Novelty of the Programme
In India, several Universities face severe resource crunch and lack partnerships with global organizations to update their GIS facilities and course curriculum that is relevant to the industry. In contrast, NU M.Tech GIS Programme is research driven and offered with support from esri Inc, California, USA , the world’s leading organization in development of GIS software and esri India. Several other GIS organizations involved in GIS development in India and abroad are also expected to join and support this unique research driven and industry linked programme in the near future.
This Programme will enable professionals to start a challenging and rewarding career in the rapidly emerging area of GIS. Professionals pursuing this Programme will get a comprehensive exposure to GIS components like Geospatial modeling and database, Cartography, GIS programming, Remote sensing for GIS and relevant elective courses like GIS and Urban Planning, Advanced GIS platform programming (Mobile, Web and Cloud), Geoinformatics for environment, etc. The Programme will focus on spatial thinking, technology and applications of GIS, GPS fundamentals and techniques, Geospatial project management and field techniques, exploring geospatial nature of regions, economy, demography, occupation profile, applications of GIS for humanities, etc. Graduates will be fully prepared for positions as GIS Project Managers, Applications Specialists, Systems Engineers and GIS Business Development Managers. They will also have the option to pursue doctoral research at NU.
Key Differentiators
Innovative Pedagogy
The Programme is designed to serve professional development at the workplace and, hence, is characterized by the pedagogic innovation of Education-Work Linkage. The new pedagogy is based on the insight that the workplace while being a place to do business-related work is also a continuous learning environment where education can happen. Academic instruction components such as Lectures, Tutorials, Practicals and Projects are integrated with business objectives leading to work-based instruction components. The programme will have blended curriculum entailing classroom sessions, virtual classroom & internship, and will impart knowledge & skills in core and advanced GIS areas with strong industry practice and novel research. This programme is uniquely designed to provide academic competencies, workplace competencies, industry wide technical competencies, industry sector technical competencies and management competencies.
Creative Structure
The 2-Year, 73-Credit Programme consists of 4 semesters. The courses are categorized into University Core (to inculcate NU’s core principles), Professional Core (to gain proficiency in domain area), Professional Electives (for specialization in an industry-specific domain), R&D Project (to inculcate a strong research bend of mind), Open Elective (for management competencies) and Internship (to build linkage with Industry-work or Industry-oriented research).
The first two semesters are devoted to theoretical and hands-on practical training of foundation and advanced courses at NIIT University. This is followed by Industry Internship with virtual classroom instruction in the third semester. Students continue Industry Internship working on real life projects in the fourth semester leading to the completion of the programme. Thus, students stay at NIIT University campus only for the first two semesters.
Technology-based Seamless Delivery
To enable students to pursue the M. Tech Programme alongside their work, the Programme design has two delivery components:
1. On-campus component – NU firmly believes that experiential hands-on learning should be an integral part of all its courses. Students will spend one full year in the campus to carry out laboratory work. 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.
2. Virtual Classroom component – 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 in the third semester.
World-class Mentors
NU’s core faculty are more in the nature of mentors and have a considerable portfolio of intellectual capital to their credit. The faculty have a combined industrial experience of over a hundred person-years and have several granted patents in USA and India. NU faculty members have been responsible for creating innovative pedagogies and technology-enabled learning products. The faculty have created award-winning products that can be seen in action across the globe. The team also has a large portfolio of papers published in reputed international conferences and peer reviewed international journals.
Apart from the core faculty, NU also has a vast network of global professionals drawn from the industry and academia who will participate in the delivery of the Programme.
Scholarship
All enrolled students in the founding batch will be awarded 100% scholarship from esri Inc, California and leading corporate houses in the country. The scholarship includes full University fee waiver for the entire duration of the programme.
Stipend
During internship (in the third and fourth semester), all enrolled students will get a stipend at par with the MBA graduates from the organizations that have supported this Programme.
Placement
All enrolled students in the founding batch will be placed at par with the MBA graduates in GIS organizations that have supported this Programme.
