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It is generally perceived that a substantial number of engineering faculty are still unaware of alternative educational methods, and many who are aware of them choose not to incorporate them into their approach to teaching. There are several likely reasons for this inertia, aside from the inevitable human resistance to change. The primary focus of imparting information is restricted to fulfilling the course requirements and, the upcoming term end examination. It is imperative to adopt a change from teaching to learning paradigm engaging the students in Higher Order Thinking Skills. Knowledge and technological advancements are changing the role of engineering and engineering faculty in the society. Engineering Education reforms need to focus on inductive teaching and stimulated learning. Students should be taught critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing engineering profession. This paper reports the study done to test and explore the faculty awareness of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the cognitive domain and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and to evaluate question papers set by engineering faculty with respect to HOTS as proposed by Bloom's Taxonomy. Various active learning strategies to enhance critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills of the students are recommended for use by the faculty in their interactions with the students.

This paper analyzes 5677 research publications that Haryana had contributed in the area of engineering science during the last ten years (2005-14). The publications data was sourced from Scopus International database. The findings reveal that Haryana achieved significantly faster growth rate in engineering science (22.59% CAGR) but witnessed low level citation impact of 4.40 citations per paper, contributed merely 20 highly cited papers, and accounted for very low share (9.79%) of international collaborative papers in its total output during 2005-14. Engineering field with 52.37% share dominated Haryana's publications output in engineering science whereas the other sub-fields (materials science, computer science, chemical engineering and energy) were distant cousins in engineering science. The top 20 most productive organizations output in Haryana had average productivity of 205.1, averaged 4.91 citations per paper, averaged h-index of 12.5, and averaged 8.68% share of international collaborative publications. The top 20 most productive authors with affiliations to Haryana had average productivity of 49.9, averaged 6.68 citations per paper, averaged h-index of 6.61, and averaged 6.51% share of international collaborative publications during 2005-14. The research papers contributed by Haryana are scattered thinly across journals given the fact that top 25 journals had accounted for as low share of 16.29%.of total output (5677) by the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research papers published by Chinese and Indian researchers during 1998-2007 and cited at least 100 times by end of 2009 are analysed. There were 776 papers with at least one author from India (amounting to 0.32% of all papers from India) and 2260 papers with at least one author from China (0.4% of all papers from China) that have gone on to be cited at least 100 times. We have identified prominent authors and institutions, journals used and fields of research. Although highly cited Chinese papers were cited on average less often than the highly cited papers from India, Chinese authors have been able to place their papers in high impact journals such as Nature and Science far more often than Indian authors. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore are the prominent Indian institutions, whereas universities in Hong Kong, Peking University, Tshing Hua University and several institutions under the Chinese Academy of Science dominate in China. In terms of citations, Chinese National Human Genome Centre Shanghai, Shanghai, tops the list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the attractiveness of graduates from Indian Polytechnics (PTs). The attractiveness is examined from the perspective of actors who have a demand for the graduates, namely companies and engineering colleges. To understand the reasons for their assessment of attractiveness, this study uses the concept of institutional logics (ILs) to unveil the inherent reasons behind the stakeholders' perception of attractiveness. To understand the stakeholders' ILs, interviews were undertaken in nine companies and 10 colleges in Mumbai and Delhi. The findings make clear that the companies' and colleges' assessments of the attractiveness of PT graduates are very different, reflecting their own ILs. Companies assess the attractiveness as limited due to the lack of employability of PT graduates. In contrast, colleges view graduates far more positively, as the weaknesses described by companies have less of an impact on them.

BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) together accounted for about 17.3% of total research papers in science and engineering published in 2011 compared to 7.6% in 1995, whereas their contribution to total doctorates produced in science and engineering in 2010 was 31.2% of the world total. India held second position in 1995 amongst BRICS countries and was behind Russia, whereas in 2011, China not only replaced Russia but also attained second position in publishing science and engineering research papers in the world, next only to USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities contribute to economic growth and national competitiveness by equipping students with higher-order thinking and academic skills. Despite large investments in university science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, little is known about how the skills of STEM undergraduates compare across countries and by institutional selectivity. Here, we provide direct evidence on these issues by collecting and analysing longitudinal data on tens of thousands of computer science and electrical engineering students in China, India, Russia and the United States. We find stark differences in skill levels and gains among countries and by institutional selectivity. Compared with the United States, students in China, India and Russia do not gain critical thinking skills over four years. Furthermore, while students in India and Russia gain academic skills during the first two years, students in China do not. These gaps in skill levels and gains provide insights into the global competitiveness of STEM university students across nations and institutional types., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Research on engineering practice is scarce and sharing of qualitative research data can reduce the effort required for an aspiring researcher to obtain enough data from engineering workplaces to draw generalizable conclusions, both qualitative and quantitative. This paper describes how a large shareable qualitative data set on engineering practices was accumulated from 350 interviews and 12 field studies performed by the principal investigator and by students conducting PhD and capstone research projects. Ethical research practice required that sharing and reuse of qualitative data be considered from the start. The researchers' interests and methods were aligned to maintain sufficient consistency to support subsequent analysis and re-analysis of data. Analysis helped to answer questions of fundamental significance for engineering educators: what do engineers do, and why are the performances of engineering enterprises so different in South Asia compared with similar enterprises in Australia? Analysis also demonstrated the overwhelming significance of technical collaboration in engineering practice. Conceiving engineering practice as a series of technical collaboration performances requires a more elaborate understanding of social interactions than is currently the case in engineering schools. Another finding is that global engineering competency could be better described in terms of "working with people who collaborate differently". Research helped to demonstrate that formal treatment of technical collaboration in an engineering curriculum could help avoid student misconceptions about engineering practice that hinder their subsequent engineering performances.

