The Higher Education Review

It is a fact that India has no dearth of talent and what primarily is standing as a hindrance in front of the youth is the lack of quality education. Taking this into consideration, Eastern Academy of Science & Technology (EAST) was established with the sole aim of achieving and propagating quality education, honest personality, immaculate integrity, dazzling dignity and noble nationalism among the future of the country. Affiliated to Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Orissa and approved by AICTE, the inception of EAST is the outcome of the humble effort made by some NRIs like Dr. Radhakanta Mishra (Chair-man, EAST) and Dr. Gita Mishra of bringing in world-class education in the country and produce graduates who can match up to the expectation of the evolving industries.

Spread over 27 acres of land, the campus of EAST is encompassed with state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure such as a digital library, Wi-Fi, separate hostels for boys and girls, well-equipped labs and many more. "The campus of EAST has been strategically placed amidst the silver city (Cuttack) and the temple city (Bhubaneswar), making sure the students experience a blissful and memorable campus experience and cherish this for the rest of their life," says Dr. Sanjeev Tripathy, Director, EAST. Running under the Nilakhanta Educational and Charitable Trust bachelors and masters program in Environmental Engineering which is offered by the only a handful of institutes in the country. Also in collaboration with the University of Missouri in the USA, we have started to offer an MBA degree program."

The management of the institute always strives for reaching the highest standard of excellence and given this, it has addeda new feather in its hat by earning the approval for being (NECT), the institute offers a wide range of B.tech and M.tech programs in varied disciplines of Engineering including Civil Engineering. Dr. Tripathy adds, "Being one of the oldest institutes in the state, EAST prides on conducting in the only institution in the entire Orissa state to offer TOEFL and GRE programs for higher study in abroad. Although the institute is affiliated to BPUT, considerable effort is been put to make sure the teaching and learning process of EAST students happens beyond the syllabus

and enhance their skills continuously through organizing new age courses frequently. "Notably, our campus is beatified with the nodal center of H.P and we have already given the proposal for getting the affiliation of Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago and are currently waiting for the approval of the Governor which should be happening soon. To sum up, the ultimate idea is to hand over our students a globally acceptable education," proudly says Dr. Tripathy.

"The alumni base of EAST in the
present times have given their expertise and knowledge is handling top-level positions in several organizations"

Providing Employment Opportunities
Employability stands as a serious matter of concern today among the students as well as the parents. But the EAST students are not subjected to face the crunch of a job as the institute has been maintaining a cent percent placement rate every year. Owing to the robust grooming of the students throughout the year under the guidance of the Chairman of the institute himself, the graduates of gets placed in top-notch companies like Vedanta, Tata, Nelco, just to name a few. Apart from the four months of internship, the students get access to in-plant training, personality development classes; communication classes mock aptitude tests, psychometric tests, group discussions sessions and so on. Dr. Tripathy shares, "Under our MoU with Infosys in the Campus Connect Program, our students earn the proficiencies needed for being an Infosys future employee." The institute also has tie-ups with TCS and IBM.

As the institute has adopted the Proctorial System, the faculty members ensure to provide each student supportive care and counsel both in their academic and personal problems, from time to time. Under this system, the students are monitored regularly and the respective proctors play a crucial role. "10-15 students are been assigned under one proctor who is responsible for looking after them during the entire course tenure. Assuring that all our faculty members are ample knowledgeable and are able to bring in the classroom the most effective learning methods, we have initiated an industry-academia program where they stay in constant interaction with the industry professionals including organizing FDPs," claims Dr. Tripathy. In fact, the EAST faculty members participate in Faculty Enablement program, that is, a 2-week full-time residential program at Infosys-Bhubaneswar Development Centre (DC) enabling them to share Infosys's Industrial - educational experience with the students.

In parallel to academics and boost to take up research activities, the students of EAST are encouraged

to participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. The holistic development granted by the institute to the students has proved to climb the ladder of success smoothly. The alumni base of EAST in the present times given their expertise and knowledge are handling top-level positions in several organizations. "Every year we conduct an alumni meet which helps our alumni to share their experience with our on-going students. In the coming years as well, we assure to continuously march towards improvement and impart quality education," concludes Dr. Tripathy.

Dr. R.K. Mishra, Chairman
He is an M.S. (Michigan State) PhD (University of Chicago), U.S.A. After completion of the PhD degree from University of Chicago, Dr. R.K. Mishra worked as a faculty member in several prestigious universities including University of Florida and the Vanderbilt University Medical colleges in the USA. He has numerous publications of action of Antibiotics, Drug Metabolism and Antidepressants in referred National & International journals. The most significant accomplishment of his research project is based on the elucidation of the mechanism of action of fluexitin (Prozac), a brand new group of anti-depressants which still plays a significant role in the treatment of mental depression of billions of people around the world. Dr Mishra is the 1st president of Jagannath Society of America, (JSA), U.S.A. First president of the OSA, Southern Captor, Founding member of Kalinga Hospital & Chairman of the first NRI funded engineering college (EAST) at prachi vihar. Dr Mishra has organized two (1989 & 2000) Annual Odisha Society of America (OSA) conventions as National Convener. As the president of MISHRA INVESTMENTS LLC since 1995, he owns and supervises a 250 acres of farm & 25 houses with extensive Real estate Investment and investment Banking. During his stay, Dr Mishra has helped many Odiya students & others to get better education & settle in U.S.A.

Dr.Gita Mishra, President
She is an M.D. from FAAFP (USA); currently she is a Board certified physician by the American Board of family physicians since 1979. She is a faculty member of the Meharry Medical College and the Vanderbilt University College of Medicines. Besides, she has also a private practice since 1978. She was the chief of Medicine for 3 years and received best physician Award in Tennessee in the year 1983. Currently she is the adjunct professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt College of Medicine & Meharry Medical College. In the past, she was the Director of continuing Education & Minority affairs for the TN State Medical Society. Dr Mishra is past President of JSA, U.S.A. She has been instrumental in helping several Odiya to settle in the U.S.A.