IIT Kharagpur to set up India's first school on Quality and Reliability

The Indian Institute of Technology is starting an inter-disciplinary school on Quality and Reliability (Q&R), a first of its kind in India, it said in a statement on Friday.

"The school in collaboration with other academic units in the Institute will offer academic courses, research and mission-mode programmes in the area of Quality and Reliability which would bring about social transformations. It shall also serve as a hub of Intellectual Property in Quality," IIT Kharagpur director P.P. Chakrabarti said.

The faculty members as well as students will be from various disciplines, and apart from traditional Q&R areas, the school will have a holistic view on QR by including various application domains of the trinity of Process, Planet and People (3Ps) targeting Engineering systems, Human systems and natural systems.

"Quality hazards have often led to life risks. It is crucial for us to adopt formal education in the domain of Quality and apply it in the end products," said Chakrabarti, who hoped the venture would be a trend-setter.

Quality guru Subir Chowdhury, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus, is the school's patron.

The Subir and Malini Chowdhury Foundation has offered $1 million as endowment funding for the school which will be equally matched by IIT, Kharagpur. The school is being named the Subir Chowdhury School of Quality and Reliability.

Subir Chowdhury along with his organisation ASI Consulting Group will actively support the development of academic materials, laboratories and faculty for the School.

The Foundation will also help engage international experts in the subject areas. M.Tech. and MS in Quality and Reliability Engineering (QRE) and Microspecialisations for undergraduate students will start from the academic year 2017-18.

Dual Degree programme with B.Tech. in any discipline and M.Tech. in QRE will be launched in academic year 2018-19. Integration with MBA and Entrepreneurship programmes was on the cards.

Additionally at least one course will be taught by an international expert in a year. The school will also offer PhD courses in all areas of Quality and Reliability.

--IANS

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