Dr. Narasimha Reddy says that his doors are always open and the person who comes to him will have an immediate solution to his/her problem

Interview by Yash Panchal

Dr. P.Narasimha Reddy is currently working as the Executive Director of Sreenidhi Institute of Science & Technology. His academic qualifications include BE (Hons.) from Osmania University, ME from Indian Institute of Science and Ph.D. from Kakatiya University. He has received Engineer of the Year Award from Institution of Engineers(India) A.P.Centre; P.J.Reddy Gold Medal Award by Osmania University and Hafeez Khan Medal Award for securing First Rank in the Multipurpose High School, Hanamkonda in H.S.C. (Multipurpose) Course. Sreenidhi Institute has been recognized and rewarded many times under the leadership of Dr. Reddy. He has rendered his services to institutions in Andhra Pradesh & Gujarat, various Govt. Agencies, Professional Societies,and Sister Engineer Colleges.

Dr. Reddy has a total experience of 38 years at UG and PG level. He has also held the position of Founder Principal at Sreenidhi Institute. Prior to this, he has been the Principal and Professor at CBIT Hyderabad; Visiting Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, USA & Algerian Ministry of Higher Education; Reader & Professor at Osmania University and Asso. Lecturer at REC Warangal. He also holds a rich Administrative and Institution development experience.

Dr. Reddy has guided a number of students for Ph.D./M.Tech degrees. He has published 10 papers in International Journals and 25 papers in National Conferences and Journals. He has been the Chairman of Managing Committees of numerous institutes and colleges. He is also a Member of Management Committee of 4 colleges.

Major hurdles faced by Dr.P. Narasimha Reddy as the Director of Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology

1. Challenge faced at the time of establishment of Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology:

The college was established in 1997 with the permission of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). At that time, the AICTE was permitting newly established colleges to run at a temporary location after having shown to them required land for construction of permanent premises. Thus, it was necessary for the Society to take three buildings on rent and arrange classrooms, laboratories, library, staff rooms, girls’ common hall, boys’ common hall and indoor games hall.

He was requested by the Management of Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology to help them in establishing temporary premises for this college. At that time, He was working as Principal of Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CBIT). He proposed to the Management of CBIT to start another college in the land of 120 acres available for the Society in which CBIT has already established. The new sister institution of CBIT proposed was Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology (MGIT). Being the Principal of CBIT, the responsibility of developing the infrastructure for the new college also was taken care of by him.

In these circumstances, along with the responsibility of taking care of CBIT as Principal and planning & monitoring of the facilities for the two new colleges was also carried out by putting in hard work with extreme constraints and time available. 

2. Challenges in establishing and running a new institution:

Buildings do not make an institution. Equipment doesn’t make an institution. The faculty is the heart of the institution like the heart playing a vital role inthe functioning of human body. By proper planning, it was possible to construct buildings, purchase and install equipment, establish a library and other facilities, but a lot of care was required in attracting and retaining excellent faculty.

In this regard, we made it a policy to invite accomplished academicians of various institutions, researchers of various R&D organizations and experienced industry personnel and taken them around the institution. They studied the institution, its management, recognized the faculty contributions, academic environment, etc. and if they were satisfied, they shall express their willingness to join the institution.

Such accomplished people were invited to join the institution and they became pillars of the progress of the institution. They created legacies for effective teaching, laboratory establishment, preparation of lab manuals and course files, etc. because of which the junior teachers have fallen into the groove to maintain excellence in teaching-learning process, curriculum development, student development leading to the production of industry-ready graduates.

3. Faculty development:

Empowerment of faculty to teach effectively is a continuous process. Newer technologies and some disruptive technologies are being introduced in the industry and the curriculum has to be updated from time to time so that the students will be able to respond to the industry requirements.

