IIT Bhilai

Aerial view of the academic block at the transit campus

Presently, IIT Bhilai is functioning from its transit campus at Government Engineering College (GEC) Raipur. The transit campus of IIT Bhilai situated on Old Dhamtari Road in Raipur has been successfully operational since 2016. Four storied Block-B of GEC Raipur building has been furnished for academic activities at IIT Bhilai. Apart from this, IIT Bhilai has its own hostels for boys and girls provided by GEC Raipur in the campus. The transit campus is about 10 km from the main city of Raipur and is well-connected through public transport to the Railway station, Airport and Raipur City.

• Airport: Swami Vivekananda Airport in Mana is about 15 km from the transit campus.
• Train: Raipur Junction railway station is about 13 km from the transit campus.
• Bus: Inter-state and inter-city bus terminal at Pandri in Raipur is about 12 km from the transit campus.

The permanent campus is expected to come up in Bhilai, Durg district of Chhattisgarh. IIT Bhilai will be situated in the village of Kutelabatta and Sirsa Khurd, Bhilai in approximately 447 acres of land near the Shivnath river, adjoining the steel city of Bhilai. The proposed campus is expected to be equipped with infrastructure to accommodate 2500 students in the first phase.

The academic departments in IIT Bhilai include. [6]

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Mathematics
• Liberal Arts

The transit campus has facilities and amenities for sustaining the research needs of the academia as well as nurturing the extra-curricular activities undertaken by the students.

The institute has two high-speed Internet links provided by National Knowledge Network and BSNL respectively. IIT Bhilai is a part of National Knowledge Network (NKN) under which all the national level institutes are connected via the high-speed fibre network. The hostels are connected through campus-wide LAN and provide Wi-Fi links to students to use. Entire campus of IIT Bhilai is Wi-Fi enabled and students can use the network seamlessly across various facilities.

The academic building houses the central library, various laboratories and workshops which are equipped with state-of-the-art apparatus.

Chemistry Lab at IIT Bhilai

There are four laboratories – Computer Centre, Electrical Lab, Physics lab and a Chemistry lab.

The institute has two computer laboratories. The labs have a total of 64 Dell OptiPlex 9020 MT Desktops with 4 GB RAM and 500 GB hard disks, and six Dell PowerEdge R 630 servers.

IIT Bhilai has its computer centre ITIS that stands for – Information Technologies Infrastructure and Services to support the academics affairs and administration at the institute. It is known as the "NUCLEUS" of IIT Bhilai. ITIS provides gigabit network connectivity to the entire campus. ITIS ensures seamless functioning of all the IT related functions like Network Connectivity and Internet, computer labs, LDAP, conferencing, email services, Technical support, Smart ID Card bio-metric services, and VoIP.

Chemistry lab apparatus includes a vortex mixer, rotary evaporator, UV ozone cleaner and so on. The lab also supports fume extractors which restore the air purity and hence limit the exposure to hazardous or toxic fumes, vapours or dust.

The Digital Fabrication Lab at IIT Bhilai

Workshops have been set up in the main building which support prototyping and building of various projects undertaken by both undergraduate as well as post-graduate students. The workshops play an integral role in the curriculum by providing hands-on training to the students. These workshops have served as incubation centres for the first automobile car developed by the students of the mechanical engineering department.

• Digital Fabrication Lab: Equipped with 3D printers and 3D scanners, the Digital fabrication lab caters to the needs of rapid prototyping of plastic parts for various projects. The students learn the basics of designing in the freshman year by courtesy of a course on 3D printing which introduces CAD modelling and gradually builds up to having the students make their own 3D printed projects.
• Do It Yourself (DIY) Lab: The lab provides hands on training of various manufacturing processes. Prioritising the safety of the students, the training is carried out using table-top machinery and cold-casting in lieu of the traditional methods. The students are introduced to various machinery including Laser cutters, CNCs and Lathes.

• Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) has signed a MoU with 'IIT Bhilai' for Industry Academic Collaboration. As part of the MoU that IIT Bhilai signed with Bhilai Steel Plant, IIT Bhilai will provide its services through its faculty and staff members in the areas of joint research & development activities, including those related to innovation & creativity, joint exploration in areas of steel-making, manufacturing, fabrication processes, information technology, etc. to troubleshoot technical problems in various production processes of Bhilai Steel Plant. BSP shall provide internship and project-work opportunities to B Tech and M Tech students and research scholars from IIT Bhilai.[7]
• MoU signed between IIT Bhilai and 36Inc - Startup Chhattisgarh for Academic and Research Cooperation on 5 January 2019
• In 2018 the institute's Innovation Council (IIC) was established under the MHRD's Innovation Cell (MIC) scheme. The IIC of IIT Bhilai was recognised by MIC on 21 November 2018
• MoU signed between IIT Bhilai and Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) for Academic and Research Cooperation on 23 July 2018
• MoU signed between IIT Bhilai and CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India for Academic and Research Cooperation on 7 June 2018
• MoU was signed between IIT Bhilai and National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan to partner student/faculty exchange and to foster R&D projects on 02/05/2018
• IIT Bhilai had signed an MoU with Central Public Works Department, Government of India for construction of various components of building and allied service in the permanent campus for IIT Bhilai on 03/14/2018
• MoU signed between IIT Bhilai and IIT Kanpur for sharing of Web-based software on 21 April 2017

The Council of Student Affairs (CoSA) was established in 2018. The CoSA is an extension of the student gymkhana system - which was in place during the academic year 2017–18. The CoSA is a canopy for two parallel bodies – The Student Gymkhana (responsible for managing cultural, technical, sports and outreach activities) and the Students’ Senate (manages academic concerns). The bodies consist of elected student representatives from both UG and PG levels and are guided by the faculty members. The President heads the CoSA. The Student Gymkhana and the Students’ Senate further consists of elected students representing various spheres of concern such as cultural (music, dance, art, drama), sports, academics and so on. In 2018, the elections to the above posts were carried out using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and a cent percent voting attendance was recorded.

Within a couple of years since its inception, IIT Bhilai conducted its first major annual technical and cultural festival – Meraz. The fest was held in October 2018 over a span of 3 days and featured events and performances by various professionals from both – the Technical and as well as the Entertainment industry. With an attendance of over a thousand students from all across the state, Meraz brought in a huge influx of technical as well as cultural diversity.

The IIT Bhilai Motorsports team in Enduro Student India 2019

IIT Bhilai Motorsports is a student team as a part of Motorsports Club from Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai. The Club being established in 2017, consists of 60+ members targeting to design and fabricate ATV to compete in national level all terrain vehicle events.

IIT Bhilai Motorsports made its debut at Enduro Student India (ESI) 2019, being the only 3rd gen IIT to participate in this competition. The team successfully cleared technical inspections based on design, engine check and brake check test in static events. In dynamics, the team actively participated in all the events - DirtX, Sprint, Acceleration & Manoeuvrability as well as Endurance race.

A team of 17 members represented IIT Bhilai Motorsports at Pune in the competition along with more than 70 other teams.

Apart from the technical laboratories, the transit campus also offers the students an opportunity to practice various sports. Floodlight enabled football ground, volleyball court, basketball court and indoor badminton courts serve as the focal point of sports development in IIT Bhilai.

• Prayatna is a multi-sport, intra-institute event held annually during the winter semester. It was started in 2018 with the motive of encouraging sports as an integral part of one's holistic development. Prayatna spans over two and a half months featuring 5 to 6 teams competing in various indoor and outdoor games.  
• Inter-IIT Sports Meet: IIT Bhilai has been an active participant in the prestigious Inter-IIT games, sending its contingent from the first year itself to the Inter-IIT Sports Meet 2016. In 2017 the institute grabbed its first major trophy by winning the Inter-IIT Impact League.

• Chemistry Department has developed hand sanitisers, to use across the campus.
• Mechanical Engineering Department has developed novel technologies to help medical doctors and health care personnel like a full face mask, which is not only to protect the mouth and the nose, but also covers the eyes and ears. Reusability is the biggest advantage of the mask and it can be prepared for reuse within 30 minutes. Two N95 compatible filters are attached to this mask for sufficient air circulation. There is an additional feature for attaching hazmat clothing to the mask, which enhances its protection levels while putting on and removing the mask.
• A first generation nasal test swab has been fabricated in-house using biocompatible material. A nanoparticle-based anti-viral/anti-microbial coating on clothing has been developed.
• The institute has worked on building a PAN IIT alumni network for defining COVID-19 test plans.
• A contactless water dispenser has been designed by the Electrical Engineering Lab. It is an IR sensor based device, designed for indoor applications like a water dispenser for washing hands or drinking water kiosk.[8]