New Delhi: There is some good news for the engineering aspirants. One of the most coveted institutions of engineering education, the Delhi Technological University (DTU), formerly known as Delhi College of Engineering, is all set to increase its intake at both Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) level from the upcoming 2010-11 academic session.

The University is planning to add 230 seats in its B.Tech. courses and 72 seats in its M.Tech. programmes. The recommendation to this affect was made at the first meeting of the Academic Council, which was chaired by the Vice Chancellor of DTU, Prof. P.B. Sharma.

The intake in the B.Tech. courses will be increased by adding seats in the existing courses.

In the B.Tech. course in Biotechnology intake is likely to be increased from 20 to 60 (40 seats added), similarly in Polymer Science and Chemical Technology it has been planned to increase from 40 to 60 (20 more seats added), in Environmental Engineering it is likely to increase from 30 to 60 (30 more seats), in Electrical Engineering, it is likely to be revised from 90 to 120 (30 more seats), in Civil Engineering it may be increased from 70 to 120 (50 more seats), Computer Engineering is likely to witness an increase in intake from 90 to 120 (30 more seats), and Production & Industrial Engineering may see an enhancement of 30 to 60 (30 more seats).

At present, there are 14 academic programmes on offer with an intake of 910 seats at the UG level.

"From this year, DTU will be admitting students from both Delhi and outside Delhi category on the basis of the rank obtained in the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) conducted by the CBSE," said an official.

Four new M.Tech. programmes are also likely to be added from the new academic session in Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Geo-technology, Signal Processing and Digital Design, with an intake of 18 each.

This makes a total of 72 more seats at the PG level from the currently available 306 seats.

DTU currently offers 17 M.E./M.Tech. courses.

The Academic Council also recommended enhancement in the scholarship awarded to the PhD scholars in science and engineering disciplines to Rs.14,000 per month.

Earlier PhD scholars in Science were getting a monthly stipend of Rs.10,500 and those in engineering were getting Rs.12,000 per month.

DTU has recently advertised for 93 faculty positions in regular scale and is hopeful of filling these positions before the commencement of next session.

The Vice Chancellor apprised the learned members of the Academic Council about the major achievements of the University during last five months of being accorded the University status which includes establishment of Delhi School of Management within the University campus; a major collaboration with Lockheed Martin Corporation for development of next-generation Unmanned Aerial Vehicle; tie-up with Gem (network of engineering institutions), France for academic and research exchange; and development of "Annapurna", automatic dispensing machine for fair-price shops in Delhi, are among many others.