IIT Bombay raises over USD 10 Million through alumni commitments

IIT Bombay’s Centre for Machine Intelligence and Data Science raised more than USD 10 Million through alumni commitments. The rapid progress of the Centre for Machine Intelligence and Data Science has been fuelled through an exemplary, alumni-supported fundraise at the Institute.

In mid-2019, Director Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri formed a committee consisting of 11 faculty members from the Institute’s various academic departments to suggest special academic initiatives in the area of AI and Data Science.

The committee recommended the setting up of the Centre for Machine Intelligence and Data Science, or C-MInDS for short, to carry forward interdisciplinary activities in AI and Data Science. The mandate of C-MInDS is to contribute towards the growth of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and related areas across different application domains. 

To strengthen its commitment to advancing AI/ML and DS in India and leveraging these domains to create societal impact, C-MInDS realised the critical need to create/upgrade its infrastructure, and secure funding for research. As a result, the Centre reached out to alumni for support and was overwhelmed by the heartening response.

 The fundraising campaign was led by Mr. Kashyap Deorah (Class of 2000, CSE) and Mr Shariq Rizvi (Class of 2003, CSE).

“The alumni we reached out to, roped in a large group of alumni and spread the word around that IITB is starting C-MInDS,” recalls Prof. S. Sudarshan, Deputy Director, Academic and Infrastructural Affairs, IIT Bombay. 

He adds, “Within a short span of a few months, we had a solid commitment to the Centre including infrastructure, student fellowships, and other requirements. Today the Centre is three years old, and the academic programmes have been under way for two years and are going smoothly. We are also in the process of recruiting full-time faculty. The construction of the new building that will house C-MInDS will begin soon.”

More Details

The Centre envisions being a thought and technology leader in this space through impactful teaching, research, academic outreach, and industry collaboration.

The formal approval for the Centre came through in early 2020 and C-MInDS was set up in February 2020. The Centre soon launched its very first academic programme with a Minor in AI and DS. This was followed by an interdisciplinary dual degree programme in AI and DS where B.

Tech. students from any department can spend an extra year and get a masters in AI and DS. The Centre has also launched a Masters's and a PhD programme in July 2022.

Read more:

• IIT Delhi Organizes Open House for JEE (Advanced) 2023 Qualified Female and PwD Candidates
• Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar to address 25th Convocation of IIT Guwahati