Engineering In The Age of AI

The large-scale layoffs by large corporates, especially in IT and software development, coupled with the incursion of AI in workplaces, signals hard times for engineers too. Bright minds who would have joined the mega race of cracking IIT-JEE since high school, foregoing fun that other peers would have been part of, along with parents who would have shelled out substantial amounts for much sought-after tuition centres and for college education, might be spending anxious moments as they are about to enter the job market and companies announce a freeze. Add to that the reports that have been published over the years by different agencies, revealing how engineering passouts are unemployable. Also, the growing awareness about scores of avenues other than engineering and medicine available to students would make one think that the popularity of engineering discipline is waning. But looking at the total number of registrations for IIT-JEE this year – 11.62 lakh – that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Engineering colleges, led by IIT Bombay, Madras and Delhi continue to be among the most coveted campuses for science students, followed by legacy institutes IIT Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee, IIT BHU and Guwahati. The demand for quality education being exponentially high, several private universities and institutes have stepped in, often more in tandem with 21st Century industry needs on account of healthy industry connects and ability to pay handsomely to faculty and invest in latest infrastructure.

Impact Of Engineering Institutes

The question is, where do engineering institutes figure in the 21st Century economic framework, what kind of manpower are they providing to the country, and how are they realigning themselves with the ever-changing needs of the world? One big shift that has come about on the campuses is in terms of the end result. Placements, followed by MBA admission two years down the line are not the end goal of increasing number of students, who join these institutes with a clear understanding of what they want from that experience (although placement figures at many a institutes reveal offers over Rs 1 crore to scores of students, and companies across sectors recruiting from these campuses). And students’ expectations are largely in terms of gaining the required skills and inputs for an idea that they might already have. They would like to do further research on that idea, aided by faculty, and supported perhaps by the incubation infrastructure of the campus, to fructify it for a startup. The faculty too, is invested in carrying on research work, publishing their papers in high impact journals and filing for patents.

Interestingly, the work being done on these campuses is directly linked to social needs. Thus, IIT Madras is invested in eradicating manual scavenging through technological intervention. During Covid, it was at the forefront of supplying beds to needy patients. IIT Guwahati, which is in seismic zone 4, and a flood-prone area, is utilising the expertise of various departments to develop disaster relief mechanisms. It is also working in the area of developing building material from waste matter, which is great use in high altitudes. At IIT Roorkee, as it celebrated its 175th year, an exhibition of products

devised by faculty and students showcased technologies for early earthquake warning, faster sowing methods on fields, irrigation techniques, technologies to assist election process, and health and hygiene solutions during menstrual cycle of women.

All of these high-impact areas in the true sense of the term require multidisciplinarity.

New Areas

The other major shift that has occurred is engineering institutes venturing into other disciplines. IIT Madras recently launched the Department of Medical Sciences & Technology, the aim of which is to equip scientists and engineers with the necessary skills to advance medical research. IIT Jodhpur has a Department of Bioscience and Bio Engineering where the expertise of these two disciplines is utilised to provide healthcare solutions.

Similarly, there is a great thrust on design solutions. At IIT Guwahati, using the expertise of three sub-disciplines – product design, visual communication and user experience – the research teams are involved in making smarter decisions. At IIT Gandhinagar, while there is no design programme, the faculty from this field instructs students from engineering disciplines, adding to the functionality and human touch of the products.

Engineering institutes are also opening management departments, liberal arts and humanities and courses are offered under these schools or departments to address the concern that engineering students do not get a holistic education at engineering campuses.

Present Challenge

The key question is, what is the concern of students of engineering at this stage. Sam Altman, Founder and CEO of OpenAI and the creator of ChatGPT, during his India visit, had an interaction with the students of Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT Delhi) where he allayed fears associated with AI, saying it can never take over human creativity. But a few students that this writer spoke

to revealed that many of his ilk are willing to dump the discipline of their choice to take up AI as their area of work. Since AI is here to stay, their strategy is to master AI to be on the winning side. And engineering colleges, left with no choice but to embrace AI, are launching programmes to that effect.