Dr. Deepa Elizabeth George is the Vice Principal and Head of the Electronics Department at Toc H Institute of Science And Technology. She has obtained her PhD in the area of sensor data fusion and target tracking from Cochin University of Science and Technology. She has 20 years of teaching experience in UG, PG programs and in research. She has to her credit a patent, publications in SCI and Scopus indexed journals and a number of publications in various national and international conferences.

TocH Institute of Science and Technology

Which latest program are you offering in your institute to help students outperform and stand apart from the crowd?

“We are offering two new programs namely B. Tech in Robotics and Automation and B. Tech in Electrical and Computer Engineering”

Students pursuing these courses are trained in the latest cutting-edge technologies which are or will be in great demand in the industry. In addition to this, a wide variety of value-added programs are provided to our students on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotic process automation. Our ASAP Advanced Skill Development Centre offers certification programs on cyber security and cyber forensics in addition to the workshops by the internal Skill Planning and Acquisition Cell to prepare our students for the future.

Which factors make this program best for the students to opt for?

"This program is backed by internships, mini-major projects and skill development courses"

These courses have been specifically designed by industry experts and researchers who are already working in these respective fields. And while drafting and updating the curriculum for these courses, we carefully analyze the upcoming industrial demands. Internship programs, additional skill development courses, mini and major projects are part of this program to make our students future-ready. 

What would you say are the best practices of this course?

"To increase the industrial exposure of students, we provide the best apprenticeship to them"

We have done tie-ups with industries like FANUC (worldwide leader in factory automation), HYDAC India Pvt. Ltd. (a leading company in hydraulic and fluidics), EyeROV Technologies (marine robotics company) to offer the best internship programs in the domain of Industrial Robotics and Automation to our students. These companies also guide our students in their projects. We also offer mentoring sessions to such students who want to start their own start-up ventures. Overall, this course is the best fit for those students who wish to get employed in the industry and for those as well who are interested in research and entrepreneurship.

How does this program ensure the future preparedness of students?

"We keep encouraging our students to participate in events like industrial conferences and competitions"

We continuously monitor the academic performance of all our students to ensure they remain motivated and focused towards their studies. We also encourage them to take part in activities and events organized by colleges such as skill development programs, internship programs, industry conferences and competitions. Additionally, the IEDC of our college also organizes programs to directly expose our students to entrepreneurs to create awareness among them about the industrial demands and expectations.

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

"By arranging training programs and certification courses for them"

We have highly experienced faculty who train our students in their respective areas. And we totally understand that training is equally important for them as well to deliver newly introduced programs in the best possible way. Hence we encourage our faculty members to take up certification programs like the courses offered by IITs, foreign universities and industries to keep themselves abreast with the latest industry and academic practices. They are also offered industrial training and internships to provide quality laboratory sessions to students. 

How do you build an industry connectedness with this program? 

"Through tie-ups with reputed organizations who mentor our students for their projects and assignments"

Industrial connect is a highlight of all the programs that our college offers. And especially for the robotics and automation program, we have tie-ups with EyeROV Technologies, Srishti Robotics, FANUC, HYDAC and ACARR (CUSAT) for internships, industrial visits, projects mentoring and placements. Students are also encouraged to participate in professional society activities like IEEE RAS (Robotics and Automation Society), Robotics Society of India (RSI), computer societies and industrial conferences to improve their networking. 

What were the challenges that you faced while inculcating this program in your curriculum?

"Convincing University to introduce these courses in the curriculum and develop appropriate value-added programs were a major issue for us"

We are proud leaders to start multidisciplinary B. Tech programs like Robotics and Automation and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The greatest challenge which we faced was highlighting the need for these new programs when it was proposed to the university. Offering value-added programs to fill the gap between industry and academics in the regular curriculum was another major challenge. But the support of our industry partners has helped us to materialize these programs which are now very trending among engineering aspirants.

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What are the types of projects that the students are working on through this program?

"Projects category ranges from service robots, automation systems, mobile robots to autonomous vehicles"

Our students are currently working on a wide variety of projects like service robots, automation systems, mobile robots, autonomous vehicles, disaster response systems, drones, telepresence robots, underwater robots, etc. This year, our student projects have won two out of the three prizes in the "IEEE All Kerala Robotics and Automation Society Conclave" held in March. They have also secured first positions in various national-level project competitions.