NIT-K inducts 1,066 B.Tech students with new AI-era curriculum; director urges right-brain skills
The National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NIT-K), Surathkal, formally welcomed its new B.Tech students of the 2026-30 batch during an induction ceremony held on campus on August 19. A total of 1,066 students have joined this academic year, including 834 male students and 232 female students.
Addressing the gathering, NIT-K Deputy Director Subhash Yaragal congratulated the incoming students, expressing the institute’s pride in nurturing them into responsible citizens and future industry professionals. He reminded them of the institute’s motto, “Work is Worship,” and noted that they would have access to world-class facilities on the campus.
Institute Director B. Ravi, in his keynote address, told students that the next four years would bring profound changes across the world, changes that would have a direct bearing on their careers and life choices. He cautioned that by 2030, the real competition for jobs might not be from fellow students but from artificial intelligence (AI). AI, he pointed out, already outperforms humans in logical left-brain functions such as reading, writing, remembering, locating, translating and monitoring. He therefore urged students to develop their right-brain capacities — including curiosity, creativity, intuition, emotion, empathy, ethics, context, judgement, nuance and non-verbal communication — and to combine these human strengths with AI to succeed in the future workplace.
Prof. Ravi highlighted that the institute’s newly redesigned curriculum, developed over the past three years, is specifically designed to strengthen such human capabilities. In addition to theory and laboratory courses, students will undertake four categories of life-skill activities: physical (sports), cultural (creative arts), technical (model fabrication) and professional (communication). These activities are intended to provide a well-rounded education that goes beyond conventional academics.
He further pointed to the institute’s reinforced focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. Students now have the option to pursue a parallel minor programme covering product design, fabrication and business plan development. This programme is supported by NIT-K alumni, who will act as mentors, co-founders and investors. Prof. Ravi set an aspirational target for the batch: to launch 100 new student startups over the next four years, ensuring that the institute produces more job creators than job seekers.
During the induction, the deans, chief warden and other institute functionaries made presentations on the academic structure, research opportunities, campus facilities and student life at NIT-K. The Undergraduate Induction Programme has been designed to enable a smooth transition for new students into the academic and cultural environment of the institute, laying a strong foundation for the next four years.
A separate programme was organised for more than 1,500 parents who visited the campus. They were given a tour of the facilities and addressed by institute officials. Parents were encouraged to partner with the institute in their wards’ academic and personal development and to maintain regular communication with them throughout the programme.
