Follow your dreams and excellence, and not money, was the advice for the IIT and NIT aspirants from the distinguished alumni of those prestigious institutions even as they gave an insight into engineering as a course and a variety of options it throws up in terms of academics and careers.
Strong basics
The alumni were addressing the IIT and NIT aspirants at the counselling session organised by The Hindu Education Plus in association with Gajendra Circle, a subset of IIT Madras Alumni Association here on Saturday. The programme was inaugurated by the Hyderabad district Collector, Gulzar Natarajan. The event was sponsored by State Bank of India. Demystifying the IIT education, the galaxy of speakers, who are mostly successful entrepreneurs in India and abroad now, said the difference between IIT and NIT engineering from others is that students get to compete with the best in the country while having access to highly qualified teachers and world-class facilities. The brand name of IIT that gives them recognition across the globe is an added advantage for the job seekers or entrepreneurs. Whatever the course might be, students need to acquire strong basics in the core subjects.
The evergreen engineering courses like mechanical, civil and chemical will continue to provide newer and better opportunities to students in the job market, they said. “Whatever course the students take up, it all boils down to the hard work and effort the student puts to achieve excellence,” they said.
K. Ramchandra Reddy, CEO and co-founder of MosChip Semiconductor Technology pointed out that to be an ideal engineer a student should be willing to go beyond the course work. He said electronics engineers will have bright future with the ever expanding gadget market and innovations in it.
Civil Engineers will always be in demand in a growing economy like India, said R. V. Chakrapani, Managing Director of Aarvee Associates. India will see investments of Rs. 17 lakh crore in infrastructure projects in the next five years and it showcases the demand for civil engineers. Firm grip on basics, logical and analytical skills, visualisation, ability to work in a tea and social awareness are required to become a good civil engineer.
P. Venugopalan, Director, Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) who introduced students to Mechanical Engineering explained the opportunities in both private and government sector. Be strong in physics, maths and sciences because they form the basics, he said adding that Mechanical was the base of all core engineering subjects.
Computer jobs
About six million computer jobs will be available in the next five years said, Santanu Paul, CEO of TalentSprint explaining opportunities in the software sector. He wanted the students to follow excellence and a bright future will be assured. Specialisation subjects in computers like artificial intelligence, computer architecture, computer graphics and robotics will be in huge demand.
Nagesh S. Walimbe, founder of Zen Consultants said ideal chemical engineers should be passionate about chemistry, mechanical and bio-chemistry. “Clear concepts in chemistry, physics and maths are mandatory. Being an industry that has elements of chemistry, mechanical and biochemistry, you need to like these subjects to excel,” he said.
A knowledge panel consisting of Prof. Kesav Vithal Nori, Prof. P. Sriram, H.S. Kalsi, G. Sreedhar, V.A.Srinivasan, K.V. Ramana, Venkatesh – all distinguished alumni from IIT, and Ajay Antony answered questions of students. Neeta C. Rao, deputy manager of State Bank of India provided detailed information on education loans and special schemes available to IIT and NIT students.
