Amity Institute of Defence Technology, Amity University Noida campus, organized a Career Awareness Programme on “Opportunities in Defence Technology”, wherein around 150 students of Class 12th, from Delhi NCR schools participated. The main aim of the Programme was to enlighten the students about the various aspects of Defence Technology and its significance in national security and self-reliant India, thereby helping them to make informed decisions about their career.

Encouraging the students, Dr. Hari Babu Srivastava, Former Director General- DRDO, averred, “Defence Technology is a vast area and refers to the application of scientific knowledge and technological innovations to develop equipment, systems, and methods for military purposes. The government policies should empower defence professionals to encounter threats of any kind, therefore policy domain is of utmost importance. Another area which has a huge scope in defence technologies is defence R&D since a lot of research work is being undertaken and new innovations and technologies are being developed in the defence sector. Defence professionals must be able to gauge what kind of emerging technologies can be used for problem-solving and how technology should be upgraded from time to time. Therefore, there is a need for more tech-savvy professionals in the defence sector who can implement AI and other new technologies.”

Vice Admiral Ranjit Singh, Director, Directorate of Quality Reliability and Safety, DRDO HQ, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi, stated, “National security is essential to protect the country from external and internal threats since India has a huge border. Army, Air Force and Navy are the three anchors which protect the country from external threats whereas organizations such as Border Security Force, (BSF), Assam Rifles, and others, protect the country from internal threats. There are approximately 14 lakh defence personnel, the Indian Army has the largest number of personnel, followed by Air Force and Navy. Technologies such as Drones are being widely used in the defence sector, in the current scenario. Therefore, new skilled workforce is required in defence technology. There are unlimited opportunities for students in the defence sector today, they can join organizations such as DRDO or can launch their own start-ups since the government is providing a lot of funding to start-ups and MSMEs to achieve the mission of Viksit Bhart@2047.”

Sharing his views on the occasion, Dr. A.K Singh, Sr. Vice President Amity Foundation for Science, Technology & Innovation Alliances (AFSTIA), said, “Today, we are living in a fast changing world driven by science & technology. With the mission of Atma Nirbhar Bharat promulgated by the Prime Minister, concerted efforts are being made to augment self-reliance in Defence Technology sector, along with other sectors. There is a new impetus on defence industry in both PSUs and private sector and with the emergence of new start-ups, there is a huge demand for qualified and trained human resource in the field of Defence Technology. In sync with these initiatives by the government, Amity University is one of the first Universities to launch various Programmes in Defence Technology and there is no dearth of opportunities and new avenues for the students who are interested in defence technology.”

Dr. Niraj Kumar, Additional Director and Academic Head, Amity Institute of Defence Technology shared information regarding the various Programmes in Defence Technology, such as PhD Programmes, Postgraduate Programmes, Undergraduate Programmes and Integrated Programmes, offered by Amity University. The Programme concluded with an interactive Q&A Session wherein the school students’ queries were answered by the guests.