Students delight

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS of Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Thandalam, with a vehicle they designed.-BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Reputed institutions in Tamil Nadu offer a number of popular job-oriented courses.

Ishari K. Ganesh, Chancellor, Vels University, Chennai, has a keen eye for job-oriented and much-sought-after courses. The university has 13 institutions, which offer everything from kindergarten education to postgraduate courses, on three campuses on the outskirts of the city. He plans to start a three-year B.Sc. course in film technology from September at the soon-to-be-opened film institute on the Pallavaram campus. The Film Institute will also offer a one-year diploma course in acting, he said.

Ganesh, now 41, started Vels College of Pharmacy at Mylapore, Chennai, with 36 students in 1992. Today I have 12,000 students. My main aim is to provide education from the pre-kindergarten level to postgraduate courses. Students who join our group should go out with placement. That is why I am running only job-oriented courses. Our speciality is maritime education. In due course, I want to make my university one of the best in the country, particularly in maritime education, he said.

The Vels Academy of Maritime Studies, situated on the Pallavaram campus, offers a three-year B.Sc. course, a one-year diploma and a two-year higher national diploma course, all in nautical science. The Vels group has set up a ship on the Thalambur campus at a cost of Rs.6 crore. According to him, students of nautical science are grabbed by multinational companies at the end of the first year of their course itself at a minimum salary of Rs.50,000.

The Vels group runs three schools to cater to different sections of society: Vels Vidyashram with the Central Board of Secondary Education syllabus, Vels Higher Secondary School with the Tamil Nadu State Board syllabus, and Vaels Billabong High with the Indian Council of Secondary Education syllabus. It also includes Vels College of Science, Vels Srinivasa College of Science and Technology, Vels Academy of Maritime Studies, Vels Teacher Training Institute and Vels Institute of Hotel Management.

Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA) University, Thanjavur, which continues to be a leader in courses in biotechnology and nanotechnology, is planning to start a course in nuclear engineering. It is starting two M.Tech courses this year in nuclear engineering and pharmaceutical technology. Said Dr. S. Swaminathan, Director, Centre for Nanotechnology & Advanced Biomaterials, SASTRA University, about the rationale behind starting the M.Tech course in nuclear engineering: Whether the Union government goes ahead with the 123 Agreement with the U.S. or not, there will be a dearth of nuclear engineers in India. The focus of the programme will be to develop engineers for nuclear power generation. The course will have applications in nuclear medicine, nuclear reactor design and non-destructive testing.

The course has been framed, he said, in consultation with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, the Inter University Accelerator Centre at New Delhi and with inputs from V.S. Ramamurthy, former Secretary, Union Departme- nt of Science and Technology. SASTRA University has also started an M.Tech course in nanoelectronics, which focusses on quantum physics, spintronics, photonics, characterisation of materials, and so on. For every seat in SASTRA University, 16 students applied this year. It was 1:12 last year. We ensure quality education. Our placement percentage has gone up. The quality of our research has gone up, Swaminathan said.

According to Dr. K. Shanmuga Sundaram, secretary to the Vice-Chancellor, Anna University-Chennai, a B.E. course in biomedical engineering at the College of Engineering, Guindy, and an M.Tech in nanoscience and technology at Alagappa College of Technology, Chennai, will begin this year. There is a great demand for seats in the journalism course, said Dr. V.J. Philip, Principal, Madras Christian College (MCC), Tambaram. This year, MCC has filled up all the seats in B.A. (journalism). All the 50 seats in B.Sc. (geography and travel and tourism management) have been taken. B.A. and M.A. in English literature have their own importance. People are running around for seats in Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work, he said.

Over the past 11 years, Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Thandalam, near Chennai, has built up a reputation for quality education. The National Board of Accreditation of the All India Council for Technical Education has given accreditation to its branches in computer science and engineering, mechanical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, and information technology. The college offers B.E. courses in these disciplines and also in biomedical engineering, automobile engineering and a B.Tech in biotechnology. The postgraduate programmes offered include M.E. in CAD/CAM, computer science and engineering, software engineering, communication systems, power electron- ics, M.Tech in biotechnology and MBA and MCA.

Dr. K. Sarukesi, its Principal, said schoolteachers should counsel Plus Two students on the variety of courses they could pursue in college and on how they could choose their course either in humanities, basic sciences, engineering, journalism, visual communications, medicine, catering technology, fashion technology or film technology. Schoolteachers should take steps to identify the talent in pupils and direct them to a proper course of study that suit their talent. Then only youngsters will have enjoyment in education, Sarukesi said.