Mangaluru: A new ‘bold and balanced’ engineering curriculum has been implemented by the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, starting with the BTech batch of 2026. The total number of credits…

Mangaluru: A new ‘bold and balanced’ engineering curriculum has been implemented by the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, starting with the BTech batch of 2026. The total number of credits has been reduced, while interested students can pursue an additional Honours degree in their main discipline or a Minor degree in another department or an interdisciplinary field.The total credits obtained from theory courses (taught inside classrooms) will now nearly equal the credits earned through practical activities outside the classroom. Given that the weekly engagement hours for a practice credit are double those for a theory credit, students will effectively spend two-thirds of their time outside the classroom. This includes lab work, life-skills activities, industry internships, R&D projects and business startup planning.Professor Annappa, Dean (Academic Programs), who earlier headed the Career Development Centre, said, “The new curriculum was developed over the last three years with many meetings with industry and alumni. They expect engineering graduates to have the right combination of theoretical knowledge, practical skills, soft skills and mindset. The new curriculum allows students to explore different career pathways, including industry, R&D and entrepreneurship.”Karnataka: FIR against two NITK professors over alleged NCC TA/DA fraud“Life-Skill Activities are an important part of the new curriculum,” said Professor Govind Raj Mandela, Dean (Student Welfare). “These are divided into four types of activities: physical (sports), cultural (creative arts), technical (fabrication), and professional (communication). Each student is expected to spend at least two hours per week on each of the four types of activities, guided by expert coaches.”Dr Nagendrappa H, Associate Dean (Sports), said that a lot of planning went into ensuring that more than 1,100 students can simultaneously participate in various life-skill activities. Each activity has a faculty coordinator, supported by coaches and staff members.Dr Geetha V, Associate Dean (Life-Skills), concurred: “All students were smiling and enjoying playing in the ground. They were so excited. It was like they are making friendship with themselves.”Director Prof B Ravi said, “Our goal is to prepare students for the AI Era, when the importance of technical knowledge may be exceeded by human values such as curiosity, creativity, intuition, emotion, empathy, ethics, context and judgement. We are betting on the new curriculum to produce well-rounded individuals and successful professionals contributing to Viksit Bharat by 2047.”

Source: Deccan Herald