As engineering admissions gather pace across the country, many students are comparing the long-established BTech in Civil Engineering with the newer BTech in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. While the course names sound similar, many students wonder whether the newer programme offers better career prospects or a different learning experience. According to Dr P Pravin Kumar Venkat Rao, Assistant Professor at the Earthquake Engineering Research Centre, IIIT Hyderabad, the distinction lies primarily in the academic emphasis rather than the engineering fundamentals. Dr Rao notes that while the technical foundation remains common, students in infrastructure-focused programmes often work with broader questions involving urban mobility, integrated planning and long-term infrastructure management.

IIIT Hyderabad researchers have developed a virtual traffic cop—VIOLA, an AI-powered traffic violation detection system that uses low-cost dash cams installed in police patrol vehicles. The technology deployed with the Telangana Police reported that nearly 96 per cent of the violations submitted by the AI are accurate. Presently, traffic enforcement depends on CCTV cameras and hand-held cameras with traffic police personnel. These cameras are expensive to install and maintain and limited to fixed locations. Further, drivers know where the cameras are and where they are not. In addition, the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology currently being used is unable to catch all violations automatically without humans in the loop. The AI model analysed footage to detect helmet violations, triple riding, wrong-side driving and other offences.

IIIT Hyderabad is hosting the Software Engineering Research in India (SERI) 2026 from July 16–18, 2026, bringing together faculty members, researchers, students, and industry practitioners from across the country to discuss the latest advances in software engineering research and practice. The program begins today at IIIT Hydera bad campus in Gachibowli. SERI 2026 is an annual update meet focuses on software development, programming languages, and testing agentic AI systems. SERI is an annual community-driven forum that provides a platform for researchers to present ongoing work, exchange ideas on emerging directions in software engineering, and strengthen collaboration between academia and industry. This year’s edition has received over 200 registrations and features a packed three-day programme.