Creating a job-ready workforce

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  Year after year, India produces lakhs of engineers, yet there is shortage of employable and skilled workforce. According to available data, only 20 to 25 per cent of the engineering graduates passing out annually are directly employable and the large pool of unemployed graduates keeps increasing every year.
In recent years, the Information Technology (IT) majors and top notch institutions have taken the initiative to train the students in campuses itself to get them industry-ready. It is a two-way process by which both are mutually benefited. The colleges get to show better placement record and improve on credibility. If you go by the numbers, the IT majors, who will be recruiting 1.5 lakh students this year, can directly absorb the students saving time and money.
  Kala Vijayakumar, chairperson, SSN Engineering College, says, “The dynamic changes in the industry are effectively communicated to the institutes which are also a part of the Syndicate of Universities where they are actively involved in suggesting relevant changes in the academic programmes.”
“Apart from technological skill development, there is a major stress on improving the soft skills of the students.”
  Srikant Moorthy, senior vice-president and group head, education and research, Infosys, says, “The Campusconnect programme developed by Infosys focuses on developing the competitive levels of the students. We aim to achieve this by training the faculty and also by organising webinars and seminars for the students.”
  In the Campusconnect’s faculty enablement programme, both the content and approach are shared by Infosys. Faculty are encouraged to take up sabbatical at Infosys centres for three months and thereby gain first-hand experience of the industry. Students also get to visit IT companies during the industrial visits. Infosys also conducts a national-level contest for engineering students in programming skills. Students can also download projects from the Campusconnect portal.
  On the same lines, Cognizant has designed ‘Evolve’ a training module for soft skills and personality development for students. They are trained to fall in line with the industry expectations. The training programme focuses on making students culturally aligned to the industry and work environment, improving leadership skills, decision-making, project management abilities, interview skills and soft skills. As an outcome of the training programme, some of the students are also absorbed in the industry. By building a sustained relationship with academia, the industry is also greatly benefited, say Cognizant professionals.
  Engineering students get to do summer projects and internships in many IT companies. Wipro’s Mission TenX, a faculty training programme, has been successfully implemented across institutions in India.
Philip Praveen, training and placement officer, Rajalakshmi Engineerig College (REC), Chennai, says, “The contribution by IT majors in making students employable is phenomenal.”
REC largely collaborates with Tata Consultancy Services and organises workshops and guest lectures. The faculty visits the Innovation Lab of the TCS at Siruseri periodically.
  The biggest investment for the IT companies is made in terms of time, since the employees are involved personally. A considerable time is spent on being in touch with the faculty, students and their changing requirements to bring about changes required in the programme.
  While engineering colleges are working on innovative ventures and tie-ups with industries, majority of arts and science colleges are yet to reach the maturity level for the industries to play a pro-active role in student training. The arts colleges do not have constant interaction with the industry to align their curriculum to industry needs. A transformational change is not possible in classroom training, whereas the training given to fresh recruits is a long-term and larger investment, say industry experts.

