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Boeing to sponsor students at IIT Bombay

Archana Masih in Bombay

For the department of aerospace engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, the news was as big as a Jumbo Jet. Boeing, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, announced that it would sponsor student research in aerospace engineering through a Boeing Research Fellowship.

In a memorandum of understanding signed recently, Boeing and IIT also agreed to work together on aircraft technology. Boeing will sponsor student research in aerospace engineering. The fellowship, which is the highest monetary award at IIT Bombay so far, will support a deserving student pursuing an M Tech or dual-degree programme each year (a five-year course in which the student gets a B Tech in aerospace engineering and an M Tech in a particular specialisation).

"Boeing wanted to get involved with an educational institution," says Boeing India president Dr Dinesh A Keskar. "IIT is one of the premier institutions of India, its students have shown their talent worldwide, and some IIT graduates also work at Boeing. We, therefore, thought it would be interesting for both of us to do some kind of joint programme."

The MoU will involve two aspects. The student who receives the fellowship will do research relevant to the current topics in the aviation industry in his last two or three years of research. The student will be directly involved with state-of-the-art problems that Boeing is looking at, and both Boeing and the student will work in tandem based on the expertise available at IIT Bombay.

The other aspect is research interaction. While the first activity concerns the student with guidance from the professor, the second is a more professor-oriented research programme.

Boeing will sponsor two years of the student's education at IIT. The fellowship will provide an attractive monthly scholarship, including contingency grants, etc, besides the distinction of being associated with the world's leading aircraft manufacturer.

So who is the lucky first choice? "We will announce the Boeing Research Scholar before the beginning of the next academic year, by July or so," says Professor S Suryanarayan, head of the aerospace engineering department at IIT Bombay.

Dr Keskar (right) explains the role of professor-oriented research, funding for which is still to be decided upon. "This will involve more money and greater interaction between Boeing and IIT," he says, "Here we will be dealing with problems that need to be solved immediately or something like that."

The topics of research and development will be decided upon mutually. For instance, the research could be in areas such aero-elasticity, flight control systems, aerodynamics, and supersonic aeroplanes for the future. Boeing's R&D team will shortly narrow down a list of such topics and discuss it with the IIT aerospace engineering department.

"Boeing may suggest the area for working together based on the expertise available at IIT Bombay. This will obviously be on tasks agreed to mutually," says Professor Suryanarayan.

A selection committee made up of IIT professors and a Boeing nominee will choose the research scholar. The basis of the selection is extremely square: "Brilliant academic record and research experience," declares Professor Suryanarayan.

Associated with as big a name as Boeing, the fellowship will, but naturally, demand exceptional competence. "We pride ourselves in being the world's leading aircraft and aerospace company, and we expect similar calibre from the person who receives the fellowship," says Dr Keskar, an IIT graduate himself.

Whether the student will get an opportunity to visit Boeing's headquarters in Seattle, United States, does not find mention in the MoU. However, both Dr Keskar and Professor Suryanarayan do not rule out the possibility. It will largely depend on the evolution of the research programme, especially if the infrastructure needed for further technical work is available at the Boeing HQ.

Dr Keskar says IIT was selected because as an institution, it already has all the resources in place: equipment, professors, infrastructure, etc. Going by his own experience and the experiences of many other IIT alumni, he maintains that very often, wonderful research work undertaken by students lies forgotten after completion.

"Why not invest the same resource to something that is useful to the industry?" he asks. "All we are doing is diverting the focus of the research to an interesting problem and in the process sponsoring a student."

Among the six IITs of India (located in Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, and Madras) Bombay was selected because of certain logistical reasons -- the city is an important hub in the aviation industry. Bombay is the headquarters of Air-India, and Jet Airways, thereby providing the IIT scholars a place to work in.

Boeing is contemplating a similar programme at IIT Delhi. Though this remains undefined, the company is confident it will not stretch beyond what will happen at Bombay. "Frankly, I want to keep this as an exclusive thing so that people aspire for it," stresses Dr Keskar.

Two years after Boeing set up shop in India, the fellowship is seen as the company's way of integrating with the Indian community. Boeing is known to encourage involvement with educational institutions in other parts of the world as well. Dr Keskar himself lectured at a local engineering college in Seattle during his years at the company headquarters.

Boeing India already works along with the Indian Institute of Science and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, both at Bangalore, in some research areas. HAL already produces doors and other parts for Boeing aircraft, apart from doing maintenance work for all Boeing aircraft in India. The company also does regular seminars on air safety with airlines in India.

Incidentally, among Boeing's 238,000 employees worldwide, over 200 are of Indian origin, most of who are engineering or management professionals.

Meanwhile, at the large and lush IIT campus in suburban Bombay, Professor Suryanarayan has already started receiving queries and applications for the coveted fellowship. But it is information that the professor wants to keep under wraps for the present.

The attraction of being a Boeing Research Fellow will no doubt draw numerous applicants, and it will only be after meticulous scanning that IIT will announce the first of its aerospace stars.

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