In a first of its kind offering, starting April, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur will invite students to enrol for short term courses with video conferencing facilities.

The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is opening itself up to students of other engineering colleges, offering short modular courses on contemporary themes through video conferencing.

From next month, the institute is launching a unique first of its kind 'Knowledge Dissemination Programme', IIT Kharapur officials said today.

Participants from the industry, research organisations, faculty and students of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP)-II institutions and entrepreneurs from across the country can join these courses designed around current and multidisciplinary themes of science, engineering and management.

The modular courses of around ten hours will be conducted live through video conferencing at the IIT Kharagpur campuses in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar, the officials said.

To be conducted during evening hours and weekends, the courses will give working professionals an opportunity to learn from the reputed IIT Kharagpur faculty through intensive study of subjects and personal interactions.

This first edition will include courses on Embedded System Design, Microfuidics and Nanofluidics, Data Mining, Hydrologic Design in a Changing Climate, Wireless Sensor Network and Internet of Things and Thermoelectricity: The art of waste heat recovery.

Photograph: Kshitij Anand/Reuters