Preeti Aghalayam to become 1st woman head of IIT, to lead Zanzibar campus

Preeti Aghalayam, an IIT-M alumna and professor in the department of chemical engineering, has been named director-in-charge of the Zanzibar campus

Preeti Aghalayam, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras alumna and professor in the department of chemical engineering, has been named director-in-charge of the Zanzibar campus, IIT-M director V Kamakoti announced on Monday at a press conference in Delhi.

The Centre announced last Thursday that IIT Madras will establish the first IIT campus outside India in the Tanzanian island city of Zanzibar, following the signing of an MoU between both countries.

The move is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which states that "high-performing Indian universities will be encouraged to establish campuses in other countries."

While addressing the media remotely from Zanzibar, Aghalayam said she was honoured to represent the institute and the country.

“During our visits to Zanzibar as an IIT-M contingent we had noticed that the representation of women from their side was quite significant. The minister of education in Zanzibar is a woman, their permanent secretary who is a part of our steering committee is a woman, and of course, the President of Tanzania herself is a woman. So, I think it was important that we also consider it mindfully,” she was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Aghalayam, 49, did her BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1995 and her PhD in 2000 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research focuses on Chemical Reaction Engineering, and she is an expert in Underground Coal Gasification, Automotive Aftertreatment, and CO2 utilisation in hard-to-abate industries.

She became a faculty member at IIT-M in 2010. She also works in the Institute's Office of Global Engagement, where she manages international academic programs.

She was recently acknowledged as one of the 75 Women in STEM by the Principal Scientific Advisor’s office.

Applications for the first academic session at IIT-M

IIT-M director V Kamakoti said that the registration for admission to their overseas campus has already begun on their official website (https://www.iitm.ac.in/zanzibar/), and its senate will soon finalise the admission process, which will include a screening test developed by faculty experts at IIT-M, as well as an interview.

Kamakoti also said that faculty will be deputed from IIT-Madras or recruited from India.

The fees for the Bachelor's course will be $12,000 per year, and $4,000 for the Master's course, the IIT-M director announced, while emphasising that meritorious students may be eligible for scholarships.

Kamakoti added that IIT-Madras is studying the needs of the country in terms of human capacity building.

“Within the next few years, we will offer very strong postgraduate and undergraduate courses and these need not be very conventional courses… We are also planning to start a research park in Zanzibar campus like we have in IIT-M to have more industry and academia collaborations," he added.