Medicine and engineering are two of the most sought after professions in India. However, despite the popularity of these two professions and structural issues in the tertiary education system, not much is known about the correlates of working as a doctor or an engineer. In this paper, we use unit-level data from a nationally representative sample to provide estimates of determinants of being employed as a doctor or an engineer. We use instrumental variable probit model to address endogeneity of own education of those working as doctors and engineers. Parental education is significantly associated with an individual being employed as a doctor or an engineer; the marginal effect for both being 25%. Females are significantly less likely to work as engineers vis-à-vis males, while it is not so in the case of doctors. There are significant caste- and religion-based variations as well as rural-urban differences. Our findings provide novel evidence on influence of parental education on career outcomes in the developing world and offer a contrast in the discourse of glaring gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, medicine) fields.

In the industrialized nation, almost every facet of our lives is permeated by technological innovation at an accelerated pace. This is especially true in the areas related to health and medicine, which has further led to the evolution of a health care system that is technologically related and capable of providing a wide range of effective therapeutic and diagnostic treatments. The application of the principles and problem-solving techniques of engineering, biology and medicine is Biomedical engineering. Biomedical engineering focuses on the advancements to improve human health at all possible levels. Biomedical engineering has emerged as a new area of research combining biology and medicine with technology, providing new designs and concepts of medical instrumentation for the diagnosis, cure and prevention of various diseases. Biomedical engineering in the last three decades has sustained growth in human resources along with the emergence of careers as graduates and postgraduates and apart from this research works, health care and technological development are some of its other aspects. The present paper will provide an insight into biomedical engineering and future scopes, specifically in India. Biomedical engineers use and apply knowledge of the modern biological principles in their designing process. A biomedical engineer can work in a wide variety of areas and disciplines. Apart from this, there are several opportunities in industries for innovations, designing and developing new techniques. In the last few years, biomedical engineering has emerged as a booming career as the area of work and research and the possibilities of innovations in this field are nearly endless. Thus, the future of biomedical engineering is tied to both the obstacles we face in the field of medical sciences and its advancements. Hence the use of the biomedical engineering method has become a necessity for human health, research and development.

This research studies the positive and negative perceptions of graduate students from the United States studying issues of sustainable electronics and electronics manufacturing in India as part of a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) curriculum. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of an online photoelicitation method, which intends to probe learning experiences from the graduate students' international experience through the use of participant-generated photographs taken during the trip. This research provides insight on the importance of international learning experiences in graduate-level engineering education and the value of non-traditional formats of graduate student learning. This research exemplifies the use of this novel method in research and educational assessment of non-traditional learning environments, as well as offers interested engineering educators guidelines to implementing this technique in their individual contexts.

Irrespective of the branch of study, practical/laboratory courses are integral parts of engineering curriculum. These courses develop the knowledge, skill and attitude of the graduates. It is thus necessary to frame the laboratory experiments, to create a student centric learning environment and to have suitable assessment methodologies to enhance the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills of the engineering students. This paper proposes a framework of the above three from the authors' perspective for a software laboratory. The proposed framework can be extended to the laboratory/practical with suitable modifications in the Course Outcomes. Also in this paper, a methodology is proposed for converting the scales into marks and also the formula for calculating the marks under various heads (record, viva voce and experiment) is given. Rubrics are defined for the Performance Indicators (PIs) as specified in the Examination Reform Policy of AICTE for the Program Outcomes (POs defined by National Board of Accreditation (NBA), India). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The environmental challenges of digitalization, globalization, and industrialization, which are growing at a fast pace, require serious attention. As a result, the old structures of the education system established in pre-independent India and in place during most of the twentieth century are now required to undergo drastic changes. The introduction of ICT and knowledge management systems (KMSs) in Indian education for achieving these new visions would require enormous changes in the system. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the perception of teachers about KM orientation in Indian engineering institutions in the National Capital Region and to propose a conceptual model to assess KM orientation in private engineering institutes in India. Design/methodology/approach: Research data were collected using a questionnaire from teachers of private engineering colleges of the National Capital Region in India. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed to the teachers in private engineering colleges of the National Capital Region in Ghaziabad covering about ten private engineering colleges in the region. The validity of the constructs was assessed by means of factor analysis and the reliability of the scales was judged using Cronbach's a. Findings: Factor analysis produced five factors of KM orientation after deleting those items with a factor loading of less than 0.50. The results indicate that five attributes: i.e. knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination, leadership, culture and technology: are important dimensions of knowledge management orientation in engineering institutions. Research limitations/implications: This paper can provide reflections and inputs to other technical institutions for developing a successful knowledge management framework. Practical implications: The paper reveals the knowledge infrastructure and resources used by Indian engineering institutions as a benchmark for better performance. Originality/value: From an examination of the literature, only a few studies of application of knowledge management in engineering colleges have been reported in India, which reveals that KM as a tool in higher education has not received much attention. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether there is any change in the attitude of students towards English Language Learning (ELL) when they come for college education after completing the school education. The transformation in the attitude of students from school to college was examined in terms of marks, interest towards English language, self- motivation to learn the language, participation in the class, understanding the importance of English in securing a job and learner-centred language teaching methods that ensure more freedom to the learners. About 52 first year Mechanical Engineering students from Tamil medium stream took part in this research. To examine their shift in attitude towards ELL, an attitude questionnaire was administered and a semi-structured interview was conducted. The findings of the study indicated that there was a significant shift in their attitude towards ELL at their college level.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify how undergraduate engineering students differ in their perception about software services companies in India based on variables like gender, locations of the college and branches of engineering. Design/methodology/approach: Data obtained from 560 undergraduate engineering students who had the opportunity to have multiple job offers from four major Indian software services companies through campus recruitment drives were analyzed. Chi-square test, cross tabulation and multi-nominal regressions were performed to test hypotheses. Findings: Decisions of engineering students with respect to their first-career choice are mostly influenced by intrinsic reasons than extrinsic or interpersonal reasons. While male students are greatly influenced by intrinsic reasons, female students are more influenced by extrinsic reasons. Students belonging to different locations and different branches of engineering have varying reasons for accepting a job offer. Research limitations/implications: Findings of this paper cannot be generalized as it involves students from only three engineering colleges in south India. A survey involving students from different strata across India would enable scholars to capture more insight into the perceptions of engineering students towards the Indian software services industry. Practical implications: Knowledge about the perceptions of engineering graduates towards software services companies in India based on gender, location of the college and the branch of engineering to which students belong, can help human resource managers, entrepreneurs in software services industry and career counselors to strategize human resource practices. Originality/value: Many studies have been conducted to identify what employers expect from engineering graduates whereas there is a dearth of articles that investigate perceptions of engineering students with respect to their first-career choice. This study conducts this bottom-up approach wherein different expectations of prospective employees are analysed. (Contains 8 tables.)

