The networking of mobile devices coupled with their increased Programmemability is driving the convergence between computing and communication at an extraordinary pace. The explosion of new types of devices – smart phones, digital music players, health-monitors, etc. – each capable of computing and communicating has allowed people to gain access to data and manipulate it to startling effect. We are increasingly part of a world where computing and communications is ubiquitous – not only at work but also at home and in public spaces.
This trend is of increasing relevance to industry and R&D labs. Some of the leading industrial organizations in this space are Nokia, Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, HP, Dell, GM, GE, Yahoo and Google, to name a few. In India, leading players include organizations such as Infosys, Wipro, Sasken, Airtel and Reliance Telecom. In addition to these players, there are a large number of R&D labs and start-ups that need experienced researches and engineers in this emerging discipline. Traditional Programmes in CSE and ECE are not current with the rapid advances being made in this area, and few universities have access to experienced faculty with relevant industrial and research experience.
Why is NU Offering C3?
NU is one of the few universities in the country that offers an M. Tech Programme in the Convergence of Computing and Communication (C3). Led by expert instructors with a wealth of industrial and research experience, the C3 Programme at NU offers state-of-the-art courses attuned to the growing demands of the industry and R&D labs in the country.
The programme imparts an in-depth understanding in the areas of computing and communications with an emphasis on distributed systems, wireless and mobile networks, sensor networks, telecom and telematics. Several important areas such as Security Engineering and Machine to Machine technologies are integral to the Programme so as to make it highly relevant to the industry today. The M. Tech Programme in C3 attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The major thrust is towards integration of theoretical knowledge with hands-on practical experience working towards an internship or thesis. This kind of integrated approach is only available at a few universities in the country.
Whom is the M.Tech C3 Programme for?
The programme is open to engineering graduates of select specializations, MCAs and M.Sc. degree holders from specific specialization (see eligibility criteria for details). In particular, the Programme is intended for professionals working in relevant areas and is sponsored by their employers.
NU recognizes that industry-sponsored students cannot remain absent from their workplace for too long. Therefore the Programme design has two delivery components:
- Online component delivered using synchronous technologies. NU has fully equipped web conferencing studios to have two-way interaction with its students located anywhere on the globe. This component is used to deliver lectures and carry out one-to-one student mentoring and guiding as well as interacting with industry-supervisors.
- On-campus component – NU firmly believes that experiential hands-on learning should be an integral part of all its courses. Students will spend at most one month in the campus every semester to carry out the laboratory work that cannot be done in the online mode or at the workplace. Thus over the two year period the students need to spend 3-4 months in the campus at Neemrana, Rajasthan. NU’s Laboratories are designed more in the nature of Industry Innovation Centres rather than University laboratories. Further the activities are designed as mini-projects than isolated exercises.
It may be noted that M.Tech (Educational Technology) programme of NU is already running successfully following this approach.
Key benefits to organizations having M.Tech (C3) degree holders
This programme gives an opportunity to sponsoring organization to expose their employees to those aspects of C3 that they would not normally be involved in (refer list of courses). This opens the possibility of rapid reallocation of engineers to different functional areas as per the need of the project. Needless to mention, this would also create channels for their growth within the organization. The Programme would also supplement the efforts of in-house training and development divisions of sponsoring organizations which are usually overloaded with the training of fresh engineering graduates to make them productive.
Key benefits to professionals with M.Tech (C3)
M.Tech (C3) of NU is not just another Master’s degree in technology. The professional undergoing this programme will get a 360O exposure to Computing & Communication Systems that starts with fundamentals of mobile, wireless networks and ends with an in-depth understanding of the properties of systems, e.g., reliability, security and scalability. The programme focuses on protocols, architecture and end-to-end performance, rather than teaching traditional computing and communications courses in separate, water-tight compartments. The programme lays a heavy emphasis on emerging applications, services and solutions in the space. This is expected to groom industry employees to become system and solution engineers who would be able to appreciate the convergence that is taking place in the industry in computing, communications & control. The system engineer would be well equipped to think of new services and applications in industries ranging from the Automotive and Aeronautical sectors to Healthcare, Telecom & Telematics sectors.
Unique Features of the M.Tech Programme
Industry-linkage is one of the most prominent features of the M.Tech programme.
- One full semester devoted to industry practice under the joint guidance of industry and NU supervisors. This internship carries a weightage of 12 credits.
- An R&D project of 8 credits during the summer term for which industry supervisors can indicate the nature of the project in which they would like their candidates to work on.
- One elective course of 4 credits customized to the requirement of the sponsoring industry.
Thus, effectively 24 out of 74 credits are aligned directly to the goals of sponsoring industry.
Key Courses in C3 Programme
Wireless/Pervasive Systems
- Wireless/Mobile Communications
– Sensor Networks, WPANs, WLANs, WiMAX, Cellular, Satellite
- Cognitive Radio/Software Defined Radio
- 3G, 4G, LTE and beyond
- Emerging Services and Applications
– Location Based Services
– VAS
Programmeming/Embedded Environments
- Embedded Solutions
- Programmeming Environments
– Operating Systems, Middleware
Other Courses
- Multimedia networking
- IPTV
- Optical Networking
- Internet of Things (M2M)
- Cloud Computing
- Virtualization
- Storage
- Security of Networks
- Green ICT
- Intellectual Property