My journey of urban design in Ahmedabad

The university is known for its Center for Sustainability which focuses on affordable housing, indigenous models of circular economy, and building sustainable education campuses in India. The university has collaborated with various Think tank of the government to work on climate change and sustainable development.

Course curriculum The program follows a comprehensive curriculum. It is designed to encourage students to collect inferences in a multidisciplinary manner as an attempt to find solutions to various urban problems. This is achieved through four verticals namely environment & ecology, people & society, management & governance and technology & governance. We are also taught, in addition, fundamentals of sectors like heritage development, housing, utilities, transportation, environment and are also trained for specific skills of mapping, future trend analysis, geographic information system, project formulation, project finance, negotiation etc. the course is broadly divided into four sections which are- exploring cities, understanding cities, problem identification and implementing solutions. The university follows a choice based credit system (CBCS). We can choose the electives from the range of subjects which are from other disciplines. The teachings of this course has opened my horizons and enabled me to think critically and provide possible solutions to all the problems.

Placements The university has set up Career Services Office that provides the counselling, coaching and corporate connections required for us to kick-start our professional journey. Some of the recruiters include Piramal Group, QCI, Common Ground Practice, INI Design Studio, HCP Design, Planning & Management Pvt. Ltd, Earth Foundation, Open Spaces Design Studio and Biome Environmental Solutions. The internships are the compulsory part of my course which is manageemd by the Career services office. I worked as summer intern for two months at QCI with their smart cities project. I was paid the stipend of INR 15,000 per month.

Events The department hosted a three-day event, a hands-on workshop, and panel discussion on ?Building Resilient Cities.? It was attempt to bring professionals, academicians, government officials and students on a single platform that aimed to highlight key efforts that are being made at all levels and across social, economic and environmental resilience and provided urban solutions to the problems. The workshop concluded with the panel discussion that included a diverse team of experts who discussed challenges across various verticals like social cohesion, environment, institutional framework, etc. towards designing city resilience. The department also hosted a public lecture on ?Havana?s next 500s- On the challenges of the half-a-millennium old city? where the speaker shared the innovative approaches that were adopted by Cuban Capital to agree challenges like poverty, inequality and climate change. I was the part of the organizing team for both the events that helped me to improve my team coordination skills and closely work with the experts.

Fee structure The total tuition fee for first year was INR 2, 50,000. This was divided into three components which is payable in three installments- provisional admission acceptance fee (INR 60,000); Semester 1 fee (INR 65,000) and semester 2 fee (INR 1, 25,000). The tuition fees did not include other incidental educational charges such as study materials, stationery, peripherals, and consumables, excursion trip charges, or any other charges or penalties. All the fees was paid online through net banking. I found the fees to be nominal because the design courses are more expensive in other private universities.

Campus life The university is a state-of-the-art campus with studio spaces and well-equipped workshops for climatology, carpentry, metalworking and ceramics. Its picturesque lake is visible from all classrooms, the spacious amphitheater and green landscapes surrounding the main building adding to the charm of the campus. There are badminton court, volleyball court and tennis room that are accessible to the students all the time. The library has several books on architecture, design and urban planning written by Indian and foreign authors. The students can also access online journals of international universities and make themselves available a variety of online content in the form of articles, videos and databases.

Admission Having completed my B.Design, I decided to pursue masters in the specialized branch of design. After looking at the different options, I made my mind to pursue Master in Urban Design. The minimum eligibility required the candidate to be a graduate or equivalent from the recognized university. I filled the application form online. This was followed by the telephonic interview which was scheduled with the director of the program. The shortlisted candidates were required to give an online logical and critical thinking test. Then the shortlisted candidates were called to the campus for the personal interview. I cleared the online test and the personal interview after which I submitted my resume and work sample. The course intake was only 20 students and I was happy that I am one of them. Finally the first installment was paid that confirmed my admission.

Faculty There are total 9 faculty members in my department. All of them are experts in their field. Some of them are even the visiting faculty of the universities in USA and London. They all impart the industrial knowledge to us. They are our mentors who often take a mentor mentee session with us in which they discuss about the wisdom in life. They continuously motivates us to do better in our respective lives.