The State government has sanctioned a special grant of Rs. 5 crore to Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) to set up innovation clubs in colleges under its purview, Minister for Higher Education R.V. Deshpande has said.
At the third graduation ceremony at Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Engineering and Technology (SDMCET) here on Saturday, Mr. Deshpande said the government wanted all colleges to take up innovative activities and it was ready to extend financial support for this purpose. Engineering graduates should possess the ability to identify problems and offer solutions. They should understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global as well as local scenario. “We should be able to take technology to rural areas for societal needs, for sustainable development, and efficient management of resources. For this, you need to have high ethical standards and a strong sense of professionalism,” Mr. Deshpande said.
R.S. Rajkumar, vice-president of Bosch Rexroth Industry Ltd., inaugurated the Centre of Excellence in Automation Technology, set up at SDMCET in collaboration with Bosch Rexroth. Mr. Rajkumar called upon the fresh graduates not to be job-seekers, but to be entrepreneurs. He said this was an era of innovation and the spotlight was on India owing to its potential market and its pool of intellectual property.
He expressed concern over the total disconnect between engineering enterprises and technical education. “Even though we boast over 5,000 engineering colleges and an equal number of polytechnics, there is a huge gap, he noted.
SDM Education Society president D. Veerendra Heggade presided over the function. Secretary Jinendra Prasad and college principal S. Mohan Kumar were present.
As many as 633 students received their degree in seven disciplines.
Nitya Kulkarni of the computer science department won the D. Veerendra Heggade gold medal for securing the top rank.
