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Aiming for the stars
 Quietly, without breathing a word, some Anna University students and teachers have been involved for a year now in fabricating a micro satellite to be launched by an ISRO rocket sometime this year.
This is the first time that students and teachers of any Indian university have been involved in a project like this, says Anna University
Vice-Chancellor, Dr E Balagurusamy, with pride.
The main purpose of the satellite, which would operate a 'store and forward system', is to link universities for the purpose of learning.
With a Rs 5 crore funding and technical support from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), this satellite would be a landmark achievement for the university and create a record.
There would be four earth stations for the satellite, including Chennai, Roorkee and Pune, once it is launched by an ISRO Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by the end of 2004.
There are many such ambitious projects that Anna University has chalked out for 2004. It plans to provide base facility for six southern states, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Goa for optimum use of the
EDUSAT (education satellite) to be launched by
ISRO.
The telemedicine collaboration the university has launched with corporate Apollo Hospitals, will be extended to cover rural centres. At the click of a mouse, villagers can seek the help of a specialist in a city hospital for quick relief.
The University Grants
Commission wants to check the lopsided growth of student interest in engineering, biotechnology and computers and promote
the study of pure sciences. Anna University would be involved in this effort in the southern region.
With more and more emphasis on management studies, the university plans to start a centre for Technology Management and a new MBA programme to match the IIM in the Anna School of Management.
 Anna University has some special plans regarding helping the students. One is setting up a southern campus and regional centre for quick action in all cases since the writ of the university runs across all engineering colleges in the state.
Another idea is to start counselling centres to help students in their studies and in tackling personal problems. To look after NRI and overseas students, an international students centre is to be opened.
The university proposes to set up a Rs 1 crore students fellowship fund to help bright but poor students continue their education with peace of mind.
Once the students complete their course, the university would create a database ranking all the students to enable state-level placements for all its affiliated colleges.
"Since we have been getting a lot of requests from the Gulf countries, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, we are planning extension centres abroad with private partnership," says Balagurusamy. This would help NRI students pursue their education where they live.
To improve the kind of faculty that staff the university
colleges, the Faculty Development Centre would be upgraded into an Academic
Staff College. And, the faculty would be at liberty to go on sabbatical to either work in an industry, do research or write a book so that it benefits the students and the institutions, say the
Vice-Chancellor. A long, overdue necessity, one would say.
When the whole world is talking of e-governance, can Anna University be far
behind? "Most of our administrative procedures are now computerised. By July 2004 we intend to completely switch over to governance through the electronic medium where you can even send in your leave application by e-mail," declares the
Vice-Chancellor.
All these activities will make 2004 an eventful year for Anna University which has set itself a vision of making technical education world-class, support society through need-based projects, undertake cutting-edge area research and make the university administration transparent through e-governance.
S Chitra
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