Take project work seriously
Project work gives confidence to face campus interviews, finds Sumit BhattacharjeeAt a recent campus drive in a corporate engineering college conducted
by a software major, a student was asked about his project work.
Confidently, the student discussed about the project that he had done on
VLSI design. The HR executives were shocked. Not by students
articulation or the depth of his knowledge. They were surprised to find
that two other students had talked about the same project from the same
batch.Well, such situation arises when the project work is
taken as a mere ‘ritual' and not dealt with seriously, says the
principal of GMR Institute of Technology (GMRIT) C.L.V.R.S.V. Prasad.Project work is part of the engineering curriculum and the students
have to submit a project on one academic topic during the second
semester in the final year. “Most of the students take it very lightly,
and projects can be bought for a sum. There is a full-fledged industry
surviving on this. Pay a sum and acquire a project on any topic and if a
student cannot buy it, just do the ‘cut and paste' job from the
internet or copy a friend's project. What they do not realise is the
importance of it,” says Prof. Prasad.The basic objective of the project is to make the students apply their academic knowledge in a real life scenario.“Students should treat projects as an integral part of their academics.
It gives them confidence, as the exposure in a project allows them to
apply their mind and creativity. A serious approach towards project can
take them a long way, not only it helps them during interviews but also
during their career,” says V.S.R.K. Prasad, principal of Anil Neerukonda
Institute of Technology and Sciences (ANITS).The principal
adds that understanding the application of theoretical knowledge in
practice is essential for engineering students. “A chemical engineer
would learn about the function of refineries in the theory class. But
how exactly the crude oil is refined to get the final outcome can be
understood only by doing a project. The application of the chemical
process, the temperature and the pressure required, the by products, the
use of various valves and the measurements can be understood only
through a project,” he adds.Former Vice - Chancellor of JNTU
(Kakinada) Allam Appa Rao points out that the area of project work is
what that separates the Indian colleges from the ones in the US. “In the
US the system is 3+3 (3 theory + 3 practical), whereas in India it is 6
theory and 2 practical. We load our students with theory and neglect
the practical or project work. Even the teachers are tuned to
complacency in regard to projects. It is through projects that one can
engage his or her knowledge and creativity by dealing with real life
problems,” says Prof. Appa Rao.The V-C adds that projects are
not only essential, but the students should take up the challenge of
accepting projects concerning new areas of technology or build upon
futuristic ideas.Being a little harsh, the former Head of the
Department of Computer Science Engineering in Andhra University College
of Engineering P.S. Avadhani says, “if you do not take your project
seriously, it will be very difficult to get a good job.”The
professor advises the students to think and finalise the project idea by
the second semester in the third year. “Always think of doing a project
on the latest trends in technology. A computer science student can
think of doing a project on .NET, Android based project or HTML based
project. Work on realistic application based projects - like how to
automate the library or how to generate student ID cards. Students can
also think of working on HTML 5. Computer science students can ponder
upon system level projects also, as it is on demand by the industry at
present,” says Prof. Avadhani.On how to generate interest
among the students on projects, Prof. C.L.V.R.S.V. Prasad says that
institutions and teachers should take it up seriously. “The students
should be made to do the project within the college under the mentorship
of a teacher
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