1. Administration
1.1. Administrative Unit for Tech/Cultural Clubs: Tech clubs have many issues regarding securing permission for workshops, requesting OD for technical and cultural competitions and fests. It would be very helpful if these activities were governed by a single independent body so students can turn to them instead of faculty. Faculty may be biased into supporting certain clubs but not others. Existing clubs are associated with faculty members so maybe permission from these faculty members is sufficient.
1.1.1. Guru
1.2. Ombudsman Office
1.2.1. Need someone to turn to during times of conflict of interest from faculty/staff or even fellow students
1.2.2. Students may not be comfortable talking to faculty /staff or fellow students about these issues
1.2.3. Independent and unbiased advice/support
1.2.4. Confidential
1.2.5. Formal Channel to file complaints
1.2.6. address quality of coursework
1.2.7. resolve student faculty conflicts
1.3. Student Feed back Forms
1.3.1. Feedback from students that are received at the end of each course should be taken more seriously, preferably published online and corrective action should be taken to improve the course for the students. These records should also be accessible to the student ombudsman for reference in case of complaints.
1.3.1.1. Srik
1.3.2. Student feedback on course and professors to be paid attention to.
1.3.2.1. Pras
1.3.3. I think the director mentioned in the alumni meeting that the results of the feedback forms will be made public
2. Alumni
2.1. .edu mail ids for the alumni community for confidence in exchange.
2.2. Students should be able to contribute and access alumni information from the RECAL database
2.2.1. Srik
2.3. Alumni Reach-out should be established for each department as a student-run system with responsibilities to reach out to alumni for mentoring, conducting mock interviews, guidance on graduate studeis etc. Special sessions can be organized for the alumni to explain their career path to provide students an idea of the different career paths available to them.
2.3.1. Srik
3. Information Technology Infrastructure
3.1. Library and Accessing information
3.1.1. Library Access: Library papers should be accessible throughout all computers connected to the institute network to assist students to view and download research papers.
3.1.1.1. Srik
3.1.2. Interlibrary loan facility to request papers available in nearby universities for a short time for the student’s benefit (long-term wishlist).
3.1.2.1. Srik
3.1.3. Online course library for students with interests beyond curriculum
3.1.3.1. Pras
3.2. Internet/Intranet
3.2.1. Coursework group email/discussion system for the faculty to send out group-emails to students registered for the particular course. The student can also ask questions to the faculty here so that the whole class can benefit from answers.
3.2.1.1. Srik
3.2.2. webmail should be based on the students's names instead of roll numbers
3.2.2.1. Guru
3.3. Infrastructure
3.3.1. Universal institute e-resource access: Students should have the facility and space to securely connect to the institute resources (library, LAN, intranet) from their own laptops without relying on computers in labs. Equipment availability or downtime should not affect the students ability to utilize the institute’s resources (Octagon, WiFi).
3.3.1.1. Srik
3.3.2. Getting the CAD lab functional with more licensed software.
3.3.2.1. CVK
3.4. Online NITT Discussion Boards
3.4.1. Questions board where students can ask their questions that shall be answered.
3.4.1.1. Pras
3.4.1.2. Do students ask questions between other students or between faculty? Or just a general community?
3.4.2. Discussion forum that connects NIT community worldwide to build an effective communication network.
3.4.2.1. Pras
3.4.3. Project/Research communication board for faculty to reach out to students
3.4.3.1. Allows students to know what faculty are working on
3.4.3.1.1. Guru
3.4.3.2. Faculty members post projects and students apply for them online
3.4.3.2.1. Guru
3.4.3.3. Industries can post as well
3.4.3.3.1. Guru
4. Coursework
4.1. Mechanical Engineering
4.1.1. Recommendations to Courses teaching methodology
4.1.1.1. Software Competency in MATLAB-Simulink, ANSYS, Fluent, CATIA or SolidWorks, etc. should be included as part of coursework in core-mechanical subjects. Assignments should be framed to make the students utilize these softwares as part of their answers.
4.1.1.1.1. Srik
4.1.1.2. Open book examinations should be encouraged among the faculty to force the students to actually learn from the subject instead of rote memorization.
4.1.1.2.1. Srik
4.1.1.3. Major and Minor system can be introduced which is already being practiced in IITs to help the student gain competency in more than one field. (long-term wishlist)
4.1.1.3.1. Srik
4.1.1.4. Benchmark coursework and practices for mechanical engineering with PSG Tech, VIT, IITs, BITS and other foreign institutes to identify areas of improvement.
4.1.1.4.1. Srik
4.1.1.5. Computer Aided Engineering(CAE) based assignments for class projects/assignments: Class assignments should be changed to class projects. If these projects are made as CAE projects then they will be interesting and helpful for the students. Our college has an excellent Computer lab with the required engineering based software. If using this software was required in a class assignment or a course it would be helpful for the students. During a Computer aided design(CAD) course, a professor at NITT told us to model many parts using a computer and submit the printouts. What was interesting was that he didn’t teach us how to use the software, we learnt it by ourselves simply because it was new and we felt it was important. He did take the initiative to book the cad lab but besides that nothing else.
