At CIT, it is mandatory to have 600 hours of internship in 4-year Engineering course, says Chairman Sriram

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Chairman of Chennai Institute of Technology P Sriram talks about their extensive focus on making students industry-ready. The training process start from the first year onwards through a systematic approach based on their subject domain. Not just the local opportunities in the Engineering sector, but they equally focus on bringing international opportunities to students. To ease the placements process, the management follows a three-model approach i.e. ILP, ILP Plus and ILP Flexi. Sriram has over 40 years of rich industry and academic experience.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the three things that your institute is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from the competition?

A: Our continuous practices and ability to experiment differentiates us from the other engineering institutes or universities. The practices that aim at imparting quality education, leaving an ever-lasting impact on students, helping them write a bright future for them and most importantly making them confident and being able to excel in their career. To make this happen, we have:

• Center of Excellence for each department of the Chennai Institute of Technology in the contemporary and advanced technologies of their area of specialisation is the major strength of the institution
• Innovative Learning Program (ILP) is a uniquely designed knowledge transformation system that inspires engineering aspirants, brings technology to students, bridges the gap between industry and academia and brings forth innovation for the betterment of the society
• Various activities such as Funjinia, Catapult, CITCOS and Takshashila are conducted in order to encourage and motivate students to acquire and enhance their skill sets

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry ready?

A: As mentioned above, we believe in experimentation. It’s important for self improvisation and keeps the zeal to achieve more alive. As an educational institution, our success is defined by the student's success which means they are at par with the industry standards and ready to face the competitive corporate world. To make students industry-ready, we:

• Start their placements training from the first year and it continues till the final year and mandatory 600 hours of internship in four years related to the branch of study is one of the main initiatives undertaken
• As we are running multiple organisations and have a strong industry connect, it helps students to get internships opportunities in both Indian and foreign industries. Foreign internship opportunities are offered in countries such as Germany, Japan, Korea and China
• Innovation: Career campus is an innovative initiative that helps our students by providing insight into the various industries and brings them out of the job fear. Students can participate in various innovative ventures that help them to build and launch a startup business, and the institution supports this activity

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to - Qualify for your institution and get top grades in the curriculum?

A: To qualify for admission, students must fulfil the eligibility criteria. The students must undergo either JEE Main exam or institute conducted CIT-SET entrance exam. JEE-qualified students are offered 100 per cent scholarships, however, students qualifying CIT-SET exam are also eligible for scholarships  

Focus on curriculum is important to secure good grades. But apart from just regular curriculum, we offer a plethora of other resources to students such as reference books, on-line courses, internet access and e-library facility, in addition to the regular classroom teaching.  Further, regular tests, quizzes and University Preparatory classes (UPC) helps in moulding them to score the good marks in the final examinations. This effective learning methodology helped the institution to attain a top position among the many hundreds of affiliated colleges with Anna University in the November and December 2019 Examinations.

Q: Which programme/s would you say is/are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme?

A: Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering:

As these two departments are major attractions of CIT, having more industry connected CoEs, and robust hands-on training experiences provided inside the campus as well as through the connected industries, these courses are held in high repute. The different Coe’s of highlight for these two departments include CoE for Industrial Automation, Robotics, 3D Printing and Reverse Engineering,  RaneNSK Centre for Applied Research, Design and Digital Manufacturing Research Centre, CIT-Atalon Engine Research Centre, KYUTECH-WABCO Centre for IOT. The following are recent.

