[Admissions open] M.Tech Clinical Engineering, IIT Madras

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Indian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai-600036
Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, chennai-600036

M. Tech. Clinical Engineering

An joint program by
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM)
Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST)
Christian Medical College Vellore (CMC)

Over the past five decades, healthcare delivery has increasingly become technology driven – be it development of new drugs, vaccines or medical devices. Innovative solutions to healthcare can be developed with a cross-disciplinary approach with systematic training, in which, students with a background in engineering and physical sciences are trained in biological sciences and clinical practices.
The M.Tech. in Clinical Engineering (MCE) and the Ph.D. (major: Biomedical Devices and Technology) programs aim to develop capable people, who will go further to make significant contributions as high-level engineers, researchers, entrepreneurs, academicians, etc. in the relevant areas. It is a unique undertaking and exploits the innate strengths and facilities of the three institutes – SCTIMST, IITM and CMC. These organizations together hold strong backgrounds in Technology, Biomedical Engineering and Medical Sciences.

Admissions poster click here

Clinical Engineering
• The use of advanced technology is an essential requirement of the modern medical practice. Thus, presence of well trained Clinical Engineers within the healthcare system is also needed to ensure effective and safe use of this technology.
• Clinical Engineers are an integral part of the clinical and management team, and work closely with the medical practitioners to achieve optimal use of technology in healthcare.
• Clinical Engineers, being directly exposed to clinical set-up, can identify the un-met clinical need and apply their design and development skills to provide innovative solutions, which can fundamentally change the medical practice in the future.

M. Tech. Clinical Engineering Programme
• The Joint M. Tech. Clinical Engineering Programme is the FIRST programme in the country to formally train Graduate Engineers as Clinical Engineers. It was launched in 2008 with the support of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
• It brings together three of the best Institutions in the country that combine engineering, medicine and management.
• It has been designed to enable students to develop comprehensive knowledge in the field and acquire multiple skills to become highly proficient Clinical Engineers.

Highlights of the Programme
• A minimum of one semester in each institution, where engineering, medical and management courses are taught formally.
• Clinical Attachment (1 year in CMC Vellore and SCTIMST) – Direct exposure to different departments of these hospitals to give an insight into the realities of a typical healthcare system.
• Internship (6 Months in SCTIMST) – To work as a Clinical Engineer in the tertiary care hospital of the Institute.
• One week training in peripheral / rural hospitals around the country.
• Short training in a medical device / medical instrumentation industry.
• Guest lectures and short courses by eminent professionals from leading hospitals and institutions of the country.
• Thorough exposure to medical device design and development processes.

The Institutes
• IIT Madras – One of the country’s premier Institutes in technology education and research.
• CMC Vellore – One of the finest medical colleges and research institutes, and a 2500 bedded multi-speciality hospital.
• SCTIMST Trivandrum – A leading National Institute involved in technology development for medical devices and a tertiary care hospital.

Eligibility, Fellowship and Admission Details
• B. E. / B. Tech. / Recognized Four Year course.
• Valid GATE score in subjects AE, BT, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, IN, IT, ME, MN, MT, PI, TF, XE.
• An aptitude for engineering and an interest in working in a hospital environment is desirable.
• Fellowship awarded to all the selected students for the complete duration (2.5 years) of the programme.
• Usually, admissions are held in the last week of May (advertisement in March / April).

Programme Coordinators
• Prof. G. K. Suraishkumar,
Indian Institute of Technology Madras

• Dr. G. S. Bhuvaneshwar,
BMT Wing, SCTIMST, Trivandrum

• Prof. Suresh R. Devasahayam,
Christian Medical College, Vellore

Website
• For further information please follow the link in the NOTICES
section of the IIT Madras website (http://www.iitm.ac.in/ )

Screening Procedure

Candidates have to fill an online application form, also indicating their preferred specializations/streams for MS/PhD. The four streams are: (A) Biological Sciences (B) Bioengineering (C) Chemical Sciences and (D) Computational Biology. A maximum of two streams can be chosen by the candidate.

Shortlisted candidates will appear for a screening test in May 2012. Candidates will have to answer a test paper in each of their preferred streams. Candidates will be short-listed for the interview based on performance in the screening test(s).
Interview dates will be posted in the first week of March. Final decision on selection will be made based on overall performance.

Click here to download a flyer detailing the reearch areas.

Research Areas

The department focusses on a wide array of research topics, reflecting the diversity of modern biotechnology. Research opportunities (M.S. and Ph. D.) are available in several faculty labs, in four thrust areas, as follows:

I. Biological Sciences

Molecular oncology • Cancer immunotherapy • Anti-cancer nutraceuticals • HIV pathogenesis • Stem cell biology • Biomarkers for cardiovascular disease • Gene regulation in hypertension • Molecular and cellular basis of cardiovascular complications • Structure- function relationship of ion channels • Ion channels associated with ischemic heart diseases and stroke • Nanoparticles • Nanobiotechnology of food packaging • Nucleolar GTPases and cell proliferation • Pattern formation in cellular slime moulds • Plant developmental genetics • Recombinant Enzymes • Biofuel cells • Biorefinery

II. Chemical Sciences

‘Green’ biocatalytic methods for organic transformations • Delivery of siRNAs • Fragment-based drug design • Novel inhibitors against HDACs and HMT • Asymmetric catalysis

III. Bioprocess & Biomedical Engineering

Industrial metabolite production • Metabolic engineering • Biopolymers • Biocompatibility • Biodegradation of polymers • Tissue engineering • Caffeine degradation • Membrane biochemistry • Plant cell bioprocessing • Phytoremediation • Biofuels • Process chromatography • Reactive species in biological systems

IV. Computational Biology

Protein structure, folding and function • Protein dynamics • Computational analysis of protein folding and stability • Binding specificity of protein complexes • Green chemistry • Structure-based drug design and discovery • Comparative genomics • Computational modelling of neurodegenerative disorders • Computational systems biology • Development and analysis of databases and tools • Computational biophysics • GPGPU computing for systems biology

Important Dates

26th February 2012 Online application submission opens
26th March Last date for submission of applications online
May Entrance examination & Interviews for M. S./Ph. D.
16th July M. S. & Ph. D. admissions

How to Apply:
For M.Tech in Chemical engineering the application form needs to be filled online at the appropriate link onwww.biotech.iitm.ac.in/mcephd.

A copy of the print out along with all needed documents should be sent:

The Institute Co-orinator, Joint Programme with SCTIMST and CMC, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, chennai-600036 on or before 5-4-2012.