km school of mrine engineering

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CREDIT A NALYSIS & RESEARCH LIMITED 1

K. M. SCHOOL OF MARINE ENGINEERING

Four Year B.Tech ( Marine Engineering) CARE Grade 2

Grading

CARE has assigned a 'CARE Grade 2' [Two] grading to

the 'Four year B.Tech (Marine Engineering)' course

offered by K.M.School of Marine Engineering (KMSME).

This grading indicates that the ability of the institute to

meet the course requirements is 'Very Good'

The grading derives strength from KMSME operating

as a School of Marine Engineering under the Cochin

University of Science and Technology (CUSAT),resulting in a well defined curriculum, established

admission procedures, experienced management and

faculty team, good infrastructural facilities and strong

financial position. The grading is constrained by the

limited track record for the Marine Engineering course

and the evolving quality management systems.

Background

KMSME was started under the School of Engineering

of CUSAT in September, 2003. It was upgraded to an

independent marine engineering department called

K.M.School of Marine Engineering in July, 2007 andtoday operates out of a demarcated 5.5 acre area within

the CUSAT campus. CUSAT was originally established

as the University of Cochin in 1971. The academic

structure at the university comprises nine Faculties viz.

Engineering, Environmental Studies, Humanities, Law,

Marine Sciences, Medical Sciences and Technology,

Science, Social Sciences and Technology.

The first batch of the B.Tech (Marine) course at the

institute was started in 2003-04, without approval from

the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS). DGS

approval (for all four years) was subsequently obtained

for a batch strength of 30 students. No batch was started

in the fol lowing year and for the batches that

commenced in the academic year 2005-06 and 2006-

07 the DGS approval (for all four years) was received

in March 2008. The students on completion of the course

in KMSME will undertake sea service for a period of 12

months, additional afloat training of 3 months prior to

appearing for the Part-B examination. Provisional

approval for the commencement of the first year for

academic batch 2007-08 was received in

September,2007. For the forthcoming batch, while

KMSME has commenced admissions (batch expected

to join in September, 2008), the approval from DGS is

expected.

Operations

KMSME is located within the CUSAT campus in Cochin.

The institute has separate classrooms, drawing hall,

library, hostel and dining facilities. The students of theInstitute also have access to the central library of the

university and the library of ship technology department

in the university. The students utilize the playground,

parade ground, etc. of the university. The institute does

not have a swimming pool of its own and has tied up

with an external agency to provide swimming pool

facilities to the students.

Marine engineering workshops and laboratories are

available within the KMSME campus, while for the

workshops and laboratories that are common with other

engineering streams, the institute uses the facilities of

the school of engineering under the university. KMSMEis also dependent on the school of engineering for their

computer laboratories attached to various departments,

though the institute has plans to construct its own

computer centre. In addition to this, the institute plans

to construct laboratories and workshops which have

greater significance to the marine engineering stream

within its campus while at the same time it will continue

to use the facilities of the school of engineering for

common laboratories.

The B.Tech (Marine) course consists of an equal mix of

theory and practical sessions. Except for the 7th

semester which is exclusively devoted for workshop

(afloat) training, each semester typically has 5-6 theory

subjects and 2-3 practical subjects. The first year of the

training is common for all engineering branches and

most of the theory and practical subjects in the 2nd year

pertain to other branches of engineering like mechanical,

electrical, electronics etc. With an established School

of Engineering under the University, the laboratory and

workshop facilities with respect to first and second year



CAREVIEW 2

of the courses are adequate. Apart from common

facilities, two main facilities for the exclusive use of the

Marine engineering students are the marine engineering

workshop and the engine room simulator facility. Most

of the machinery in the marine engineering workshops

have been purchased from Alang shipyard, Gujarat and

are not in working condition. These equipment are

primarily used to familiarize the students with the on

board machinery. Another important feature of the

institute's training facility is a full fledged marine engine

room simulator facility. Exercises are given to the

students where specific faults are created in the

equipments and students are required to identify the

faults and suggest remedial steps. The availability of a

full fledged engine room simulator facility with the

institute provides its students with valuable exposure of

working in engine room conditions.

