Prof. Preeti Aghalayam|"Sometimes it feels like living in a National Geographic documentary."| Ep.19

making a physical campus abroad is a very big step. So we call ourselves the IITM Zanzibar family. The sense of community is really very important for us. Out of the 3,000 PhD scholars you have on campus, you have 1,000 of them being women. [upbeat music]

Hi, my name is Amrit. We've heard that IIT Madras is the best place to build. [upbeat music] So we've come down to the Sudha and Shankar Innovation Hub. We want to meet some people. These are builders. We want to talk to them about their work, and also ask them what makes IIT Madras the best place to build? [upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to The Best Place to Build Podcast. Today I'm sitting with Professor Preeti. Professor Preeti is the Founding Director of the IIT Madras Zanzibar campus. She's also the first woman director of any IIT campus. Uh, before this, she was a chemical engineering professor at IIT Madras, and then before that, at IIT Bombay. Welcome to the podcast, Professor.

Thank you so much, Amritash. A pleasure to be here.

Um, I also want to tell you that we, uh, took three months to schedule this because, of course, you are traveling between campuses, and today you are in Chennai. Um, Professor, you're the founding director of this new IIT campus outside India, and the first question that comes to mind is: What does it take to start a new IIT? [chuckles] Can you break it down into steps for us?

So I think we can write a book about this, uh, and we probably should. Uh, it's first of all, the initiation comes from the governments, although, uh, as an IIT, as IIT Madras, we are, uh, autonomous, uh, but we are still supported by the government. And a lot of this kind of activity that we do outside the country does need the blessing of, uh, the government of India. And I think as, uh, you know, a blue- Office of Global Engagement in IIT Madras, we've been, uh, sort of treading a lot of new ground already in this theme of internationalization. And, you know, we've done ton of things that are very new, very different in the realm of internationalization. But this is a big step. Making a physical-

Sure

... campus abroad is a very big step for any institution, but particularly for an institution like an IIT, which has a lot of 50, 60 years of a brand that is built. You go in a new region, will you enjoy the type of, uh, you know, autonomy, the enablement, just the recognition that you have in India, um, and how important is that to think about all these things? So you wanted me to break it down into steps. I think the first is for the two governments, wherever we are going, to have a very, uh, good, strong, possibly a strategic kind of bilateral relationship. That is, uh, very important. Nothing would happen without that. And the second would be that, uh... and of course, IIT Madras [chuckles] always raises its hand first for all these things, want to do this, want to pick up on this, uh, challenge and go over there, and you have to set up everything from scratch, right? Every chair, every blackboard, every single student, faculty that is a staff member, et cetera. So first, of course, some agreements between the government involving IIT Madras and what we need, what we, uh, imagine for something like this. A good academic, uh, s- being set up in terms of what are the programs that we are going to offer, what is the curriculum going to look like, what is the student selection process going to be like, and what is the market for these students? Where are they going to come from? How are we going to ensure that that aligns with, you know, with the type of student we're looking with- looking for, and the program that we're looking at? And then the big deal about faculty. Students also, of course, it's very difficult, but you can, uh, find students who want the IIT Madras experience, even in Zanzibar. But then the faculty who will teach the IIT Madras courses, so setting up that, I think, is, uh, definitely one of the top three or four steps. Building the physical campus, uh, making sure that it is, uh, commensurate with where IIT Madras is today, and we can do the type of classes we want, have the administrative faculty experiences, student experiences, that is deserved of an IIT Madras student. That is the fourth one. And the rest of it is all lots of everyday, uh, details for, uh, running this institution successfully, making sure that, um, you know, there is a long-term focus, uh, but also a, a short-term handling of details focus as well.