Unless the faculty members are updated and they are empowered to teach the new subjects, the purpose of introduction of new technology subjects will not be achieved. The college has been conducting Faculty Development Programs not only for our faculty but also for the benefit of the faculty of other institutions. This helped the institution not only to maintain the effective teaching-learning process but also gave a lot of recognition in the community of technical institutions in the entire State and also in the neighboring States of India.

In fact, this helped our college to be chosen as one of the few colleges to be covered under Technical Education Quality Improvement Program and enabled the college to receive financial assistance to the tune of Rs.16 crores. 

4. Motivating the faculty to conduct R&D and engage in Consultancy:

This is one of the most difficult tasks for any Head of the institution. He is of the exception. There are some teachers who wish to teach very well but not inclined to do research or engage in consultancy. There are some faculty members who are not able to teach effectively, but they are good researchers.

It is a challenge to the Head of the institution to promote research among the teachers who are excellent in teaching and to empower the teachers who are engaged in research but not effective teachers. The development of both the groups is essential. However, efforts are made to see that the teachers who are more interested in R&D and consultancy may be encouraged to do more efforts in this direction by giving remission to them in the workload for teaching.  There are a couple of cases where some excellent researchers are not having the capability to teach well are given full freedom to conduct Research and Consultancy only.

Thus, efforts are made to get the best from all depending upon their capabilities and their interests.

5. Effective teaching program to faculty and Practical training to faculty and technicians:

1. Teaching-Learning Process

The fresh Post Graduates and Ph.D. degree holders are not having any idea of classroom dynamics and if they are straight away given the responsibility of teaching the students, they will go through many unpleasant situations.

All faculty members who join our college as freshers or experienced teachers are given Faculty Training program for about 40 hours which includes teaching them principles of effective teaching and also a micro teaching facility. As a result, they make use of the theory of effective teaching in making presentations to fellow faculty members and they get feedback from them with regard to any improvements that are to be made.

Every classroom is provided with LCD, Internet,andCampus-wide network facility for using visuals in the presentations so that there will be more effective teaching-learning process. In the process, the students see the lecture material including figures, they are explained by the teacher and thus they understand the lesson effectively.

Finally, all students are made to take the notes and take advantage of the fact that writing once equals 100 times reading.

ii) Practical Training

It is very unfortunate that about 90 to 95% of teachers do not have any practical experience before they have joined the teaching profession.  The present-day teachers are taught through books and they are, in turn, teaching through books. Thus, they are not able to teach the subject with a practical orientation. This is leading to criticism by the employing agencies that the colleges are producing half-baked engineers who cannot be given responsible positions after giving a couple of weeks of the orientation program.

With this in mind, we made it a policy to send the faculty for practical training to get necessary exposure to practical aspects in the subject areas which they are teaching. The technicians attached to various laboratories are also sent for practical training in the industry. This was a major difficulty in convincing the faculty to undergo practical training.

6. Student development:

In these days, the industry would like to employ the engineering graduates who are not only academically strong but also have good oral and written communication skills team skills, to be achievers and give leadership in achieving the tasks assigned to a group.

The college has to conducts a number of programs for the benefit of the students so that they develop the necessary skills in all these areas. A number of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are conducted so that the students will get enough opportunities to master soft skills desired by the industry. 

Views on enhancing student-industry interaction at Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Hyderabad

In Medical education, the Doctors of the institution are confident to engage in their professional activities soon after their graduation and houseman-ship. Thus, the graduates coming out of medical colleges are as not confident and are not ready for professional practice. This is happening because the medical students are exposed to hospitals in the morning session every day and in the afternoon sessions they will have lectures from the Doctors who are in-charges of various departments in the hospital such as medical, surgery and other specialties.

Contrary to this situation, engineering graduates are going through instruction from the teachers, most of whom have not got any industrial experience.  They were taught through books by their teachers and the same thing they are doing to their students. Besides this, the students go through practical in the laboratories established in each of the departments. The practical exercises are not so exhaustive as to the problems they face in the industry when they are appointed there. The students are really undergoing a lot of difficulties in their transition from the world of study to the world of work.

