Engineering careers and scholarships - The IET

Engineering careers and scholarships - The IET

How internship has helped you?

Benefits of Internship

I have seen students engaged in internship in companies.  Has it helped in any way?  In terms of character, individuality, perception, etc?

Viewers are requested to post comments so that it is helpful for others.

Not able to follow the class

Why students cannot follow a lecture?

The students usually complain that they are not able to follow the topics taught in the class.  First of all, the student should have fundamental knowledge about what the subject is about.  I don't think many of the current generation students has a fundamental understanding about the subject being taught. The students hear about it for the first time only when they attend the first class. It is always good to have a thorough visit of the topics given in the syllabus.  Most of the student doesn't even know what all are the subjects and who all are teaching.  Once the vacation starts, they are all set to enjoy.  Of course, that is very much required, but not by completely sacrificing the academic career.  Now a days, internet connectivity is not at all difficult and there a lot of open course lectures, video lecture, tutorials, presentations available in the web.  So, finding articles and notes on any topic is not at all a difficult task.  The are digital Libraries like ACM Digital Library, IEEE, Computer Society, etc are some of these.

Listening the lecture: Primary responsibility of the student is to listen to the class carefully.  One hour should be spend outside the class on reading the topics taught for one hour in the class.  Now-a-days, it never happens or the teacher must be enthusiastic enough to make the students read the topics by making the classes interesting. Spending some time on reading the topics can be of great help as it is memorized naturally.  Because, what ever is taught in the class and if you have listened it carefully (not just heard!), it is more than enough to link the topic while reading it outside the class.  You might have noticed that the receptivity loses as the day goes on and the receptivity you had in the morning is completely lost by afternoon and get bored.  You may feel too sleepy also.  There is only one solution for this.  Your determination. If you have a goal in the mind to complete your studies successfully and if you are aware about it always in the class, it will help you a lot.

During the lecture:  Some students write the key points during the class time.  I never allowed it for the students.  If you go back to our old way of teaching and learning, there was no concept of "taking down the notes".  It was completely memorized.  Now, the technology has improved and we need some kind of external help to keep the memory alive.  One way writing can help - just to mug up the topic.  But to understand the topic conceptually, listening is more important.  When the teacher talks about the topic, your mind should have already visualized the topic and then it is complete.  Later, the reading will supplement and make the topic memorized.

Teacher's role: As is written in my post "For Teachers", it is important that the teacher is able to keep the students on the same page as he/she is.  It is rather a necessity to make the course completion successful. After the parents, teachers play crucial role in making the student's career bright.  One who loves to teach and loves the subject will only be able to transfer the knowledge.

Google Scholar  Google Books

Learning tips for students

Why students cannot follow a lecture?

The students usually complain that they are not able to follow the topics taught in the class.  First of all, the student should have fundamental knowledge about what the subject is about.  I don't think many of the current generation students has a fundamental understanding about the subject being taught. The students hear about it for the first time only when they attend the first class. It is always good to have a thorough visit of the topics given in the syllabus.  Most of the student doesn't even know what all are the subjects and who all are teaching.  Once the vacation starts, they are all set to enjoy.  Of course, that is very much required, but not by completely sacrificing the academic career.  Now a days, internet connectivity is not at all difficult and there a lot of open course lectures, video lecture, tutorials, presentations available in the web.  So, finding articles and notes on any topic is not at all a difficult task.  The are digital Libraries like ACM Digital Library, IEEE, Computer Society, etc are some of these.

Listening the lecture: Primary responsibility of the student is to listen to the class carefully.  One hour should be spend outside the class on reading the topics taught for one hour in the class.  Now-a-days, it never happens or the teacher must be enthusiastic enough to make the students read the topics by making the classes interesting. Spending some time on reading the topics can be of great help as it is memorized naturally.  Because, what ever is taught in the class and if you have listened it carefully (not just heard!), it is more than enough to link the topic while reading it outside the class.  You might have noticed that the receptivity loses as the day goes on and the receptivity you had in the morning is completely lost by afternoon and get bored.  You may feel too sleepy also.  There is only one solution for this.  Your determination. If you have a goal in the mind to complete your studies successfully and if you are aware about it always in the class, it will help you a lot.

During the lecture:  Some students write the key points during the class time.  I never allowed it for the students.  If you go back to our old way of teaching and learning, there was no concept of "taking down the notes".  It was completely memorized.  Now, the technology has improved and we need some kind of external help to keep the memory alive.  One way writing can help - just to mug up the topic.  But to understand the topic conceptually, listening is more important.  When the teacher talks about the topic, your mind should have already visualized the topic and then it is complete.  Later, the reading will supplement and make the topic memorized.

