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LEARNING BY DOING - ILGC & MORE
Engineering and technology are advancing at
such an unprecedented rate that the world
awakens every day anticipating yesterday’s
fiction to be today’s reality. The next genera-
tion of aspiring engineers is conflicted
between the excitement of what the future
heralds and the fear of how to stay relevant
within it.
At Plaksha University, students are prepared
not just with what to learn, but also the how
and why of learning! By the time Plakshans
graduate, they see the interconnectedness of
things and are unafraid of pushing their own
boundaries. They enjoy ‘learning by doing’.
They figure out how to make things work, how
much time to put in to make it work and what
to learn to make it happen. They understand
the ethics of technology, develop empathy,
self-awareness and march towards their
futures with a sense of purpose. All this is
made possible because the curriculum and
pedagogy is designed so that stepping into
Plaksha is akin to stepping out into the
real world.
Research plays a pivotal role in our undergrad-
uate education, especially in bridging the gap
between theoretical learning and practical
application. Plaksha’s unique freshmore curric-
ulum is driven by faculty who work on cutting-
edge research in domains of AI, robotics,
biological sciences, economics and humanities.
Students appreciate how the advances of
today can be reduced to foundational con-
cepts of science and math. They learn how to
observe nature and the world around them,
how to design and build with various materi-
als, how to question and reason, and to com-
municate and work in teams. A concept taught
in any course connects to practical application,
be it building a bridge, a handheld gadget or a
microscopic circuit. Concepts across multiple
courses intertwine to create interdisciplinary
outcomes. This systems-level approach gets
students excited and equipped to tackle real-
world problems from the get-go. When fresh-
men approach faculty at the end of the class
with a shy smile, it’s not always because they
have a simple doubt but often because they
want to know if they can get started in our
research labs!
Innovation Lab Grand Challenges (ILGC) Studio
is a sequence of courses that facilitates stu-
dents to pursue apprenticeship under Plaksha
faculty right from their first semester. They
ambitiously take on cutting-edge research
topics such as creating digital twins of algae,
applying Turing patterns to understand
Alzheimer’s, creating an AI tutor that emulates
peer learning, building self-navigating robots
for use in hospitals, and developing aug-
mented reality modules for education. At the
same time, they develop domain expertise
through accompanying core and elective
courses of their respective majors.
It has been a pleasure to see students meta-
morphose through their ILGC journey. In the
4th semester, they are challenged by the
enormity of the research problem, and they
realize that there are just too many i's to dot
and t’s to cross before they can get anywhere.
They learn what it means to take ownership in
front of a jury of experts. From 6th semester
onwards, a noticeable transformation hap-
pens. Some students get so far ahead on their
projects that it is no longer easy to evaluate
them. Some start spending a lot more time to
get to that conference or journal paper. ILGC
projects start winning competitions, securing
admissions to prestigious research groups
or the interest of investors who see it as a
viable startup.
The world of technology will continue advanc-
ing at an unprecedented pace. But soon
Plakshans will drive some of it, steer some
of it and they are certainly ready to take on
any of it.
Dr Srikant Srinivasan
Associate Dean, Global Engagements
Chair Associate Professor, Plaksha University
ILGC is a journey of growth, challenge and transformation.
P E D A G O G Y F O R T H E 2 1 S T C E N T U R Y
Masters of Innovation