Engineering

Ans. 'If you're innovative and love variety and a challenge, become an engineer and the world could be your oyster'

Engineering covers a wide range of skills and knowledge. It is a graduate profession, which means going to university to study, and when coupled with other skills, opens the door to a huge range of career possibilities. Not only the engineers are in great demand for technical services, candidates with technical expertise are in great demand for managerial functions too. An engineer with management qualifications is expected to excel in discharge of his duties as manager, particularly in construction, project and production management. Of late engineers have also been taking lion's share in the administrative services of the government. More than one third of the total selected candidates for the civil services are engineers, as is evident from the trend in recent years. Notwithstanding the above-mentioned opportunities, the engineering graduates also excel in self-employment. Be it a small industrial project, electronic business, construction activity, mechanical venture or fabrication activity, the engineers perform extremely well in their own business ventures.

An Engineer in any discipline has multifarious openings available to him/her. In the wake of new economic policy, the industrial sector is likely to grow rapidly. Industrial growth, coupled with the ensuing invasion of the multinational companies, is likely to boost the existing demand for engineers from all disciplines. This demand will be in addition to the demand for civil, mechanical and electrical engineers in and the government services, public sector and the armed forces. "Engineering is creative, it involves cutting edge technology, design and computational understanding, sound judgment, risk taking, working in a team and facing new challenges."

There are many types of engineering. Some people specialize in one particular area, but what happens most of the time is that a project will involve different types of engineer, working together in a team. Each engineer brings different skills, which enable the team to solve the problem. The main engineering branches are: Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Electronics, Computer Engineering ,Mechanical/Manufacturing, Materials, Aeronautical, Agricultural, and Mining, Nano Science & Nano Technology and Nuclear Engineering.

Ans. Are you interested in Design and Technology? Science? I.T? Mathematics?

Do you want a job which will allow you to work as part of a team but also give you the opportunity to become a project manager or even a managing director?

Do you care enough about the world to want to do something to make it a better place?

Now that you have looked through the list and you've answered 'Yes' to some or all of the questions, you really should move to take a career in engineering .However, you have to decide whether you've got what it takes to be an engineer!

There are many Engineering and Technical courses which equip the school leavers with technical and engineering skills to enable them to pursue careers in these lines. Admission to various Indian Institutes of Technology , National Institutes of Technology , Regional Engineering Colleges, Engineering Colleges, , and privately run Institutes is generally based on the merit obtained in the entrance test. Let’s have brief idea about them .

Ans. JEE enjoys the reputation of being one of the most fairly conducted examination in the world and is extremely competitive as well, attracting over 1,25,000 candidates every year. Its papers are famed for their ‘difficulty levels’ – questions in JEE are not run - of - the - mill, seeking mere plugging in of values into formulae. What the JEE paper looks for in an examinee is a thorough understanding of the fundamental coupled with the ability to think laterally, a powerful combination that can subdue even the most ominous - looking problem with an elegant solution.

And yet, all this doesn’t mean you need an IQ of 200 + to make it through JEE! These skills are the result of plain hardwork and are developed over time; tempered and honed by diligent, determined and concentrated effort. Not all the 3500 student who make it to the IITs every year get in by virtue of their ‘brilliance’ or ‘genius’; it is by sheer dint of hard work that JEE can be tackled and without this dedicated effort even the best minds can meet with failure. Of course, such work needs guidance and coaching. Nearly 15,000 students are properly trained and well prepared through such coaching centers, which means one out of four trained student is successful.

Generally, the students think that the JEE is a tough exam. In lieu, it’s a different type of examination. It requires a proper approach and orientation to the subject. IIT-JEE is a planned, analytical and strategic approach to the paper. One can get through this examination with wide range of study material provided in books in large volume. Some may get confused with massive workload and limited time. The most popular and time – tested method is to seek the help of the team of teachers who can train you to adopt the line of thinking necessary to attack JEE questions.

One need to have a well defined plan, and a course of study devised by such experienced team. This form of preparation has been found to work the best.

Generally, undue weightage to a particular subject ends in a fruitless effort by an unguided student. Hence one need to be guided by trust worthy source which could provide justified weightage to all the three subjects in order to get the best result.

“What we truly and earnestly aspire to be, that in some sense we are. The mere aspiration, by changing the frame of the mind, for the moment realizes itself.” – Anonymous.

Ans. As more and more engineers are churned out every year from the scores of colleges in the country the one name that commands immediate attention and respect is that of the IITs, which represent the dreams and ambitions of thousands of young students, who hope to be one of the select few to pass out with the tag of an 'IITian'.

But what is it that makes the IITs so special? And why is there, this frenzied rush to get into IIT?

The IITs take national importance, which play leading role in providing quality education in engineering and the sciences – an education that would train its engineers and scientist to be innovative and inventive and rank among the best in the world. Today IIT student occupy key positions in the industries in India and abroad.

— Enhancement of creativity through motivation and drive that helps to produce professionals well trained for the rigours of the job/society.

