinators and volunteers toiling hard to live up to our reputation in organisational skills, which is considered to be par excellence. If taking part in these fests is an experience, being a part of the organising team may be even more than that. So, gear up yourself to take up this exciting challenge.

Genesis

Apart from those mentioned above, some departments also conduct special fests at different times in the year. Given here are

some of the prominent ones amongst them.

CEA FestHeld around the first week of March every year, CEA Fest is the annual technical festival of the Civil Engineering Department of IIT Madras. Stretching over three days, CEA Fest sees students pouring in from all parts of India, thronging to participate in the various events conducted. The events test the skills vital for the civil engineer of today, right from technical aptitude to managerial skills.

ExebitExebit is the annual festival of the Computer Science & Engineering department of IIT Madras. It offers a plethora of events ranging from hard-core programming contests, nerve-wracking puzzles and games to enriching workshops and presentations. The fest is conducted in two phases,

the online and the on-site.

BiofestBiofest is the annual festival of the Department of Biotechnology. It has successfully lived its first edition with a leitmotif of promoting research and innovation in various fields of Biosciences and Bioengineering. Biofest provides an ideal platform for industry-academia and industry-student nexus. With diverse range of events, workshops, and lectures, the festival aims at involving engineers, scientist, young entrepreneurs, future policy makers and even international students. The ultimate motive of the festival is to promote Biotechnology among students by giving them opportunity to experience and showcase innovation.

AmalgamAmalgam is a celebration of science, a convergence of mind, a melting pot of diverse cutting edge materials technology. It is the annual technical festival of the Department of Metallurgical and

Department Fests


Materials Engineering. It affords the chance to let loose the engineer and the scientist within you, providing glimpses of the elegance and the scope of technology. Spread over a period of three days, Amalgam is a veritable engineer’s paradise where fervent enthusiasts participate in intense contests, witness spectacular demonstrations, assimilate mind boggling lectures, avail of informative workshops and do much more.

ForaysForays, the annual mathematics festival at IIT Madras, is a celebration of mathematical thinking, techniques and creativity. In true keeping with its name, Forays strives to juggle the challenging, the brain teasing, the rigorously academic and the purely frivolous so as best to savour the subject. The Department of Mathematics has been successful thus far in bringing together the brightest young minds in the country each year for a mathematical fiesta. Bursting with vigour and innovation, Forays 2010 aspires to take this success to new heights!

WavezWavez is the annual techno-cultural festival of the Department of Ocean Engineering at IIT Madras. It involves both Technical and Cultural events and is aimed at increasing the intra-department and inter-department interactions. The festival provides a solid platform for people to learn about our work and develop an interest.

MechanicaThe Annual Research and Technology extravaganza

of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IITM or Mechanica is the biggest event of the Mechanical Engineering Association (MEA) OF IIT Madras. Over the years, it has built its own legacy and reputation of being a platform for bringing the entire Mechanical engineering family across the nation under one roof.

SamanvaySamanvay is the annual National Level Business fest organized by the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras. Every year, Samanvay brings together the best brains from the top business schools all over the country, and experienced personalities from corporates, academia, media etc on to a single platform. The business fest acts as a forum for management students across the country to showcase their managerial skills and also focuses on the contemporary issues faced by Indian businesses and economy.

ChemclaveChemclave is the annual celebration of the Spirit of Chemical Engineering rather than just some annual technical fest. Born in 2008, with the motto of promoting technology, scientific thinking and innovation in the field of Chemical Engineering, ChemClave has passed 5 golden editions. It provides an opportunity to all the budding Chemical Engineers to compete, exchange ideas, collaborate and learn and of course have fun all under the same roof.



Student’s gymkhana also known as Student’s association in other colleges is run by the executive wing (EW) overseen by the Dean,

Students. The executive wing consists of eight secretaries and the speaker of the student’s affairs council (SAC speaker) who are elected to their offices. Each secretary has a set of tasks particular to the post. The secretaries are:1. General Secretary2. Academic Affairs Secretary3. Co-Curricular Affairs Secretary4. Hostel Affairs Secretary5. Cultural Affairs Secretary (ARTS)6. Cultural Affairs Secretary (LIT)7. Sports Secretary8. Research Affairs Secretary

Tasks which are not covered by the other secretaries fall under the purview of the General Secretary in addition to his special responsibilities.The secretaries implement or execute policies, decided by the Student Affairs Council (SAC). The SAC is a body of elected representatives of various sections of the student community. This body meets once in 3 to 4 weeks to:• Form the policy for the EW to implement• Monitor the work done by the EW from time

to time• Provide the administration the opinion of the

student body on matters of importance The meetings of this body are presided over by the Speaker of the SAC who is assisted in his duties by a Deputy Speaker.

