Monday, February 27, 2012

Delhi Network YPS: Seminar at JRE School of Engineering, Greater Noida (India)

On 18th February, a seminar was held at JRE School of Engineering, Greater Noida. YPS of IET Delhi was one of the participants in the seminar. JRE Group is a joint venture of Singapore’s Raffles Education Corporation Ltd and Educomp Solutions Ltd., India. The group has ventured into management and engineering education recently and this seminar was organised to familiarise the first year engineering students about different aspects of engineering education. Attended by about 70 faculty members and first year students, it was a good opportunity to communicate the message espoused by IET. On behalf of IET Delhi Network, Prof. S.S. Murthy (Vice Chairman) and Mr. Ramesh Negi (Chairman-YPS) attended the seminar. Besides providing a brief about IET and its rich heritage, the audience was informed about recent India specific initiatives like the Graduate Advantage Package, Academic affiliate program, and the scholarships. Students were quite inquisitive about the process of joining, fees involved and the PATW competition. In fact some of the young faculty members pursuing their doctoral studies also desired to know about their participation in the forthcoming PATW competition. Prof. Steve Rawlinson, the dynamic President of JRE Group and Dr. V. Krishna Rao, Dean-Engineering appeared keen in having a strategic partnership with IET. The YPS will certainly keep following it up, with guidance and support from the seniors in Delhi network.

- Ramesh Negi, Chairman-YPS, IET Delhi Network

Monday, February 20, 2012

Delhi YPS tries to Broaden its Reach


Delhi YPS tries to Broaden its Reach

- Ramesh Negi (Chairman – YPS), IET Delhi Network

In an effort to widen the reach of IET amongst budding engineers, we recently had a series of meetings with the officials of some reputed engineering institutions in Bhopal (MP) in the Central west part of India. Bhopal, known as the city of lakes, not only holds a strategic place in the national political scene, but it is also known as an educational hub in Western India.

Our first stop was TIT Group of Institutions, in Anand Nagar, Bhopal. Besides discussing the membership issue with Dr Bhupendra Verma, the Director of ‘Technocrats Institute of Technology’, we also met the Group Director Dr. C.L. Saxena who appeared quite enthusiastic about opening IET Student Chapter in their college and sought more details about having an institutional affiliation. The officials appeared impressed when we told them about the level of energy displayed by Delhi Network Chairman (Mr. HBS Rana) even at the age of 85, who has been with IET for over 50 years. While underlining the importance of a strategic tie-up, they sought to emphasise that IET will have to come up to expectations in terms of value for money.

Next, we went to Oriental Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Thakral Nagar, Bhopal. This institute is considered one of the best in terms of standards of education. Having colleges and institutes in many cities across Madhya Pradesh, OIST is also known for the … design of its buildings. This institute has also made headlines for being a preferred location for a number of famous bollywood movies. The young and energetic Director, Dr. T. Hamsapriya appeared keen in allowing the participation of their students in the forthcoming PATW Delhi round competition. Though she was not much aware about IET and its activities, she opined that opening of a student chapter can be considered if she is confident about a fruitful long-term association with IET.

Our next stop was the NRI group of institutions at Sajjan Singh Nagar in Bhopal to meet Dr. S.C. Kapoor, the Director. Dr. Kapoor informed us that as of now plans are in final stages for starting a student chapter of Institution of Engineers (I). On being told that IE(I) and IET are strategic partners now, Dr. Kapoor assured that efforts would certainly be initiated for IET activities as well in near future.

Subsequently we visited the Bansal Institute of Research & Technology (BIRT) in Bhopal and met Dr. S.C. Soni, (Director) and Dr. N.K. Tiwari (Principal). While appearing convinced about an association with IET, Dr. Tiwari suggested that IET will be in a better position to widen its membership base if it can offer memberships for 10-20 yrs or allow the prevailing concept of life-fellows in India. Dr. Soni desired to have more details about the steps and procedures for becoming an academic affiliate.

Though it was a hectic one day tour, but we kept hopping from one place to another for about 9 hrs. Our lunch became the casualty, but we had no option as the meetings could be arranged after consistent pursual from Prof. Taruna Jain, the flag bearer of IET in Bhopal city. Two young first year students from Barkatullah University Mr. Aviral Patle and Ms. Shivani Dube were the local guides and support lines for us all this while. If the enthusiasm and motivation level of Aviral and Shivani is an indication, then I am sure, IET is bound to have an array of activities in coming years in Bhopal. Well, what is required – is a mild nudge and requisite support from the Delhi YPS team. Amen.

Attached Figure: Mr. Aviral, Ms. Shivani with Mr. HBS Rana at one of the institutes in Bhopal

PATW-2012 Campus Round Competition at Sharda University, Greater Noida (India)

On 4th Feb, the newly formed student chapter of IET at Sharda University (Greater Noida) organised this year’s Campus round competition of PATW. Sharda Univerisity is a leading educational institution offering opportunities in management, medical, law, creative arts, architecture & planning etc. besides Engineering & Technology, within Delhi NCR region.

This was the first time that Sharda University students took part in a competition like this and the enthusiasm with which 35 students participated to secure berth in the forthcoming ‘Delhi round finals’ seems to suggest that there is ample scope for more IET’s activities in the University. Due to high number of participants in the event, two-tier selection structure was adopted. Six shortlisted students from first round competed with each other in the second round for the top two slots. The eminent panel of judges finally declared Ms. Ekta Sinha as the winner and Ms. Mitali Sahu the runner-up of the event. Both these students will now compete with students from other Universities/ institutions from Delhi network region on 3rd March at IIT Delhi. Mr. HBS Rana, IET Delhi Network Chairman, was kind enough to grace the occasion and gave away cash prizes of Rs. 4000/- and Rs 2000/- to the winner and the runner-up respectively. Certificates were also given away to all the participants.

Coordinating team for the event included Prof. Rakesh Kumar, Prof. C. Mohan, Prof. Venkat Babu, Mr. Ambarish Shukla and Ms. Preeti Chaudhary.

Ramesh Negi, Chairman-YPS, IET Delhi Network