As students, all of you should be open to exploring multiple disciplines with passion, said V. Kamakoti, Director of Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, on Monday. 

Delivering the 38th Dr. Srimathi Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy Endowment Lecture 2022 on “Preparing students to face challenges posed by emerging and disruptive technologies”, he addressed students at the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School in T. Nagar and urged them to explore a host of other disciplines apart from computer science.

“Biological sciences are the reason why we are here and able to talk to each other. The discipline is life-saving and played a vital role in guiding us through the pandemic,” he said. Mr. Kamakoti shed light on emerging techniques ranging from artificial intelligence, data science, simulation and modelling, intelligent manufacturing to sample application areas such as fintech, logistics, healthcare and space tech.

“In the 23 IITs across the country, there are several exciting courses being offered that students can explore. These institutions have started building a school for medical sciences and a state-of-the-art B. Tech in medical sciences will be announced soon for students,” he said and encouraged students to take up biology.

Among the courses for the new era, he spoke about the B. Sc. Data Science and Programming course offered by IIT Madras and urged students to take up the qualifying examination in January.