4.1.1.5.1. Guru
4.1.1.6. Best Student Project Award based on an open-competition to encourage students to innovate and put more effort into their final design project.
4.1.1.6.1. Srik
4.1.1.7. Individual Course Project Recommendations
4.1.1.7.1. Mini-projects should be made mandatory for core-mechanical subjects (design of machines, finite element analysis) and should constitute at least 20% of total marks for weightage. This should involve solving parts of real engineering problems encountered in the industry. Professors should be encouraged to make a part of their research projects as a mini-project and pose it as a challenge to students. This has already been implemented by EEE department with reasonable success.
4.1.1.7.2. 50% credit for hands on mini projects to apply the concepts learnt during the course without the expense of too much time, recognition for the best ideas as a motivation.
4.1.1.8. Electives
4.1.1.8.1. Electives should be opened up for all departments where a student can take a course from any department as they please. This helps the students to learn subjects outside their major.
4.1.1.8.2. elective choices based on student interests.
4.1.1.8.3. Allow Interdepartmental Electives
4.1.1.8.4. More Choices
4.1.1.8.5. More number of elective credits
4.1.2. Lab
4.1.2.1. The labs are well equipped, however the approach to lab could be improved a bit. We are given record notebooks, in which everything is laid out and we just fill in values. Many of us, at that point in time are not aware of how this experiment or the concept is being used in the industry today. To address this, student may be asked to find out about the it from internet, etc. and submit a brief write up about how the particular concept/ idea of the experiment he/she is doing is being used in the industry. This will help them understand better and get a practical sense to it.
4.1.2.1.1. Vinod
4.1.3. Additional Courses
4.1.3.1. Hybrid and energy management courses are the need for the hour.
4.1.3.1.1. Pras
4.1.3.2. Having a proper control theory coursework.
4.1.3.2.1. CVK
4.1.3.3. Safety engg course made compulsory with removal of oil hydraulics and prod engg courses.
4.1.3.3.1. CVK
4.1.3.4. Product Design Course. ICE department has a product design course, in which students are put in small teams and are asked to design a certain product from scratch. I had discussed this topic specifically, when you had come here. I believe, this will serve as a great platform for the students to get a practical feel of what they are doing and apply the concepts learnt so far. This could be part of the course in the 6th or 7th semester when they have finished the main course pertaining to their branch. These ideas will realize their true potential only if they are done by the student with ardent interest. Although, the university has rules against plagiarism, quite a few of them tend to copy in assignments, homeworks and projects. Steps that ensure that these things don’t happen will help a great deal, for eg. personalized topics may be given to each batch and copying from previous years may be strictly monitored. These courses may be offered with low credits if needed, but it is quite important they contribute towards the GPA. Students will tend to take these courses seriously only when grades are associated with them.
4.1.3.4.1. Vinod
4.1.3.5. Independent Study should be made available for students with the following options in the place of elective credit for one subject: They can collaborate with a professor to publish a research paper in selected international conferences or journals as a final deliverable. This encourages students pursuing research. Participate in SAE Baja or RMI and complete a technical report (this practice can be benchmarked with foreign universities for detailed implementation) Student Internships in foreign universities with the submission of a final technical report signed by the respective advisor clearly indicating that this student has completed this study for credit (already practiced in foreign universities)
4.1.3.5.1. Srik
4.1.3.6. Computer Aided Engineering Courses
4.1.3.6.1. An entire lab course based on CAE
4.1.3.6.2. MATLAB and SIMULINK Over the past few years, Matlab has been associated with all facets of engineering. It has become an integral tool in many of the processes regardless of the stage of development a product is in. Currently, only the students who tend to get into research at major universities as part of the intern are exposed to it. I believe, a course could be introduced in the first year itself along with ‘C programming’ classes. This will also enable students to use it for their homeworks, projects and assignments from then on. It is important that apart from basic programming, the students are assignment small projects on which they could be graded.
4.1.3.6.3. MS EXCEL I believe, I can say for sure that excel is one software an engineer will inevitably end up using in the industry. Quite a lot of us are fortunate enough to be well versed this software, but a more comprehensive level of understanding can help a fresh engineer be very efficient at work. The ‘vba code’ which is very simple to use can be easily taught, so that many of the repetitive tasks at work could programmed and automated. It is really simple to learn and execute, but majority of us are unaware of the true power of this tool.
4.1.4. Misc
4.1.4.1. Best Student Project Award based on an open-competition to encourage students to innovate and put more effort into their final design project.
4.1.4.1.1. Srik
4.1.4.2. Student Final Year Project Presentations at Barn/EEE auditorium
4.1.4.2.1. Students work on very interesting projects, but their work is not shared with other students
4.1.4.2.2. 1st through 4th year audience for presentations
4.1.4.2.3. Provides Exposure to First year students