Preethi Aghalayam became the first woman director of IIT Madras campus being built in Tanzania

Preethi Aghalayam became the first woman director of IIT Madras campus being built in Tanzania

 Preethi Aghalayam has been made director of the campus being built in Zanzibar (Tanzania) under the supervision of IIT Madras and will be the first woman director of an IIT campus. The Zanzibar campus of IIT Madras will be the first IIT outside India.

 She did her BTech from IIT Madras and MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester. Aghalayam joined IIT Madras in 2010 and is a professor of chemical engineering.

 Aghalayam is a strong advocate of gender equality in STEM education. The campus is scheduled to start its first academic session in October 2023. It will offer a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence as well as a two-year Master of Technology degree in the same subject.

 IIT Madras director V Kamakoti said, "Aghalayama is the first woman to become an IIT director. We are following the sustainable development goals and one of the important goals suggests that we need to bring gender balance."