As the premier technological institutes of the country, the IITs have always endeavoured to keep our country at the forefront of technical advancement and have contributed richly to research and development. Each institute has well equipped with most modern laboratories, state - of - the - art library and computer networks. The selected candidates live in a pleasant and intellectually stimulating environment conducive to impeccable work ethos. The teaching methods rely on direct personal contact between the teacher and the students. The staff ratio at 1 : 6 ensures close contact for monitoring the academic progress of students. Living in such an environment with people having similar goals and aspirations is an exciting experience during one's academic life–and this possibly explains why so many youngsters dream of being an 'IITian'. And to choose the best among these many thousands of aspirants, is an intensely competitive selection procedure, held each year the JEE for B.Tech., M.Tech. and M.Sc. admissions.

As more and more engineers are churned out every year from the scores of colleges in the country the one name that commands immediate attention and respect is that of the IITs, which represent the dreams and ambitions of thousands of young students, who hope to be one of the select few to pass out with the tag of an 'IITian'.

But what is it that makes the IITs so special ? And why is there, this frenzied rush to get into IIT ?

The IITs take national importance, which play leading role in providing quality education in engineering and the sciences an education that would train its engineers and scientist to be innovative and inventive and rank among the best in the world. Today IIT student occupy key positions in the industries in India and abroad.

The environment at IITs is highly conducive for :

IIT	Year of Establishment	Website
Kharagpur	1950	www.iitkgp.ernet.in
Mumbai	1958	www.iitb.ac.in
Kanpur	1959	www.iitk.ac.in
Chennai	1961	www.iitm.ac.in
Delhi	1961	www.iitd.ac.in
Guwahati	1994	www.iitg.ac.in
Roorkee	2001*	www.iitr.ac.in

* The Institute began as the Thomson College of Civil Engineering in 1949 and has been declared the seventh Indian Institute of technology in 2001.

Admissions to these premier technological institutions is offered through a Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and only a selected few get an opportunity to pursue a programme to study at these institutes. The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is administered jointly by the seven IITs for the admission to the Indian Institute of Technology at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Guwahati, Roorkee, Institute of Technology, at Varanasi and Indian School of Mines at Dhanbad. Each year one of the IITs acts as the organizing institute for the overall operation of JEE. JEE is held annually in Single stage, Objective type Main Examination consisting of three separate papers in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, each of equal marks and two hours duration. Question may test the comprehension and analytical ability, alertness, approach etc. of the candidate in various aspects of the subjects.

Eligibility Criteria : (i) The candidates belonging to the general category must secure a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate in their Qualifying Examination. Candidates belonging to SC, ST and PD categories must secure a minimum of 55% marks in aggregate in the Qualifying Examination. If any Board awards only letter grades without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade sheet, the candidate should obtain a certificate from the Board specifying equivalent marks, and submit it at the time of counselling . In case such a certificate is not provided by the candidate, the decision of the Joint Implementation Committee regarding his/her eligibility shall be held final.

(ii) With effect from 2006, a candidate is allowed only two attempts to write JEE. Furthermore, he/she is allowed to write JEE only in the year in which he/she passes the qualifying examination and /or in the following year.

(iii) Candidates who join any of the IITs, IT-BHU Varanasi and ISM Dhanbad through JEE will not be permitted to appear in JEE in future.

Programme of Action (PoA), 1992 under the National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986 envisaged conduct of a common entrance examination on all India basis for admission to professional and technical programmes in the country. For admission to Engineering and Architecture / Planning programmes. Government of India has laid down a Three - Exam Scheme - JEE and AIEEE at the National Level and the State Level Engineering Entrance Examinations (SLEEE) for State Level.

This takes care of varying admission standards in these programmes and helps in maintenance of professional standards. This also solves problems of overlaps and reduces physical, mental and financial burden on students and their parents due to multiplicity for entrance examinations.

Accordingly, All India Engineering Entrance Examination(AIEEE) is conducted during second week of May. For this examination roughly 4 to 4.5 lacs candidates use to register every year. Its conducted at 763 centres located in 87 cities. Admission to 18 NITs, 9 Deemed Universities, 3 Technical Institutions, 3 Other Govt. Funded Institutions are offered through this examination. A centralized counselling is organized for filling up the All India seats. Beside these various States/Institutes use AIEEE Rank to fill seats through their own counselling.

Entrance examination would consist of two papers i.e. 1st paper consisting of three parts of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics of equal weightage with objective type questions for BE/B.Tech courses and 2nd paper - consisting of Mathematics and Aptitude Test for B. Architecture and B. Planning. Both papers are objective type with four options having single correct answer. For each incorrect response, one third of the total marks allotted to the question would be deducted. No deduction from the total score, if no response is indicated for an item in the answer sheet. More than one answer indicated against a question will be deemed as incorrect response and will be negatively marked.

The minimum academic qualification for admission through AIEEE is a pass in the final examination of 10+2 (Class XII) or its equivalent referred to as the qualifying examination. Those appearing in 10+2 final or equivalent examination may also appear in AIEEE for consideration of provisional admission.