Engineering education in India has witnessed a major change over the past few years. Substantial increase in the demand for high-quality education has led to the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies for extending the outreach of education. This paper presents a review of some of these technology-enhanced initiatives already taken up by the government of India, as well as by some of the leading institutions in the country. Important developments include the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), the use of an educational satellite called the EDUSAT and various other approaches such as the use of "virtual classrooms" and "virtual laboratories." The paper goes on to discuss some of the problem areas in the present mode of dissemination and deployment; some possible future trends and modalities are also outlined. These include blending collaborative learning with interactive technology-enhanced learning initiatives and finding ways of providing support for learners' queries. (Contains 1 note.)

This paper summarizes the phenomenon of offshore outsourcing and relates it to the history and current state of engineering education and the engineering profession in Europe and the USA. In order to assess the climate affecting employment decisions by and about engineers we have used as sources mostly the serious press, with an emphasis on material dating from 2004 forward. The authors conclude that despite anxiety about the out-migration of engineering and technical jobs to places such as India and China, there is reason to see offshoring as the result of Western investment in capacity building in developing countries and to believe that the creation of new jobs will outpace the rate of job loss in Europe and the USA. The paper should serve as a prod to policy-makers and educators to set about creating an environment in which highly educated engineers and technical employees can continue a pattern of economic revitalization.

