Career & Courses in Engineering India

Modern age is the age of technology and the most vital vehicle of technology is Engineering, whether Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, Electronics, Biochemical, Biotechnology, Aeronautical, Metallurgical, Textiles, Computer, etc.

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As such, this profession holds an enviable position today and is bound to remain one of the most sought-after professions in years to come. Naturally, it promises lucrative pay & perks to the right candidates. Besides, Engineering graduates, after doing MBA, can aspire for attractive job placements as Managers. Many Engineering graduates are also excelling the Civil Services Exam.

Engineering is one of the most sought after careers today. In fact, having an Engineering background is really very helpful for one’s entry into a vast job market. Even otherwise, Engineering has great futuristic prospects for progress both in India and abroad. Students from the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) always have bright chances to get the cream of the jobs abroad as highly paid Software Engineers and they have, to say the least, made their mark bringing credit to their alma mater as also to themselves.

The environment at the premier engineering institutions, like IIT’s, helps the students to build a solid foundation of knowledge, to develop personality, and to build confidence. It also provides measures to accomplish excellence and self-discipline which help them to achieve super success in professional and social life. At present, the alumni of these institutions are occupying key positions in the topmost industry / academia in India and abroad.

If your are charged with the desire to be a part of the globally known galaxy of IIT alumni, go places and get to the zenith of distinction, you have to get selected in the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination held every year.

Besides the hard work you put in for the entrance tests, you should also know about these institutes in terms of the quality of the courses offered, infrastructure, teacher-student ratio, etc., so that you can make the right choice regarding the course and the institutes simply because your future depends on such a decision. Since it is a touch call, as complete information is not available, we try to help you in this regard. The ranking of the institutes is based on perception and recognition of the potentials realized and otherwise, of the institutes.

What You Need to Make a Cut

Engineering as a career is getting immensely popular among students for the wide range of career options it offers in fields such as Construction of Buildings, Bridges, Roadways, as also various other components of a country’s infrastructure, Telecommunication, Nuclear Power, Space Technology, besides Research and Development in a number of allied areas in Business Management, Information Technology, etc. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, to note that lakhs of students across the country appear for the IIT-JEE, AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Examination) and other Entrance Tests to seek admission in the IITs as well as other reputed engineering colleges in the country. As the standard and selection criteria applied in the IIT-JEE as also other Entrance Examinations suggest, cracking it cannot be everyone’s cup of tea, as it calls for a high level of preparation and consistency on part of the candidates. Mind you, even a marginal error can prove to be costly enough to deal a fatal blow to your success prospects. So, what’s most important is the way a candidate secures for himself / herself the winning edge vis-a-vis several thousands of his/her competitors. In this regard, an extensive preparation alone cannot have the last laugh. Instead, what matters more, is a planned preparation with a calculative approach, some sort of a combination of sound grasp over the subject matter, good foresight to tackle unexpected questions without getting fidgety and the ability to perform the task ahead in a coherent and intelligible way.

Success, as the men of practical wisdom hold, is meant for those who have the will to succeed. And the will to succeed, as far as a top-notch career such as IIT is concerned, necessarily implies a well-directed endeavour on the part of the aspirants to get through the challenging ordeal of Entrance Test. It essentially accrues from the readiness to take on the challenges thrown up by the new pattern of IIT-JEE as also the pattern as also the patterns of AIEEE and other Entrance Examinations. Considering the vastness of the syllabus, it is natural that the aspiring students are under tremendous pressure. So, you need to get your aspiration armed with perfect chemistry of systematic preparation and positive mindset which can help you sail smoothly through the torrents of tooth-sweating tribulations and come out with flying colors.

Career Options

The best option for a candidate with 60% marks in 10+2 and the aptitude for this line is to clear the IIT-JEE to get admission in any one of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology located at Mumbai, New Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Chennai, Roorkee, Guwahati as also Banaras Hindu University and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

The next best option is admission in any one of the 18 National Institutes of Technology (NIT) located in different States (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhay Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal).

