ITM University Gwalior: Embodiment of Creativity and Excellence Date:   Monday , June 13, 2016 A multidisciplinary university known for its quality of research and teaching across the academic spectrum, ITM University Gwalior is one of most happy and happening campuses in the country. ITM University (ITMU) Gwalior is perpetually in motion. With large number of student\'s clubs including extracurricular, co-curricular and athletic opportunities in addition to academics, ITMU students are active around and beyond campus. Whether in Yuvraj Singh Center of Excellence practicing cricket in a professional environment, volunteering for numerous projects to make a meaningful and beneficial contribution to people in the local community, fostering entrepreneurial activities in the IDEAPAD - ITM University Business Incubator, or researching in the cutting-edge labs like PC Ray Center for Research Facility, ITMU students are continuously learning – and constantly busy. \"We always wanted to expose our students to the fine areas of life, without which life is not worth living. We will become machines that can only earn and spend,\" says Dr. Daulat Singh Chauhan, Managing Director, ITMU. The diverse student population at ITMU makes it hard to describe the typical student and even harder to describe the quintessential ITMU student experience. Students come from different states and countries; from cities, suburbs, small towns and farms; from public and private schools; from every ethnic and religious background; and from across the economic spectrum. Then, they do what they love! They join and lead clubs and activities that cover a wide array of recreational, athletic, cultural, artistic and social interests. Such activities offer some of the most memorable, interesting and enjoyable aspects of student\'s experience. \"There are abundance opportunities to participate in clubs as well as activities that match students\' particular interests. These activities are instrumental in fostering leadership development, building community, providing outside the classroom learning and fun,\" claims Daulat Singh. Further, these initiatives support the ITMU\'s mission to educate leaders who can make a difference in the world. In a Mission to Make a Difference Established in 2011, ITMU\'s emergence as a leading private university in the country was quick. Today, the university has been ranked on the 32nd position in the management category and 58th position in the engineering category in the recently published National Institute Ranking Framework of the HRD Ministry of India(out of 3500+ Institutions ).Daulat Singh still remembers every words his Chancellor, Rama Shankar Singh said during the establishment of ITMU.Herecalls, \"On May 4th, 2011, Chancellor had the first meeting with all the faculty members and administrators. He said that, the university should reach in the top 50 in the country within five years and to do that we need to focus on four areas; industry – institute relation, holistic development of students through co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, research and outcome based education.\" With such aspirations in mind, the teaching – learning process at ITMU has been evolved benchmarking global practices, research in higher education and reflection of stake holders. The university has involved professionals from industries of different field to develop most of the courses so that the students are trained as per the core industries requirements. In departments like CS, IT & ICT, Management and Commerce, ITMU has included several courses that are developed by Infosys, Cisco, Oracle, Informatica, Safexpress and Dale Carnegie to make students ready for the industry. \"Bringing major recruiters to a tier-III city like Gwalior was a difficult job. However, through regular contact and collaboration with a growing network of leaders from different sectors, we could explore long-term associations and institutional partnerships on issues and projects of mutual interest,\" says Daulat Singh. The University has built a range of partnerships in research, education and training – including with industry and business, professional associations, not-for-profit organizations, government-funded research agencies and other educational institutions at national and international level. MoUs with companies like HP, GCE India, Rockwell Automation, CAD Studio and Think Lab provide certificate augmentation program as per the industry requirements. It is also note-worthy to mention that almost all the top-notch MNC\'s have visited ITMUthrough its Training and Placement cell for final placements of the students. In the last three years, the university has generated over 57, 000 job-offers with a participation of over 333 recruiters. However, many of the IMTU students prefer not of wait for a job at the end as they are already bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. At ITMU, the fear of failure among the students has grown smaller than the willingness to do something big and achieve bigger things in life than spending long hours working for a big organization. \"Our incubation center named IDEAPADis working on a simple goal, that no ideas go waste or unnoticed in ITMU. Till date, around eight companies have started working and out of which four companies had a turnoverof more than Rs. 10 million in last six months,\" claims Daulat Singh. Experience and expertise at ITMU in the areas of management, innovation, technology networks along with entrepreneurship offer the necessary impetus and intellectual basis for this initiative. Research – The Way Forward Despite being one of the youngest universities in the country, the range of research activities at IMTU is broad and deep. IMTU\'s vision of research and development is to develop interdisciplinary research to advance the knowledge in science, engineering, technology and management to emerge as international hub of research, development and consultancy activities. Hence, all the faculty members of the university are participating in creating new knowledge as well as working towards creating responses using existing knowledge. \"Here, we work on socially relevant problems, look for solutions andnetwork globally with research community. In last two years, our faculty members have published more than 300 papers in reputed journals and over 11 patents got published,\" claims Daulat Singh. IMTU scholars conduct research in almost every field and seek to expand human knowledge through analysis, innovation and insight. With regular high quality academic activities and plethora of student-driven events, each day become unique at ITMU. In the 125 acres sprawling lush green environs of Vindhyachal ranges, the beautiful campus of ITMU is the most happy andhappening campus attracting scholars, Nobel laureates, artists and top corporate to interact with thousands of students of different streams. The university also maintains its distinct aesthetic and true sense of place with its hundreds of original works of Art permanently displayed in common areas and monumental sculptures in marble, granite, mild steel or stainless steel in open areas. Today, ITMU campus keeps life on a \'human scale\' and is designed to inspire spontaneous discussion and learning.