The future is in biotech engineering

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  The convergence of different engineering streams and an inter-disciplinary approach in research is reckoned to hold the key for development, and biotechnology is one such area with tremendous potential.
A blend of biology, chemistry, genetics etc., biotechnology has a wide range of applications — from food and agriculture to pharmaceutical industry and medicinal research.
  In view of its importance in value addition to food and agriculture, and its applications in medicine and healthcare, the Government of India too has espoused a Biotechnology Vision of “attaining new heights in biotechnology research, shaping biotechnology into a premier precision tool of the future for creation of wealth and ensuring social justice, specially for the welfare of the poor.”
Yet to be harnessed
  Hence experts are unanimous about the scope and potential of biotechnology which is yet to be harnessed, for, it is a revolution in the making on the lines of Information Technology whose benefits have begun to percolate to the masses.
  Realising the immense potential of biotechnology and the openings in biotech industries coupled with the trained manpower required for the country, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Mysore, has decided to introduce a postgraduate course in biotechnology engineering from the academic year 2011-12 and has ramped up its biotechnology laboratory to meet the future requirements.
  As B.G. Sangameshwar, Principal of SJCE, pointed out: The biotech laboratory is not only state-of-the-art but has been modernised to meet the future requirements of advanced studies and research. In addition to the existing laboratory, there is a plan to add another research laboratory exclusively for postgraduate students, the cost of which works out to nearly Rs. 1 crore. The SJCE already offers a B.E. in biotechnology and its facilities are recognised as among the best while the quality of graduates emerging from the institute is said to be outstanding.”
 With a bioengineering laboratory and highly qualified faculty, a majority of whom are Ph.D.s, the thrust is on providing hands-on experience which puts the students of SJCE in an advantageous position in the industry, according to N. Haraprasad, a faculty in the Biotechnology Department. “In addition to academic works, we also conduct research for government projects,” he added.
  With focus on practicals and research, recruitment is almost 100 per cent and most students have been absorbed by the industry while a few preferred to opt for higher studies and research, said Mr. Haraprasad.
Advanced research
  In view of the growing importance of biotechnology, the SJCE roped in M.C. Misra, a veteran scientist from the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), to head the department which is paying rich dividends as he has brought in advanced research components with industrial perspectives to the engineering course. “It is a merger of information technology and biological sciences and there is more emphasis on industrial biotechnology and food processing,” said Dr. Misra.
He pointed out that the role and importance of biotechnology could hardly be over-emphasised in view of the Food Security Act passed by the government as biotechnology will be harnessed to maintain quality of the food as also to increase the food yield. “In addition, biotechnology plays a crucial role in ensuring nutritional security of the nation, in the production of biofertilizers, crop management, seed technology and in generating new products and processes with a wide range of applicability.”
  Commenting on the future of biotechnology industry in India, the SJCE faculty members pointed out that the pharmaceutical industry and agriculture and agro-industries are set to harness the wonders of biotechnology and the industry could see investments as well as turnover valued at billions of dollars. Nutraceuticals is another area where biotechnology plays a key role.
  There are different areas within the health sector that has biotechnology applications like biodiagnostics, research in enzymes, and research and development of vaccines whose market value cannot be authentically computed but put at billions of dollars.

14,500 take up AIEEE model examination

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   Nearly 14,500 students registered for the AIEEE Model Exam conducted by The Hindu Education Plus and AIMS Education at 15 different centres here on Sunday. For a majority of the students, it is model exam time, as schools have completed their syllabus, and many gauge their performance through such examinations before enrolling for a crash course.

  Many students found the maths and physics parts tough, while some thought more revision would have helped. “It was not formulae based, you had to think out of the box, know short-cut methods and have good practice,” said S. Chandrasekar, a class XII student of KV-CLRI. His group of friends were also of similar opinion. “We were told that AIEEE stresses more on Class XI syllabus, so we had to be thorough,” they said. This is the sixth edition of the model exam and is aimed at improving the competence of class XII students aspiring for admission to BE and B.Tech programmes.

  This year, the exam will go online for the first time and many students are apprehensive. “Weightage for each subject and topic was based on the AIEEE format. We had 15 per cent difficult questions and 20 per cent normal questions,” said Gita Prabhu of AIMS Education.

  Talking about the AIEEE format, Dhirendra Pratap Singh, faculty of maths and physics, said that in the initial years the questions were straightforward and, last year, it got more conceptual.

  The results of the model exam would be declared on January 23 and will also be available online on the institute’s website. AIMS would also organise a discussion of the paper on January 23 at Vani Mahal, T. Nagar.

Campus placements: students have no choice?

