Compilation of some Quora Answers on Engineering Design.
1. Can Engineering Design at IITM be called Automobile Engineering?
Answer by Ravi Khatri a 2nd year student in the department
Being a current 2nd year student in the Department of Engineering Design at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, I believe I am well suited to answer your question.
As we call it “Ashok Leyland and Bosch Center of Excellence in Engineering Design” and “अभियान्त्रिकी अभिकल्प विभाग”, It is much more than just Automobile Engineering. Engineering Design or ED in short, is not just a department, it is a dream of Dr. Krishnakumar, R. a dream which he molded into reality with the help of two giants of the Auto Industry BOSCH and Ashok Leyland.
Although Ed provides specialization (in Dual Degree course) in Automotive Designing but Automotive Designing is totally different than Automotive Engineering. What ED yields is a potential PRODUCT DESIGNER and IITM is the only place where one can study Engineering Design. All this makes us unique, over the span of five years we study a bit from all the other core branches and a lot about product designing.
-Fuctional and Conceptual Design
-Form and Aesthetics in Design
-Graphic Designing
-Geometrical Modelling and CAD
-Design of Mechanical Systems
-Design of Electronic Systems and a lot more.
This is what we study here and this is something which can mold a student from a lower middle class into a future world leader. ED provides wings to all those who believes in out of the box thinking. ED provides a new definition to modern era engineering methods.
My answer would be incomplete if I don’t mention ATHER ENERGY, a startup by ED passouts from 2012 batch. ATHER currently is the fastest growing startup of India and after it’s recent funding from HERO MOTOCORP of 205 crores, I believe they are gonna rule the Auto Industry in near future. Ather Energy is surely a start up to watch out for in 2017.
P.S. Apart from Automotive designing, the Department of Engineering Design also provides specialization in Bio-Medical Engineering.
Recent International Journal Articles
Ather Energy finds its Hero with Rs 205 crore — The Economic Times
2. Is Engineering Design IIT Madras a rigorous technical course or is it a more artistic type course?
Answer by Parth, a 2nd year student of the department.
To be short, both.
The branch primarily focuses on the concept of product design.
There are various types of courses, ranging from mechanical systems, electronic systems, CAD modeling, computer graphics and a couple of art courses too. So you are covered with many things there. Specializations currently include Automotive and Biomedical engineering.
Since the branch has no definition of core, students get various opportunities and are many are working in software, product design as well as automotive companies. Many students have started up.
It is one of the most closely related branches to industry. Also the only one that offers a six month internship program.
Over all this I’d say that you learn actual engineering here. We have a product design lab where you can dissect products and study them. You can learn to build new products.
Speaking about maths I don’t feel that it goes soft on mathematics. There are common maths courses same as other departments till the third semester. The Geometric Modeling and CAD course includes a lot of mathematics and geometry.
To summarize, if you’d like a practical approach to things rather than a theoretical one, this department is for you.