The workshop training (or afloat training) in the 7th

semester focuses on overhaul and maintenance of major

marine engineering systems as well as installation,

reassembling and testing of machinery aboard ships.

As KMSME does not have capabilities to provide this

training, it has outsourced the same to M/s. Marine

Engineering Training Institute (METI), the training

division of Cochin Shipyard Ltd., Cochin. [METI has been

assigned a grading of CARE Grade 1 for i ts GME course

and is approved by DGS for providing this kind of

training]. It may be noted that while the institute has a

tie up with METI for the afloat training and one batch

has already completed training, going forward, the

institute is unlikely to use these facilities. This is primarily

because the institute is constructing a 'ship in campus'

facility which is expected to be ready by the time the

next batch comes up for afloat training in 2009. Though

the 'ship in campus' facility would improve the quality of

training facilities available on KMSME's campus, it may

not be able to provide the same 'live job' experience as

was available in METI workshops.

The students are also sent to M/s.Euro Tech Maritime

academy, Kochi for completing four modular courses

and as a value added measure, the institute arranges

for the students to take up the oil tanker familiarization

and chemical tanker familiarization courses at the same

academy. The institute also arranges for ship visits as

and when possible, though the number visits at around

three or four visits during the entire duration of the

course appear to be on the lower side.

KMSME has a faculty team of 24 (including six guest

faculty) handling the various subjects. Most of the

faculties for the common subjects are drawn from other

engineering departments. These faculties have good

teaching experience and have been associated with the

institute since inception. Marine specific topics are

handled by a team of about 5 full time faculties and other

guest faculties who have rich operational experience.

All the other marine engineering facult ies have

undergone the TOTA course(except one) and are

approved by DGS. The faculty team is headed by the

Director, assisted by the course in-charge and course

coordinator.

The teaching methodology at KMSME is tailored to suit

the educational qualifications of the students and the

requirement of the Standards of Training, Certification

and Watchkeeping (STCW) code. With the students

being 10+2 pass outs, the B.Tech course balance the

requirements of the university type education with the

technical expertise necessary for the safe and efficient

operation of merchant ships. Training is systematic and

the syllabus for the entire four year course is divided

over eight semesters. The syllabus is based on the

syllabus followed by National Institute of Technology

(Calicut), MERI(Kolkata) and follow the broad guidelines

prescribed by DGS. A detailed timetable at the beginning

of each semester is prepared taking into consideration

the teaching hours per week for each faculty and 17

weeks of classes (34 weeks for the first year). Weekly

lesson plans are prepared by each faculty to ensure

completion of the syllabus within the allocated number

of weeks. Individual faculty members have their ownover head projector sheets and there is no common bank

of teaching material. The institute provides the students

with a copy of the detailed syllabus and reference books

are prescribed. A Training Assessment and Record

(TAR) book is also to be given to the students at the

beginning of course. The TAR book given by the DGS

to each student provides the structure of the course,

contains detailed exercises to be conducted by the

students and provides for recording the assessment of

the instructor against each exercise. KMSME could not

provide the TAR books at the beginning of the course,

on account of the delay in issuance by the relevantauthorities. However, all the assessments carried out

by KMSME are recorded by the relevant faculties for

recording in the TAR book.

KMSME has a limited feedback system in place. At the

end of every semester, students are required to give

feedback on the faculty performance. The feedback so

collected is consolidated and a summary for each faculty

is prepared which is discussed in the management



CREDIT A NALYSIS & RESEARCH LIMITED 3

country to be upgraded to the level of Indian Institute of

Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) by the

Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of

India and hence will receive central Government funding

as well.

The management systems at the university are also well

established with syndicate, academic council and senate

being the principal authorit ies of the university.