1. Ergonomics Evaluation of Yolk Bending- Lucas TVS LTD
2. Human Ergonomics and analysis in STRUTS assembly using DELMIA  V5- Mando Automotive India Private Limited
3. Ergonomics Analysis and Environmental Evaluation- MCA- IP- FAURECIA- For assembly line
4. Layout Optimization and Ergonomics analysis in Piston Rings Plant - India Piston
5. Jigs and Fixtures developed, automation for different manufacturing industries
6. Design & Fabrication of Automated Industrial Deburring Process Using Microcontroller
7. Intelligent Smart Warehouse System for Accenture Technology
8. Automated Welding Line for Variant Components for ElectroMags
9. Plasma Cutting Using Robot for Wheels India
10. Automatic Guided Vehicle for WABCO

• Computer Science and Engineering:

As far as the CSE Department is concerned, the students from the department receive some of the highest salary packages, with multiple job opportunities for individual students. The reason behind these opportunities is the presence of exclusive training facilities in the department that include, PEGA University connect program, CoE for AI and ML, CoE for CISCO Networking etc.

1. Full Stack Training:

CIT is providing opportunities for our students to evolve as full-stack application or programmer developer. CIT offers two years of intensive training, encouragement and assessment for students in various technologies, which help them in rapid application development. The students have trained in Python with data Structure, NodeJS React, Bootcamp, RPA, SQL, skills in both front-end and back-end web technologies etc.,

2. Product Company Specific Training

Training is a program that helps the students to learn specific knowledge or skills to improve performance in their current roles. We, at CIT Chennai, provide product company-specific training from 3 rd onwards to the students to enrich their knowledge. We design and develop our training to meet the company’s overall expectations. Keeping a company-specific goal in focus ensures training and development makes a measurable impact.

3. Special training Coding Competitions and Hackathon:

The most effective training programs use layered, sustainable learning activities to create performance improvement over time. CIT Chennai has implemented a layered approach makes sure our program targets the essential employer, customer, and business needs while training the right people at the right time in the right way.

Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behaviour. CIT Chennai is providing training from day one by assessing the student’s calibre and backgrounds. It is the application of knowledge and it attempts to improve the performance of students on the current level and prepares them for the intended job. Training is a short-term process utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which non-managerial personnel acquire technical knowledge and skills for a definite purpose. We motivate them to participate in coding contest/competitions, Smart India Hackathons, etc.

• ECE and Bio Medical Engineering

The other major courses of attraction at CIT Chennai are Electronics and Communication Engineering and Bio-Medical Engineering. The reason these are very attractive is the presence of well-established training facilities in par with global requirements, includes hydroponic /precision farming, Tessolve Semiconductor centre for Advanced VLSI Design, Centre for Biopac, KYUTECH-WABCO Centre for IoT, etc. The following are a few industrial projects completed:

1. 24x7 Unmanned Rig for Industrial Automation - Test Rig
2. Smart Piping Solution
3. Cattle feeding system - Cattle feed and water quality management system
4. Driver Pattern Monitor and Smart car
5. Charging station Monitor- RRT Power Tech- Smart power station monitor

Q: What are you doing to improve/drive better campus placements for your current students and alumni? What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: We aim at bringing quality placements opportunities to students. Considering that the placement training programmes are organised for the students from the first year onwards through a systematic approach based on their subject domain.

For Alumni’s,  pooled campus drives are arranged by reputed corporates such as IBM, HCL, and CGI.

The institutional job opportunities focus on offering core engineering placements to students both in India and abroad.

CIT is providing skillset training to the students based on the following three categories namely, ILP, ILP PLUS, and ILP Flexi in order to enhance their industry-based skill set, apart from the regular curriculum provided by the University.

• ILP: Basic training on a curriculum designed by experts to meet the industrial expectation
• ILP PLUS: Basic training + students can choose any one emerging technology based on their interest
• ILP FLEXI: Students can choose any area on their wish, they can work on their desired timing, and will be involved in industry projects

Our Major Recruiters

TCS, Accenture, Infosys, IBM, HCL, CTS, KAAR, Value Lab, AON Hewitt, HSBC, Verizon, Gofrugal, ZOHO, Bank of America, KUKA, Emerson, PEGA, QuEST Global, RANE, Mphasis, Harita, Virtusa, WABCO, Brakes India, Wheels India, Vodafone, Tech Mahindra, Vortex, Hexaware, CADOpt, Human Resocia, etc.