Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra


Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra is an Indian institute of higher education and a deemed University under Section 3 of the UGC Act. It was established in the year 1955 at Mesra, Ranchi in the state of Jharkhand, India by the philanthropist and industrialist Late Shri. B. M. Birla. The institute was later headed by Late Shri G.P Birla and the present chairman of the board of governors is Shri C.K Birla.
The main campus at Mesra is a wholly residential campus. Following the establishment of the main campus in Mesra, extension centres have been established in several regions of India including Jaipur, Noida, Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Deoghar, and University Polytechnic as well as offshore centres in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE and Muscat, Oman.
Every year students are admitted strictly based on Merit assessed by All India Rank in JEE-Main-CSAB, GATE and AIPMT for its various courses.

History

The Birla Institute of Technology was established in 1955 at Mesra by industrialist and philanthropist B. M. Birla. The institute was affiliated to Patna University until 1960, and then to the Institute of Science and Management, Ranchi. In 1986 BIT was elevated to the status of deemed university under section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.
BIT was the first institute in India to establish a department of space engineering and rocketry, in 1964.
The Small Industries Research and Development Organization was set up in 1970 as a launching pad for small manufacturing enterprises managed by graduates of BIT. Companies created from this concept include Meditron and Alcast. This idea was appreciated by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; and was spread to other institutes such as IITs by the Government with a concept named Science and Technological Entrepreneurs Park. The first STEP was approved and located in BIT Mesra. The entrepreneurship development cell was founded in 2007 and is run by the students. To add financial strength to this effort, BIT has set up SIDBI Centre for Innovation and Incubation by an arrangement with Small Industries Development Bank of India to provide funds for a limited period of time to new entrepreneurs, start up companies, and technology based organisations in areas of interest with the faculty of the institute.
BIT established an offshore centre in Bahrain in the year 2000. It has a PARAM 10000 supercomputer at the core of its IT infrastructure.

Organisation and administration

BIT functions under the control of a Board of Governors, comprising representatives of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, the UGC, the State Government, the Chancellor, the A.I.C.T.E., the Hindustan Charity Trust and the Institute Faculty. CK Birla is the chairman of the board of Governors. The Governor of the state of Jharkhand is the Chancellor of the Institute. The Technical Council headed by vice chancellor decides the academic policy of the Institute.

Campus

The main campus of the Institute at Mesra is located 16 kilometers from Ranchi in a setting at the confluence of the rivers Jhumar and Subarnarekha. The Mesra campus is entirely residential, providing accommodation to undergraduate and postgraduate students and 550 members of faculty and staff. The infrastructure includes research laboratories, lecture halls, workshops, playground, gymnasium and a central library with over books, journals and electronic databases.

Central facilities

Central
The CAD Laboratory is a central facility of the institute where all users – undergraduate and postgraduate students, research scholars and faculty members – can work with design and analysis software.
Central Computing Facilities
The maintenance and upkeep of the CCF is done by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering; however the CCF is used by students and staff from all departments of the Institute.
The PARAM 10000 Supercomputer was gifted to the Institute by C-DACi It supports projects that require parallel processing and multi processor capabilities.
Central Instrumentation Facility
The Central Instrumentation Facility was established in 2006 under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme, funded by the World Bank and Government of Jharkhand, to provide instrumentation facilities for advanced research, to faculty.
Central Library
The Central Library was established in 1955. It has print and electronic resources in the fields of science and technology. The collection includes 10,000 online journals, 100 print journals, 113,000 books, 2500 CDs, 60 audiocassettes and 4000 project reports.

Academics

Departments and programmes

BIT has 21 academic departments. It offers undergraduate BE/BTech degrees and ME/MTech degrees in the various engineering departments. MSc degrees are offered in applied sciences and B.Pharm./M.Pharm. in pharmaceutical sciences. The department of IT also offers Master of Computer Application. The department of architecture offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Urban Planning degrees. The university also has a Master of Business Administration programme and a Bachelor of Hotel Management and Catering Technology.It also offers Diploma in Technology in the various engineering department at University Polytechnic.