Teacher's role: As is written in my post "For Teachers", it is important that the teacher is able to keep the students on the same page as he/she is.  It is rather a necessity to make the course completion successful. After the parents, teachers play crucial role in making the student's career bright.  One who loves to teach and loves the subject will only be able to transfer the knowledge. 

Google Scholar  Google Books

Making right choice in career

Making Right choice of Career in Life

When I used to teach computer science courses, the first thing I would do is ask the students about their interest and why they chose “Engineering” career – especially computer science.  Unfortunately, the answers were quite unsatisfying.  Most of the students in the class joined engineering programme with the pressure from the parents or relatives.  In fact, courses should be selected based on your interest and mindset.  Before choosing the course, analyze yourself – direction of your thoughts, your deep inclination, and the topics of interest.  If your mindset has interest in multiple disciplines, better select a graduate specialization after an assessment.  For example, Mechanical Engineering has all the fundamental subjects in engineering, when compared with all other disciplines.  I have seen students ending up their career with IT industry, after doing their B.Tech / BE in Mechanical Engineering.  They are usually brilliant programmers or creative developers.

Truly speaking, an engineer’s life should not end with software development.  Software development is for those who complete computer science / application programmes like B.Sc. (CS), BCA, MCA, etc.  They are basically computer scientists and or computer application developers.  But not essentially engineers.  An engineer should be able to manufacture or assemble a computer by in his own.  He should have a good command over the latest technology and be updated in the field which he is employed.
Let me tell you, the number of years taken to graduate is less than 10% of your total life span. At the same time, it is the foundation for the entire life.  So, what ever you are in, you should be able to perform well.  Students get admitted into graduation irrespective of their choice or interest.  Finally what one can do is to perform well in the field of their respective graduation.  After graduation, you should be able to turn towards different dimensions in your area of interest.
How to choose your subject in graduation?
I would say that it completely depends on your interest.
Parents think in such a way that which subject is easy to earn a job.  But mind you, it is equally difficult to maintain a job too.
You should at least have a minimum of three options to choose from.  Given a situation, you should be able to choose one of these or a combination among these.  For any subject you choose, there are job opportunities, but it depends on your performance at the end of the day.
For an engineer after doing +2, he/she can:
B.Tech / B.E – > M.Tech / ME -> Ph.D-> Research Scholar / Teacher
B.Tech-> MBA -> industrial job.
B.Tech-> IT Company / Core Engineering company->MS in specialized subject-> Ph.D.
There are only two places where you end up with – academia or industry.

Teacher's role in a student career

For Teachers - becoming a good teacher

Effort put forth by the teacher is one of the important factors to make the student interested in the subject.  An effective teacher can make the student attend the class for any duration of time.  Usually a students are not receptive continuously for more than 20 minutes.  When I used to teach, I taught by switching between different topics so that students keep interested in the class.  Whenever the students feel boring in the class, it is better not teach with compulsion.

It is always better to use "chalk & talk" to teach and use the power point presentations occasionally.  Class should never be a "one man show" rather it must be a kind of discussion where the students ask and teacher reply.  A good teacher will encourage asking doubts, any time during the class. This makes the thinking process active in student's mind.  This is one of the core factors in teaching - the real understanding occurs only when there is a thinking process about one specific topic.  Thinking only can create doubts in the mind and that automatically makes the student lively in the class as well as generates interest.

No time to learn!

One of the hurdles teachers face is lack of time to learn new topics or keep updated with the emerging topics in one's area of interest. This especially happens for a fresher who enters the world of teaching immediately after the post graduation. It is very difficult to tackle this situation.  Students may not get satisfied because of the poor presentation and lecturing.  Without passion towards teaching, it is very difficult to become a good teacher.  First you need the passion.  With this, you can definitely withstand the initial struggle.  Determination and dedication is also very important and required.

Preparation for teaching

Preparing for a lecture is a challenging task.  Especially when you are in front of graduate students.  You need at least 3 hour dedicated preparation for a 1 hour lecture.  "Dedication" means, fully focused and to make the students satisfy.  To mention in between - no teacher can satisfy all the students in the class.  Everything starts with the subject allocation.  Once the subject allocation is done, one has to go through the text books, then find the applied areas of the subject topics.  Prepare a definite course plan by looking into the plans already prepare by reputed professors from several institutions.  By preparing the course plan, one should be able to know the real depth of the subject and how long would it take to teach each topic.  Course plan must include the assignment questions, lab questions (if lab oriented), the examination questions (if prepared by the teacher). Refer text books a much as possible, latest developments in the respective area, etc.

