India Design Council Signs MoU with UK Design Council at CII-NID Design Summit

India Design Council (IDC) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UK Design Council (UKDC) at the CII-NID Design Summit to facilitate cooperation between India and UK for promotion of Design in the country.

The MoU was signed by Mr Pradyumna Vyas, Member Secretary, IDC and Mr John Mathers, CEO, UK Design Council in the presence of Mr Anand Mahindra, President, IDC.

Commenting on the MoU, Mr Anand Mahindra, President, India Design Council said “This understanding between India Design Council and UK Design Council is a significant step for both the countries as it initiates a formal platform for cooperation. This cooperation will facilitate exploration of design isssues critical to both the countries and exchange of ideas. It will help to develop capability, increase knowledge ,generate business for design and encourage businesses to use design”

The MoU will lay focus on mutual exchanges on design policies and facilitate design promotion and to enhance understanding of emerging trends, design domain developments, sharing of design knowledge and resources through focused activities and joining in existing activities on either side;

IDC is an autonomous body setup by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and UK Design Council, is a charity incorporated by Royal Charter which champions great design.

The expansion and development of cooperation between the two organizations will contribute to enhance cooperation between India and United Kingdom in the domain of design. The bilateral cooperation can build a firm base for a bright future and could be a platform for both the parties to leap onto the next level of design.

Both the parties will encourage and develop cooperation and exchanges in the field of design on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, and reciprocity. The parties will make every effort to promote favorable conditions for the fulfillment of this cooperation and these exchanges.

The parties will enhance understanding of emerging trends, design domain developments, sharing of design knowledge and resources through focused activities and joining in existing activities on either side.

In accordance with the National Design Policy, 2007, the four new National Institutes of Design (NID) may soon be established in a year or two i.e. by 2014 or 2015 according to Pradyumna Vyas, Director, National Institute of Design (NID) who was in the capital for the 3 th CII NID Design Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Institute of Design.

Source: India Education Dairy and India Edu News

Destiny's design: Rag-picker makes it to NID

Sanjay Parmar spent much of his childhood picking rags, sifting through mounds of waste at Rama Pir No Tekro in Vadaj area of Ahmedabad to supplement the family's meagre income. Sanjay's father Dineshbhai was a driver and barely managed to put food on the table for his three children. On lucky days, he would find a pair of footwear for his little sister Manisha in the garbage. When bored, Sanjay would fashion boats out of waste paper and cars from discarded thermocol packaging.

Then destiny intervened. At 19, Sanjay is perhaps the only one with a rag-picking past to make it to the country's premiere design school 'National Institute of Design' - and aims to become an automobile designer.

But first, he wants to design is an aid which cuts the burden of LPG cylinder deliverymen. "I have seen my father break his back delivering cylinders in multi-storey houses which don't have lifts. It is my dream to design a simple aid," he says.

The young boy's life turned when he was selected as one of eight kids who were enrolled in a special project by NGO Visamo Kids which gave bright children from poor families a chance at a good education. "If I was not plucked out of the slums and given an education, I would not have gone beyond class X. All my best friends are school dropouts", says Sanjay.

Initially, it was tough for Sanjay to adjust to the new world. "He was an angry, stubborn child. He was not good at learning and writing but he was good with his hands," says Amee Shah, boarding in-charge of Visamo Kids. Sanjay calls Amee his second mother. While the residential programme covers education till class XII, an anonymous donor came forward to fund his education when he made it to NID. He was also trained by city-based designer Bhanvar Rathore for the entrance test.

"I did not have the means to educate Sanjay; I could just provide him a roof. When he becomes a man, he will buy us a house," says Dineshbhai.

Source: TOI

NID gets Cabinet Nod to Award Degrees

The Union Cabinet announced Thursday that it has “approved the declaration of the National Institute of Design (NID) by Parliament by law as an ‘Institution of National Importance’.”

“The status of ‘Institution of National Importance’ would authorise NID, Ahmedabad, to award degrees to its students. This, in turn, may prove to be beneficial for students who wish to pursue post-graduation,” the Cabinet said in a statement. Currently, NID offers diplomas and PG diplomas.

NID director Pradyumna Vyas said in Ahmedabad that he was “extremely happy and thankful” to the Cabinet for approving NID’s new status and expressed the hope that the development would not only benefit design education, but also the aims and objectives of the India Design Council and national design policy.