International Relations

BIT offers programs in collaboration with Indian institutes and industry.
BIT publishes international journals through its departments. These journals have eminent personalities from India as well as abroad on their Editorial Advisory Boards.
  • Department of Architecture
  • * Journal – ABACUS
  • Department of Hotel Management and Catering Technology
  • * Journal of Hospitality Application and Research
  • Department of Management
  • * Newsletter: Manage-A-BIT
  • News & Publication Society
  • *
  • Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • * Journal – PHARMBIT
  • Department of Production Engineering
  • * Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Research

    Admissions

Admissions for BIT Mesra are based on All India level exams in respective fields. Admission to undergraduate courses is mostly through JEE Main and All India Pre Medical Test where relevant. Postgraduate admission is though Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering scores and interviews, or an online exam for some specific programmes. Admission to the MBA course is based on Common Admission Test.

Rankings

Among engineering colleges, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra ranked 17th by India Today in 2020, 26 by Outlook India and 16 by The Week in 2019. It was ranked 38th among engineering colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2020, 66th among universities and 85th overall. NIRF has also ranked BIT Mesra 16th in the pharmacy ranking and 58th in the management ranking.

Student life

Student organisations

There are numerous active student clubs, covering various activities and events on campus:
  • Computer Science club
  • Team Aveon Racing
  • Team Firebolt Racing
  • Rotaract Club of BIT Mesra
  • Robolution
  • Leo Club, BIT Mesra
  • Team Srijan
  • Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers Students' Chapter BIT Mesra
  • Dhwani - Music Club
  • Dance Club
  • Ehsaas - The Dramatics Society
  • Entrepreneurship Development Cell
  • Environment Protection Awareness Club Club
  • Fine Arts Society
  • Literary Society
  • Hospitality Club
  • National Cadet Corps
  • National Service Scheme
  • Photographic Society
  • Sports Mentorship and Adventure Club
There are student chapters of professional organisations including the Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Institution of Engineers, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Lions Clubs International, Rotaract, Society of Automotive Engineers and TED conferences.

University Polytechnic

The University Polytechnic was established in 2001, as a joint venture of the Department of Welfare, Government of Jharkhand and BIT, Mesra, to impart Diploma level technical education amongst the youths of Jharkhand. Its campus is located close to the National Highway 33 in the vicinity of the BIT Main campus on the outskirts of Ranchi,
The University Polytechnic is fully residential with three large hostels,, accommodating about 750 students. It has twenty full-time faculty and an equal number of visiting faculty from BIT Mesra. It has a library, laboratories, training and placement cell and sports and games facilities.

Centres in India and offshore

BIT has established extension centres in cities within the country, in Allahabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Noida, Patna, Deoghar and Lalpur and overseas, in Muscat and Ras al-Khaimah.

Allahabad Extension Centre

The Birla Institute of Technology, Allahabad Extension Centre was established in January 1998. It has five academic departments namely Department of Computer Science, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering. The centre has a library with a large number of
books and technical journals. A digital library for on-line access of books and journals has also been provided for staff and students.

Deoghar Extension Centre

The Jharkhand Government, willing to spread BIT further across the state, made a request to the institute to establish an Extension Centre at Deoghar, Jharkhand. A MoU was signed between the Institute and the Government of Jharkhand.Thus, Birla Institute of Technology extension Deoghar commenced functioning in October 2007. As per the provisions of the MoU it was decided that 50% seats would be for students acquiring eligible qualifications from Institutions located in Jharkhand while the remaining 50% would be for students from the other states of the country. Admission has been through JEE Main with Central Counselling conducted by the Central Counselling Board.

