Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) has collaborated with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to launch a web-enabled, user-oriented programme on Industrial Artificial Intelligence (AI), targeting upskilling employees in corporates in the applications of AI to industrial problems. In consultation with TCS, IITM will offer the 18 months long course through virtual classes and the first cohort of students for the program will be from TCS. 

In the course structure, each subject will have one mid-term and a final examination conducted through online mode, besides a project work. There will be a total of 28-30 hours of online classes every week, along with post-classroom activities, such as assignments, reading, and preparation, likely to take up 20-22 hours per week.

“This program, designed in consultation with TCS, will have strong theoretical courses and labs covering important topics in data science and AI. Theoretical courses will cover concepts in fundamental mathematical techniques required for understanding data science algorithms, time series analysis, multivariate data analysis, machine learning, deep learning and reinforcement learning,”  V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, said.

The key highlights of the course includes upskilling the Indian workforce in industrial AI , improving the knowledge ecosystem, translating AI theory to practice, providing sustainable industrial solutions, and developing AI theory and pedagogical methods for AI training informed by an application perspective. 

According to Raghunathan Rengasamy, course coordinator, dean global engagement, IIT Madras, “AI is going to impact every aspect of human experience in the years to come. This course will provide a unique perspective on the impact of AI in industrial systems. Leveraging AI techniques in industries can lead to processes that are robust, inherently safer and ultimately lead to environmentally benign processes. These are some of the key aspects that will be deliberated in this course.”

“Industrial analytics is a combination of Data Science and Physics. It is becoming vital for manufacturers who are transforming with Digital Twins to Neural Manufacturing that will maximize efficiency, improve flexibility and predict the outcomes. This will eventually lead to adoption of autonomous manufacturing. The best of IIT M and TCS together will shape this course that will accelerate the adoption of industrial analytics at scale,” Regu Ayyaswamy, senior vice president and global head, IoT and digital engineering, TCS, said.

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