The Higher Education Review

Initiated in 1997 by the enterprising philanthropist and educationist, Late M.J.F Lion Leo Muthu, Chairman of Sapthagiri Educational Trust, Sri Sairam College of Engineering (SSCE) is acknowledging the high standard of innovation and research in the modern engineering education. The institution boasts of an R&D center, which is approved and affiliated by Visvesvaraya Technological University, concentrates mainly on inter-disciplinary applied Engineering research activities. "With the visionary leadership of our CEO, Sri. Sai Prakash Leo Muthu, we believe that innovation has the efficacy to bring a revolution in one's career and a country at a large. We do not encourage rote-based learning in our premises as we believe that innovation has the efficacy to bring a revolution in one's career and a country at a large," shares Dr. Y. Vijaya Kumar, Principal, Sri Sairam College of Engineering. Prior to the establishment of advanced Sri Leo Muthu Innovation Center at the campus, the R&D environment in the institution has taken a giant leap in inculcating the research culture among the students. The students of SSCE are determined to make out the most of their journey in the institution through indulging in different productive activities. Some of the noteworthy projects undertaken by the students at SSCE that has been awarded at National & International forums are Borewell Rescue robot, Varunastra Formula 1 vehicle, Superschnell All Terrain Vehicle, Raiders e-Bike, Sairam

Warriors & Mechrocks Karting vehicles, Ashwa Single & Multiseater Solar car, Shithij RC craft, Drona firefighting drones & Racing Quadcopters, Rakshaq Mars rover vehicle, Nakshathara CANSAT probe and the list hardly gets an end. "Immediately after the commencement of the classes we nurture an atmosphere among our students, which compels them to have an appetite for unique ideas and subsequently work on them with fullheartedly".

The research scholars in the institution are presently working on topics like cloud computing, data mining, neural networks, image processing, Fibre composites and so on. "Several initiatives of our R&D center are now at product development stage, which will soon transform our budding engineers into proud entrepreneurs," adds Dr. Y. Vijaya Kumar. Based in Bangalore, SSCE one of the first Institutions to implement
"Total Quality Management" (TQM) practices, which include Quality circles, 5S, Kaizen, Suggestion Box, Circle Meetings and many more, enabling the institution to become a goal-centric organization.

Sharpening the Technical Skills
For supporting the numerous activities possessed by the students, the institution has a solar-powered & Eco Friendly campus, which beatified with varied facilities like state- of-the-art R&D laboratories, IoT Lab, Texas Instruments Innovation lab, Embedded system designs lab, Adhoc mobile networks lab sports complex with indoor gym, hygienic canteen, ATM, transportation with GPS tracking system, hostel and so on. Along with these, the campus also has a central digital library with

online facilities like DELNET and online journals including, individual departmental libraries. A Creator of Bright Futures SSCE has employed an active Training and Placement division to take care of the pre-placement activities. "We have a dedicated online portal -SKILL RACK, where the students spend a minimum 2-4 hours practicing on aptitude, resume building, soft skills, interview skills, reasoning and so on," mentions Dr.Y Vijaya Kumar. Given this, SSCE has signed MoU with Hiremee, which connects the prospective employers to the students directly based on their skill sets. The Training and Placement division also fortifies the students to undergo internships at their 2nd and 3rd year in their core domains.

With a strong technical domain knowledge coupled with innovation and research insights, the students seldom face any obstacle during job placements. As of 2017 batch, around 55 companies have conducted recruitment drives all-round the year in the campus, offering packages ranging from 18 LPA to 4.25 LPA. The key recruiters were TCS, Amazon, Wipro, CGI, ZOHO, Triveni Turbines, Westline Shipping and so on. "Having a strong connection with alumni members who are doing exceptionally well in their careers, we aspire to create more such proficient employees and entrepreneurs for the nation under the dynamic leadership of our CEO Sri Saiprakash Leo Muthu. In coming years, we envision to establish Center of Excellence in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, and other emerging areas," concludes Dr. Y. Vijaya Kumar.