Hence, the criticism of the quality of engineering education and engineering graduates cannot be considered as completely unfair. The industry also must come forward to associate with institutions in transforming the students into fairly good graduates who can be given responsibilities in the industry with a minimum period of induction training program. It is very unfortunate that the industry considers that the institutions must produce industry-ready graduates on their own without any help or assistance from industry.

In the light of the above, the policymakers from the Government side must ensure internships to all the engineering and polytechnic students in the industry so that this exposure will be of great help to the students to become acceptable to the industry. It is necessary that the students must undergo internships in the industry so that they will feel confident to take up responsible positions in the industry after they graduate.  It is very heartening that AICTE has come forward to incorporate internships at least two times in the academic studies of the students compulsorily before the student graduates.  AICTE has taken up the responsibility of providing internships with the help of various Government agencies.

Our college has taken up the task of providing internships to all students of 2^ndyear and 3^rdyear of B. Tech. course and has been successful in this Academic Year. The faculty members of various departments have gone to various industries in small, medium and major industries, in the industrial estates in the city and surrounding areas, also IT companies and government departments requesting them to provide internships to our students. The students are allotted to various locations mentioned above and the faculty have gone with them to various industries and government departments and got the students introduced to the industry guides allotted for taking care of the internship of students.

The assessment of the internship undergone by the students is carried out by the industry guides and the faculty concerned together for giving grades to the students. They also submit reports of the internships gone through and viva will be conducted by constituting a committee of examiners with internal and external faculty.

Our college is of the view that the faculty training in the industry is essential so that they will become competent to teach the students with industry orientation. The faculty have to be trained in an intensive manner so that the industrial practices of the subject areas in which they are teaching are to be understood and assimilated by them. Only then there can be a possibility of exposing the students to practical aspects. Besides this, the faculty have to be refreshed again and again at least once in three to four years with industrial training to absorb the latest developments in the design and operation of various equipment used in the industry.

It is necessary to understand that if the faculty have good practical background, generations of students will be benefited, which will be resulting in a win-win situation for the students and the industry.

Dr. Reddy on his time management

Every person doesn’t possess the same level of focus and dedication for completing the tasks assigned to him/her. It is necessary to assess the capabilities of people and their motivational level and give the responsibilities as per our own experience of the persons concerned. The delegation of work has to be done based on whatever they are capable of doing in the shortest possible time and as quickly as possible. This will make the Director of an institution to complete all the tasks within time and appropriately.

There is a well-known saying that the busiest persons will have a lot of time to spare. Generally, such persons will take part in various intellectually satisfying meetings and conferences and thus they remain continuous learners. Quick decision making is an essential requirement at the top management level which will help to get the work done in time.  Procrastination of a decision to be made will be harmful for the Institution or organization.

A delegation of various tasks based on the ability of the person to whom a certain task is delegated and follow-up of the task is very important. The top management to be ever ready to understand the difficulties faced by the subordinates and give them necessary guidance for completing the tasks successfully. 

In general our doors are always open so that the person who comes to us will have an immediate solution. The waiting time is very less, thus the cycle to complete a task is very much reduced. The Director of any Institution or organization should be a realistic person and understand the difficulties faced by the subordinates and thus work with them as a team. This participative type of management is very helpful in the present day situation. A director should not show any favor or fear against his subordinates or superior authorities.

Demonstrating the best method of doing will greatly help the subordinates to complete the tasks in time and with the result, all activities of the Institution will be completed before the deadlines set. It is very much necessary to have regular monitoring which will ensure the meeting of deadlines. This is how he is able to manage this Institution which is perhaps the biggest in India with regard to admissions at UG and PG level in a single campus.  

Important:

He says that in these days, unless the Director of an institution takes the lead in carrying out any task, the subordinates are not getting motivated to work for completion of the goal. The Director must be a role model and then only the subordinates follow. That his experience in the last decade of my long administrative service of a technical institution.

