The Hindu : Front Page : Engineering colleges see future in MoUs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 26, 2006

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Engineering colleges see future in MoUs

Karthik Madhavan

Signing pacts with institutions and industries high on the agenda

Institutions like the K.S. Rangasamy College of Technology, Tiruchengode, also have entered into tie-ups The college is a member of the Infosys Campus Connect programme

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ERODE: Inking pacts with reputed educational institutions, both domestic and foreign, and industries are high on the agenda of engineering colleges here.

This importance can be seen in the colleges' impressive repertoire of Memoranda of Understanding.The two dozen MoUs the Bannari Amman Institute of Technology (BIT), Sathyamangalam, has signed is a case in point. The notable among the institutions are the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS, Pilani) and North Carolina A&T State University, USA.

For the college it means a lot, and it goes without saying. "An agreement with higher education institutions helps our students gain access to experts and infrastructure in those institutions and a preferential treatment in admissions," says Dr. A. Shanmugam, Principal, BIT.

Likewise, this college has also got into tie-ups with Tata Consultancy Services and a host of other top-rung IT companies.

When it comes to agreements with companies, both IT and non-IT, the purpose is different. An agreement with a company helps a college send students for summer training, invite the company for campus recruitment and tap resource persons for seminars and conferences.

"When industry people visit our campus, interact with our students and faculty they get a first-hand idea of the quality education we provide. They get back to their companies and send recruitment teams to employ our students," explains Dr. Shanmugam.

This apart, there also instances where MoUs with companies help institutions address industries' problems. For example, the Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, has signed an MoU with the Neyveli Lignite Corportation (NLC).

"The Chemical Engineering and the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Departments of our college are addressing two major problems there. By solving it, our prestige gets enhanced," says Dr. A.M. Natarajan, Principal, Kongu Engineering College.

He sees such partnerships as an opportunity for his students and staff to gain access to the industry's problems and practices, and also develop his college as a consulting centre to solve the problems. Institutions like the K.S. Rangasamy College of Technology, Tiruchengode, also have entered into tie-ups. The college is a member of the Infosys Campus Connect programme, where its faculty get trained to train students to become employable.

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