New Delhi: Industry professionals who aspire to rub shoulders with students of the elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and upgrade their skills now have a chance to do so.

IIT Delhi has opened its courses to them. "Now we are allowing industry professionals to register and attend any of our 450 regular courses offered every semester," IIT Delhi director Surendra Prasad told sources.

"This is not like a professional development programme but like a regular class that our students go through. They can attend classes along with our students and brush up skills in the laboratories," Prasad added.

The IIT Delhi authorities said this was part of a programme to reach out to industries in the national capital region and work as a catalyst for their manpower skill upgradation.

"It is expected that in the years to come IIT Delhi will be seen as a major catalyst by the industries in their attempt to move up the value chain. This is because it requires major upgradation of their manpower skills, and IIT by reaching out to them can play a vital role," said M. Balakrishnan, dean, postgraduate studies of IIT Delhi.

"We have already registered 42 professionals this semester. The aim is to fully utilise our resources and help others grow," Balakrishnan said.

He said these professionals are mainly from the automobile, mechanical and IT industries. "But there is no restriction on any industry professional and the course that he or she wants to pursue."

The candidates however have been screened to an extent. All those attending the classes will also have to take a test at the end of the course.

After attending classes in a semester, these professionals will get a certificate from the IIT. The course fee to attend is Rs.5,000 for every credit. In IIT Delhi, every semester consists of 14 teaching weeks, which comprises 42 credits.

The candidates are free to choose their courses and one can go for more than one course.

Balakrishnan said on an experimental basis, this semester two live classroom courses are being beamed to a Noida-based IT company through two-way video and audio links.

"This is a pilot project and once it delivers results, it will provide a major boost for industry professionals. We may also have a full fledged set-up for this distant education mode," he added.

Prasad said in this case, industry professionals would not come to IIT Delhi, but classes would reach their offices - "an effective and time-saving formula for both parties". IANS