The growth of the Indian IT industry has been of great interest to the international IT community. Nearly one third of fresh Indian engineering graduates are currently joining the IT industry irrespective of their specialization. The success of the Indian IT industry, however, has not been yet been leveraged for developing India as a preferred destination for engineering education, even in the disciplines related to information technology. Internationally, reforms in engineering education have a long but slow history. Last decade saw an increasing recognition of the need for the transformation of engineering education. Many accreditation agencies have even transformed their accreditation criteria in the last few years from a resource-based approach to an outcome-based approach. This paper collates recommendations about core competencies for engineering graduates by NSF, National Academy of Engineers (NAE), Engineering Professor's Council (EPC), and authors like Felder, Bordogna, and others. It brings together the contemporary prescriptions of accreditation agencies in US, UK, Australia, Singapore, and Japan and also the recommendations made by ACM, IEEE, and other professional bodies with specific reference to various IT related disciplines. These accreditation agencies, NAE, IEEE, ACM, other professional agencies, and researchers have identified a number of core competencies as essential attributes of graduating engineers. There are great similarities in these recommendations that are now being increasingly used for enhancing the quality of engineering education. However, in order to further enhance the value of engineering education, it is proposed that "ability to create wealth, self-sufficiency and a sense of well being through successful engineering enterprise, ability to assist others through philanthropic donation," and "ability to work in multi-location teams" may also be added to the list of recommended competencies, especially at the master's level. Based on Marzano's (1993) "Dimensions of Learning," a three dimensional taxonomy of competencies has been proposed to categorize the recommended competencies along the three dimensions of "attitudes and perceptions, productive habits of mind," and "meaningful usage, extension, and acquisition of knowledge." This taxonomy is projected to have the flexibility to suit varying and emerging needs. The paper then presents current accreditation criteria practiced by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), the accreditation agency in India. The accreditation criterion of NBA continues to be based on the traditional resource-based approach. Recommendations by National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and the Indian Government task force set up to examine the human resource challenge for IT and IT enabled Services (ITeS) sector have been briefly discussed. Both of these agencies have underrated some skills such as "spoken English," "creativity," and "team working" and have categorised them as desirable rather than necessary. The accreditation criteria of NBA and also some recommendations of NASSCOM and the Indian Government task force are not in alignment with the contemporary global perspectives on this issue. The Indian engineering education sector can tremendously help the Indian IT industry to make a much larger contribution in higher value-added markets. It needs to focus on competence building by transforming its traditional teaching, learning, and assessment processes. This focus will also help in leveraging Indian IT industry's success for developing India as a preferred destination for engineering education at least in selected disciplines related to information technology. Further, faculty's unfamiliarity and inexperience with real life engineering projects as well as research on learning also need urgent attention in order to meet these objectives. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Out of the four fundamental interactions in nature, electromagnetics is one of them along with gravitation, strong interaction and weak interaction. The field of electromagnetics has made much of the modern age possible. Electromagnets are common in day-to-day appliances and are becoming more conventional as the need for technology increases. Electromagnetism has played a vital role in the progress of human kind ever since it has been understood. Electromagnets are found everywhere. One can find them in speakers, doorbells, home security systems, anti-shoplifting systems, hard drives, mobiles, microphones, Maglev trains, motors and many other everyday appliances and products. Before diving into the education system, it is necessary to reiterate its importance in various technologies that have evolved over time. Almost every domain of social life has electromagnetic playing its role. Be it the mobile vibrators you depend upon, a water pump, windshield wipers during rain and the power windows of your car or even the RFID tags that may ease your job during shopping. A flavor of electromagnetics is essential during primary level of schooling for the student to understand its future prospects and open his/her mind to a broad ocean of ideas. Due to such advancements this field can offer, study on such a field is highly beneficial for a developing country like India. The paper presents the scenario of electromagnetic education in India, its importance and numerous schemes taken by the government of India to uplift and acquaint the people about the importance of EM and its applications.

The paper discusses a comparative study of h and g indices of prominent scientists from India in five selected subject fields viz. Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Engineering and Medicine. It throws light on various indices proposed by different scientists from 2006 to 2015. The analysis of the present study is based on publications and citations data extracted from the Web of Science for the time span 1999-2014. It is evident from the study that almost all authors' g-index is higher than that of h-index. The average g/h of all subjects' authors is around 1.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intent of the study presented in this paper is to show that the model of problem-based learning (PBL) can be made scalable by designing curriculum around a set of open-ended problems (OEPs). The detailed statistical analysis of the data collected to measure the effects of traditional and PBL instructions for three courses in Electronics and Communication Engineering, namely Analog Electronics, Digital Electronics and Pulse, Digital & Switching Circuits is presented here. It measures the effects of pedagogy, gender and cognitive styles on the knowledge, skill and attitude of the students. The study was conducted two times with content designed around same set of OEPs but with two different trained facilitators for all the three courses. The repeatability of results for effects of the independent parameters on dependent parameters is studied and inferences are drawn.

Developing nations including Bangladesh are significantly lagging behind the millennium development target due to the lack of science, technology and engineering education. Bangladesh as a least developing country has only 44 engineers per million people. Its technological education and gross domestic product growth are not collinear. Although limited progress was made in humanities, basic sciences, agriculture and medical sciences, a vast gap is left in technical and engineering education. This paper describes the present condition of engineering education in the country and explores ways to improve engineering education in order to meet the national as well as global skills demand. (Contains 3 tables and 7 figures.)

A comprehensive survey on the Internet based virtualisation of experiments is presented, covering several individual as well as collaborative efforts in various engineering disciplines. From this survey it could be concluded that there is a pressing need to develop full-fledged remote laboratory experiments for integrated directly into engineering curricula. The paper subsequently summarises the experiences of authors during the design, evolution and implementation of virtualisation for a number of engineering experiments, enabling these to be accessed through the Internet as virtual experiments. It also covers the features required to give the "feel" of performing experiments, inclusion of learning components, incorporation of easy navigation, testing of effectiveness of learning, and development of useful feedback mechanisms. A detailed feedback analysis from prospective learners is presented on the effectiveness of the virtual laboratory.

The development of integrated, portable, transformer condition monitoring (TCM) equipment for classroom demonstrations as well as for student exercises conducted in the field is discussed. Demonstrations include experimentation with real-world transformers to illustrate concepts such as polarization and depolarization current through oil-paper composite insulation. The developed equipment has also been used to understand and illustrate the phenomenon of recovery voltage. Finally, the portability and robustness of the equipment enables students to collect data from transformers installed on-site for the purpose of validating the nature of curves obtained in real-world environments. (Contains 9 figures and 2 tables.)

The growth of technological institutions in India has been exponential and supply has exceeded demand in the job market. Against this background, it is a social responsibility of universities to provide alternative career options for engineering graduates. To encourage entrepreneurship careers among engineering graduates, the Visvesvarayya Technological University (VTU) in India introduced a compulsory course on "Management and Entrepreneurship" for all engineering students in their pre-final year. This paper reports on a study undertaken to identify the entrepreneurial competencies and self-employment intentions of these pre-final year students so that appropriate training could be provided in their final year. An Entrepreneurial Competencies Index (ECI) and a Self-Employment Intentions Index (SEI) were developed and, by mapping the ECI with the SEI, prospective entrepreneurs were identified as those who scored high in both competencies and intention. Using correlation coefficients and chi-square tests of relationships, it is shown that demographics have little influence on entrepreneurial competencies. The results of the study enable entrepreneurship educators to identify specific training needs and thus to design a competency-based curriculum for entrepreneurship education. (Contains 17 tables.)

Purpose: This paper seeks to examine whether the primary factors motivating the career plans of high-achieving Indian adolescents vary between academic specializations. Particular attention is to be paid to differences between science and business students. Design/methodology/approach: The study surveyed approximately 2,700 secondary school students in South India regarding their academic and career plans and their perceptions of business compared with science. Survey results were analyzed using both descriptive techniques and multinomial logistic regression. Findings: Students perceive business to be comparable with, but not superior to, science and engineering. The proportion of students choosing business over science increased among males and in some more economically developed cities. Engineering students were most likely to cite parents as a major influence, while business students more often pointed to salary and career prospects. Research limitations/implications: The study's scope was limited to South India. Greater geographic coverage could broaden the generalizability of the results. Practical implications: The increasing desirability of formal business education can give rise to a stronger entrepreneurial base and greater business development in India. Furthermore, improved management skills in the Indian workforce can attract higher value-added offshore work from multinational corporations. Originality/value: The existing literature contains little empirical research directly comparing business students with their peers in science and engineering, with no such study previously conducted in India. The results shed light on what attracts students to each track and can inform policy aimed at encouraging further enrollment in specific fields. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)

Tamarind is widely consumed as fruit and spices in India. Tamarind contains pulp, seeds, shell and fibres. The pulp, which makes up between 30 and 50% of the mature fruit, is rich in reducing sugars, pectin, protein, fiber, and cellulose substances. Study of various physical engineering properties such as moisture content, fruit size, length, width, thickness, and weight (pulp, seed, shell, etc.) is important for designing the post-harvest machineries of tamarind. Major unit operations for processing of tamarind includes drying, dehulling, deseeding, pressing and storage. Traditional and mechanical approaches are used for these operations. Mechanical approaches of tamarind processing are carried out by dehuller and deseeder machinery. One of the crucial unit procedures in the processing of tamarind is deseeding which can be done by deseeder, mechanically. Processing of raw tamarind into value-added goods may increase its worth in addition to increase in shelf life. Additionally, it boosts the income of producers and processors. Value added products of tamarind are pulp, tamarind juice concentrate, tamarind pulp powder, tamarind pickle, tamarind jam, tamarind syrup, tamarind candy, tamarind kernel powder, dried fruit block, tamarind chutney and beverages. Tamarind is also rich in major amino acids phytochemicals and hence it carries the properties of antidiabetic, antibacterial, antivenomic, antioxidant. This paper provides an overview of the engineering properties, processing technologies, value added products, technologies and machineries developed/available for tamarind and its health benefits which will further help in machinery, protocol, technology and product design and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outcome-based education (OBE) by Washington Accord (WA) promises to improve the technical education system by clarifying expectations for students and focussing assessment on specific learning outcomes for better measurement of student achievements. Numerous publications describe the process and results of OBE implementation in India. This article is a meta-analysis of research articles documenting the OBE efforts made by Indian engineering institutes. The study implements the established objective approached based reviewing technique. A rubric comprising seven distinct measurements was applied to assess critically selected articles. The detailed assessment indicates that there is a lack of empirical validation of the results obtained by the researchers. The papers were also found to lack a consistent understanding of CO-PO mapping. Hence, there is a clear research gap of statistical validation of the results using pre and postimplementation data for a given improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper is an analytical study of factors impacting Hi-Tech intrapreneurs performance in India. The study involved a conscious, non-probability sampling method of data collection from pre-defined set of engineers working on innovative ideas in IT companies. In all, 253 respondents participated in survey (72.3% comeback rate) out of 350 respondents. The data response was neatened to consider sample of 232 Hi-tech engineer intrapreneur's (Persons working in an Organisation with Entrepreneurial Orientation) working in India. Hi-tech intrapreneurs performance was assessed on factors like visionary leadership, self-efficacy, innovative work behaviour. Inferential statistics including non-parametric tests like Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests conducted to shed significant light on the underlying patterns, trends, and differences in engineering intrapreneur's perception/performance on visionary leadership, general self-efficacy and innovative work behaviour. The results showed that Hi-Tech Intrapreneurs were higher on innovative work behaviour (mean = 5.7984) than visionary leadership (mean = 3.7636) and general self-efficacy (mean = 3.3858). There was significant evidence of difference in ranking of importance by intrapreneurs regarding innovative work behaviour, visionary leadership and general self-efficacy. Hi-tech intrapreneurs exhibited low self-risk taking ability and rare expertise practise in organisations. This will enable and improve entrepreneurial effectiveness and innovative performance within organisations. This paper depicts originality as it contributes towards a blend of new and old literature review on the research dimensions. It provides a more contemporary relevance of significant differences in engineer intrapreneurs performance and capabilities for innovativeness in organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation and optimization of multi-criteria with multiple alternatives have been essential activities for decision-making process. TOPSIS (Technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution), a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique, has been adopted in the past for research & decision-making and ranking of alternatives by optimizing input parameters to get the maximum overall output from the system. This study aims to explore the context, reasons, and particular advantages of using TOPSIS in the materials science and engineering field for realizing goals of competitive supply chains (SCs). This study has reviewed and analyzed research papers from the approach of systematic review of the literature. This study has presented a conceptual framework to emphasize the antecedents and consequences of using the TOPSIS methodology for output optimization in the materials science and engineering industry that can improve the competitiveness of SCs. This study found that TOPSIS based methodologies have been used in eleven types of industries in India, indicating the prowess of TOPSIS methodology. The results of TOPSIS have compared very well with other MCDM methods that are relatively more difficult and cumbersome. This study will help the engineers, practitioners, academicians, researchers, and SC managers with the application approach of TOPSIS for output optimization in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a novel power system laboratory at Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya (B.V.M.) Engineering College, Gujarat, India, where every experiment was designed, wired and commissioned through senior design projects. The experiments on power system protection are especially unique in terms of their design and implementation and will be highlighted in this paper. They provide a real substation-like operating environment. Through these projects, the students, in addition to getting familiar with the fundamentals of protection, learned how different protection schemes are wired and how they operate in a real power system. For the institute, a quality laboratory was established at a low cost, which is a crucial issue for most colleges in many parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate education plays a vital role in the career path of any Individual, be it in professional or nonprofessional program. Specifically, Technical Education demands a balance of practical exposure with Theoretical knowledge acquired by the students. In the previous years, this type of education which enables the student to spend part of his graduation period in Industry is abysmal in India. The system of Technical Education understands the role of Industry in a student growth in technical Education. In the present scenario of student centric learning where outcome based education is playing a vital role, Industry exposure will enable the students to understand the concepts he actually learns in classroom. This will help the institution to develop core engineering students. This paper gives a detailed study on the impact of Industry collaborative activities in the institution. The Under graduate students who have performed these activities were impacted directly in the form of placements. The students are from core engineering stream like Electronics and Communications Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Electrical and Electronics Engineering. The students were involved in the activities like projects, internships and Industrial visits through the Industry Institute Interaction cell in the author's Institution. The paper shows the complete 3 year data and the impact of each activity in the core engineering departments thoroughly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature available on the academic performance of students in higher education is sparse, particularly in India. Limited research exists that precisely examines the academic performance of engineering students and the factors that contribute to their success. Utilising primary survey data of2288 fourth-year engineering students in Delhi, this paper specifically examines how the academic performance (Measured by Cumulative Grade Point Average) of students from socially disadvantaged caste groups (SC/ST and OBC) varies in India and what factors determine this. In this context, the study revealed a considerable performance gap among engineering students of different social groups. Especially, the findings indicate a significant gender and caste disparity in academic performance in engineering education. Females exhibited about 16.5 per cent lower performance compared to males, and SC/ST students demonstrated around 38 per cent lower performance in comparison to their OBC counterparts. We find that various aspects of the socio-economic background and factors related to the educational environment such as the type of institution, scholarships, and past academic experiences, are significantly determining the academic performance of engineering graduates from socially backward caste groups. Given the poor linkage between engineering education and the labour market, the findings of the study have considerable policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian IT industry has a major footprint globally and is contributing substantially to Indian economy. To cope up with the global challenge of skill and capacity availability, Indian IT industry is looking up for "ready-to-deploy" skills. Due to growing competition, there is huge cost pressure on the IT industry and hence industry is largely dependent on graduate / post graduate fresher talent. To achieve this, there is large dependency on how industry and academics are connected to work jointly to meet the goal of onboarding "ready-to-deploy" talent. Industry needs to work closely with academics by means of spelling out the skills which they expect from fresher talent as well as work with academics to share their practical knowledge and experience. As per UGC data as of February 2017, India had 789 universities, 37,204 colleges and 11,443 stand-alone institutions which is highest in the world in terms of number of education institutes. Survey conducted by NASSCOM in 2011 showcased that 75% of IT graduates are not employed. Considering the issue faced by todays engineering fresher, this paper aims at highlighting current and future initiatives to bridge the gaps between academics and industry by means of research and development driving governance of academics with special focus on engineering colleges, developing centre of excellence which will help academicians to cope up with changing needs of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roads are one of the major contributing factors for the economic and social enhancement of any country. Its importance further increases if the economy of a country is based on agriculture. From the total land area of India, more than 20% is covered with soils having high swelling and shrinkage potential and low strength. Any type of construction over such soils will not last long due to subsidence and crack formation. So, in order to overcome such situations, some soil stabilization techniques have to be adopted, since removal and replacement will lead to heavy economic burden. This paper presents the effect of adding rice husk ash (RHA) and stone dust on various index and engineering properties of weak soil. Various doses of RHA (5, 10 and 20%) along with 6% cement and stone dust (10, 20, 30 and 40%) are used for stabilization. Tests are carried out to determine consistency limits, specific gravity, differential free swell, compaction characteristics and soaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR). Test results indicated significant reduction in swelling potential and improvement in CBR value of soil, thus decreasing the thickness requirement of pavement and saving costly base and sub-base aggregate materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND:This paper studies the impact of musical religious songs (hymns) for managing stress of Indian Engineering students through Galvanic Skin Response (GSR). OBJECTIVE: The objective of the paper is to find out, whether listening to hymns is able to reduce the value of GSR. METHODS: Sample students were selected through initial screening and the students who reported high mental stress during the interview were selected for the main drills. All the readings were taken using a GSR meter. Statistical t-test was used for the purpose of hypothesis testing. RESULTS: The study examines the relation between GSR and stress. The results indicated that listening to hymns had a significant effect on the value of GSR. The results highlight that GSR decreased at t = 300 seconds for the experimental group, who listened to hymns, as compared to control group (not exposed to the same). CONCLUSION: It is recommended that, this amazingly effortless and yet highly efficient traditional technique of listening to hymns be made a part of student's routine curriculum. The paper aims at spreading awareness of listening to hymns as one of the modes of Stress Management amongst Indian Engineering Students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - There has been an exponential proliferation of higher engineering educational institutions in India. The purpose of this paper is to seek to investigate students' perceptions of the level of Commitment of Top Management and Leadership (CTML) and Education Service Design and Delivery (ESDD) in Government Run Engineering Colleges (GREC), Privately Funded Engineering Colleges (PFEC) and Privately Funded Deemed Universities (PFDU) in India. The paper also strives to find out the significant predictors of Overall Engineering Education Excellence (OEEE). Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual model has been developed linking Total Quality Management (TQM) elements and OEEE. The data were obtained from a survey of 992 students of higher engineering institutions in South India and analyzed using SPSS. Findings - Significant differences among GREC, PFEC and PFDU were noticed in several TQM dimensions under study, and also in OEEE. The findings show correlation between the seven TQM variables and OEEE. CTML made a significant contribution toward attaining OEEE. Campus Facilities and Congenial Learning Environment also contributed greatly to OEEE. Research limitations/implications - The sample is limited to engineering institutions in a particular geographical area of India. Related study with a global perspective can be taken up in the future. Practical implications - The comparative analysis of higher engineering institutions as well as the results of the investigative study of the impact of TQM on overall engineering educational excellence will prove useful to academic leadership. Originality/value - The research framework presented in this paper is valuable to the top managements of higher engineering institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to ascertain: first, India's public policy support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for external technology acquisition (ETA); second, objectives of SMEs for ETA; and third, factors which induced them to obtain their first ETA. Design/methodology/approach -- Public policy is examined through survey of literature, whereas objectives and factors influencing first ETAs by SMEs are analyzed based on primary data collected from 64 SMEs in Bangalore. Objectives of ETAs are analyzed descriptively whereas factors which facilitated/hindered early ETAs are examined through Cox regression analysis. Findings -- Public policy for ETAs by SMEs includes technology information, assistance and fiscal incentives. The technology focus of these SMEs has been shifting from conventional lathes to computer numerical control (CNC) machines. Most of the SMEs have gone for technology up-gradation with the objective of improving product quality, scale expansion, and meeting customer demand. Majority of these SMEs have obtained their first ETA within six years of their inception. Firm level factors have significantly influenced the time taken by these SMEs for their first ETAs. Overall, when technology is well developed and easily accessible, SMEs would hardly look for external support for ETAs. Research limitations/implications -- The shifting technology focus from conventional lathes to CNC machines is a welcome development, which is driven by the need for "competitiveness enhancement". Since there is no major obstacle for ETAs, policy makers may focus more on providing SMEs with market information and market developments. Practical implications -- The shifting technology focus from conventional lathes to CNC machines in Indian SMEs is a welcome development, which is largely driven by the need for better product quality, scale expansion and customer demand, and internal factors played a crucial role in the time taken by these SMEs in accomplishing their first ETA. As such there is no major obstacle for these SMEs in going for ETAs since technology suppliers are available at the door-step and finance is available from the banks. Therefore, policy makers may focus more on providing SMEs with market information and market developments in the domestic as well as international market. Originality/value -- This is a first attempt to examine public policy, objectives and factors influencing SMEs for ETAs in India, after 1991. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ramakrishnan, B.; Gavali, M., and Jeyaraj, S., 2024. Comprehensive analysis of siltation behavior in the navigation channel of Deendayal Port (India): Field observations, numerical modeling, and engineering solutions. Journal of Coastal Research, 40(1), 138–149. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Deendayal Port, formerly Kandla Port, is one of India's busiest ports, with a deep inland navigation channel that facilitates easy trade but has been plagued by siltation issues for decades because of the hydromorphodynamic characteristics of this region. This study aims to understand the siltation behavior in the port's navigation channel through field observations and numerical modeling and to suggest suitable engineering solutions. The in situ observations of tidal levels, currents, suspended sediment concentration, and multitemporal bathymetry datasets are used to calibrate a numerical model, developed using Delft3D, to estimate the hydromorphodynamics. As an engineering solution, porous barriers of different lengths and layouts are introduced in the numerical model to minimize siltation along the sides of the channel. It is observed that placing three porous barriers has reduced the siltation by 46 to 56% in the main navigation channel leading to the port. In practice, these porous barriers could be a silt curtain–type structure, which has successfully been adopted in several ports across the globe as an effective siltation stopper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent initiative at Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, India, has resulted in setting up a program called Centre for Environment Studies and Socioresponsive Engineering which seeks to involve undergraduate students in studying and solving environmental problems in and around the city of Hyderabad, India. Two pilot projects have been undertaken--one focusing on design and construction of an eco-friendly house, The Natural House, and another directed at improving environmental and general living conditions in a slum area. The paper describes our attempts and experience of motivating our students to take interest in such projects. In an interesting development we invited a member of a student-faculty team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) that is doing a project in Nepal on safe drinking water. We report in our paper how the presentation by the guest from M.I.T. served as a catalyst for generating interest among civil and mechanical engineering students in our own projects. The paper includes contributions from one of our students and the M.I.T. staff member, reporting on their experiences related to the slum development project. We also discuss the Natural House project and its international and educational significance as a means of inculcating sensitivity and interest in nature among engineering students. We propose a pledge for engineers similar to the Hippocratic Oath for medical professionals.

Engineering, particularly in India, is a very technical form of education, with very little emphasis on social science and liberal arts related subjects. It produces a large number of quality engineers from different institutions every year, who are highly capable of solving engineering problems in their chosen fields, but quite often find its difficult to effectively participate in the developmental activities in the country as they are unable to comprehend correctly the societal needs. The present society and the education system do not provide enough opportunities to explore nature and the society at large and thus quite often, the experts in various engineering fields become isolated and are unable to understand the real needs of the people. One option to bridge the gap is to introduce a few humanities, social sciences and ethics related courses in the engineering curricula. The paper discusses various possible methods to implement such a plan, evaluates them and concludes that at this point of time, the most appropriate solution would be to make these topics in-built into the engineering subjects. However, in order to implement this, the engineering professionals must get convinced about the need and the initiative should come from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper depicts the findings of the survey research covering 65 engineering institutions which are recognised as research centres in the state of Karnataka, India. Responses have been sought from research supervisors and research scholars as to the extent of the use of obsolete grey collections. Opinions have also been captured from the chief librarians of the 65 research institutions as regards the ways of managing the obsolete grey literature. The following are the areas covered in the study in respect of obsolete grey resources available in these 65 research libraries. • Demand for GL in engineering sciences and technology • Grey Literature collection in English and Foreign languages • Process of weeding-out of obsolete grey literature • Reasons for weeding out of old GL collections • Extent of the use of old GL collections • Weeding-out vis-à-vis Relegation of obsolete GL collections. The study was undertaken during 2007-2010 with the objective of understanding the pattern of obsolescence and the method followed in the libraries to manage the old GL collections in the engineering research institutions. The findings also project the practical methods followed by various libraries as to the weeding out process. Importance of old collections of GL for research vis-à-vis weeding out process adopted by the libraries have been depicted in the study based on the opinions exposed by 1270 researchers, which account for 84.6% of the total population. The summary or core of findings eventually shows that 66.4% of the research supervisors and research scholars hold the view that old collection of GL is of vital source for their research and has to be retained along with active collection in the libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become the key word of developing world and it's evident in many issues, the growing economy is facing nowadays. Sustainability is the need of the hour for Indian economy to support our future generation with a cleaner, safer environment. Legal framework implemented by governing bodies such as Pollution control board is also supporting the implementation of sustainable development by new enforcements introduced then and there, but it is questionable about the effectiveness of this frameworks. Most of the enforcements are focusing to imply the sustainability in industries or equivalent organizations but not putting thrust on all polluting bodies, educational institutions are one among them. Recent growth in educational scenario in India had increased the number of educational institutions to a large extent, also increased the effect on environment by their activities. Growth of educational sector and the number of institutions catering various fields of education is needed for India but the growth should be optimized in a way such that it's sustainable and eco friendly. Various methods are developed recently to find out the exact problems associated with the environment, Geograpchial Information System (GIS) is one among them taking a big leap in the recent years in the area of environmental problem identification. This paper provides the details of the environmental impacts of educational institutions with case studies and also suggests a sustainable framework to make them environmental friendly by the use of (GIS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC), an organ of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, promotes research in new and emerging areas of science and engineering by way of extending financial support to different agencies. During the financial year 1999-2000, SERC provided financial support amounting to approximately Rs 551 million to 270 project investigators in various disciplines of science and engineering. The present article examines the publication output of these investigators using SCI CD-ROM for the years 2000-02 and the citations received by these papers during 2000-03. Activity and attractivity profile of different agencies in different disciplines and their impact based on different impact indicators like citation per paper and relative quality index have been studied. The article also examines the communication behaviour of these investigators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic growth plan is a road map of an institute looking for its continuous and sustainable development over certain time duration. Measuring the constant and sustainable growth of any higher and technical educational institute, the strategic goal plan is the blueprint focused towards achieving the vision and mission of the institute. The strategies in terms of short and long term goals, measured through performance indicators of academics, administration, finance, research and extension activities need to be identifies, defined, worked on it and should be monitored and evaluated against target settings. This article presents the Strategic Educational Growth Plan of K J Somaiya Institute of Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India an higher and technical engineering institute in the era of Emerging Areas of Science and Technologies. The comprehensive suggestions and involvement of all the stakeholders of institute for realizing strategic growth plan has showed that the use of emerging areas of science and technologies, if incorporated in the development of the institute, can contributing at large, the growth of the nation. The proved practices of working on nationwide initiatives in healthcare, education, agriculture etc under the targeted sustainable growth of the institute has set a remark in the education sector which can adopted as a guideline by other developing engineering institutes in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]