Summer Training/Industrial Internships 2020 at Institute of Technology
At the Institute of Technology, the students of BTech and MTech undertake Summer Training/Industrial Internships of 4-6 weeks duration with a view of putting into practical use the classroom teaching and gaining a flavour of industrial work culture or research institutions. However this year due to the unprecedented situation arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry as well as R&D institutions are dealing with a new work situation. Also considering the safety aspects associated with travel to workplace and the need for social distancing in the next few weeks, the summer training/industrial internship this year needs to evolve in its implementation as practically possible.
The students in this situation are considering a work-from-home approach and take an internship involving industrial case study, problem solving, project assigned by the industrial or external mentor. The case study, problem solving, project can typically involve design and development of systems/sub-systems, software/code development, optimisation and system analysis, etc. The student can also associate with a department faculty as an internal mentor for the internship and through periodic meetings using online platform interact periodically for progress reviews and related discussions. At the end of the duration, the student shall be submitting a written report summarising the work carried out and making a formal presentation.
Summer Internships 2020 turned into Work-From-Home Assignment
In view of the unprecedented situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and industry, all around, are trying to grapple with the major disruption in their routines brought about by lockdown, restricted travel and the social distancing norms.
At Institute of Management, this disruption happened at a very crucial time, just when the students were about to begin their summer internships. Given the criticality of the summer internships in the academic curriculum of the MBA programme, an appeal was sent to the recruiters to consider a Work-from-Home option for the students and not revoke the offer as it could adversely affect the academic prospects of the students. For MBA students it was proposed that all eight weeks of summer internships would be in a Work-From-Home mode whereas for the four months internship of I-MBA students, a hybrid model was suggested. It consisted of four to eight weeks in Work-From-Home option starting May onward, followed by twelve or eight weeks onsite internship based on the prevailing situation. Recruiters were sensitive to understand the situation and appreciate the concerns. About 60% of the batch was assigned the summer internship via Work-From-Home option. In specific cases where organisations were unable to offer Work-From-Home option, the Institute identified relevant project topics which were allocated to the students in their area of specialisation.
At Institute of Architecture and Planning, Internship for students is the most indispensable part of the course as the discipline directly deals with the industry. Students who have not been able to complete 18 weeks of mandated practical training have been given the assignment based on research.