Meanwhile, Gujarat’s Higher Education Commissioner Jayanti Ravi has said that her department is translating and will print and circulate a Gujarati version of a book on design by veteran designer and ex-NID faculty Kumar Vyas as the textbook for an introductory course on design that universities in the state can offer.

Source: expressindia

NID holds its 33rd convocation

Around 250 post-graduate and under-graduate students of National Institute of Design (NID) received their diplomas at the institute’s 33rd convocation ceremony on Thursday.

Addressing the gathering, CMD of Mahindra& Mahindra, Anand Mahindra, who is also the chairman of NID’s governing council, said degrees in designing were like the new MBAs.

“I can smell a revolution in the air as I stand here at the campus.The future belongs to artists, designers, inventors, innovators and explorers. There are battlefields like workplaces and public landscapes where you will have to bring in change.We will do our best to multiply your tribe (designers),” he said while talking about the four new NIDs that are being mentored by the NID, Ahmedabad.

In his welcome address, NID director Pradyumna Vyas highlighted four new collaborative agreements that the institute has signed with similar entities across the world.

NID is awaiting Central nod for a “Centre of Excellence” status for itself. If it comes, the institute will get Rs 25 crore for infrastructure development from the Centre.

Noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who was the chief guest for the event, also spoke, urging young designers to develop a “new paradigm of culture through design”.

Source: Express India

NIDians begin Job Mela with Rs. 38 Lakh offer

If the whopping Rs38 lakh per annum offer to two students, the highest ever package offered to a student of National Institute of Design (NID) is anything to go by, the economic slowdown does not seem to have affected the prospects of design students. Placements Season-2012 at NID began on Friday.

The offer by Japan-based Toshiba company is reportedly more than three times higher than the highest offer made last year — thanks to a new initiative by the institute called Student Online Portfolios. This initiative aims to connect industries and students to minimise the gap between education, research and industries. The portfolios can be accessed by design community and industries.

As per the figures shared by the institute last year, Rs11.08 lakh per annum was the highest salary offered to students. In a press release, the institute said that on the first day of placements, 32 companies, including big names like Honda R&D (India) Pvt Ltd, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, Titan Industries and Toshiba, had participated.

Source: DNA News

Vibrant frames from new India

It was the era when the new India was finding its own identity from the shadows of the Raj. In 1970s, a young British came to India to find the English legacy and fell in love with buildings, people and the country itself. Derry Moore, the 12th Earl of Drogheda, a renowned photographer, who captured the interiors and portraits on the European aristocracy, including those of Queen Elizabeth II, published over a dozen books, including Evening Ragas — dedicated to India.

National Institute of Design (NID) has hosted an exhibition of over 100 photographs selected from Evening Ragas at its campus in collaboration with Tasveer Galleries from June 15 to 25. The exhibition was inaugurated in presence of NID director Pradyumna Vyas and noted photographers from the city and state.

"More alternates between rich, ornate interiors, revealing portraits and calm landscapes that sensitively records the charm, eccentricity and fading splendour of a post-colonial society," said a city photographer. The exhibition will travel to Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

In the book, Moore notes, 'A cultural osmosis was clearly discernible, that of British and European architecture on Indian buildings, and that of India and its climate, as well as its styles, on the British, like grandeur and a sense of space, rarely seen in Britain. Rooms were higher, windows larger, corridors wider, detail more lavish; the porticoes of relatively humble might have been snatched from the front of the British Museum.'

Source: TOI

Why isn’t NID campus wheelchair-friendly

Country’s premier design institute admits first wheelchair-bound student in 50 years but finds itself unprepared to handle students with special needs.

Tomorrow, I should be in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. My life should take a new turn. New city, new people, new friends. This all should make me excited as I, Vishal Sawant, got admission in one of the best design institutes in the country. It’s like a management student who wants to learn from IIMs. For a designer, getting admission into NID is a dream. My dream partly came true. 

Yes you read it right. Partly. I’ve done my part. 

This is what Vishal Sawant, a physically challenged designer from Pune, wrote on his blog. His excitement at gaining admission to the National Institute of Design (NID) is palpable in each word.

Just as tangible is the crushing disappointment he experienced on visiting the country’s premier design institute. The amazingly lavish, green campus ‘where you can see creativity flowing through every nook and corner’ was not designed for wheelchair-bound students. 

Having given the 30-year-old admission to its graphic design department, authorities of the 50-year-old institute hastily built a ramp to the first floor. While the temporary ramp will help Vishal access the first floor which houses his classroom, library, graphic studio, printing lab and IT lab, he will not be able to visit the auditorium which is on the second floor. The auditorium is where conferences, seminars, guest lectures, film screening and important activities take place. 