Student's role in own career

For Students

Effort of students is 75% and that of teacher is 25%.  Always try to achieve and then enjoy.  In a choice based credit and continuous evaluation system, the student's role is to learn for number of hours equivalent to number of credits registered.

Generally, first year is the basics courses in engineering, second year is the basics courses on the specialization, third year is the core courses in engineering and then with projects, electives, etc.

Assignments, Labwork, Mini and Major projects shall be given equal importance throughout.

Usually, there is a tendency among students to compare themselves with others.  Comparison is good in a way that it is with good students (good means comparatively a brilliant student in the class).  But just the opposite happens every time.  Students always compare themselves with those who are in a lower level.  This is not correct.  It is necessary that students compare one with their higher level and try to compete with them, a healthy competition.  Nothing to do with a kind of jealousy, hatred, etc. When I used to ask students about their marks, they immediately say that "class average is less sir".  But that is not the answer why they got less marks. When we study, it is for our own knowledge and not to dump information on the examination answer sheets.  If you are in a college just to vomit the information in an answer book after eating it from the text book, why waste money and your valuable time?  There are lot of other things a student can do! Just like Google / FaceBook CEOs!  Invent, Discover, Innovate!!  That is also not bad!

Be clear about your goal in the first year itself.  Mind you, your brilliance and talent can be developed only during the graduation. You have the energy and freedom only during this time and not after that.  Learn a lot, learn as much as you can and then put it in practice.  Have a short term goal in the first year.  What are you going to be after four years.  Always be ambitious, don't be sluggish!.  Aim for higher goals and struggle!  That struggle must be your inspiration to reach the goal.  Just like a mountaineer climbing to reach the heights.  Every work has its own difficulty.  But it depends on how you approach the situation.  Each and every situation can be tackled. It all depends on your.  Be deterministic.  Some times we lose, but never give up! So, first year, you have to struggle.  There is no other way.  This is mainly because when you are released after your +2, it is your turning point in life - new environment, new people, new subjects, teachers, new place, everything.  Self confidence is very much needed to approach this situation.  Especially for those who stay in the hostels...

Parent's role in student's academic career

Parents in Making Career for their Children

Parents shall be the guide for their wards to prepare a base for a better future.  In typical Indian scenario, parents want their children to become engineers or doctor or whatever they want their children to be.  Sorry to say that that is not the right way.  When I started teaching, I learned that some of the students were not receptive in the class.  They are just like toys in the class without any reaction or response.  Most of them become mechanical after a period of time because of the stress they face and because of the frustration.  An important request to parents is the children shall brought up by encouraging their innate talents.  It may be in music / literature / science / engineering – whatever it is.  Every job has its own self esteem and value.  So please do not stop children from performing their inborn talents.
The main reason for making children join engineering programme is because of the status in the society or because of the relatives doing engineering.  Basically, it should be with a specific objective in mind, to build the future of the child.  It is their future, their life.  They are responsible for whatever they choose.
Once they have started their education, it is parent’s responsibility to be in touch with the teachers to know the performance of the ward.  In most of the cases, students feel frustrated in the first year itself because of the workload, because of 6 to 8 hour class timings and finally hostel life.  In this tech-era, there is so much to distract students from their studies.  Parents play a key role in shaping the future and it is this environment that a child is born and brought up.

Useful links

One of the best sites that explain various engineering disciplines is careercornerstone.org (http://careercornerstone.org/fields.htm).  This seems to be authentic and clearly explains what one can be after their graduation.

Other links are:

http://www.dedicatedengineers.org/Resources/Engineering_Disciplines_Handout.pdf
http://www.dedicatedengineers.org/Resources/QA_on_Engineering.pdf

Mastering teamwork

Some are good in academics, some perform well in extra-curricular activities, but rare are some who perform well in both.  To mould one’s individuality once should a part in organizing events in their college.  This helps one to develop interpersonal skills which is required in future, useful for team work.  Working in a team means adjusting with different kind of people, compromising on serveral issues and then getting things done at any cost. It is always not easy to manage people in the team who work for a common goal.
Students used to complain me saying the team mates in the project don’t work as required and only the group leader has to work alone for the entire project.  I would say that this should be taken positively.  After all, it is only a matter of 6 months to work hard.  In this process, you learn more things than required and try to do things on the deadline.  The same is the situation in the industry too.  If you have ‘n’ number of team members, not all of them work hard at your pace, but a few.