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   It is that time of the year when young men and women, clad in formals, sit outside offices on their college campus revising their much-rehearsed answers to anticipated questions on technology and applications.
The campus recruitment drive this year, especially by Information Technology companies, which started as early as in the first week of December has been encouraging, say the placement records of many engineering colleges. However, the recruitment processes of many colleges that involve bulk recruitment by a single company are conspicuous by the absence of other major companies.
With the placement scenario increasingly governed by unspoken alliances between companies and colleges, the freedom of a student to pick a company from a basket of choices could be under threat, say experts.
The Campus Placement at SRM University saw Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) roping in a whopping 1,091 students last month, with Wipro, HCL, and Accenture following suit. But it was also marked by the absence of two other top-notch companies. Similarly VIT University had Cognizant taking in as many as 1,500 students with other companies recruiting in smaller numbers.
‘The best harvest’
While companies maintain that they insist on the first slot only to get ‘the best harvest,’ colleges say that it has become mandatory to show 100 per cent placement, and bulk recruitment by IT majors is a boon for their healthy branding and survival.
“It is natural for colleges to lose out on two to three main companies, because they give the first slot to one big player,” says. S. Ganapathy, dean, SRM Placements. Some of these bulk recruiters also relaxed their eligibility criteria by allowing students with up to two arrears.
NASSCOM regional director K. Purushottaman does not see anything wrong with the phenomenon since students can choose not to be part of the campus recruitment, and make a start with smaller companies or apply in companies that don’t come for recruitment, if they want to.
Infosys HRD and Education and Research head T.V. Mohandas Pai, on the other hand, says the lack of transparency on the part of college managements sometimes leads to abuse of the tie-ups between companies and colleges. “Many colleges succumb to pressures from certain companies, and get into unhealthy tie-ups with companies that leave students with little choice,” he says.
Others point out that latent contracts and invisible ties between management authorities of private colleges and HR professionals of companies result in companies dictating terms to the college. “Since colleges are responsible only till the students are placed, companies with their rigorous training, demand-driven strategies, posting and transfer mechanisms make sure that the people who do not perform are removed whenever necessary,” says Anand Venkatesh, a HR placement consultant with many IT majors.
For students, these tie-ups and placements in previous batches largely determine a certain college’s worth. “But we often feel that a large part of the recruitment process is kept hidden from us, all we know are numbers,” says Abhishek Tareja, a civil engineering student of VIT University.
What MoUs mean
There are also those who argue that agreements between corporate players and the academia must not be seen through the prism of placements alone. The Memorandums of Understanding signed between companies and universities reflect in infrastructure development, faculty enhancement programmes, capacity building, projects and internships, says S. Selvam, Director, Centre for University- Industry Collaboration, Anna University, which saw 88 companies recruiting candidates in 92 working days. “Placements are just a spin-off from these regular programmes, but unfortunately they figure at the top of the list for many colleges,” he adds.
It is also the relationship a particular company shares with a certain college that determines their association. “Most colleges give us their first slots willingly because we managed to recruit even during the downturn. It is that rapport that counts,” says R. Chandrasekharan, President and MD, Global Delivery, Cognizant.
Time-bound associations between companies and colleges, Dr. Selvam says, are an indirect, invisible investment for the future. They not only save cost for the companies, but also help them groom their candidates for future, while the branding works well both for the college and the employer, say experts. This could prove crucial at a time when, according to Mr Pai, the expenditure on training is rising with increasing costs of technology, infrastructure, and compensation.
Many academics also insist that traditional tie-ups fostered by colleges with companies wherein students are granted projects and internships depending on the prototype or design they submit, are what that go a long way in kindling the spirit of engineering in them. “Students look forward to such associations because it gives them an opportunity to work in real-time projects and showcase their potential to gain employment in companies that normally do not come to their campuses for placement,” Praveen Vishakantaiah, President, Intel India, who also believes that such recruitments are often overshadowed by the bulk recruitment that IT majors indulge in.

Job fair on Jan 12

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   A job fair for recruiting manpower for private sector enterprises under the aegis of Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women Ltd will be organised here on January 12.

In a press release here today, District Collector Mahesan Kasirajan said the job fair, to be organised in the SGSY Hall in Collectorate premises, will be for the aspirants from the districts of Tiruchirapalli, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Karur, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai.

Candidates in the age group of 18 to 35 years can take part.

Aspirants should furnish their bio-data and documents pertaining to age, residential proof at the camp. Further information can be obtained from the Project Officer of Mahalir Thittam, he added.