There is yet another opening for 10+2 students with Physics, Chemistry, Math & English to try their luck in the All India Engineering Entrance Examination conducted by CBSE in April / May every year for admission to Be / B.Tech / B.Arch. /B. Planning programmes for admission to various participating Universities and Institutions.

Since the 10+2 conducted by CBSE is held in March, the candidates aspiring to clear AIEEE (All India Engineering / Architecture Entrance Examination) have to send their forms provisionally in February itself, subject to their fulfilling the eligibility conditions at the time of appearing for counseling. Candidates opting for BE / B.Tech have to appear in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics, while those opting for Mathematics, while those opting for B.Arch / B. Planning have to clear Aptitude Test & Mathematics.

Top Destinations for Engineering Programmes After 10+2

There are no two opinions regarding the top most engineering institutes. They are none other than the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). There are seven IITs located in different parts of the country. These are, namely, IIT-Kharagpur (West Bengal); IIT-Kanpur (UP); IIT-Delhi; IIT-Roorkee (Uttaranchal); IIT-Bombay (Maharashtra); IIT-Guwahati (Assam) and IIT-Madras (Tamil Nadu). You judge on whatever parameters -quality of faculty or infrastructure or per student expenditure or teacher student ratio- they are at the top.

The Indian Institutes of Technology are institutions of national importance established through an Act of parliament. These Institute play a leading role in technological manpower development and have research programmes comparable to the best in the world. The admissions to the Undergraduate Programmes for all Indian and Foreign national at these institutions are made through the Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE).

Institute of Technology – Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU), Varanasi is one of the oldest institutions devoted to education in various Engineering disciplines. The Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad, a deemed university, is the oldest institution of its kind in India. The admissions to the undergraduate programmes at these institutions are also made through JEE.

All these institutions are known for providing quality education in science and technology and for research in frontier areas. The environment at these institutions is highly conducive for

• Building a solid foundation of knowledge.
• Development of personality
• confidence building
• Pursuit of excellence and self discipline
• Enhancement of creativity through motivation and drive which helps to prepare for the professional and social life.

Today, alumni of these institutions occupy key positions in industry and academia in India and abroad.

Each Institute has well-equipped modern laboratories, a state-of-the-art library and computer networks. The selected candidates live in a pleasant and intellectually stimulating environment. The teaching methods rely on direct personal contact between the teacher and the students. Living in such an environment with people having similar goals and aspirations is an exciting experience during one’s academic life.

Credit-based academic programmes offer flexibility to progress at a student’s own pace. A minimum level of performance is necessary for satisfactory progress. The medium of instruction is English. These institutions offer courses leading to Bachelor’s Degree in a number of engineering, technological and scientific disciplines.

The IITs have been well funded and enjoy a fair amount of academic autonomy. These have helped them in reaching the position they are at, today. Among the IITs, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is considered the best. It provides PCs (Personal Computers) in every hostel room, online teaching materials, state-of-the-art laboratories, etc. Thus, it tops the Best 10 List of Engineering Institutes across the country. IIT-Kanpur comes a close second. To some, it is the best! The main reason for their tremendous performance is the faculty, which makes the HTs stand out from the rest of the engineering colleges and institutes. The faculty at IITs is recruited mainly on the basis of their research strength which enhances their knowledge and helps them in becoming better teachers.

There are other top institutes which come very close to the IITs, like BITS Pilani, Anna University as well as National Institutes of Technology (NITs) at Tiruchirappalli and Surathkal. Due to the quality of the programmes and placements, these institutes attract students from across the country.

Other Institutes

Looking at the number of students who appear for various entrance exams, admission to the IITs may not be an easy cakewalk for a majority of them. After IITs, there are still some very good institutes which have made a mark. These include Delhi College of Engineering (DCE); BITS, Pilani; NIT, Trichy (Tiruchirappalli); MNR, Allahabad and PEC, Chandiarh. Other institutes worth mentioning here are: BITS, Ranchi; Sant Longowal Institute, Sangrur; Thapar Institute of Technology, Patiala; Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad and Harcourt Butler Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

In addition, there are around 18 NITs (with one in each State and which are now under the Ministry of Human Resource Development) which are equally good. There are a good number of engineering colleges south of Vindhyas who have earned a reputation. They include College of Engineering, Guindy; Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore; Vellore College of Engineering, Vellore; Andhra university Engineering College, Vizag; D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Maharashtra; K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai; Pune Institute of Engineering and Technology, Pune; M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalote; R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, etc.

