With the new academic year, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has started offering a one-of-its-kind new BTech degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR). In its year of commencement, the new undergraduate (UG) course has already attracted high-ranking candidates as the opening rank for the general category for admission to IEOR was 1,042 whereas the closing rank was 1,726.
The Indian Express spoke to Prof Jayendran Venkateswaran, head of the Department of IEOR at IIT Bombay to understand more about the newest UG course, its industry relevance, and its future in this field.
Please tell us about IEOR, including its industry relevance, especially in terms of job roles it can lead to.
Industrial Engineering and Operations Research is broadly focussed on designing, analysing, improving, and controlling industrial and service systems to better their efficiency and effectiveness in a sustained and resilient manner. This involves mathematical and decision models, including a range of optimisation, simulation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning approaches. The profile created by the combination of IE and OR can play a key role in many industry sectors, including manufacturing, E-commerce, logistics and supply chains, technology, automotive, airlines, retail, financial services, etc. The job roles include data analyst, business/ supply chain analyst, financial/risk analyst, AI engineer, consultant, operations manager, apart from, obviously, industrial engineer, or operations researcher.
India is steadily moving towards becoming a major supply chain hub for the world, which requires a large number of skilled workforce to significantly improve productivity, quality, and efficiency. We hope our IEOR program will help contribute towards the same.
Which other IIT or non-IIT institute in India offers this course currently?
Our mix of IE & OR is a kind of unique programme in India. Several IITs and NITs offer UG programmes on production and industrial engineering, or mathematics and computing. In a sense, the BTech in IEOR brings together the best of these two programmes. We do have similar IEOR programmes in universities across the world including UC Berkeley, Columbia University, Cornell, National University of Singapore, to name a few.
Did IIT Bombay offer IEOR before launching this BTech degree? If yes, in which format was it offered before?
IE and OR has a long history in IIT Bombay. It started in 1976 with MTech and PhD programmes. In 2009, MSc in Operations Research was also started for science background students, and in 2016, UG Minor in IEOR (for students of other BTech programs) was started. Since 2019 we have a steady stream of 2-6 IITB BTechs who pursue Dual Degree with MTech in IEOR by spending an extra (5th) year. We have been offering 15-20 basic and advanced courses each year in optimization, probability models, AI/ML, simulation, operations analysis, etc. All the programs are running successfully with top ranked students joining them.
What led to the decision of offering this course at the UG level?
The focus of IE&OR has been applied mathematics, statistical methods, computing and data-driven decision making for a variety of industrial and service systems. Over the years the demand for such skills at the undergraduate level has increased significantly. Since the 2010s we have seen increased enrollment from UG students in our PG-level IEOR courses, including in courses on Optimization, Probability Models, Operations Analysis. The placement in non-core jobs (Analytics) has also increased over the years at IITB signalling the demand from industry; and this is a core area for IE&OR. There was also overwhelming support from our alumni to start a full-fledged BTech in IEOR. The curriculum for the BTech program has been carefully curated based on industry and alumni surveys, emerging trends, and other programs across the world.
What are infrastructural arrangements for IEOR at IIT Bombay campus?
IEOR has its own building. We have state-of-the art computational servers/ clusters, GPU server, computer labs, library, reading spaces, and dedicated student labs. New UG labs on Digital Enterprise Systems will be established to give students hands-on experience on Industrial control, Digital Twining, and IoT. Work will soon start on a new building which will nearly triple our infrastructure to meet the growing demand.
What are the higher education opportunities in IEOR, especially at IIT Bombay and in other institutions?
There are several options for post-graduation studies after a BTech in IEOR. Almost all leading universities across the world, including other IITs, offer advanced degrees (MS/ MTech/ ME/ PhD) in Industrial Engineering/ Operations Research, which allows you to delve deeper into IEOR subjects. Students can pursue Interdisciplinary Masters in Data science, Artificial intelligence, Financial engineering, Health Systems, Business Analytics, etc. Students can pursue programs in related engineering disciplines including Masters degrees in Systems engineering, Manufacturing engineering, Supply chain engineering, etc. Pursuing an MBA/MMS degree from various IIMs is also possible.
IIT Bombay announces new programme (Express image/ file) 
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