Ask students who has cracked the engineering entrance exam about their future plan, a majority would say they want to take computer science engineering, remaining to opt for allied fields. This, however, is not a sustainable trend with other major fields not being picked by bright minds.
Calling it a universal trend in all engineering colleges including IITs, former IIT Delhi director V Ramgopal Rao, in his latest tweet, said, “colleges are finding it difficult to fill even one-third of the available seats in branches apart from Computer Science and Information Technology. On top of that, institutes are unable to understand what to do with the faculty members in the Electronics, Civil and Mechanical departments.”
Sharing a long note, the professor also called for a change in perception of Mechanical and Civil engineering. Moreover, he urged the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) to make movies based on the innovative opportunities in these branches.
Students opting for only the CSE and allied disciplines. How do we change this? And what will happen if this trend becomes a norm. #engineeringeducation #engineers #education #CSE #India pic.twitter.com/U6h8NO7NNN— V. Ramgopal Rao, Ph.D. (@ramgopal_rao) September 4, 2022
The former IIT Delhi director emphasized the ease of switching from mechanical/civil engineering to IT but the challenges one faces in the reverse situation.
Further in his note, Rao wrote: “Someone needs to build for the country technologies in healthcare, agriculture, energy, defence, space, civil infrastructure, transportation, waste processing, semiconductors, manufacturing, drone technologies, and many more.” He went on to state, “If all disciplines merge into CSE and IT, our innovation potential may get grossly affected.”
Speaking of “huge perception-related issues” the professor stated Mechanical Engineering is not only about dealing with large machines and neither is Civil engineering about building bridges and dams. He says “industry 4.0” has completely transformed both fields of engineering. Giving an example of his mechanical friends, the professor wrote, that they work on micro machines and microfluidics which require a microscope to look at. Whereas Civil engineers now work on a multiplicity of environmental issues.
While concluding his note, Prof. Ramgopal expressed the urgent need to start educating school-going kids about the changes taking place everywhere and the various opportunities in other engineering disciplines.
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