As far as private engineering colleges are concerned, very few of them make the grade. Many feel that they are weak in Postgraduate education and research. Further, due to their economic computation, to earn as much profit as possible, they hire cheap faculty (salary bill is the biggest expenditure in an engineering college). As a result, the quality of education at such institutes is not up to the mark. But some institutes like Thapar Institute of Technology, Patiala and K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai are the very respected ones.

Specializations

In case of specialization, according to the experts, the top three streams are-Electronics / Electrical Engineering (including Telecommunications), Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science Engineering / Bio-informatics / Biotechnology. Though the IITs are considered as a cut above the rest individual IITs are famous for their distinctive disciplines. Thus, IIT-Kanpur is best for Electronics, Computer Science and Aeronautics, and IIT-Roorkee for Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Other institutes like DCE; BITS, Pilani and NIT, Trichy are reputed to have good streams in Electronics, Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering.

Entrance Examination for Admission

(A) IIT-JEE : Gateway to Prime Career Hotspots in Engineering

It is only after getting through the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination, Popularly known by its acronym IIT-JEE, that you can be eligible for admission to the Undergraduate Programmes conducted by the seven Indian Institutes of Technology-Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Khragpur, Madras and Roorkee, besides IT-BHU, Varanasi, and ISM, Dhanbad.

The IIT-JEE is an objective test comprising three separate papers (objective type) in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics, each to two hours duration. A candidate can opt for question papers either in English or in Hindi.

Eligibility Criteria

As per the new pattern of the IIT-JEE, only those candidates who have secured at least 60% marks in the 10+2 exam (55% in case of SC/ST and PD candidates) are eligible to seek admission in any of the IITs, Institute of Technology-BHU, Varanasi, or Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. In case the repective providing a norm for converting them to equivalent percentage marks, the norms decided by the Joint Implementation Committee of JEE shall be final.

With effect from 2006, a candidate is allowed only two attempt to write IIT-JEE. Furthermore, he/she is allowed to write JEE only in the year in which he/she passes the qualifying examination and/or in following year. Candidates, who join any of the IITs, IT-BHU, Varanasi, and ISM, Dhanbad through JEE-2006, will not be permitted to appear in IIT-JEE in future.

You must not be more than 25 years of age as on October 1 of the year of IIT-JEE. However, in the case of SC, ST and PD (Physically Disabled) candidtes, upper age limit is relaxable by 5 years..

How to Plan for IIT-JEE & Other Exams

The prescribed syllabus for the IIT-JEE is quite lengthy. It is not necessary that the questions on each of the topics mentioned in the syllabus will be asked in your forthcoming IIT-JEE. Despite that, you should not forget that it is only from the year 2006 that the new pattern has been introduced for IIT-JEE. So, it may not be easy for you to decide which topics should be studied thoroughly and which ones deserve cursory attention. In that situation, what is imperative is to stick to the basics. you should devote more time on those topics which are of fundamental significance. So plan your time schedule for each topic accordingly. This is very important before you start your preparation for the IIT-JEE.

Irrespective of the type and nature of strategy you adopt in preparation for each subject of the IIT-JEE, it should be borne in mind that your entire basic preparation for all the subjects comes to an end one month preceding the exam. During the month preceding the exam, you should devote most of your time to sharpening your skills in all subjects as well as taking up practice tests on the new pattern of IIT-JEE. This will boost your self-confidence to a considerable degree and make you feel self-possessed with a positive mindset required for appearing in IIT-JEE. Moreover, the continued practice of the IIT-JEE papers would guide you where exactly you need more preparation. During this period, you would also be able to identify the loopholes in your preparation and may bridge them in time as also build up your speed steadily as the exam date comes closer.

What is required is the fixing up of priorities and good planning where the realization of one goal will pave the way for working and realization of the next goal. One does not become a celebrity or a master overnight. You have to begin at the base of the mountain before you can climb its highest peak. One thing at a time and that well done, is the proven rule of success. And success in cracking IIT-JEE is no exception to it.

