Dec. 26, 2009

Chairman: Shri. S. S. Sohoni, IAS (Retd)

Director: Dr. S. S. Gokhale

At a Glance 1960 VRCE Nagpur started in June 1960 in

Government Polytechnic – Nagpur with financial responsibilities shared between State & Central Government

Three branches Civil (60), Mechanical (30) and Electrical (30) with total of 120 students (50% from Maharashtra, 30% from neighboring states and 20% from others parts in country)

18 faculty members, 9 administrative staff Governing Board was constituted for

appointments, development, purchases, administration, construction etc.

At a Glance 2002 In 2002 VRCE became VNIT with

Deemed University Status from UGC and Central Government taking full financial & administrative responsibility

Academic Programs in 2002: B Tech - 8 + B Arch & M Tech – 6 (50% students from State & 50% from other States)

Degrees awarded between 1960 and 2002 under Nagpur University: UG - 8776 & PG -1106

August 2007 VNIT becomes Institute of National Importance under the Act of Parliament

At a Glance 2009 Academic Programs: B Tech - 9 + B

Arch & M Tech – 13 (Teaching to Research)

Students on Roll: UG - 2096 & PG - 524; Faculty: 161, Non-Teaching & Administrative Staff: 211

Graduates till 2009: B Tech- 12589, PG- 2389

Student Placement Record ~ 90+% in recent time

11 patents awarded, 6 awaited Books published by faculty 21

Dr. Bhanu, Ex-Director Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Station 1973 Batch of Metallurgy & Materials Engineering

1983 Batch has set up w-fi network covering half of VNIT campus

Various batches have set up funds for helping needy students

Qualitative & Quantitative Expansion between 2003 & 2009 Built area 80300 m2 to 1,14,200 m2 Hostels capacity from ~900 to ~1500 New PG Hostel, Ladies Hostel Expansion,

Mega Mess, Library & Informatics Centre Research Publications ~ 150+ per year Three fold increase in R&D and Testing &

Consultancy earning

Paradox Indian Industries are starving of Engineers –

Financial Times (21-12-2009) ~2500 Engineering Institutions in the country Academic accreditation is based on inputs

(class rooms, student/teacher ratio) rather than output based (learning outcome)

Employability of the graduates is market driven and is questionable

INDIA@75 with 9% sustained growth would need 200 million graduates and 500 million trained manpower

Motivation for current initiative Connecting yesterday with today for

better tomorrow for the Institute Ideas & Suggestions for Scaling up

Institutional capabilities Developing Vision & Direction that

Institute should take – Presentation to MHRD

Connecting all Alumni & Providing Platform for the same

Critical Areas of Concern Teaching is not preferred profession & thus

difficulties in attracting high quality faculty Faculty shortages in critical areas Enhancing academic and research

capabilities of the faculty Training and skill development of Existing

Non-Teaching Staff Use of technology in all facets of Institution

What has been done – SWOT analysis carried out by department

visits ISO 9001 process has started NPTEL material is available Faculty participated in IUCEE workshop Internal review of all R&D projects completed Funding agencies are aggressively pursued Facelift of the Institute facilities – broachers,

exhibition halls …

SWOT Analysis (Strength) Qualified, Experienced Staff VNIT Students accepted in higher learning

academic institutions (national/International) Alumni well placed in industries /

Entrepreneurs Active participation of faculty in R&D Infrastructure to carry out cutting edge

research (VLSI, Nanotechnology, CFD, Earthquake resistant structures)

Good research publications Active participation in appropriate

technology (KVIC, RG ST&C)

SWOT Analysis (Weakness) Paucity of space Qualifications & technical competence of

supporting staff is inadequate Location disadvantage (industries) Removal of obsolescence from existing

structures VRCE / VNIT Alumni not well connected with

Institute

SWOT Analysis (Opportunity) Setting up of incubation centre Setting up of centers of excellence in

interdisciplinary areas Starting need based certification courses NABL accreditation for some laboratories to

enhance testing MIHAN and SEZ to provide enhanced

industrial interaction Better pay package in VI Pay Commission

SWOT Analysis (Threat) Fierce competition for acquiring quality

human resources due to opening of new IITs and NITs

This will indirectly affect adversely the quality of incoming students

Faculty attrition and inability to attract good faculty in cutting edge technology areas

Technical Education Quality Improvement Program - Phase I World-Bank assisted MHRD administered

project ~ Rs 20+ crore between 2003-09 Infrastructure upgrade, Faculty Knowledge &

Non-Teaching Staff Skill Improvement, Networking, Community & Tribal Development

Starting new academic programs Regular audits and mentoring by senior

academic professionals Perceived performance score has steadily

gone up from 6.3 in 2005 to 9.1 out of 10 in 2008

Technical Education Quality Improvement Program - Phase II Project to start in April 2010 Emphasis on Engineering Education

Pedagogy, Interdisciplinary Programs and Cutting Edge Research

Anticipated financial outlay ~ Rs 15+ Crore VNIT is a strong contender based on past

performance record VNIT Director to support in Nationwide TEQIP II

evaluation & mentor setting up NIT in Mizoram

But in addition to all these …

… efforts are made to bring together all the alumnus.

Few Distinguished Alumni Dinesh Keskar, Senior VP, Boeing, USA Subhash Lalla, Former Chief Sec. Gov. Maharashtra Vijay Bhatkar, Former Director C - DAC Samir K Barua, Director IIM Ahemdabad M S Unnikrishnan, MD & CEO, Thermax Ltd Prakash Telang, CEO Tata Motors S R Ahuja, VIshal Group of Industries Ravi Kalia, Professor, City College, New York Surendra Kashyap, Vastushastra Expert, Astha TV Sudhir Kalla, VP, Exide India Country Head Jaydeep Balakrishnan, University of Calgary, Canada Ms. Kamal Singh, VC, Amravati University Jayant Apte, Retd. Air Vice Marshal Late Hemant Karkare – ATS …..

Formalizing Alumni structure STEPS TAKEN A Professor In charge alumni affairs made at an

Institute level. Departmental levels talks conducted with a

faculty responsible for coordinating affairs from each department has been made.

Four students are selected from each department to assess the process in initial phases.

Efforts are taken to establish a strong alumni cell. An all India Alumnus meet has been initiated on

26th Dec. 2009 to unite all Alumni of VRCE & VNIT

Future Plans with alumnus support A concrete alumnus structure with a registered

organization and office bearers. Official chapter formation all across the world. A dedicated website & office for alumni affairs Life membership for alumnus with a VNIT email

id and provision for use of institute resources A Centralized database to help you connect with

all the other friends

Wish List: Academic syllabus review & upgrade Two way sabbatical between Industry-Academia Assistance in setting up laboratories &

knowledge repositories Improved Industry academia relations, research

projects & consultancy, placement cell Partnership in socially useful projects Employment opportunities to the VNIT students Setting up Institute Chair for Emeritus Professor Help in sustaining and expanding Alumni

Network

We have a long way to go together…VNIT heartily welcomes you and Thank You for being with us this morningWish you and your family a Happy, healthy and Prosperous 2010 !