We are in an era of liberalization of the Indian economy. We have yet to have the impact of liberalization in the Engineering Education sector. Now there is only market driven policies and successes or failures in the manufacturing or service sector. There are only cases of profits and losses monetary wise in the business.

We have to have a solid base in the Human Resources Sector which is going to help us in the long run with more demand on our young Indians, thanks to the diminishing population growth in the western or the States. China is showing its might in the Manufacturing Sector. We can take the lead in the Knowledge and Service Sectors

But where is the liberalization - globalization -in the Indian Engineering Education. Our Engineering Universities should be allowed to have joint ventures from Western, American or Japanese Universities to bring in talents, technologies & investments. See the close cooperation between the universities, research / development organizations and industries in western countries.

We need the Universities and Industries to 'dance with each other not merely with arms to arms but with cheek to cheek’. Let us open the doors for foreign investments and joint ventures in the Higher Education in India

What we see are more of business or trading houses in the name of Deemed Universities. There are some encouraging trends from Universities like the Amrita Group & VIT in the South India. Let our large Industrial Organizations like Tatas, Reliance, Essars or the Associations like CII, FICCI, SIAM & ACMA start the initiatives to start Institutes of Excellence through out India with collaborations from Institutes like Harvard School of Business, MIT in USA & London School of Economics .I once heard a news that CII, ACMA and SIAM are contemplating to start an All India Automotive Institute to cater to the Automotive Sector. It was a noble suggestion from the Mr Seshashayee of Ashok Leyland.

I used to hear in the various forums that our Engineering Colleges are in dire need of Masters in Engineering Teachers due to the fact that I T is able to attract more and is able to pay more. The bright Graduates go to US or elsewhere thanks to liberalized Bank Financing etc. There is reported to be a real brain drain happening in the Engineering Institutions for the really qualified teaching faculties. Quality will definitely suffer in these institutions. There is no clear sign of any strategy or plan of collective action. If we are not taking timely action we may have to loose the race in the Services or Knowledge sector also.
I solicit the replies from responsible people from the Academic Sectors

Er Ramalingam K S
Engineering & Management Consultant
Emails: [email protected] [email protected]

VIT University, established under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956, was founded in 1984 as a self-financing Institution called the Vellore Engineering College. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development conferred University status on Vellore Engineering college in 2001. The University is headed by its founder and Chancellor, Dr. G. Viswanathan, a former Parliamentarian and Minister in the Tamil Nadu Government. In recognition of his service to India in offering world class education, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the West Virginia University, USA. Mr. Sankar Viswanathan, Mr. G.V. Sampath, Mr. Sekar Viswanathan and Mr. G.V. Selvam are the Vice Presidents, Dr. V. Raju, the Vice chancellor, Dr. Anand A. Samuel and Dr. S. Narayanan are the Pro-Vice Chancellors.

Teaching at VIT university is structured around nine schools of study. A student should register in one of the schools, depending on the degree/programme he/she is interested in pursuing. Research centers are also part of the schools, encouraging inter-departmental collaboration and opportunity for students to participate in exciting research projects. The university offers 18 Undergraduate and 35 Postgraduate programmes. In addition to full-time/part-time Ph.D., M.S.(BY RESEARCH) Degrees in Engineering and Management Disciplines, Ph.D., M.Phil in Sciences and Languages, Integrated Ph.D. programmes also offered for engineering disciplines in selected schools.