The Higher Education Review

Dr. R. V. Ranganath

He is the principal of BMS Institute of Technology and Management. He has a B.E. in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore and has a M.Tech and PhD from IIT Delhi. Dr. Ranganath has more than 15 years of experience in the field of academy and research. He has over 40 research publications in various international, national journals and conferences/seminars and is a recipient of AICTE Career Award for Young Teachers in 1998 and "ICI-FOSROC Award for Outstanding Concrete Technologist for the year 2011" by Indian Concrete Institute.

In the technical education arena, many people still believe that IITs and NITs are the sole producers of quality workforce due to several rounds of placements that are happening in these institutions. With many MNCs on the priority list, which are followed by good number of product based companies coming in for picking talented graduates, Bangalore based, BMS Institute of Technology and Management (BMS ITM) shows that the country has many more quality institutions that can give IITs and NITs a run for their money. With names like Amazon, Texas Instruments, IBM, TCS, Cognizant and Microsoft, long is the list that have been hosting by the institutes in its campus recruitment seasons, which would last for several days. Dr. R. V. Ranganath, Principal of BMS Institute of Technology and Management says, "It is our focused vision to meet the demands of the industry with every onset of activity involved that would cater to these needs."

In order to grow by taking ever progressive footsteps, the BMS Institute of Technology and Management (BMS ITM) functions relentlessly to give a new force of manpower to the dynamic industry. The institution has formed a vast array of alliances with companies such as CENTUM Electronics, NXP Semi Conductor Private Limited ZTE Telecom India Private Limited, Texas Instruments, National Instruments

(India) Private Limited that enable students to understand the needs of the industry and become employable. "We offer our students a variety of opportunities such as research and development, training, internships and projects as we believe that by working with the industry, the existing gap between academia and the industry will be closed," says Dr. Ranganath.

The management of the institute also invites senior executives from the industry who are experts in their own field to provide an insight into the intricate workings of the industry. They provide support and exposure to the students on the current technology and trends, clarify doubts, share their experiences in the work environment and most importantly dismiss myths about the workplace. Taking a step further, the experienced executives from the companies such as KPIT, Ingersoll Rand are requested to take 15 to 20 percent of the lecture hours which help the students gain the necessary knowledge and also learn various ways to apply it practically.

"We ensure that our students interact with the industry as frequently as possible to understand the needs of the industry and highlight what shortcomings they possess which they could improve on and become industry ready professionals," says Dr. Ranganath. Some of the companies such as KPIT and Dassault Systems have provided the latest software – CATIA, Solidworks for the students and faculty to use and understand how these software are used in the industry. The faculty members at BMS ITM are encouraged to visit the industry and provide guidance in correlation to the needs of the industry.

Developing the Faculty with Industry Guidance

While faculty members can provide guidance according to the needs of the industry, numerous faculty members visit the industry to acquire more knowledge on the current trends. Dr. Ranganath says, "We send our faculty members to the industry to train themselves, who on successful completion return and provide the same training to our students which enhance the knowledge of the students tremendously." Some of the courses taught by the industry to the faculty members are Internet of Things, Automate Electronics, Analytics and others.

While this is one way of gaining knowledge, the faculty members are

encouraged to take up more research and development activities which will provide them with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and at the same time involve students in learning more and applying it in the projects that they have to complete as part of their curriculum.

Providing Solutions to the Industry through Research

Research at BMS Institution of Technology and Management (BMS ITM) has always been considered as a priority as the institute felt that with the help of research; most of the problems of the industry can be solved. With this in mind, research at the institute is offered across a wide spread of domains. In order to promote research the management has spared no expense at building the state of the art infrastructure at the BMS ITM. The management has set up a lab for 3D modeling and printing, a MAT lab and other excellent infrastructure which is a utopia for students and faculty members who wish to pursue their research projects.

Furthermore, several companies from the industry have signed MoUs with the group in order to promote research and solutions for the various problems that they face. Also, the BMS group invites Entrepreneurs and senior executives to its campuses to startup incubation centers which could help in the more active participation of students in the area research and innovation.

Apart from the industry, various research and academic organizations such as Department of Science and Technology, Naval Research, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) are providing funding for a variety of research products to be conducted at the group of institutions. Through these projects the students are able to learn new and innovative methods to provide solutions to a variety of problems.

"Above all research, we help students in understanding the importance of interdisciplinary learning, collaboration and problem solving," says Dr. Ranganath. He adds, "We ensure that the labs are not restricted to students of a single stream as we believe there is a need for a forum for learning across streams and courses." BMS Institute of Technology and Management hopes to gain its autonomy soon, achieve the Washington Accord Accreditation and become one of the top engineering institutions in the state, country and world.