IIT Gandhinagar's BTech programme swaps one semester for industry exposure

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar has introduced a semester-long external exposure activity that allows students studying Bachelors of Technology (BTech) to spend an entire semester working in industries, research laboratories, academic institutions and startup ecosystems. IIT Gandhinagar students can do internships while earning academic credits towards their degree. The programme will be offered to seventh-semester undergraduate students to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world engineering practice.

The programme offers students the flexibility to choose between pursuing external exposure or continuing with regular classroom courses. Students are expected to gain hands-on experience, develop industry-relevant skills and explore career opportunities before graduating from the institute. on without delaying their academic progress.

Introduced in the 2025-26 academic session, the programme has already seen participation from 18 students, who have worked with popular organisations including Qualcomm, Samsung R&D, Oracle, Tower Research Capital, Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, and startups such as HapiHygi Innovations Pvt. Ltd.

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IN 498 – External Exposure

Unlike other internships, this model formally integrates external exposure into academic curriculum. Students can earn up to 16 academic credits through the elective course module IN 498 – External Exposure. Students' performance will be assessed through periodic departmental reviews combined with feedback from the host organisation.

The initiative aligns with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises experiential learning, interdisciplinary education and stronger collaboration between academia and industry.

Highlighting the need for real world professional experiences for students, Prof. Bhaskar Datta, Dean (Academic Affairs), IIT Gandhinagar, said, “The semester-long external exposure programme is part of IIT Gandhinagar’s commitment to nurturing future-ready students who are capable of contributing to a technology-driven economy.”

Mr. Bhoumik Patidar, a student of BTech Computer Science and Engineering (Batch 2026), completed his External Exposure Activity at Qualcomm. He contributed to ‘ELD,’ an open-source ELF linker, by implementing x86_64 backend support.

“Working on a production-grade open-source project has definitely sharpened my problem-solving skills and reinforced my passion for systems programming and building the foundational software that modern computing relies on,” Mr. Bhoumik Patidar said, reflecting on the experience.

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Electrical Engineering student Tejas Zunjare worked as an Electronics Engineering Intern at HapiHygi Innovations also shared his experience with the institute. He contributed to embedded systems, battery management circuits, PCB design, sensor integration and hardware troubleshooting. He emphasised that internship helped him understand how classroom concepts are applied to solve real engineering problems.