5 Fun Facts about the History of MIT-India
As we continue to be eager to travel, nostalgic for the times when we were in India, and our current cohort of South Asian Alumni Oral History Interns reach the conclusion of their work for the term, we at MIT-India thought it would be a prescient moment to look back at the history of our program and bring you five fun facts on the early days of MIT-India.
1) MIT-India was founded as the MIT India Technology Education Program.
Founded in 1998, the program now known as MIT-India was developed as the MIT India Technology Education Program, or MIT ITEP. At the time, it was a small program offering 8 week internships for students to travel to Pune, India, to teach the basics of web programming to Indian high school students. Founding program member Aneet Ranadive (MIT ‘98) visited the Kalmadi Shamarao High School in the winter of 1998, to make the connection to what would be MIT-India’s first host partnership.
Ajay Kulkarni (MIT ‘01) with three Indian students at the Kalmadi Shamarao High School, 1998.
2) MIT-India is MISTI’s 4th oldest program.
MIT-Japan was MIT’s first international exchange program, founded in 1983. After its initial success, MIT-China was founded in 1994, and MIT-Germany was founded in 1997. Founding members of MIT-India Ameet Ranadive (MIT ‘98) and Vinay Pulim (MIT ‘99), who were current graduate students, were inspired by the success of the Japan and China initiatives, and proposed that a similar program be held in India. The project got off the ground with the help of original faculty director Ken Kenniston, and MIT alum Kavas Petigara (MIT ‘74).
3) MIT-India has sent over 1,000 students to India over 23 years.
Current records show 1,021 alumni of the MIT-India program. Beginning with a cohort of six students in 1998, MIT-India has blossomed into one of MISTI’s largest international study programs. In the early years of the program, Indian host companies were immediately impressed by the quality of their MIT interns and were very enthusiastic about continuing to host MIT students. Students have now conducted internships and research across 33 cites over 23 years.
4) India’s involvement with MIT dates back to 1882.
Keshar Bhat was MIT’s first international student from India, first found in the 1882-1883 MIT Student Directory. MIT became a popular destination for international students from MIT, and the program organizers wrote in their 1999 Progress and Development plan that “until recently, the flow of students has largely been one way, from India to MIT. A central goal of the MIT-India program is to reverse that flow. We seek to send MIT students to India to learn at first hand, by working in India, the ways of Indian industry, science, technology, culture, and history.”
5) Shell, Infosys, and IFMR are our longest and most popular host partners.
While a still a relatively new host partner, Shell has been extremely popular with our interns, as we’ve sent 35 interns since 2013. Our partnership with Infosys dates all the way back to 1999, the second year of the program. Since then, we’ve sent 36 interns to their various locations across India. IFMR tops the list of our most interns sent, with a whopping 44 interns sent since 2005. Our students have worked in a variety organizations including, leading Indian corporations, research institutions, universities, start ups and nonprofits.