Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology M.Sc Review By Paresh Khunt

DAIICT is part of Reliance Industries Limited and therefore it doesn’t need any introduction. The criteria for admissions are simple as one has to clear GATE and on the basis of that score you will have admissions here. M.Tech (ICT) of DAIICT is one of the best courses in the country not just in terms of placements but in terms of learning as well. The college is located in the capital city of Gujarat and has quota for the students from Gujarat. Students from all across the country try to get admission in this college as DAIICT’s brand value is not just limited to India but even NRI’s files application to get admissions in this college. The course has 4 specializations and based on the stream from which you have done your graduation, you can take admissions in which your course is eligible. I did Software Systems and the batch size was just 22 students. The fees were less and students after the end of first semester start getting a stipend as we worked as teaching assistant from the next semester. That was a part of learning and this is perhaps the only college that has such a unique style of teaching.

The first semester is the toughest and I had to spend at least 14-15 hours daily on studies. One thing will be taught as many times you want. Software Systems was 90% practical and therefore labs were our actual classrooms and each student was taught with sheer attention and precision. Seniors who worked as teaching assistant were more than helpful as teaching us revised their knowledge as well. Once, we became seniors we did the same and by the time, we finished the course, we were thorough with the knowledge. One can call himself/herself a complete engineer once they pass out from DAIICT.

First the intake is less and then the faculty numbers are high. To take the same class two teachers would come every odd day. Students at DAIICT don’t have a choice but to be attentive. I was glued to the vibrant coding culture that the college has. Master’s students became master of coding and that wouldn’t have been possible unless faculty made us work that hard and took us to offices of big IT firms in Bangalore. Live sessions and interaction with industry’s best players was backed by our faculties as most of them have worked in those big IT firms.

There was a huge competition as the players who came for placements for few and had jobs in range of 5-10 lakhs per annum. Higher bracket placement requires higher skills and we were trained enough to get those jobs. All the hard work paid off as even though the competition was stiff, all the students landed a job in the firms they have wished to work in the day they decided to become engineers. A dream comes true for all of us as placements were fantastic and importantly in the sector and companies of our choice.

Residence halls of the college were like a home away from home. The boys and girls residence are inside the campus and there are 7 blocks in which the boys residence is divided. The hostel fees was quite reasonable and we had to pay for food separately. The best part was that only the vegetarian food was served in the dining area and all the blocks had a common dining hall that had capacity of nearly 700 students. Besides students, even the staff who stayed at the campus used to have their meals at the mess. Residence hall or the hostels had many facilities like gaming, TV rooms, and leisure rooms among others.

Gandhinagar is probably one of the greenest cities that I have seen. The lecture halls buildings were exceptional in the way they were built. Each student had his/her own space as it wasn’t the benches were 2-3 people will sit together. Everyone had their own desk and charging points below each desk as the study material was sent on laptops. The library hall was a dedicated building of 2 floors with books section on the ground and an air-conditioned study room over that. The campus biggest highlight was HPCC (High Performance Computing Cluster). The center has nearly 1100 PCs and all equipped with latest software. The college has open lawns and a track & field for students to stay fit in challenging atmosphere. The college has a huge food court with quite a few outlets that serves different cuisines from Chinese to Italian. Sports ground was not that big but good enough to play a game of football on Sunday’s.

Life at campus was intense as coding is not easy and a lot of mental exercise is required to stay calm. The college made us survive such situations as a coder’s life is not easy and maintaining form is of utmost importance. The college prepared us for all those challenges and this is why the students of DAIICT have survived every challenge thrown to them.