IIST

The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) has announced its counseling session for 2007-2008 academic year.Students placed in the extended list of IIT-JEE 2007 can register their names for counselling in the IIST website from 11 June. Students placed in the main list of the IIT-JEE 2007 are also eligible. The online registration will remain open until 3 July.A list of 600 students will be selected to attend the counselling session in Bangalore on 20 July. The final list will be announced via the IIST website on 9 July. As of now, two courses are on offer at the IIST ~ an under-graduate B.Tech programme in Space Technology with specialisation in Avionics and Aerospace Engineering / Bachelor of Technology (4 years) and an Integrated Masters in Applied Science (5 year).The IIST is yet to have a permanent campus but it will in two years. The IIST will be located close to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) project modelled on IITs, the IIST will train space scientists for India’s future space missions. The ISRO had dreamed up the project after being faced with an acute talent crunch.The Union Cabinet had sanctioned an initial investment of Rs 2.70 billion for setting up the institute in Thiruvananthapuram.Fat paypackets in the IT sector has been drawing away talented science graduates and engineers. So, talent crunch plus crammed schedules in the years ahead had forced the ISRO to set up the IIST, so that the nation’s space programmes do not suffer. The annual intake of students at the IIST will be 150-200.In the years ahead, the ISRO has a crammed schedule which include the first unmanned moon mission, 'Chandrayaan,' slated for 2008.