The authorities also plan to construct an elevator and design a special toilet for the physically challenged. The question is: How long will the institute take to complete the work? Vishal will lose precious academic days as the new session began on Monday.

Questions Galore

On his blog, vishalsaw.blogspot.in, the 30-year-old posted some pertinent questions following campus visit:


•   If there is a physically handicapped category, why isn’t the campus wheelchair-friendly?
•   Why are there ramps on the ground floor, if you can’t access the rest of the building?
•   Why are there no lifts to go to the first and second floors? 

“It does not matter if you have admitted physically handicapped students. What matters is if you are ready for such students,” he wrote. 

However, after finding about the efforts being made by the institute, he said, “I have heard they have built a temporary ramp which gives direct access to the first floor. It is encouraging that they are being sensitive to our needs.” 

Vishal, who graduated in Political Science from Fergusson College in Pune, added, “I hope the authorities will provide residential accommodation as it will be difficult for me to commute to campus every day. It will be tough for me to travel on my electric wheelchair during monsoon.” 

This request has put NID authorities in a fix as they do not provide hostel facilities to post-graduate students due to lack of sufficient rooms. 

Director Pradyumna Vyas said, “As a design institute, NID is sensitive to the needs of specially abled. We also plan to build an elevator and toilet for barrier-free accessibility. It might take a month or two to complete the work.” 

About hostel accommodation, Vyas said, “We offer hostel facilities only to undergraduates.”







Source: PuneMirror

Faculty Crunch a worry for new NIDs

As four new National Institutes of Design (NIDs) await their birth, faculty and administrators in the lone-existing NID worry about the absence of staff in the new institutes in case they come up in quick succession.

The full-time faculty crunch at NID, Ahmedabad and it’s satellite campuses at Gandhinagar and Bangalore is nothing short of severe; there are roughly 62 full-time faculty in all the three campuses, and 265 visiting faculty. But the visiting faculty do not take full-semester courses; but work in a time-bound manner in which they have to stay on campus or take classes for as long as two weeks, according to NID Director, Professor Pradyumna Vyas.
Dinesh Korjan, an NID alumnus, who has been a visiting faculty for more than two decades, said, “The shortage is big and it’s nothing new.”

A few days ago, the institute floated an advertisement looking for design educators, but the effort did not instill much confidence, as a top administrator said on condition of anonymity. “I don’t think this will lead to anything much. There were very few takers even last time,” the official said.

Senior faculty members express worry as four new NIDs are expected to come up in the near future. Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation for one of the new NIDs at Jorhat in Assam. Other NIDs are expected to come up in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Each of these campuses are expected to have at least 1,900 square meters for faculty offices and housing, but no one knows yet who will work or live there.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under which NID functions as an autonomous body, and which is charged with finding consultants to build these new NIDs, is concerned. In the terms of reference for consultants who plan to apply for the role of consultants in setting up these new NIDs, the Request for Proposal (RFP) document notes: “NID is facing a shortage of faculty at present. Opening of more NIDs will aggravate this shortage.”

Some faculty members have identified several problems: one being that the Faculty Development Programs (FDP) have attracted very few applicants, and among the ones who do attend it, very few actually go on to teach at the institute.

This could be because of several reasons: one being that designers seem largely uninterested in teaching, and even those who attend FDP, eventually end up working somewhere else in non-teaching positions. Korjan, recalled only five faculty members who had stayed on after completing the program.

Besides the salaries of faculty are lower compared to their counterparts at IITs and IIMs, who work under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, unlike design faculty at NID who work under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Another reason is that faculty at IITs and IIMs are allowed to take up consultancy projects and supplement their income, but NID faculty have not been allowed the same until about two years ago when the Integrated Design Services (IDS) became operational. But the projects that come to IDS “are routed through a small, selected committee to the faculty. It isn’t very well-known. It isn’t very popular,” said two faculty members in separate interviews.

Last year, a senior faculty who has since retired, had filed an RTI application asking for the minutes of the committee’s meeting on the charge that details of its workings are not transparent enough. He had placed copies of the reply in the faculty lounge of all the three campuses.

Prof Vyas said 0 new faculty members were recruited last year, but added that faculty crunch will be a major problem if the four new NIDs come up in quick succession. “There will be a problem.” he said.

News Source: Indian Express