The Higher Education Review

Recognizing his entrepreneurial inclination at an early age, Venkatesh Bangera opted to pursue a Diploma in Civil Engineering (DCE) for fulfilling his aspiration of constructing buildings. However, after the completion of DCE, Bangera realized that only a diploma will not help him, he needs to study the subject extensively to gain high-level advanced knowledge. With thorough contemplation and research, he chose to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Alva's Institute of Engineering and Technology (AIET). This move turned out to be the best decision of life for Bangera who graduated in the year 2013 from the institute.

Soon after coming out from AIET, Bangera along with his father established a construction company viz. Sri Siddhi RNB Developers. Today a successful entrepreneur, Bangera credits his success to all the faculty members and the HoD of the Civil Engineering Department of AIET. "All the members of the department are highly co-operative, moving forward with a common goal of producing capable civil engineers. I am still in regular contact with my HoD," says Bangera. There are several such stories alike Bangera, which have got accomplished in the campus of AIET.

A premier institute in Mangalore, AIET is a part of Alva's Education Foundation (AEF), Moodbidri, which was founded by a man of great vision Dr. M Mohan Alva, who is an educationist par excellence � transformed Moodbidri into a cultural and educational hub of Dakshina Kannada. Dr. M Mohan Alva, Chairman, AEF is an embodiment of humaneness and selfless service. His contribution towards education, culture, and sports is quite remarkable.

The AIET campus is spread over 30 acres of land encompassing state-of-the-art facilities. The full-fledged Entrepreneurship Development Cell

(EDC) placed in the campus assists the students with their entrepreneurial ideas. Having MoU with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmadabad, AIET is going to launch a one-year Diploma in Entrepreneurship and Business Management in association with EDII from the current year. The institute also houses many incubation centers in association with District Industries Centre to boost Entrepreneurship spirits among students.

Research as Priority
The Department of Civil Engineering at AIET was initiated in the year 2009 with well-equipped laboratories, offering an undergraduate programme in Civil Engineering. Dr. Peter Fernandes, Principal, AIET opines, "There are additional laboratory facilities available for innovative and research projects carried out by our students and faculty members." As research opens the door for new knowledge and innovation, the institute strongly encourages the students to take up research projects.

"The Department of Civil Engineering at AIET was initiated in the year 2009 with well-equipped laboratories"

AIET has an academic collaboration with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad enabling to get connected with the research expertise of these organizations. Tied up with Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc), AIET frequently organizes workshop and conference at the campus. "Many civil engineering students of AIET have completed their UG projects using Remote Sensing, GIS and Computer Aided designs. Our students positively get involved with community-related projects under the supervision of ISRO," pinpoints Dr. Fernandes.

A noteworthy project that was carried out by 50 faculties and 350 students of AIET was a mapping of 5000 plus assets across 54 Grama Panchayaths in Dakshina Kannada District and the data collected in the project was uploaded to ISRO's Bhuvan Panchayath Portal. The department conducts workshops, conferences, FDP, technical talks by involving industry professionals, researchers, and academicians for enriching students and faculties with the new development in the civil engineering sphere.

Creating Technically Proficient Employee
Enjoying exclusive associations with the industry giants, AIET also holds collaborations with prestigious academic bodies with various universities in Asia and Europe such as Kumamoto University Japan, Ghent University Belgium, Ghent University Hospital, University of Twente Netherlands and the list hardly gets an end. "We are fortunate to have this kind of relationship with the international institutions. Given which, recently a group of final year students visited Kumamoto University Japan and participated in a conference," mentions Dr. Fernandes. Shortly, the institution is planning to sign MoU with another Japanese university named Kagoshima University.

The students at AIET are trained from the day one for being industry-ready. In the 2nd year of their course, they undergo mandatorily 45 days of internship programmes in construction companies. The department is also involved with many consultancy works, which include material testing, Soil testing, Bore well inspection, Retaining wall design and so on with clients like PWD, Moodabidri Municipality, Pilikula Nisargadhama and Minority Development Corporation. On the other side, for grooming purposes, the pre-placement cell of AIET encourages the future engineers to take up one month of extensive training related to the Technical aspects, Soft skills, Language Training and Group Discussions.

"Mock Interviews are conducted to boost the confidence of students followed by offering a certification course in Software which are demandable in industry," claims Dr. Fernandes. Holding the pride to possess a strong alumni strength who are doing extremely good in their respective careers, AIET places its students in various companies like Agrima Roofs and Facades, L & W Construction, FACE, just to name a few. Existing in the education arena for a decade now, AIET envisions to become an internationally recognized deemed university in future.

Dr. Peter Fernandes, Principal, AIET
Serving as Principal, Dr. Peter Fernandes also is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at AIET. He has more than 32 years of teaching experience and research and has published more than 40 technical papers in international journals and conferences.