Engineers Are Modern Day Vishwakaramas Who Design Everything We See

BW Businessworld organized Engineering Conclave in New Delhi today. The conference themed 'Driving Engineering Education to Meet Future Challenges', aimed to provide a holistic view and an open platform to discuss the quality of education, its relevance in the ever-changing economy and areas which we need to gear up for, to meet the vision of our nation. The first session of the day was 'Educating the Engineer of 2030: Best Practices'. The panellists of the panel were Dr. Sunil Kr. Pandey, Director, Institute Of Technology and Science, Ghaziabad, Mr. Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head and Director, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Sraban Mukherjee, Director, IMS Engineering College, Dr. P.K Prasad, Professor & Dean-EE | EEE & ECE, Bengal College of Engineering & Technology, SKS Group of Institutions, Dr. Rajeev Kapoor, Director, Ambedkar Institute of Advanced Communication Technologies and Research, Mr. Chetan Singh, Deputy Director - Careers Office, OP Jindal University, Mr. SENTHIL KUMAR, Director - Admissions & Outreach, SRM Group, Prof. Kushal Sen, Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi.

The session was moderated by the Editor, BW Education, Dr. Waqar Ahmed Fahad, who initiated the discussion by saying that Engineering can never remain constant, from discovery of new technologies to the demand of newer versions of gadgets & machines; there is a need to revamp engineering education in order to create better engineers who will contribute to the Research and Development of new latent technologies. 

Professor Kushal Sen, (Professor, IIT) began the discussion by addressing engineers as modern-day Vishwakarma who design everything we see around us. Carrying forward his talk, he said that when we juxtapose the number of institutions against the number of teachers, there is a vast gap. This, according to him, is not a major concern, as the expansion of the internet has made available the best quality content to the students across the world. Prof. Singh believes that over the next 10 years, the industry will experience a revolution and online courses like SWAYAM launched by the government of India stands as a small step towards this big leap.

Carrying forward the session, another speaker, emphasized on the importance of discussion and presentation in the classroom. While Senthil Kumar of SRM group focussed on the importance of skill and talked about teaching courses like AI, 3D Printing, Cloud computing etc, Dr. Sraban Mukherjee focussed on creativity. Addressing the problem of low attendance in classes, Dr. PK Prasad emphasised the importance of attending classes for every engineering student. According to him, students must be acquainted with basic concepts right from the 12th standard. Dr. Rajeev Kapoor however, emphasised that engineers should be oriented to ensure success.

Gopika Bhat

BW Reporters The author is a student of Multimedia and Mass Communication (MMMC) at IP College for Women, University of Delhi.