Difference between the education system in Indian and abroad, with respect to students as well as teachers/professors

The education in India was not widespread before our Independence and many efforts are made to improve literacy with an inclusive approach. In spite of these efforts by the Central and State governments, we are far behind the developed countries with regard to literacy and enrolment in higher educational institutions.

Our education system continues to be teacher-centered and the outcomes are memory based. Even now in primary, secondary and Intermediate education levels, the teachers are not focusing on student’s development and effective communication skills both oral and written. Besides this, the students are not being imbibed with the imaginative and creative bent of mind. In the process, Indian students are found to be too much dependent on teachers and they are not being given challenging assignments and challenging question papers.

The students are evaluated mostly up to the second level of Bloom’s Taxonomy and not beyond. In these circumstances, the creative skills are not being developed and the out of the box thinking is something foreign to us. Our students are being shaped to use existing knowledge in their profession and are not able to go beyond which is resulting in a setback. We are training our students to use some software or hardware products developed by other countries rather than developing new products and services.

There is no wonder as to why Nobel prize winners in Physical sciences or Applied sciences are not there from India after Sir C.V. Raman. There are a few who migrated to other countries for higher education and research have won Nobel prizes as they are working and progressing in a different environment. In these circumstances, the initiatives taken by the present government to develop certain centers of excellence might bear fruit after a long gestation period.

Contrary to our system of education, the education at all levels is student-centered. The student is made to think and develop new gadgets even in primary and secondary levels. This type of environment is shaping the students to become original thinkers and enhance creativity. This difference will continue to take place until best possible brains are attracted to be teachers at various levels and they are empowered to become the type of teachers who are presently shaping western and eastern educational systems. It may not be out of place to mention that the highest salaries are given to teachers in South Korea and the rate at which South Korea is developing industrially can be attributed to the education system that they are following.

With respect to the students in India and the teaching-learning process adopted by the teachers, there are certain concerns. The students are not able to become proficient to understand the functioning of various mechanical, electrical, electronics and computer systems. In India, there are students from poor families who cannot afford to have the above type of systems in their houses and these students are in majority. There are a few students from rich families who have all the gadgets in their households and for any maintenance and repairs, cheap labor is available in the market.  Hence, the schools and colleges have to take the responsibility of enhancing these skills in the students of both rich and poor backgrounds.

Contrary to this situation, in developed countries, most of the families have the mechanical, electrical, electronics and computer systems as they can afford. One big problem in developed countries is the cost of labor. Thus, the parents are forced to do the repair and maintenance works of various equipment they have including their own cars.  In the process, the students will have the opportunity to work with their parents and they learn in bits and pieces of the working of various equipment. Thus, they become proficient in various engineering products even before they join engineering institutions for higher education.

Centuries of the legacy left behind by first and second industrial revolutions that had helped the students of developed countries to move on faster when compared to our students in the areas of innovations and inventions as well as R&D activity. Unless the education system is thoroughly overhauled, the teaching-learning system is vastly modified and the State and Central governments take this task in a mission mode, Indian students will continue to be inferior to western students and Indian industry will continue to import the new equipment and processes from developed countries. 

Qualities which helped Dr. Reddy and the entire management in creating a brand name for Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology

Our Management and I are of the firm view that

buildings do not make an institution, equipment does not make an institution, and only the faculty can build an institution to become branded

In most of the self-financing institutions, the representative of the management always sits in the college and takes part actively in the running of the institution. In the process, the position of the Principal becomes weak. There are divided loyalties in the faculty and non-teaching staff and the line of command and control gets disturbed. The faculty and staff are also confused if the management representative and the Principal are not working hand-in-hand and hence, the productivity of the faculty and staff will get eroded.

Our management is progressive and leaves everything to academic leaders of the institution. There is no representative of the management who sits in the college campus. Thus, the decision making and its implementation are very fast and the results can be seen by the success of the students.

Faculty being the heart of the institution, they have to be empowered by organizing Induction training programs, Refresher courses, Encouragement for doing R&D activity including working for Ph. D., Publication of papers by themselves and with the students and many other initiatives for maintaining teaching-learning process at a desirable level. The faculty and staff are given encouragement for doing research, consultancy and are given incentives for publication of papers in refereed national and International journals. The college has made it a policy to give best teacher awards, best staff awards, best student awards besides the academic prizes every year based on the criteria and weightages recommended by the faculty themselves. With these initiatives, the morale of the faculty is maintained at a high level and our retention rate of the faculty and staff is very high.

The college believes that the student is a customer of the institution. If there are no customers, there is no institution.  The present policy of industries is to make the customers delighted to have bought a certain product from an industry but not just getting satisfied with the product.  With this in mind, students learning has to be made effective by any institution.

In order to improve learning by students effectively visual systems such as Overhead Projectors were used right from the inception of the college in 1997. Over a period of time LCDs are fitted in every classroom with the availability of network through campus-wide networking and a campus server. Out of all the senses of a human being visual perceptions are very strong, followed by learning by listening. It is proved that about 90% of information going to the brain is through eyes, 8% through ears and 2% through other senses such as touch, smell,and taste. It is clear that the teaching must be supported by visuals. The teachers are trained to use the visuals effectively.

The college believes that teaching is ineffective unless it is followed by student.  We have trained the teachers to show a slide, explain the slide and supervise the students to take notes. This results in effective learning of students. The college conducts an orientation program on “Improving Learning Capabilities” at the time of their admissions. This program covers effective listening, effective note taking, effective reading, effective reviewing the lessons and continue to review the lessons once a week. We also teach the students the importance of prior reading which greatly helps them to learn major part of the lesson to be covered on their own and any doubts that are lingering in their minds are cleared during lectures. The students are also told to ask questions and answer questions so that their doubts can be clarified.  This sort of prior reading is helping the students to become student-centered learners leading to capabilities to shape into life-long learners.

Indian Society for Training and Development, New Delhi has considered our application for Best HRD Practices Award which they normally give to industries. They were happy to observe the various motivational techniques used for performance improvement of faculty, staff,and students. This organization has given the Best HRD Practices Award to our college, i.e. the first of its kind in Indian educational institutions.

The college has the policy, neither to attract students nor erects huge hoardings in different parts of the city of Hyderabad. The performance of the institution is passed on to the juniors and their parents by word of mouth by senior students and their parents. Hence, 2 to 5% of top rankers in the entrance examination conducted by the Govt. of Telangana join our institution. Continuous efforts on the part of the management and the Deans and Heads of the Departments who are pillars of the progress of the institution has helped in building a brand image for the institution. 

Message for students pursuing higher studies under the influence of their peers and society

Engineering course involves logical reasoning, quantitative analysis, problem-solving and decision making. The curriculum itself is having various subjects which involve all the above aspects which will develop over a period of time. This is going to help the graduates in the analysis and problem-solving capabilities which leads to appropriate decision making.

If a student is interested in pursuing business management program, it is always better for him to pursue MBA program after completing Engineering degree program.  If we analyze the number of students joining IIMs and also other prestigious management institutions who have Under Graduate Degrees in engineering, Arts, Commerce, Sciences and other branches, a large number of students selected are from engineering stream. This indicates the capabilities of the engineering degree holders have developed during their engineering degree programs.

Thus, joining an Engineering degree program is much better than taking up business management at Undergraduate level. The percentage of successes to get a job or to get into MBA programs in prestigious institutions is much more for the graduates of engineering when compared to graduates in any other branches of Arts, Commerce, Sciences, etc.

With regard to the students who are interested to join Fashion Technology, Architecture, Fine Arts, etc., there is a need for special interests in the students with regard to their abstract thinking, imagination with 3-dimensional approach, or some interest in music, dance, painting, etc. based on which they can choose the types of course which they would like to pursue.

The innate aptitude of the student is very important, which is given great importance in developed countries and the students are advised accordingly to pursue the courses for which their aptitudes are suited. It is necessary that the aptitude tests and psychometric tests are to be conducted in India so that an area of study in which he has got interest, aptitude and capabilities can be recommended to the parents. In these days, there is a mad rush towards engineering, medicine and such other courses which have greater possibilities of getting a job or becoming prosperous through professional practice, etc.

There is another area in which most of the parents are not venturing into the creation of interest in their wards for civil services and such other competitive examinations at the State and Central level. The students who pursued engineering, medicine, agriculture and other professional courses are highly successful in this type of examinations. The parents are to help their wards to develop written and oral communication skills, self-learning, interest in current affairs, etc. right from their school education so that they will easily crack the civil services examinations.

Thus, a careful study of the aptitudes of children and their capabilities has to be made before the parents advise their wards or push their wards into an educational area in which the parents are interested.

Top qualities that an Engineering aspirant must possess

A student who has analytical skills, problem-solving and logical reasoning skills are very likely to be successful in engineering studies. In general, the students who wish to join engineering courses such as Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and similar such mathematically oriented branches need to have a good base in Physics and Mathematics.

In the courses such as Computer Science and Engineering, Information Technology and related branches, high level of Mathematics or Physics is not required. The only need is the ability of student for logical reasoning and analytical skills. In the courses related to Chemical engineering, the student should have a strong base in Chemistry.  As stated already, a student who wishes to study Fine Arts and Architecture must have the capabilities of abstract thinking and imagination.

Thus, the students who are sound in some basic areas or the other may choose the branches of engineering which are related to their aptitude and competency. Simply pushing a student into some engineering branch without assessing the aptitude and interest of the student will result in a catastrophic situation and in extreme cases, the students may discontinue the course because of the donkey’s load that builds up over a period of time due to backlogs.

Thoughts on the growth of B.Tech. colleges in India

In India, at present, the intake in engineering colleges is about 1.5 million. This number works out to about 0.5% of the population of youth in the age group of 18 to 22 years. This percentage of 0.5% is very low when compared to advanced countries in the East and the West. Thus, Government of India, through All India Council for Technical Education is encouraging as many engineering colleges as possible to be established in different parts of India.

The sudden expansion in the number of engineering colleges in India has affected the quality of engineering education offered in India, especially in those colleges which are established in the rural areas.

At one time, the Government of India had Technical Teacher Training program for training engineering graduates who are interested in the academic profession by giving scholarships to them in the entire three-year program. Their scholarship was as much as the salary of an Asst. Professor. This scholarship was almost double when compared to the salary of a Junior Engineer that was given in his first appointment in the Government jobs.  This resulted in academically bright engineering graduates to go through this program and they became the pillars of various engineering colleges started by Government of India, i.e. the Regional Engineering Colleges system. These colleges are now renamed as NIT system with Deemed-to-be University status.

Thus, a pool of trained engineering teachers was produced through TTT system and there was no shortage of teachers for the newly established technical institutions by the Central and State governments. As this system was discontinued a long time ago, such pool of trained teachers is not available at the time of establishing engineering colleges mostly in the self-financing category.  A compromise has to be made and even B. Tech. graduates were permitted to teach various B.Tech. courses. 

Over a period of time, M.Tech. is made to be a minimum requirement to teach as a Teacher in engineering colleges. This also has not made much impact on the quality of technical education offered in the engineering colleges in India, especially in the self-financing category of colleges.

During the period of sudden expansion in a number of engineering colleges, the software sector boomed and all the highly talented engineering graduates have chosen to join in the software sector. Out of the remaining good students, most of them went abroad to pursue higher studies. The residue that is left behind tries to get a job by undergoing some training program and some of them will get placed. The students left behind will then join Post Graduate programs and some of them get jobs through campus placement during their M. Tech. program. Thus,

only the residue of the residue of the residue of the residue is left to join as Teachers in Engineering colleges.

In this situation, it is very difficult to improve the quality of engineering education unless the Government takes immediate steps to attract highly academic graduates to go through a special technical teacher training program offering a very good scholarship. Only then the engineering education system can change the curriculum of engineering programs as per the skills in demand in the industry and be in tune with new technology areas which are springing up very frequently in different domains of the engineering profession.

On one hand, there is a need for more engineering graduates required for the population we have and on the other hand, there is a shortage of competent teachers who form the heart of an engineering institution. Thus, urgent and innovative steps are required to be taken by the Government of India and the State Governments in this regard so that the teachers who are competent can be made available to the engineering education system of India.

Goals and expansion plans for SNIST

At present, our institution has Autonomous status from 2010 onwards. We are able to do a number of revisions in our curriculum based on the Skills in Demand in the industry and the ways and means by which the employability of our students can be enhanced. There are some MoUs with a number of Multinational Organizations such as IBM, Oracle Corporation, SAP, etc. due to which we are able to teach our students new technology which is in demand.

The Milestones proposed:

1. To become a Deemed to be University or a Private University in the State of Telangana: At present, the various courses that are to be offered in our college are governed by AICTE. We are unable to start any course which is important for our State and the country as a whole, such as Leadership studies, Micro and Macro Economics studies, Legal studies, etc. which are required for critical analysis and planning & monitoring of various developmental activities. It is possible to offer such courses and other courses in demand whenever required only under the University status.
2. To raise the level of the institution by straining every nerve for improving original R&D work and Consultancy so that the major Universities, Industries and R&D organizations to look at the institution with a sense of respect so that collaborations can be built to carry out national level projects.  The MoUs we have at present will have to be extended to International Universities and R&D organizations for more positive and purposeful action.
3. There are some research grants which can be availed from DST and other agencies in India and also there are some grants available fromInternational Funding agencies and hence, it is possible to apply for joint R&D projects which will take the institution to International arena.
4. Any other possibilities can also be thought of as the status of our college will not be of affiliation status but University status. Any industry or R&D organization or University are considering joint collaborative activity only with institutions of University standing.

Message for the students wishing to join Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Hyderabad, in the near future

1. Teacher-centered learning system - A legacy India has:

Unfortunately, in India, the students are going through their education with “teacher-centeredlearning system”.  This is something like a tradition in India. The teacher teaches, he dictates to students and the students byheart the lesson. At times, the teachers in the high schools ask the students to mark in the lesson, the answers to the questions which are given at the end of the lesson. The students simply write the answers in their notebooks and byheart the same. Thus, there is no attempt on the part of the students to comprehend the lesson and write the answers in their own words. Because this activity is not carried out by the students, the written comprehension and communication skills are seriously affected. The students will not develop proficiency in vocabulary and hence they will also have problems not only in written communication skills but also oral communications.

2. Efforts made by the college to provide a learner-centered system:

Contrary to this, teacher – centered education in the advanced countries, the students are made to comprehend the lessons on their own and write the answers in their own words rather than copying from the book directly. There are cases in the West where a student of the 6th standard is given a novel of about 100 pages and the student is asked to write the gist of that book in two pages. In the process, the students comprehend on their own and they will be able to write the important aspects which the author wanted to convey to the readers and also will be able to write something about the lessons that they have to learn from the novel. Because of the rote learning system, we, Indians, are very poor in written and oral communication skills.  In the process, the self-learning capability and the ability to transform into a life-long learner cannot be achieved.

Contrary to the situation that is existing in most of the institutions in India our college being Autonomous has taken steps to make the students learning by themselves and also to become competent in oral and written communication skills. In the curriculum, we have introduced technical seminars, mini projects, group projects, project – I and final project in which the students are to be successful to become eligible for the award of B. Tech. degree in the branch concerned.