(B) Admission Through AIEEE

Apart from IIT-JEE, All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) offers another very important option for the candidates seeking admission in some of the country’s prominent engineering institutes.

AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Examination) is conducted every year since 2002, by the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) as per a government of India Resolution dated 18th October, 2001, which approved a Three-Exam Scheme (JEE and AIEEE at the National level and the State level Engineering Entrance Examinations (SLEEE) for State Level Institutions-with an option to join AIEEE). AIEEE is for admission to the Engineering courses offered by Deemed Universities, Central Institutions other than those covered by the IIT-JEE as well as by other Institutions in State/ Union Territories, falling under the AIEEE scheme.

Scheme of Examination

Entrance examination would consist of two papers with objective type questions and third paper-Aptitude Test for Architecture and Planning. The Aptitude Test is designed to evaluate candidate’s perception, imagination, observation, creativity and architectural awareness.

Syllabus

The question papers for the Examination are based on a common minimum syllabus drawn from the syllabi taught in different State Boards.

Admission Through SEAT

Different States organise State Engineering Admission Tests (SEATs) every year as under the Three-Exam Scheme (JEE and AIEEE at the National level and SEATs at the State level) approved by a Government of India Resolution 2001 to this effect.

Eligibility Criteria

• A pass in the final examination of the 10+2 system equivalent with Pysics, Chemistry and Mathematics as three subjects.
• Students appearing for the qualifying exam in the year of admission can also appear in the tests
• Students may also refer to the announcement of the specific Institution or Testing Authority, sice eligibility as well as other criteria such as age, domicile, etc., may vary fro Test to Test and State to State.

Syllabus; The syllabus of the three subjects, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics for all SEATs is largely similar to the whole range and nature of topics specified for IIT-JEE and AIEEE.

(C) Admission Through CEE CEE DELHI

A Combined Entrance Examination (CEE) is held by the Delhi University every year generally in the month of June for admission to first semester of BE courses in Delhi College of Engineering and Delhi Institute of Technology. Candidates applying under Defense quota/Nominated candidates are exempted from CEE.

Eligibility

The candidates should have passed senior school certificated Examination (12 year Course) conducted by CBSE or any other examination recognized as equivalent thereto by the University of Delhi with 60% marks (50% for SC/ST category and 55% for wards of Defense Personnel) in aggregate of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Candidates appearing in the qualifying examinations are also eligible. Applicants should be 17 years of age on or before 1st October of the year of admission.

Selection:

The eligible candidates are required to appear at a Combined Entrance Examination (CEE) held in the month of May/ June conducted by the University of Delhi, at Delhi only for admission to B.E. course. The result is published in leading newspapers / displayed on notice boards in colleges / university. Candidates who stand in merit on the basis of CEE result are also required to apply separately for admission in the prescribed application form which can be obtained from the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology / Delhi College of Engineering.

Eligibility

A pass in 10+2 from any one of the universities in Kerala, or its equivalent with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics securing 50% marks in Mathematics separately and 50% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Math put together (45% marks /pass marks for SEBC and SC/ST candidates). Those who have appeared in the qualifying exam have appeared in the qualifying exam are also eligible to apply. Candidates should have completed 17 years on 31st December of the year of admission. Diploma holders securing 50% marks are also eligible for admission.

(D) Admission Through CET CET CHANDIGARH

Admission is made on the basis of Common Entrance Test (CET), conducted by Punjab University for admission to BE/Btech/BArch courses in its Colleges / Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology; Punjab Engineering College.

Eligibility

10+2 (Science Stream) exam with English, Physics, Chemistry and Math or its equivalent from a recognized Board. Candidates who have appeared in the qualifying exam are also eligible.

Selection

Selection is on the basis of merit in CET conducted in Physics, Chemistry and Math. The test centers are at Chandigarh, Delhi and Ludhiana. Candidates for BArch. course are also required to appear in an aptitude test. The merit list is notified in local newspapers/ colleges. Candidates whose required to appear for counseling on the specified dates.