EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS NEED TO SHIFT THEIR FOCUS FROM JUST CREATING ENGINEERS TO DELIVERING WORKING PROFESSIONALS TO THE INDUSTRY

We are in an age where just creating the facility to educate engineers is not enough. Today the challenge facing hundreds of engineering institutions is to find placement for budding engineers. Industry associations have been raising the issue of employability of graduate engineers. Hence the need of the hour is to create an eco-system in the institutions to produce industry ready engineers. This has been a point of discussion at various forums over many years.

Here are a few ideas or action plans which institutions can put into practice.

·         Institutions must identify their areas of strengths

·         Identify faculty members interested in chosen areas within each institution

·         Create an eco-system where institutes can send faculty members to other institutions of higher learning such as IITs and NITs for giving them much needed exposure in those areas

·         Depute them for short term visits to industries for exposure in those areas

·         The curriculum must be continuously reviewed and updated with the active participation of indus try representatives

·         Resources are scarce and they must be carefully employed for creating infrastructure that enhances the strengths of the institution

·         Organise industry supported courses (12 credits) and special lectures by industry experts to support students interested in those areas.

·         To enhance collaboration between institutes and industries, the institutes must come forward in offering solutions to the problems faced there. Such issues must be converted into project titles and various solutions must be generated from the student community

·         Institutions should have integrated product development labs with all facilities so that students can work anytime

·         Student projects can be given for assessment to industry experts

·       Colleges need to offer value added courses such as project management, value engineering, entrepreneurship, financial management with the help of experts from appropriate professional societies

·         Software and hardware outcomes of the projects need to be prototyped

·         Colleges must facilitate the conversion of prototypes into products

·         Students could be helped with internship and placement in collaborating industries

·         Students could be helped to establish startups through Entrepreneurship Development Cells

·         Colleges must turn themselves into -Ideation Nurseries- that focus on IPR generation, procurement of International patents and commercialization of the products

·         Colleges must carry out a quick evaluation of students capabilities in the first year itself and tailor programs to help bridge skill deficits, if any

·         The interaction between the alumni of the institute, the faculty and the students should be seamless. Alumni should be encouraged to mentor students to bring them in line with industry expectations