IIT-B is developing green policy to reduce carbon footprint on campus

Kedare, who is an alumni of the institute and was born and brought up in Mumbai, has been working in the energy sector for the last three decades. While working in rural areas, he worked on solar systems. He has led teams or collaborated for the successful installation of various energy systems in the industry

Mumbai: The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) is developing a sustainability policy that will entail guidelines to measure the carbon footprint on campus in order to save energy and achieve a goal for a greener future.

IIT-B is developing green policy to reduce carbon footprint on campus

The initiative is close to the heart of the institute’s newly appointed director professor Shireesh Kedare. As he took charge of the position this week, Kedare in an interaction with the media on Friday spoke about his vision and plans for the institute.

“We are building a green energy and sustainability research hub at the institute. The hub will support research and technology development in domains of renewable energy, climate change, and sustainability,” said Kedare, who added that with this new policy in place, the institute plans to reduce the carbon footprint on the campus.

While acknowledging that implementing such a policy can be a long process, a hopeful Kedare said they already started undertaking several green initiatives for a sustainable future.

Kedare, who is an alumni of the institute and was born and brought up in Mumbai, has been working in the energy sector for the last three decades. While working in rural areas, he worked on solar systems. He has led teams or collaborated for the successful installation of various energy systems in the industry.

“I have a habit of calculating my family’s daily carbon footprint. I mention my carbon footprint on my curriculum vitae and the last slide of my presentation,” said Kedare, adding that the institute, among various activities in sustainability, is measuring the quantum of garbage that is disposed of daily.

About his plans, Kedare said he is more focused on the outreach programme of the institute. “We are planning industry outreach for translation of research into industry which will help us connect with the industry. We are also planning social and educational outreach that will help the institute connect with society and the educators,” he added.

IIT Bombay administration is working on stress management at various levels including academics. On the changes applicable in academics, he highlighted that the institute introduced more elective subjects to keep students stress-free.

Explaining further, Kedare said, “We are introducing a 40:60 pattern which means students will study 40% major subjects and 60% elective subjects. So students don’t have to bother about the entrance test scores. If a student secures admission in any stream of engineering in IITs, s/he will be able to study his subject of choice with the help of elective subjects.”

With these new changes in academics, students can now choose non-engineering subjects under HASMED- Humanities, Arts, Social Science, Management, Entrepreneurship, and Design. IIT Bombay also plans to introduce the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) on campus as per the New Education Policy (NEP).

“With the new academic changes, IIT Bombay will not spoon-feed everything to the students but train them to become good learners. Toward this, the institute also plans to introduce development sessions for teachers that will help improve teaching methodology,” said Kedare.