North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology

North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology
Established	March 4, 1984
Type	Public
Dean	H.S. Yadav (SA)
Director	P. K. Das
Location	Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Website	nerist.ac.in

North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST), located at Nirjuli, Itanagar, in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, was established by the Government of India as a technical institute for science and technology. It opened to students in 1986. Recently management studies have also been incorporated and the programme has been highly successful. The institute also offers various short term technical courses.

Location

The institute is located at Nirjuli in the Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh and is placed in the serene beauty of the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. It is 19 km away from Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, on National Highway 52A between Banderdewa and Itanagar. It is 10 km from Banderdewa, the border between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Background

NERIST was set up by the government of India in 1984, as a project of the North Eastern Council (NEC), to provide a system of education to create technical manpower for the development of the North Eastern region of the country.

It has unconventional and innovative academic programmes of 10+2yrs ITI +2yrs Diploma +2yrs Degree. The approach is to encourage a policy of vocationalisation at the 10+2 level and allow only motivated students to go for the degree level, while others go out of the institute to enrich their profession with some years of professional experience. At any future date if they decide to return to the institute to improve their qualification, they would be allowed to do so.

Since April 1, 1994, the institute has been fully funded and directly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), New Delhi. Since May 2005, NERIST has been a 'deemed university'.

Organisation

The institute is managed by a Board of Management, comprising representatives of MHRD, the eight beneficiary states of the North Eastern region, AICTE and educationists. The state governor of Arunachal Pradesh is de facto head of the highest body, NERIST Society, which consists of education ministers of all North Eastern States. The Board of management is headed by the Director of Indian Institute of Science and Technology, Guwahati, Dr. Gautam Baruah. The board appoints a well-known academic, generally from within north east India, as Director of NERIST.

Each discipline has its own head of department, generally the most senior of the professors. In addition, there are heads of each hostel, a dean for student welfare

History

The North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) was set up by Government of India, initially as a project of the North Eastern Council, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Shillong as a pilot project in 1982. The foundation stone of the Institute was laid by late Giani Zail Singh, the then President of India, on 4 March 1984. However the final approval from Ministry of Education was conveyed vide letter No.F.25-1/81T.5 dated 12 September 1985. Till 1993-94 the Institute was funded through NEC and from 1 April 1994 it came directly under the control of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

The Institute was established with the aim of producing skilled manpower at different levels i.e. Certificate, Diploma and Degree through a unique modular pattern introduced for the first time in the country. Primary objective of the Institute is to enable the region consisting of seven states to bridge the technology gap with rest of the country and thereby increase the pace of socio-economic development in the region. Institute has been developed in a phased manner and is expected to develop fully by the end of the 10th plan. The academic activities started in 1986 with the start of six courses in Base Module (Certificate). Six courses in the Diploma Module started in 1988 and by 1990 seven courses in Degree Module were also added. The Institute started offering two M.Tech courses one in Information Technology and the other in Environmental Science from the year 1996 with the approval of AICTE and Ministry of Human Resource Development. However, after passing out of two batches, the M.Tech courses had to be stopped due to want of affiliation from any of the universities.

Academic structure

NERIST offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate degrees for the following six branches of engineering and applied sciences:

• Computer Science and Engineering
• Electronics and Communication Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Agricultural Engineering
• Forestry and Life Sciences

The academic programme in Engineering and Technology at NERIST consists of three independent modules, each of two years' duration. These three modules are called Certificate, Diploma, and Degree modules comprising the undergraduate studies. Each module has an entry point through an entrance examination conducted by NERIST. The first entry is after class X. Each module also provides terminality corresponding to an occupational level, and at the same time allows entry to the next higher module, leading to a degree in engineering and technology in about six years time after class X. In Applied Science stream, a two year Base Module and four year Degree module are offered. The system also allows lateral entry from outside with necessary pre-requisites, at the beginning of each module.

The Certificate and the Diploma levels emphasize the practical aspects of engineering, which help an individual become an entrepreneur or to face the day–to–day problems of industry. The Degree curriculum provides instructions not only in engineering but emphasizes management and entrepreneurship aspects as well, making an individual more suited for today's industries. But many have doubt of calculating percentage of Btech like should take 4 semester or 8 semester aggregate .

The Postgraduate Master of Technology programme of NERIST is offered in the following three areas:

• M.Tech. (Information Technology) under the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering.
• M.Tech. (Environmental Science and Engineering) under the Department of Civil Engineering.
• M.Tech. (Forest Technology) under the Department of Forestry.

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Institute also offers two years Masters of Business Administration(MBA) Programme.

Admission

NERIST conducts the NERIST Entrance Exam (NEE) to select students for admission to Certificate, Diploma and Degree programmes. Three examinations, known as NEE-I, NEE-II and NEE-III, are held to take admissions at three different levels. The NEE-I, for which eligibiity is a pass in Class X, is held towards the end of April every year for admissions to the Base Module. NEE-II is for the lateral entry to the Diploma Module of Engineering and to the Degree Module of Applied Science stream and NEE-III is for the lateral entry to the Degree Module of Engineering. The notifications for NEE-I, II and III are published in most regional and national newspapers. NEEs are conducted in centers located in the North Eastern States of India.

Of the total number of seats in each of the modules for direct admission, 80% of seats are reserved for the candidates of the eight states of the North East (10% each) as states' quota. 7% of seats are filled up from the students of North East on merit. 10% of the seats are filled up by the candidates from rest of the States under the All India (AI) quota. 3% of the seats are reserved for physically handicapped candidates with 40-75% locomotor disability.

Admission to the postgraduate programmes in technology is based on the performance of candidates in all India-level entrance examination GATE conducted by the IITs on behalf of the MHRD, Government of India. Separate entrance tests are conducted for admission to other post graduate programmes. The advertisement for this year's admission programm is available on http://www.nerist.ac.in/pdf/advt.doc

Campus

A student or an alumnus of NERIST is informally known as a NERISTian. NERIST has seven hostels for male and one hostel for female students. In addition to this, two separate hostels for the postgraduate and doctorate students are being constructed and still haven't finished as of April 2011.

There are a number of science clubs and regional associations, of which most students are members. An annual recreational programme associated with the varied culture of the place takes place around October called SONABYSS including inter collegiate performances and lasting four days. Synergy is the annual athletic meet held in last week of January or in first week of February each year where track and field athletic events are held. Football and Cricket are the two most popular sports among the NERISTians. The Annual Techno-management Festival, called SHRISTI, is held every year in April. Technical institutes from all over North Eastern India take part in this three day fest. NERIST also celebrates various other intercollegiate festivals which enhances overall development of a student studying here.

NERIST also has its NCC and NSS units. These two units have been functioning for the institution at every front, working at every social level.

NERIST in its later years has also started promoting various CLUB Activities which help the overall development of the students. One such club is Lawn de Organizing Committee or fondly known as LOC, http://locnerist.blogspot.com which emphasized on the culture where everything can be discussed and hence developed. LOC also holds fond memories of organizing an unprecedented DEBATE which included faculty debating the topic with the students. The motto of the club is summarized by - "We want to fly, to scale those heights, to excel in whatever we do, to do something for our parents, country and society. We know we will be able to face tomorrow with faith and hope, if we tackle today with enthusiasm, interest and enjoyment. We know we're the master of our own destiny. We are the CHANGE, we are L.O.C.". To know more about NERIST clubs please look under the External Links Tab for - CLUBS at NERIST.

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 27°07′50″N 93°44′35″E / 27.13056°N 93.74306°E / 27.13056; 93.74306