God has given us five senses, i.e. the sense of seeing, the sense of hearing, the sense of touch, the sense of smell and the sense of taste. 90% of the information going to the brain is through eyes, 8% through ears and the balance of 2% through the other three senses.

With this in mind, our college established LCD presentation system for teaching the students. As visual perceptions are very strong, the student will be able to comprehend on his own by going through the presentation given on the screen. The teacher explains the slide and the student listens and understands. The further care that is taken in the college is that the teacher goes around the class and ensures that every student writes the notes. As writing is the most powerful method of learning, the student will be able to record the information learnt in the permanent memory.

3. Conduct of Orientation Program on “Improving Learning Capabilities”:

The students who join our college go through the orientation program as to how effectively the students can use various methods for improving learning capabilities. The important topics that are covered are as to how to read effectively, listen effectively, review effectively, managing the time effectively, managing the memory effectively, etc. These aspects are taught with examples so that the student can understand the concepts and assimilate the same. This will help the student to pursue their engineering studies and to become successful not only in studies but also in the profession which he chooses eventually.

4. Curriculum Development based on Skills in Demand Analysis collected from the experts of the industry:

Technology is fast changing and it is reflected by the advertisements that appear in national level newspapers and job portals. The college collects this information every three months which will help the college authorities to examine whether there are new technology areas to which our students are to be exposed.  Besides this,the college also interacts with the experts from industry and get their idea with regard to this matter. Our alumni also who keep visiting our college inform us about the technologies in which re-skilling of their employees are made to undergo.  It becomes clear through these interactions and the action is taken accordingly.

The Institution identifies the gaps in the curriculum and skills in demand in the industry  and bridge courses are organized for the present batch of students in the new technology areas and eventually, new subjects are introduced in the curriculum in the next revision.

5. The faculty is the heart of the institution and their empowerment is essential:

It is obvious that the faculty when they join the institution are not exposed to new technology areas. It is necessary that the faculty is empowered to be conversant with the new technology areas and this is achieved by conducting a number of Faculty Development Programs in the college to have the competencies required or developed in the faculty. These Faculty Development Programs are not only conducted for the faculty of our own college but also for the benefit of the faculty of other colleges.

6. Student development:

Today in the employment scenario,

the student has to be not only academically strong but also has many other qualities which will make them acceptable to the industry

The mission of our college is to shape the students into balanced individuals. The following aspects are encouraged in the college for the overall development of the students.

• Make the student academically strong.
• Physically robust by providing Games and Sports facilities.
• Emotionally stable by giving opportunities for teamwork.
• Socially responsible by encouraging students to take up social service activities such as BachpanPrayas, Sreenidhi Cancer Foundation, Street Cause and National Service Scheme activities.
• Spiritual enlightenment by inviting the Acharyas from Ramakrishna Mutt to give lectures to our students and also encouraging the students to attend various programs conducted by Ramakrishna Mutt and other similar organizations.

Thus, many activities are conducted which will help the students to become a balanced individual which will help him to fare better in their careers and also in their personal lives.

7. Excellent infrastructure and good academic environment:

Our Management is very progressive and has not left any stone unturned for providing infrastructure such as buildings, equipment, games,and sports facilities, encouragement of technical activities, encouragement of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities, giving necessary financial assistance to the students in their projects which are winning a number of prizes at the national level.

The various clubs which are conducting a number of events in the college are IEEE Students Chapter, ISTE Students Chapter, Robotics Club, Innovation and Creativity Club, Faraday Club, SAE Club, Biotechnology Club and so on. All these activities are helping to develop various capabilities which are preparing them to be employable or to pursue higher studies or to become entrepreneurs.

Our college welcomes the students to shape their careers with the help of the faculty, their parents and the institutional initiatives