Dr. Yagya Dutta Dwivedi is a Professor and the Deputy Head of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the Institute of Aeronautical Engineering in Hyderabad. She has 36 years of experience in defence, industry, research, and academia. Prior to joining the present organisation, she worked as an assistant professor at GITAM University, Hyderabad, for eight years, four years as GM in the Polymer Industry at Hyderabad, and 20 years in the Indian Navy as an Engineering Officer. Her research areas include Bio-Inspired Microaerial Vehicles, Aircraft Performance, Aircraft Stability and Control, Drag Reduction, Flapping wing aerodynamics, and Helicopter Dynamics.

Dr. Dutta has published over 40 research papers in reputed journals and presented 40 research papers at national and international conferences. She has written three books, five book chapters and has been granted eight patents. Not only has she completed three projects given by Engineers Without Borders, India, to develop e-learning for the Government Schools in Medak District, Telangana, India, but she has also visited a number of countries for research work. In 2021-2022, she received the Best Researcher Award and the Best Mentor Award from ISRO for project design mentorship.

Institute of Aeronautical Engineering

What is the latest program that you are offering in your institute/dept. which will help students outperform and stand apart from the crowd?

The Department of Aeronautical Engineering offers a B.Tech. in Aeronautical Engineering and an M.Tech. in Aerospace Engineering programme that is accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). The department has state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and highly qualified faculty from reputed national and international universities and top research centres.

What are the factors that make this program the best for the students to opt?

India has become the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world and is expected to overtake the UK and become the third-largest air passenger market by 2024. The Indian aviation industry also contributes 5% of the GDP, creating a total of four million jobs in India. India is now opting to set up an aeronautical industry for manufacturing aircraft and Aero engines. This branch will create a huge number of jobs in the next few years. I advise students to opt for this branch now for a bright future later.

What will you say the “best practices” in the course you’re offering?

We provide students with an outcome-based education in which they are given training on industry-related software and experimental practices. We also train them to fabricate RC planes and drones for civil and military use. Some startups are also being developed towards this goal by our Alumni and are working well.

Check Institute of Aeronautical Engineering Courses & Fees

What are some valuable insights of the program that you are offering at your institute/dept.?

The institute prepares students for national and international design competitions. Our students have bagged a number of awards from DRDO, ISRO, AeSI and SAE competitions in the last ten years. Our faculties provide them with full support for mentoring.

How does the program ensure that students are being prepared for the future?

Students are prepared with a high level of training and skill development. We do this by organising seminars and workshops by industry experts. They address topics in modern technology like Artificial intelligence and Machine learning.

How did you train yourself/faculty to deliver this program to the students?

Our faculty in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering are trained to teach in an outcome-based education. All our teachers have to prepare course descriptions, lecture notes, question banks, definitions and terminologies and also e-learning content with videos which are then uploaded to dedicated youtube channels.

How do you tend to build an industry connect with this program?

We make the students do internships in the aeronautical industry. The institute has a separate dean for this, whose specific duty is to establish an industry connection. These connections provide training and workshops at regular intervals for our students.

What were the challenges that you faced while inculcating this program in your curriculum?

The main challenge we faced was the availability of PhD faculty. We have recruited eight doctorate faculties from the IITs, NITs, ISRO, and Defence. They have experience in the aeronautical domain and have years of experience. Another challenge is to have suitable facilities to teach our students. For this, we have fully equipped our teachers and classrooms with the right equipment.

What are the types of projects that the students are working on through this program?

Our students work on the design and development of Bio-inspired wings, hypersonic aircraft, Mars mission drones, and military and civilian drones with AI systems. Our students also do full-semester internships from the DRDO, ISRO, SIMULAC, NAL, ADA, BDL and TASL. Here, they can work hands-on with real-life projects and situations.

Click Institute of Aeronautical Engineering Placements

What are the benefits and career options after pursuing this course?

This branch of engineering provides better options for scientists in DRDO, ISRO, ADA, NAL, and HAL to design and develop the military system. Also, students get opportunities in the Software domain at companies like Wipro, TCS, Capgemini and Amazon. Our students also get excellent scores in examinations like GATE and have got admission to IITs and top universities of the world.