Jaipur Extension Centre

was started in 1995 in the campus of the Birla Institute of Scientific Research. The centre started by offering postgraduate programmes and now offers undergraduate programmes as well. BIT Jaipur is situated in Malviya Industrial Area. The Jaipur Campus offers Bachelor of Engineering courses in various disciplines. The campus also offers M.B.A, M.Sc., B.B.A, B.C.A, M.C.A and B.A.M. The institute also offers BSc Animation courses which is one of the best in the country.
BIT Mesra, Jaipur campus has various active clubs and committees for organisation of events and festivals.
Major festivals of the campus are:
  • TechVibes : Techvibes is the famous technical festival of the BIT Jaipur. It is a two-day inter college event being organised in the Spring Semester. Events include Coding Events sponsored by TopCoders and Codechef, Robotic events, Technical Quizzes and Seminars, DJ and EDM Nites. In the Year 2014 Raeth Band of Pakistan performed during the Techvibes.
  • Cavorts: It is an Inter College Sports Event held every year in the Monsoon semester. The events include cricket, basketball, volleyball, kabbaddi, badminton and chess.
  • Vibrations: It is the Cultural Fest and one of the most awaited event of the Jaipur Campus. Held every year in the Spring Semester, The fest boasts of Dance Competitions, BIT Idol, War of the Bands, Pro Nite and DJ Nites.
BIT Jaipur has many active clubs which gives Students to showcase their talent in various extra Co Curricular activities. There are also societies like LENSOC, CSI, IETE, CodeChef Student Chapter, Tech Addicts, Google Student Committee, DELL Student Ambassador, Literature Club, Technical and Management clubs, Quizophilic etc.
Admission to the BE Programme is through the JEE Main Examination. The selection is based upon the JEE Main rank.

Kolkata Extension Centre

The Birla Institute of Technology, Kolkata Extension Centre was established in 1990
. It is located in the southern part of the city. The premises of the Centre includes a computer laboratory with a server room, several lecture rooms, a seminar hall, and a library. Students have free access to online journals through ACM, IEEE and Emerald-online. The whole Centre is networked and internet facilities are provided.

Lalpur Extension Centre

The institute started an extension centre in 1976 at Lalpur in Ranchi. It was primarily for the benefit of officers working in Ranchi-based public sector undertakings and private industries such as MECON, SAIL, HEC, CIL, CMPDI, Shriram Ball-bearings Limited, Usha Martin Industries Limited, and nationalised banks to upgrade their technical skill. The laboratory classes are conducted on Sundays and holidays at the Mesra campus. This Centre is now referred to as the BIT Lalpur Extension Centre.

Noida Extension Centre

The Birla Institute of Technology, Noida Extension Centre was started in 1998. The centre registers scholars for PhD programmes in Mass Communication and Computer Science. The Noida centre was the first institute in India to set up a full-fledged degree course in BSc Animation and Multimedia. An International Research Centre on Fourth Generation Mobile Communication System has been set up under EAGER -NetWiC Project of Asia Link Programme by European Commission.

Patna Extension Centre

The Birla Institute of Technology, Patna Extension Centre was established in 2006, on the request of the Government of Bihar. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Institute and the Government of Bihar in December 2005. Subsequently, the Government of Bihar allotted of land located between the Bihar Veterinary College and the Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport at Patna and also agreed to release the requisite funds for establishing the campus. The foundation stone of the campus was laid on 24 December 2005 and construction started in April 2006.
The Patna center is fully residential. All the hostels are inside the institute campus. Both technical, as well as non-technical courses, are offered on this campus. The infrastructure includes laboratories, lecture halls, workshops, playgrounds, gymnasium, canteen, and a library. The plans for the campus include the construction of 525,000 square feet of academic space, hostel accommodation for students and residential facilities for staff, dispensary, playgrounds, gyms, and guesthouses.

Birla Institute of Scientific Research

The Birla Institute of Scientific Research is a sister concern of Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi which hosts an auditorium and a planetarium in its campus in Jaipur. The institute was established for promoting science education through Museum and Planetarium.
This institute has a state of the art Bioinformatics Centre in Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics and a Remote Sensing Department.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni include: