Dr. Geetha. K. S is the Professor and Head of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, R V College of Engineering, Bangalore. She has over 29 years of experience with leadership roles in the development of quality technical education and infrastructure at RVCE Institute. In her interview she tells why aiming for the future is the most important aspect of education. She takes us through her journey and how the education domain has to constantly undergo changes. She goes on to describe the effectiveness of having the best in the field with good faculty and curriculum. 

R V College of Engineering

What is the latest program that you are offering in your institute?

“A UG curriculum of ECE that involves the latest Courses like Mixed Signal IC design, System on Chip Design, LTE and 4G”

We at RVCE were updating the curriculum every 4 years till 2016, but looking back with the advancements in the technologies, we update it every two years. We want our students to have the most relevant knowledge as they go ahead. For example, the implementation of LTE,4G and Concepts of 5G is relatively new but we have started teaching about it at the ECE department. We understand its relevance and importance. I believe this is what makes our students stand out. We know that the Semiconductor industry is going to boom in the coming few years, hence courses like Mixed Signal IC design, SOC Design would equip our students to become industry-ready. 

What are the factors that make this program the best for the students to opt for?

“A unique collaboration of various topics such as AI, ML, DBMS, etc”

When it gets compared with CSE and ISE, I feel that ECE is one such branch that will equip you with widespread competitiveness. It allows you to handle the issues of hardware and software with its co-existence. We have abreast ourselves with the knowledge of basic coding, which is required for Python. It includes database management systems and data structures with Java. We have also added machine learning and AI into the learning process. Our signal processing comes along with ML, and we also have electives of deep learning AI. 

What would you say are the “best practices” in the course you’re offering?

“Dynamic teaching and learning pedagogy”

As we want to provide the best for our students, I would like to mention one particular course that we provide, Analog and mixed-mode VLSI. Only a handful of colleges and universities offer this course during the fourth semester. Essentially, this course is intended for students who have completed all their fundamental courses and are ready to take on some advanced concepts. Today, engineers must be able to blend the analog and digital worlds. This particular course introduces students to how it should be done. We have, in fact, experimented with new teaching and learning methodologies that include Project-based learning, peer learning(higher semester students teaching the lower semester students) which ensures active learning in students.

Check R V College of Engineering Courses & Fees

How does the program ensure that students are being prepared for the future?

“Students are prepared with a wide range of skills and subjects”

At the institute, we plan on teaching a few electives by industry professionals. A number of companies have signed memoranda of understanding here, so we have a lot of active collaborations with well-known and reputed MNCs. Recently, Samsung has expressed a willingness to host an elective through them. These industry interactions and sessions will equip our students to work effortlessly in the future and become top professionals.

How do you tend to build an industry connected with this program?

“Academic tie-ups, MoU’s and interactive sessions” 

In order to build relationships with industry, we teach and connect with students. Additionally, our department has two centres of excellence. We are involved in the field of microelectronics. In order to develop conducting material, we are developing flexible substrates. We manufacture sensors of this type in-house. Our focus is on wearable sensors. ECE is also working toward building a centre of excellence for smart antennas and their measurements. We also have tie-ups with Rohde and Schwarz. 

What are the benefits and career options after pursuing this course?

“Opportunities in ECE domain with companies like Qualcomm, Intel, Nokia”

Many of these students are being placed in leading companies like Qualcomm, Intel, Nokia and many others. With the wide range of options, we have quite a few to choose from. Several companies are visiting our campus and hiring our students. We have arranged placements in almost all fields. 

Click R V College of Engineering Placements

How did you train yourself and the faculty to deliver this program to the students?

"The faculty continuously upgrade themselves with the newer technologies and topics"

Our faculty empowerment initiative is one of the major parts. We conduct regular workshops with industry tie-ups to ensure that both the product, as well as technology, is brought in to the department faculty. Faculty undergo regular FDP’s and take up online courses like NPTEL courses. In fact, many of our faculty have scored the Gold and Elite score in these NPTEL courses. Moreover, the senior faculty undertake consultancy projects with industries, and the junior faculty are associated in the implementation of these projects. Thereby the knowledge of the faculty and the students are enhanced while working on these projects. In the field of electronics and communication, since the technologies keep changing very fast, faculty keep up-to-date on the newest technologies and developments.