"Future and futuristic technology aided by artificial intelligence with a fusion of contemporary academics," are the keywords driving the philosophy and the growth of NMIMS, Chandigarh as per Dr Jaskiran Kaur, Campus Director and Burzeen Bhathena, Director (Marketing) of the first private university in the heart of the city Beautiful.
The sprawling campus, set in the foothills of the Shivaliks, amid acres of green cover all around, is not yet fully operational nor has multiple courses as of now but has been offering niche courses in Engineering, Law, and Commerce for the last over three years and the first batch, fully equipped with the latest set of knowledge, is set to pass out next year and excel in the fiercely competitive world outside the campus.
"We have our eyes firmly set on the future, so much so that the moment something big happens in technology, we try to incorporate it in the curriculum," said Dr Kaur, pointing out that Chat GPT, something about which the world is raving about, has already become a part of the academics in NMIMS and of course Artificial Intelligence. As red tape and academic inertia or lack of innovation governs many institutions forcing them to continue with outdated curriculum, NMIMS has stepped up the accelerator, studying, analyzing and visualizing the industry needs and adopting it without any delay.
"We have standardized the quality of education in all our campuses spread across India," says Bhathena, pointing out that apart from the existing campuses in Mumbai, Shirpur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Indore, Navi Mumbai, Dhule and Chandigarh, two more campuses of NMIMS are coming up in Noida near Delhi and Ahmedabad. "That will be a pan India presence, he adds, pointing out that the growth has been possible due to the industry-relevant courses, job market requirements, and keeping an eye on global trends.
Dr Kaur adds that all the programs offered by the campus are based on AI technology and application-based tools. The Director said that the campus presently has three operational schools--School of Technology Management and Engineering, School of Commerce and School of Law, offering six programs, "promising bright leaders at the forefront of technological advancements".
Giving a tour of the Campus, Dr Kaur and Bhathena showed the 3-D printing technology being perfected by the students, the latest Smart Board-equipped classrooms, a moot court resembling an actual court where the budding law students could practice their skills, a well-equipped library the additional feature being a digital library where a student could read and browse through thousands of books and Journals, subscribed from across the world. Of course, if the young scholars feel the hunger pangs, there is an upscale cafeteria, offering nourishing meals and a break from the classroom for a while. The auditorium too stands apart for its well-equipped and advanced features though the Director hastily added that it won't be used for the promotion of movies (as some of the private universities do) nor for screening of movies. It will only be used for cultural activities of the students.
"Given the global scenario where implementation of AI tools will boost productivity, paving the way for the emergence of new industries and jobs that require higher levels of training and knowledge work, the onus of training future leaders falls on higher educational institutions. Keeping in mind these developments, NMIMS Chandigarh is well equipped to prepare future CXOs and industry leaders," added the Campus Director.