Students Gymkhana

The institute maintains its relation with the students even after passing out through an active alumni network spread across

the globe. The Alumni Association of IIT Madras represent about 35,949+ IITM alumni residing around the world, working together to make IIT Madras a world- class institution. Our alumni have always shown great enthusiasm for various charitable activities that promote education including the promotion of educational objectives of current students and faculty. The Centre For Innovation (CFI) is an amazing contribution by the 1980 batch. The Sharavathi hostel and the water tank near Jamuna hostel are also notable examples of our alumni’s emotional attachment

to their Alma mater. The association recognizes distinguished alumni with awards (Distinguished Alumnus Awards-DAA). Also, get-togethers are organized for various batches frequently to bring back those good old friendships and memories. The alumni association also awards scholarships and travel grants to deserving students for visiting various symposiums and workshops across the world. A recent initiative by the IITM Alumni Association is the IIT Mentor program which aims to provide a platform for mentees to realize their potential by enabling personal and professional relationships with mentors, who act as role models and provide guidance to them.

Alumni Association

The Hostel council consists of the Warden, along with the following 8 secretaries :1. General Secretary2. Literary Secretary3. Social Secretary

4. Technical Affairs Secretary5. Sports Secretary6. Mess Secretary7. Garden Secretary8. Alumni Affairs Secretary

Hostel Council


At this juncture, when you are poised to leave your homes and stay on your own, may be for the first time, here are a few words…

Never lose sight of the fact that you have entered the portals of learning. Learn! All of you who have got into IIT have really worked on your academics, partly due to unspoken pressures at home. But here, in hostel, you will strike up lasting friendships, get opportunities to play any and every game, try your hand at a hobby - from photography to wildlife to stargazing. Don’t be a person who only focuses on academics. Such people are not the ones who leave their mark in the campus. Pick up something and keep at it! You do not stop learning when you close your books. The years spent here will probably be the best period of your life.

They will also be crucial - you will shape your career and character, you will form your opinions, stand on your own feet, and make your own decisions. Even as you live life to the full here, you will never seem

The typical day of a student has classes from 8 AM to 2 PM. Labs usually take place in the afternoon from 2 PM to 5 PM, during which

he has his lunch too. After that, students spend some time playing sports in the hostel. Some students spend time watching TV or chatting with

No competent and deserving candidate goes unrecognized in IIT Madras! They will indeed be honoured by several prizes

ranging from those for commendable academic performance to those crediting all round feats. The highest honour is the President’s Gold Medal being followed by the Governor’s Gold Medal. All round meritorious performance by students can bring off the prestigious ‘Institute Blues’ awards.

to find time for all your plans. Therefore, DON’T waste your time. The temptation to participate in all that “goes on” should be cultivated - up to a point. But, never succumb to the mysterious charm of idling or malingering. In the long run, it just isn’t worth it.

The general philosophy of education at IITM aims at making you self-reliant and at the same time encouraging group activity. To make full use of your time here, plan your activities and develop skills of time management and punctuality. Though there may be times when you wish things were not so hard on you, never be impulsive and take impulsive decisions.

Being a residential Institute you have a lot of time to interact with the faculty. Do take the initiative and talk to them. They can teach you a lot more than just engineering. Don’t assume indifference on the part of any person.

friends. You will have dinner sometime between 7 PM and 9 PM. Once you are back in room, you would complete your homework or lab reports. Enjoyment is part of student life and you would be having it all day!

For timely information on other awards and scholarships keep track of updates through notice boards as well as smails. However, the biggest accolade you can win here is to have gained excellent, all round education and to have developed a good personality. Keep this in mind as you embark this voyage. ‘Let your years in IIT Madras turn out to be the most memorable and rewarding ones’.

Few words...

A typical day

Prizes & Recognition

--Seniors


Documents for registration

Fee draft

Photocopies of your certificates

Dozen passport size photographs

Documents for opening a bank-account

Documents for loan (if applying)

Medicines (If you are under medication)

Things to getChecklist!

