'Niche Aviation courses should be introduced in IITs'

Premier institutes should lead the way to promote untapped subjects such as space exploration, remote sensing
India has collaborated with countries like Russia and USA to improve its aviation sector and is today one of the major players in satellite launches and space research. However, space exploration still remains untapped to a great extent, considering the potential we have in the academic world.The change needs to start from premier institutes, say experts.
"To promote this sector, we needed dedicated courses in premier institutes such as the IITs. Currently, more Indian institutes do not have a niche course in the field of aviation to complete with the global requirement. Autonomous institutes can follow the same roadmap to give a boost to the sector. Government needs to introduce initiatives to promote remote sensing technology," says MR Seetharam, vice chairman and director, MS Ramaiah Institute (MSRIT) that recently organised a lecture by NASA's former governor Major General Charles Frank Bolden in association with the US Consulate in Chennai. Bolden talked about the challenges ahead in space exploration and asked the students to not be tied down against exploring a career in space. "Aviation and space exploration as a field is full of possibilities," he said.
Indian students should be exposed to interactive science at an early which can inculcate an interest in the subject.
"During my tenure as the Minister of Science and Technology, in Karnataka we had set up 10 mobile planetariums that were taken to government schools for a live session," says Seetharam, stressing on the need to give support to the autonomous institute to develop the aviation courses.
"Through this initiative around 3, 25,000 students studying in rural schools could access the planetariums that are otherwise limited to metro cities," says Seetharam.
Initiatives like these will also address the quality of graduates opting for STEM careers, and will help in improving the quality of Engineering students.
"Instead of carving their own path, Indians follow a herd-mentality. This leads to mushrooming of unqualified technical institutes churning out unemployable graduates," says Seetharam.
"To further advance space exploration and other engineering streams people from technical backgrounds such as space and aviation should be roped in to bring in reform in curriculum as general academicians with no industry exposure and bureaucrats lack long-term vision," he adds.