An Emerging National Asset
Established in the year 2012 in Karur District, Tamil Nadu, the very first batch of engineers from Cheran College of Engineering are yet to face the employment market. However, since its second year of commencement the institute has been conducting mass recruitment drives for students who are studying in nearby colleges. "Though our institute is young by the years of existence, we are very aggressive in terms of making meaningful relationship with the industries. Hosting mass recruitment drives where students from other colleges are invited is one such practice that we believe will be beneficial for us in the upcoming years," says P. M. Karuppannan, Chairman, Cheran College of Engineering. In the second job fair conducted during 2014-15, the institute helped 369 students from other engineering colleges to find their dream job by hosting more than 11 corporate organizations in the campus. Further to that, in the first three months of ongoing academic year 2015-16, Cheran Engineering College has conducted eight campus recruitment drives for their first batch students where 125 students have placed with many of them securing more than one offer letter in hand.
With the active support of Cheran Educational Trust, which is a consortium of prominent industrialists who are involved in textile, transport and constructions sectors, the institute has established many tie-ups with various industries within a short span of time. MoUs with Karur District Civil Engineers Association, FACEAT (Federation of All Civil Engineers Association of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry), TANGEDCO and Power Grid Corporation are few names among them. Along with that, the ECE students of Cheran are IETE members and get the support from them in the form of special lectures and value added courses. Organizations like BSNL TNPL and ElGI Equipments are also regular providers of industrial training for the students at Cheran.
"We strongly believe that education is for life, not for examinations. Our institution focuses on developing creative and innovative engineers capable of successfully delivering the requirements of the consuming industry. This is achieved by teaching the required personal and technical skills to the students," explains R.Manoharan, Secretary of the College. The institute introduces current technological advancements to the students through guest lectures, symposia, workshop, seminars, fairs and courses beyond the curricula and syllabi. Every stream of engineering has its list of additional input requirements to the students. In the year 2014-15 alone students at Cheran Engineering College participated in more than 90 programs, where nearly 40 experts from various industries had an active interaction with the students.
"The skill gap exists in two segments; one in the teaching side and another in students side. The pre-determined skill level required for a faculty is ensured during the recruitment. Additional skill on technology up-gradation is given through sponsoring for higher education, FDP, workshops and seminars," says Prof. T. K. Krishnamurthy, the Academic Advisor. With a dedicated training and placement division headed by an experienced placement officer, the institute provides skill sets specifically required for placements as training from first semester using experts from inside or outside. The contents of training include the language skills, communication skills, aptitude skills, logical skills, effective presentation through resume, technical skills and interview skills. "Normal training duration is in the range of 60-70 hours in a year excluding practice sessions included in their time-table. We invest about 400 hours to groom our students into employable engineers apart from imparting technical knowledge," claims Dr. S. Nithiyanandam, the Principal. The institute also houses close to 20 student driven clubs where every student is given chances to get clear exposure, through various programs organized by these associations. They conceive, plan, organize, execute and evaluate various programs for their benefit with the support of their faculty, which is a 92 member team with an average academic experience of 10 years.
So far it was believed that for a quality education in engineering, the students of Karur district need to go to distant cities such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy and places which are known for better educational infrastructure. Though, this was reachable for wealthy, the rural people of this region were deprived good quality engineering education. With the establishments of institutions like Cheran, the higher education system of Karur is in a much better stage now. The management of Cheran provides fee concessions to the students to attract the economically browbeaten towards higher education. Total fee concession in the past 4 years have mounted to over Rs. 2 crore and over 500 students have benefitted from this thus far.
"We look forward to working consistently towards the improvement of our quality and performance and eventually becoming the leading institution in the country. It involves continuously upgrading the infrastructure, enhancing the quality of the staff, improving the teaching learning process and involving every stakeholder towards the journey of achieving academic excellence," concludes K. Muthusamy, Trustee of the college.
Dr. S. Nithyanandam, Principal
Dr. S. Nithyanandam is the principal of Cheran College of Engineering. He says, "The students choose our institution mainly for its commitment, the reputation the management has earned over three decade and the infrastructure. Our performance in academics, knowledge transfer and placement will also be supporting factor from the next year."
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