Engineering and Technology

Information Technology sector has been a key job creator in the country. However, the shortage of appropriately skilled IT workforce on latest technologies is emerging as a significant gap and complex challenge to India's growth and future. The good news is there are educators who have taken up this challenge and are relentless in their pursuit to bridge this gap. Meet one such educator, Aditya Tandon who works as Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Technology at Ch. Brahm Prakash Government Engineering College, Jaffarpur, New Delhi. He has been recently honoured with Best Professor in Information Technology Award by Business School Affaire & Dewang Mehta National Education Awards for Delhi region.

Our lives and well-being depend upon our ability to invent a better future. If we want the young generation to respond to challenges with creativity and inventiveness, we must create the conditions in which innovation is not only possible but encouraged. Meet Dr. Yaswanth Bhanu Murthy, award winning professor of Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE) from Vasireddy Venkatadri Institute of Technology (VVIT), Guntur, who uses active learning techniques to engage students and encourage innovation and creativity. The result - his students have been making it to the finals of ISB TEP Design Challenge every year. He was recently honoured with EET-CRS Certificate of Excellence in Mumbai for his academic achievements.

A great teacher can make you enjoy a topic you don't particularly like, change and expand your perspective on what you already know. Faculty members who do the best they can and make sure students are always on their feet, and confront them if they aren't doing their best, are what make great students. Meet Dr. Ravindra Gaikwad, award winning Professor and Head of Dept. of Chemistry, Pravara Rural Engineering College (PREC), who is transforming his department and the lives of his students through his outstanding academic and research work.

National Service Scheme (NSS), under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India, was launched in Gandhiji's Birth Centenary Year 1969 with primary focus on the development of personality of students through community service. Today, NSS has more than 3.2 million student volunteers on its roll across India. Meet Niket Shastri, Sr. Assistant Professor of Physics who has been actively spearheading the NSS efforts at Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology (SCET), Surat, as a Program Officer. His team of NSS Volunteers have the unique distinction of winning the Best Volunteers award for last three years in a row from Gujarat Technological University (GTU) and also the Best NSS Unit award for 2014-15. Recognizing his outstanding contribution and innovation in social and cultural activities, Niket has been honoured with Pedogogical Innovation Award (2017) and Best NSS Program Officer (2016) by GTU.

Three students from the College of Engineering in Pune won HackD 2016 – Code for a Cause Hackathon organized by Envestnet India last month. Out of 40 teams competing from reputed colleges all over India, including IITs and NITs, 10 teams were shortlisted for the final 24-hour hackathon round at Envestnet office in Trivandrum. The team of Ajit Rajurkar, Reshul Dani and Jay Lohokare from College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) won the competition and Rs. 3 lakh prize money for their innovative personalized credit scoring system for the finance sector. Winning a competition of this scale is a dream for every engineering student. Team buzzingg contacted the trio to know their success story.

Mindspark is the national level, annual technical festival of College of Engineering, Pune. In its Decade Edition, this technical extravaganza comprised of over 50 events dealing with each and every branch of engineering sciences and a special non-technical fun section. Numerous workshops were organised pan Maharashtra and in Pune to spread the knowledge of the best and the newest innovations and creations of the technological world. With a footfall of over 18000 in three days, organising The Most Celebrated Engineering Fest of Pune required humungous effort from a highly aligned team. Meet the core team that worked hard behind the scenes to make the event a grand success !

Today, Educators are using robots and robotics to teach their students in novel ways. It also inspires students to learn Science and Math in a very fun manner thereby removing the inhibitions about complexity of the subject. Started in 2011 by Vinay Kunwar in Pune, IndiaFIRST™ Robotics Academy has a distinction of being the first academy in India to manufacture its own modular robotics kits for students. With a phenomenal growth of 75 training centres across India, Middle East and Africa in 5 years, Vinay and his team continue to do what they love the most - stimulating innovation and creativity in young minds.

MindSpark is the national level, annual technical festival of College Of Engineering, Pune (CoEP). One of the most awaited events in Pune, MindSpark is regarded among the best technical platforms in the country for showcasing engineering brilliance and competing among the best. Top colleges participate every year to compete for the coveted Technical Championship at MindSpark. Every event won during this Championship, that spans across three days, is a stepping stone to winning the coveted Champions Trophy. Team AISSMS were the proud winners of the Technical Championship this year.

Sumit Asrani, a chemical engineer (ChEngineer) and freelance trainer by profession, is on a mission to develop highly skilled chemical, process, biotech engineers in Process Modeling and Simulation. He conducts trainings in various colleges and institutions across India. He left his job in 2014 to pursue teaching as a career and has trained more than 500 students so far.