The Higher Education Review

Dr. Dattatraya S Bormane, Principal

Having an experience of 31 years in teaching and administration, Dr. Dattatraya S Bormane is presently the Principal of AISSMSCOE. As an exemplary administrator, he recently has bagged awards like "Distinguished Leader" by Venus International Foundation Chennai, "Best Principal of the Year" 2018 by Computer Society of India (CSI) Mumbai and "Education Leadership Award" by DNA Innovative Education Leadership Awards. He was the Chairman of Board of Studies in Electronics and Member of Research & Recognition Committee for Electronics at Savitribai Phule Pune University. He has guided 12 research scholar, published 10 patents and 70 plus research publications in journals and conferences.

Known as the 'Oxford of the East', which is home to some of the oldest and elite institutions, Pune has truly lived up to its reputation of being the educational hub of the country. From a student-friendly environment to unparallel industry exposure, the city has been wooing students from different parts of the globe. Situated in this diversified city, Aissms College of Engineering (AISSMSCOE) is one such destination, which has been rightly satiating the thrust for a quality engineering education since 1992. Commenced under the umbrella of All India Shri Shivaji Memorial Society, the college earned the ranking among first 200 colleges in NIRF and ranking of 50th in India among Private Engineering Colleges and Overall 69th in i3RC by Times Engineering Survey-2018.

"All India Shri Shivaji Memorial Society is one of the premier heritage-group of institutes now. In fact, as early as 1917, the founders of the society - late Shri Shrimant Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur and late H.H. Alija Bahadur Madhavrao Scindia Maharaj of Gwalior - had realized the need to bring about reforms through education. Today, the

Society has made a huge foray into the noble field of education, meeting the all-around requirements on various fronts including emerging areas," says Dr. Dattatraya S Bormane, Principal, AISSMSCOE.

"Promoting the holistic development of the students, AISSMSCOE never ignores the need for integrating valuable, non-technical skills into the educational paradigm

Affiliated to the Savitribai Phule Pune University, AISSMSCOE is running extensive programmes in different domains of engineering such as UG programmes in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (Sandwich), E&TC, Production Engineering (Sandwich) and PG programmes in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering (Structure), Computer Engineering, Electrical Power Electronics & Drives, E&TC (Microwaves), Mechanical Engineering (Both in Automotive & Design). "Considering the growing importance of research, we also offer Doctorate programme to our Chemical Engineering students," shares Dr. Bormane.

Promoting the holistic development of the students, the college never ignores the need for integrating valuable, non-technical skills into the educational paradigm. "Today, the scenario has changed. Companies look for candidates who are overall developed, as only technical skills are not enough for sustaining in the contemporary world," pinpoints Dr. Bormane. The management of the college is proactive in organizing Symposia, Workshops, Conferences and national level students' symposium and exposition viz. 'AISSMS Engineering Today' where the students can realize their inherent talents and showcase the skills. Dr. Bormane elaborates, "In fact, we conduct an inter-college event every year named as "Ashwamedh", which includes 8 cultural events and 8 sports events and an Annual Social Gathering 'Shivanjali'. Through these activities, we ensure that our students are instilled with essential values and etiquettes".

Concentrating on Hands-on Training

The place where students are going to spend their most crucial and life-changing period is no doubt is college. Recognizing this fact, the management of AISSMSCOE has incorporated advanced facilities like

unlimited broadband service, transportation facility, Central library with reading hall, playgrounds & sports facilities and the computer centers & seminar halls, well-equipped laboratories, list hardly gets an end. "Our highly qualified and experienced team of faculty members strives to utilize the ICT facilities available in the campus and transfer knowledge using modern teaching methodologies," mentions Dr. Bormane. The faculty members also use MOOCs, Moodle, and LMS, allowing the students to access immense study materials and for accomplishing other important tasks.

Under the 'mentorship' concept of the college, each faculty is allotted with 20 students and given this; individualized interaction session occur frequently where the students can share their academic and non-academic issues. Dr. Bormane opines, "After the meetings with the faculty member if any student is found facing serious issues, we provide them the assistance of professional counselors, which for sure helps them to tackle the concerned problem". Moreover, through 'one faculty one industry initiative', the college invites industry experts in every department so that the students are always abreast with the latest happenings in the industry. The college also boasts of having global collaborations with institutions like Staffordshire University, UK, VESBE, Germany and the University of Iowa, USA, to name a few, for encouraging exchanging programmes and share other educational and research resources.

"In our sandwich programme, students have to complete two terms of industrial in-plant training that is for one-year. And, for our other students, we motivate them for regular industrial visits and undergoing internships," states Dr. Bormane. The Training and Placement cell of the college plays a vital role in showing the students a path of progress and development via organizing group discussions, soft skill training, mock interviews and so on. Witnessing annually around 150+ industry visits for placement and placing students in companies such as TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, Tata Motors, IBM, Capgemini and many more, the college is marching dedicatedly towards the mission of achieving the distinction of the highest preferred engineering college in the eyes of the stakeholders.