With the advent of Industry 4.0, there is an ever-growing need to upgrade the skills according to the latest technologies. However, many industry leaders claim that Indian students – though highly educated – do not have the skills required to survive in this digital economy. Emerging as one of the best self-financing engineering colleges in Karnataka, RajaRajeswari College of Engineering (RRCE) has striven hard to make a dent in the Indian technical education system by preparing students for the future. The institute is working with a vision of the future of India, to bring about progressive changes in science, engineering and technology, which will bring progress and prosperity to our country.
“We are convinced that “Character is the crown and glory of life”. We believe in quality education, progress through discipline, knowledge through devotion and satisfaction through service to the student community. We are dedicated to meet the challenges of the new millennium in the field of technical higher education so as to make our country a highly industrialized and healthy modern nation,” opines Dr. A. C. Shanmugam, Chairman, RajaRajeswari College of Engineering. Established in 2006, RRCE was started by Moogambigai Charitable and Educational Trust, which was founded by the Chairman, Dr. A. C. Shanmugam. The Trust was started in 1992, to provide quality professional education at an affordable cost to deserving students, irrespective of their caste, creed, or religion. Today, it runs eight institutions of excellence in Bangalore, RRCE is being one among them.
RRCE aims to consistently strive for academic excellence to become one of the leading institutions in the field of Engineering, to produce competent and ethically sound manpower for the benefit of the industry, society, nation, and the global environment. “Through collaborative research work, industry interactions, skill development, and value-added programs, we strive to achieve greater heights,” adds Dr. Shanmugam.
Creating Industry-Ready Leaders
Enhancing student skills through extra-curricular programs offered by the college, RRCE also provided virtual reality services to train the students. Also, the institution prepares perspective planning documents, which are evaluated by experts and drawn from industry and premier institutions like IISC, NIT, ISRO and many more. “With the best resources, we are preparing our students for Industry 4.0 and placing them across industries around the world,” quips Dr. Shanmugam.
About 30+ companies visiting each year, in which 10+ companies are offering a pay package of above 5 Lakhs per annum, RRCE Placement Records stands best as per ranking. With industry interactions, pre-joining, and alumni activities, the students are well updated with the current happenings in the industry. “Along with conducting pool drives in the campus, we have also initiated finishing school programs for skill-based training”, adds Dr. Shanmugam.
RRCE also conducts Training and Development Programmes for their students and faculty members in a phased manner. Many high profile companies like SRIT-Dubai, Capgemini, TCS, HP, Siemens, Robert Bosch, L&T Infotech, IBM, KPMG, Microland, Infosys Technologies, SONATA Software, Spica Software Services, Tech Mahindra, PARK Controls & Communications, SUBEX, HCL Infosystems, eCentric, TCi Technologies, Alpha9Marine solutions, visit and conduct Placement activities regularly.
Companies are hungry for ideas and talent and through collaborations with RRCE, these companies get a chance to see the students in action with the actual technologies, intellectual properties to commercialize these ideas. The students also get a chance to get placed in companies that have partnered with, that are vying for graduates who have the pulse for emerging markets. Dr. Shanmugam says, “In order to equip the students to meet the corporate expectations, an exclusive vertical called “Centre for Testing & Data Sciences” (CTDS) is established in the college. CTDS organizes various activities to enrich the students’ competencies on various domains. Experts from industries are mentoring the students to hone their skills. “The students also get a chance to be mentored by the industry professionals, which helps them gain the skills and expertise they need, long before they become employees.”
On the other side, RRCE has a total number of 50 Ph.D. holders and 60 pursuing their Ph.D. under the talented faculty members of RRCE. Along with good communication skills, the faculty members are dedicated, knowledgeable, as well as cooperative. Their research potential with proven records of high-quality research has helped them in publishing patents, books, and receive funding from various organizations like AICTE, VGST, and SERB. “Updating their knowledge through NPTEL, SWAYAM, MOOCS, NITTR, AICTE – Training & Learning (ATAL) Academy, Academia, and Courser, our faculty members encourage our students towards research projects, GATE, national and international events,” says Dr. Shanmugam.
Paving the path to the Industry
The students of RRCE are motivated and encouraged to take new standards for their improvement and to develop a growth mindset. The institute has systematic and effective strategies for strengthening students including routine student orientation, conducting weekly tests, motivating them to do innovative things, mini projects to get hands-on experience, participate in activities. The CTDS Cell of RRCE conducts mentoring sessions regularly in addition to activities and routine placement training. The students are given challenging questions to solve, conducting special classes for slow learners are some of the special facilities at RRCE to stimulate students to work harder and focus on their career and pursuits.
RRCE also houses an Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC) that conducts workshops and success stories of major entrepreneurs in and around Bangalore. These interactions are conducted to bring out the entrepreneurial skills of the students. “Students are mentored to carry out market survey and analysis, strengths, weakness, opportunities and challenges before starting their business in their particular area of focus,” says Dr. Shanmugam. The alumni members of RRCE have come up with many start-up ventures like Technospacio Tech Solution, Siddhi Group, Tech Centrix, Maruti Visuals, Develophowto, Sainox Technologies, Enginomatic Technologies, and Studwall.
“We persuade our students that they are up for the challenge and cross the psychological barriers for deeper learning by giving them practical experience and establishing positive thoughts, fortifying the students with a belief that regular practice, hard work enhance their academic ability, mentoring regularly to understand their strength and weakness and providing a solution to their problem,” states Dr. Shanmugam.
RRCE aims to bridge the gap between the industry and academia, by signing MoUs with Industries and International Universities like University Technology Petronas, Malaysia. Apart from MoU’s, following Centres of Excellence in the upcoming technologies are established – Centre of Excellence on IoT- Internet of Things, Centre of Excellence on Wireless Sensor Networks, Centre of Excellence on Altair – Hyperworks.
Today, along with universal human values and professional ethics, the graduates of RRCE are taught to be logical thinkers, team leaders, innovators, good communicators, and proficient in programming languages, making them ready to step into the industrial workforce. Aspiring to attain an autonomous status, RRCE is keen on accomplishing the center of excellence in recent technologies. “Apart from encouraging entrepreneurship through Innovation and Incubation Council, we are also aiming to attain the ABET Accreditation and strengthen our R&D through international and national funded agencies,” concludes Dr. Shanmugam.