Other basic necessities

• A cot, a table, a chair, a tubelight, a fan and a cupboard (all of fairly decent quality) are provided by the institute in every single room

• 3 cots, 2/3 tables+chairs, 2 cupboards, ample number of shelves, 2 tubelights and 2 fans are provided by the institute in every double room (with triple occupancy)

1. Clothing + Raingear: Chennai is usually known for its humid summers, and rains. So, carry more of light summer wear. Do your packing/shopping keeping in mind that clothes do not dry quickly during the monsoons. Carry an umbrella and/or a raincoat and have them on you all the time during the Monsoon months. There is no dress code in the institute but you are expected to dress up decently. It’s convenient to wear cargos or shorts for the rainy months. Apart from that, you are free to wear what you want - T-shirts, jeans, shorts, shirts - whatever.

2. Footwear: A pair of slippers/floaters, a pair of sandals and a pair of covered shoes (you would need to wear these to your labs) is recommended. Get footwear that you can use in thxe rain - at least one pair that won’t become unusable if wet. Shoes specific to some sports might be bought after coming here. Though, you may carry gum soled shoes and football studs if you have a pair already.

3. Stationery: We advise you not to carry any. There are enough shops around. But if you already have them, you might carry a Scientific Calculator (FX 991 MS/ES by Casio are the ones most of your seniors use), Staplers (with pins), Punching machines, U-bend pins, binder clips and a couple of folders. Workshop Tools, ED Instruments and Lab Coats that you would need may be shared among batch-mates, borrowed from seniors, or bought here. If you have your Class XII Lab Coat at hand, bring it along.

4. Books: Though you won’t need all books that you used for JEE Preparations, you could get some if you want. All the books you require are available in the library.

5. Clotheslines, Hangers, Cloth hanging clips: There are ropes meant for hanging clothes outside every room, but if you prefer using your rooms for drying clothes during monsoons or hanging them in the balcony, carry (or buy from here)


some clotheslines and clothespins. Hangers aren’t provided in the rooms. Get along hangers

6. Bed sheets, mattresses (standard size) and pillows and pillow covers (extra set is preferable as drying is a problem in rains), Curtains (optional); all of which are available at Gurunath again.

7. Bucket, Mug, Waste Paper Bin and Soap Cases: Buy them from either Gurunath, opposite to the Narmada Hostel or the Shopping Complex on the Delhi Avenue Road.

8. Lock and keys (2/3 sets of keys as you’d be sharing the room): Keep extra sets handy. While travelling, you might want to lock your luggage as well. You can buy the locks once inside the campus as well.

9. Anti-insect sprays, bed-bug sprays, All Out, Odomos, Naphthalene Balls: It is strongly suggested you keep these items with you, you will find them useful.

10. Spike guard, Multiplugs: You might need extension boards. Also, the power supply is meant for 5 Ampere applications, so please do not carry any heavy electrical appliances like Irons/Heaters

“Hast thou beheld the deep, glad eyes of one

Who has persisted and achieved? Rejoice!

On naught diviner shines the all-seeing sun.

Salute him with free heart and choral voice,

‘Midst flippant, feeble crowds of spectres wan,

The bold, significant, successful man”

-Emma Lazarus

unless you have ensured that the current rating is not above 5A.

11. Broom: Rooms are your responsibility once you come here. You can however ask the house-keeping staff of the hostels to clean the room for you by paying them some money.

12. Cycle: It is recommended that you buy a cycle as the campus is vast and it is easier to commute if you have a cycle. It is advised that you buy a cycle outside the campus either in Adyar or Velachery, although there might be a cycle sale outside the Office of the Hostel Management (CCW). Ensure that you have a proper lock for your cycle, so that it doesn’t get stolen/lost.

13. Miscellaneous: Medicine kit (advised, you may not want to go to the IIT Hospital for every little thing), soap, shampoo, handwash, detergent, brush, torch etc. Sports equipment, if you play or are enthusiastic enough (racquets, balls, proper shoes etc.) and for music enthusiasts, your own guitar, santoor, flute or tabla - anything.

14. Get along table lamps and table cloth if you want. They’ll prove useful. Not a must though!


ContactsDr. M S SivakumarChief Advisor - MitrDept. of Applied Mechanics +91-44-2257 4061 [email protected]

Saptarshi PrakashCore Group Member (Student) +91-9790887417 [email protected]

Nandita VadaliCore Group Member (Student) +91-7200492375 [email protected]

Dheeraj BharadwajCore Group Member (Student) +91-9840196492 [email protected]

Glimpses


CreditsContent: The Mitr Team, 2013-2014

Design & Layout: Saptarshi Prakash (for & on behalf of Mitr),

Photography: Roshan Santhoshh Kumar (RSK Photography),

/saptarshipr

/roshan.santhoshh

Glimpses

36 Mitr: In need and indeed for you iitmadras

Download - Guidebook 2013 - IIT Madras

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