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To possess an engineering degree is still considered prestigious in Indian society. Not only does it ensure a fatter pay package in bluechip companies, it also enhances ones value in the society. Men who still dominate the engineering domain are ensured a higher value in the marriage market too.

Youngsters enter this profession for diverse reasonsranging from family pressure, to be tagged cool and qualified, or to be a part of the booming technology sector and earn in dollars abroad (read US).

However, sheer interest and enthusiasm toward engineering as a profession is no longer an attraction, hence, there is an apathy towards these streams.

There are almost 2.5 lakh engineers graduating every year in India, yet approximately only 0.1% of GDP is spent on technical education. The role of IT infrastructure in engineering colleges comes into the picture, when we talk of delivering not just more numbers, but a better quality of engineers. Despite the mandatory AICTE or UGC norms, even the top engineering colleges (sometimes even some of the IITs) in India face severe infrastructure challenges. In that case, one could imagine what happens with the tier-2 and tier-3 engineering colleges and the students who have enrolled in them.

Keeping Pace
Technology obsolescence and keeping pace with it remains a major concern for most T-schools, especially those beyond the IITs. Even a small development in technology requires an elaborate upgradation process. Explains OP Sharma, director, Amity Institute of Information Technology, Students need time to adapt to new technologies, and IT implementations usually take time. Thus, engineers do not have hands-on-experience of many technological developments.

Source: utminers.utep.edu/pdagarwal

IT infrastructure in engineering colleges mostly includehardware, software and network. Hardware, that comprises primarily desktops and servers, is upgraded generally on a three-four years cycle. Software is procured keeping in view the curriculum and the current trends in IT industry. For example, CAD/CAM/ECAD was procured in 2007-08 for mechanical and automation engineering and electronics and communication engineering students by MAIT, IP University.

Network infrastructures include Internet services, besides equipments like routers and switches; LAN and WAN; as well as projectors. These are upgraded in a phased manner as per the requirement. Since all these infrastructure cannot be upgraded at the blink of an eye, it does affect the quality of education. Basically, students lack practical knowledge because of the time lag in upgrading infrastructure.

Industry based training, usually provided by the collaboration of T-schools and software companies, is not up to the mark for students. Most of the software companies are very touchy about their intellectual property rights. The projects in these training programs are small-scale and there is lack of team work, says Shampa Chakravarty, dean of academics, NSIT. Though the institute has signed MoUs with companies like Sun, HCL and Wipro, she adds that the institute is at the knee of the curve as far as making students aware of current IT infrastructure is concerned.

It is felt that in the present curriculum of the university, the new technologies need to be added periodically, so that the students can be trained adequately prior to joining the industry. The faculty should also be trained with the latest technology, which helps them to teach the students, says Surinder Kakkar, dean of corporate relations, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, IP University.

The lack of inter-departmental interaction is another major challenge. Top institutes like NSIT have centers of excellence for different departments of engineering, and teachers are given independence to develop infrastructure for their respective departments. But when it comes to sharing of hardware or software amongst different departments, it is not a very smooth process.

Students need time to adapt to new technologies, and IT implementations usually take time. Thus, engineers do not have hands-on-experience of many technological developments OP Sharma, director, Amity Institute of Information Technology

For example, the use of embedded systems needs a particular quality of hardware and software to function efficiently. The best hardware is available in electronic engineering department and the best software is used in computer science engineering. Thus, it is not a very easy task to combine the best of both the departments so that the students can use embedded systems for their practical knowledge.

Course content and making it relevant to todays industry requirements has long been another bone of contention. Whether it be a private or a government T-school, the course content has a major role to play. Colleges have to be in sync with the industry as far as course upgradation is concerned. But unfortunately bureaucratic red tape becomes a problem and colleges end up with archaic and irrelevant course content.

The tight schedule of the curriculum as laid down by the university does not allow new subjects to be added without deleting or modifying the existing ones. Alternatively, some of the skills are taught during summer training or industrial training programs, says Kakkar of IP University.

Impact on Students
Lack of proficiency in different programming languages is another drawback for students, when they are employed by different software companies. This is because each company follows one particular language depending upon the projects it has undertaken. Thus, training becomes necessary for engineers at this level.

Though the students are provided training in latest technologies like Java, J2EE, ASP, HTML, XML, DHTML, NET Framework, CCNA, Cache Technology, Quality Standards, by T-schools, still they face problems when they join a company. The reason behind this is that they are given a very brief introduction of these technologies which is not good enough to perform as per the industry standards. Chakravarty of NSIT has a different take on this and says, We dont want our students to be like workers who fit into a particular company. A fair idea of every language is given and they can always adapt to the concerned companys language later. We focus on giving them a wider perspective.

According to students, there should be a common syllabus throughout the country which should be followed by all engineering colleges. Eventually, when the engineering students enter the industry, there is a lot of gap between the students who have hands-on experience and the ones who dont because of lack of IT infrastructure.

Even the best of the T-schools in India do not have an IT team or IT head in their college. There is no supervision from experts when the students use latest technologies. The faculty is usually not trained in the latest technologies and thus students face problems. The non-availability of a trainer is definitely a serious issue which colleges need to consider while the students are on training project work.

Its like a chain reaction when it comes to the after effects of the lack of IT infrastructure developments in T-schools. Due to the mismatch between education and employment, there are only 2.5% employable engineers in India.

Since our country lacks higher quality of research and infrastructure, most of the engineers are forced to emigrate. Chakravarty says that its very unfortunate that most of the geeks get an MBA degree and leave behind their interest in technology for a higher pay package. Indisputably, building strong infrastructure is the key to retain engineers in their profession as well as in the country.

Diksha Dutta
dikshad@cybermedia.co.in

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