Syndicate is the chief executive body and meets every

month. The day to day operations of KMSME are

managed by the Director, Mr.K.A.Simon. Mr.Simon is a

marine engineer with rich operational and teaching

experience and has been with the institute for about a

year and is assisted by the course in charge and course

coordinator, both of whom have been with the institute

since inception.

KMSME has been awarded the ISO 9001:2000 qualitycertification by the accreditation body in March,2007 and

the certification is valid for a period of three years.

Internal audits and management review meetings are

conducted every 6 months. KMSME has a separate

quality manual in place specifying the quality system

procedures to be followed, a quality policy and quality

objectives. The policy and objectives are broad based

and primarily relate to the creation of infrastructure and

introduction of new courses. There are no course

specific measurable quality objectives and overall the

systems present scope for improvement.

Prospects:

KMSME, being a part of CUSAT derives significant

benefit in terms of infrastructural facilities, assessment

systems, faculty support etc from the university. The long

track record of the university has also had a favorable

impact on the placements at the institute with all the

candidates belonging to the first batch being placed,

though the sustainability of which remains to be seen.

The government ownership of the institute is a strong

positive for the institute as this ensures financial and

management sustainability. This along with the good

infrastructural facilities and other assistance providedby the university is l ikely to ensure sustainable

operations in the medium term.

review meetings every semester. Apart from the

feedback collected from the students, the Director of

the institute also does an independent evaluation of the

faculty. KMSME also has a limited feedback system

concerning the infrastructure, course curriculum etc.

Admissions to the course are handled by the university's

centre for International Relations and Academic

Admissions (IRAA). The admission is through the

Common Admission Test (CAT) of CUSAT. All the students

satisfying the entry level requirements of the university have

to appear for CAT.A rank list is then prepared on the basis

of marks secured and candidates are shortlisted for

interview. Alongwith the interview cards, a list of DGS

approved doctors is provided for students opting for marine

engineering so as to obtain the medical clearance before

appearing for the interview. More than 90% of the

sanctioned capacity of the marine engineering course hasbeen utilized for the last four batches.

The assessment system of KMSME is based on the

evaluation pattern prescribed by the university. All theory

subjects are for 150 marks of which 100 marks is for

external examination and 50 for internal assessment.

The external examination is conducted by the chief

controller of examinations as per the university rules.

50% of the marks for internal assessment are assigned

based on the performance in internal tests and

assignments. The total marks and the weightage for the

internal and external evaluation for the laboratories and

workshops vary depending on the subject and its relativeimportance. In terms of student performance, while the

students have appeared for the individual semesters and

the institute has witnessed failures in a few subjects, a

consolidated result of the first batch was not available.

Also, given that the marine engineering course is

relatively new, the performance of the students in the

DGS conducted examinations remains to be seen.

Financial Strength:

KMSME functions under the CUSAT which being a state

owned university receives funding and financial support

from the Government of Kerala. This indirectly ensuresthe financial stability of the institute. Moreover, CUSAT

has been identified as one of the universities in the

July 2008



CAREVIEW 4

For Further details please contact at :

CREDIT ANALYSIS & RESEARCH LIMITED

4th floor, Godrej Coliseum, Somaiya Hospital Road, Off Eastern Express Highway, Sion (E), Mumbai - 400 022.Tel.: (022) 6754 3456 Fax : (022) 6754 3457 E-mail : [email protected]

Disclaimer

CARE's Maritime Training Institute gradings are an opinion on relative capability of the institute to meet the objectives of

the said course(s) in a satisfactory manner and are not a recommendation for enrollment or otherwise for the course(s)

at the institute. CARE has based its grading on information obtained from the maritime institute and other sources which

CARE considers reliable. CARE does not, however, guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any informa-

tion and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. Most

of the institutes graded by CARE have paid a grading fee, based on the number of the courses graded.

km school of mrine engineering

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