As
part of its ongoing efforts to make teaching and learning more
relevant to the industry and society, the 2nd Industry-Institute
Research Meet was held at the Center for Faculty Development and
Management (CFDM) of Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College. Sri
Nalla Malla Reddy, the Secretary of Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering
College said that the improvement of quality in engineering colleges
is possible by involving the faculty and students in Research
and Development activities, and NMREC has started working in this
direction.
In India it is the drive that is
needed and we already have the talent needed as illustrated by
programmes like the Green Revolution and Operation flood noted
the Chief Guest and the Keynote Speaker Padmasri N.Divakar, Retd.Director
DRDL. He highlighted the need for technology development to address
the needs of the Nation. The Director of the Research Center at
the College gave an overview of the program followed by an Industry-Institute
Showcase with exhibits from the various departments of the college
demonstrating their strengths.
The Director of the Research Center
at the College Dr.C.M.Varaprasad gave an overview of the program
followed by an Industry-Institute Showcase with exhibits from
the various departments of the college demonstrating their strengths.
Mr.Venkat Raju of Vem Technologies shared ideas for initiating
research culture among the students and staff. Panel Discussion
was held on the topic “Avenues for collaboration between
the Industry and Institute”. Dr.Babu Rao of Navayuga Infotech,
Mr.J.Hanumanta Rao Retd.Director BDL, Mr.Premsagar of ECIL, Mr.Venkat
Puranam of Indwa Technologies, Mr.Chandrasekhar from Infosys,
Mr.P.Krupal Kashyap of HPIT Consulting, Dr.V.Sivarama Prasad,
Dr.Uma, Prof.G.V.Anjaneyulu, Prof.Sadasiva Sarma, Prof.Ramchandra,
Dr.T.Mohandas, Mr.Sivaprasad, Mr.Rajashekar, Mr.K.C.Arun, Mr.Venkat
Reddy, Dr.J.Yelliah, and others participated in the Panel discussion.
All the faculty of the college, and the Post Graduate Students
participated in the event.
It was also discussed that the final
year B.Tech student projects need deep and concentrated efforts
by both the students and the faculty. It is only the research
orientation and developmental approach of the faculty that new
and productive projects could be done at the B.Tech level. It
might not be possible for a B.Tech student to work on a research
project but they can definitely build an application of a research
work. It is possible to concentrate on a research oriented project
at the M.Tech level and also get good output. But the current
situation prevailing in private engineering colleges does not
allow this. M.Tech is treated mostly as a part-time program where
the student finds it highly difficult to attend classes if conducted
regularly. It is also the case that the M.Tech seats do not get
filled up in case the college insists on regular attendance of
the students! This pathetic situation is leading to lack of research
orientation among the post graduates who later become faculty
and the same is passed on to the students they teach.
Panel Discussion was held on the
topic “Avenues for collaboration between the Industry and
Institute” and the possible avenues for Industry-Institute
Collaboration were listed out.
Project funding Opportunities:
Industries could fund projects that can be done at the institute
by the faculty/students of the institute. OSD of ECIL said that
some subsystems of the projects being done at their organization
could be given as developmental work to the college.
PhD Guidance: Senior
Personnel from the industry can help the faculty of private colleges
by guiding them for their PhDs, allowing them access to their
libraries, and in identifying research problems.
M.Tech Projects: As
the stipulated time for M.Tech projects is one year, it is possible
for the industries to provide projects for those students or involve
them in their projects.
Consultancy: Institutes
can provide consultancy in the faculty research areas and job
works.
Industry Visits:
Industrial visits give an insight into the practical applications
of the subject studied and hence must be planned by the institutes.
All the industries present welcomed this idea and have gracefully
permitted the same.
Guest Lectures:
Infosys invited faculty experts from the college for guest lectures
and all the industry personnel have a positive approach about
this avenue.
Sponsored Labs/Softwares:
Depending on the work done by the institute and the requirements
of the industry, it is possible to collaborate in this area.
Value added courses:
Institutes like Coign Technologies, HCL technologies, have conducted
value added courses like Android programming, Java, and other
courses in the college synchronizing that with the regular curriculum
which ended in amazing results. It has been decided to offer many
more such courses for increasing student employability.
Departmental Advisory board member: Regular industry
inputs for the department and developmental plans are possible
with a departmental advisory board member from the industry.
Placements: Avenues for Campus/off-campus interviews
for freshers
The Principal summarized the efforts
taken up by the college for quality improvement basically in 3
directions: thorough subject knowledge, language development,
and discipline. In addition to the existing M.Tech in VLSI System
Design course, the college has started an M.Tech in Computer Networks
and Information Security this academic year in order to utilize
the strengths of the current faculty of the college working in
these research areas. It is planned to evolve stronger projects
and research outputs at the M.Tech level with these initiatives.
The program ended with fruitful conclusions
on the improvement of research collaborations between the industry
and Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College, and directions for
improving student employability.
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