The Higher Education Review

"Information's pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience", said Clarence Day, the author of 'Life with Father'. If this adage is anything to go by, then the rich heritage of five decades spanning in its culture defines the exemplary journey of Basaveshwar Engineering College. "To assemble an ensemble put together for the engineer of tomorrow, BEC today has emerged from ashes and has carved a niche in today's world of technology," says Veeranna C. Charantimath, Chairman, B.V.V.Sangha.

"Technology will only proliferate in the coming years," says Dr. Ramachandra Herkal, Principal, BEC; "Research hence becomes mandatory to know more and learn about technology and its expanding advents." Established in 1963 by the Basaveshwar Veerashaiva Vidya Vardhak Sangha (BVVS); the institute, has research support and methodologies ingrained in its foundation that allows it to function as an autonomous institution specialized in research.

Prior to reaching autonomy, the institute was bound under rigid academic processes of the affiliated university. The authorities had then faced limitations to go beyond the university curriculum to teach on par with industrial requirements. "We felt a lack of catalysis to address the gap in the synergy of academia and industry. Consequently this necessitated the faculty to take up sponsored research projects from AICTE, DRDO, CSIR, to create sophisticated instrumentation facilities and develop research environment in the institution," adds Dr. Herkal. Following this vision, in 2004, GoI initiated a scheme which had the involvement of TEQIP-I, a world bank supported project that called for autonomy upon the institutions under its wing. BEC eventually attained autonomous stature and now creates its own curriculum with its Board of Studies and delivers it with modern teaching practices.

Compiling together a magnanimous ensemble of academia and industrial insights are seen by the contribution of the faculty at BEC who deploy the latest methodologies in meeting the current requirements of the

industry through attributes like QEEE classes, Smart Classes, and Infosys Campus Connect. An active asset in the institute's trump-cards, the faculty staff are deputed to pursue their higher studies in IITs and IISc to get good exposure and develop research flavor. The devoted engagement of the staff in research work has enabled the institute to establish high quality research labs, industry supported labs where a glorious number of research papers both in national and international journals/conferences have been published.

Magnanimity of Research

A domain widely known amongst educational institutions is research where Basaveshwar Engineering College pushes its research aspirants and their efforts a notch higher, facilitating to expand their knowledge horizon. The answers to the magnanimous achievements in research at the institute are evident through its eight specialized research centers. The presence of 56+ research supervisors adds to the exemplary efficiency of producing new researchers where over 30+ doctorates have been already awarded. Currently 140+ scholars have registered for PhD programs in the campus. Specialization of the institute's research spreads across myriad realms and domains like Electronics, Computers, Physics, and various domains of technical education and caters to the requirements of the industry at a primary priority.

"The industry only recruits individuals with a higher regard of knowledge of the field and we strive to provide this adequately to our students," says V.C. Charantimath. Inculcating measures like Credit based flexible learning system, Open elective subjects, Internships in industries, Industrial visits, Industry supported projects, and Exposure to industrial automation have enabled the institute in receiving dynamic placements that have been favored by the namely giants of the corporate and IT world. The Training and Placement Cell strives to achieve a feat of producing a new dimension of engineers by organizing a number of training programs for the students of all semesters with the help of in-house experts and experts drawn from professional agencies. The activities have proved exceptionally useful in shaping the career of the placed students.

"The collaborations of Basaveshwar Engineering College have helped us in making the path of a new pipeline of

talent," says Dr. Herkal. The dynamic 29 MoUs with Industries like: GoI and GoK for Internships and Projects and other ongoing collaborative activities with IISc, IITB, IITM, IITH and NITK have act as a rigid force behind the words of the principal. The tie-up with IndiaCareer Portal stands out and deserves a special mention as India Career Portal provides career guidance to the students at BEC to assist them in their ambitions and dreams.

Facilitating students to be on the rise of tides with the current trends, Basaveshwar Engineering College is also driven by the thought to instill independence in its students. Consequently the BEC Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park (STEP) attained inception which incubates projects and promotes entrepreneurial ideas on the rising forefront. The college functions devotedly towards giving to the world a new onset of engineers equipped to take the industry by a storm. Its strong motives to work closely with highly motivated personnel who are interested to work with educational institutes to inculcate research and innovation thoughts in its students and to encourage faculty exchange programs have seen a sheer dedication by the authorities who aspire to proliferate as a premier institution in the coming years.

Veeranna C. Charantimath

He has been the Chairman, Basaveshwar Veerashaiva Vidyavardhak Sangha, Bagalkot –since January 1991. During his tenure, he has established a Hospital with 1100 beds which caters to the need of surrounding Districts with all specialties. Medical College with Under Graduate & Post Graduate Courses is running successfully. Not only with higher education but also he contributed lot with Primary education by establishing 35 Schools in villages. As the Chairman he is running successfully 121 institutes in total. Two Engineering Colleges- one at Bangalore and another at Mudhol were established during his tenure.

CA Prabhaka is a Scientist 'H' and Project Director of Cartosat – 3A and 3B Satellite Missions at ISRO Bangalore and is an alumnus of Basaweshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot. After a brief stint in Indian Telephone Industry as a Trainee Engineer, he joined the ISRO Satellite Centre in 1981 as a Systems Engineer. He was presented the ISRO's Team Excellence Award by Dr. Abdul Kalam.