An alumna of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Preeti Aghalayam, is a professor in its Department of chemical engineering. She will be the director-in-charge of the campus.
The first campus of the IIT to be set up in Zanzibar, an island in Tanzania, will also be the first IIT to be led by a woman director.
Last week, The Union Government announced setting up the first IIT outside the country by IIT-Madras.
49-year-old Preeti pursued a BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1995. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in 2000. Preeti’s research focus has been in Chemical Reaction Engineering and is an expert in Underground Coal Gasification, Automotive Aftertreatment, and CO2 utilization for hard-to-abate sectors, added reports.
“During our visits to Zanzibar as an IIT-M contingent, we noticed that the representation of women from their side was quite significant. The minister of education in Zanzibar is a woman, their permanent secretary, who is a part of our steering committee, is a woman, and of course, the President of Tanzania herself is a woman. So, I think it was important that we also consider it mindfully,” Preeti was quoted by reports as saying.
The campus will begin with two courses this October. The courses are a four-year Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and a two-year master’s in Technology in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence designed by IIT-M.
