Changing Equations. The top ten

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2 Changing Equations IITs are still the most revered for all-round academic excellence but this year s survey sees the non-iits bettering the IITs on quite a few parameters, making their mark and creating new benchmarks The top ten IIT Bombay Mumbai 1 IIT Madras Chennai 2 IIT Delhi New Delhi 3 IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur 4 International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad Hyderabad 5 Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Pilani 6 Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Guwahati 7 Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi 8 National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal Surathkal 9 Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology Delhi 10 DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011

3 The Top 100 T-schools Change Institutes City Score HR Perception IIT Bombay Mumbai IIT Madras Chennai IIT Delhi New Delhi IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad Hyderabad Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Pilani Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Guwahati Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal Surathkal Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology Delhi Birla Institute of Technology Ranchi Delhi Technological University Delhi Amity School of Engineering and Technology Noida DA Institute of Information Communication Technology (DA-IICT), Gandhinagar Gandhinagar 15 National Institute of Technology, Warangal Warangal College of Engineering, Pune Pune National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli National Institute of Technology, Rourkela Rourkela Thapar University, Patiala Patiala Motilal Nehru Institute of Engineeting, Allahabad Allahabad Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology Surat ABV IIIT and Management, Gwalior Gwalior National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur Jamshedpur SSN College of Engineering Kalavakkam off Chennai Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology Delhi Institute of Technology, Nirma University Ahmedabad Amrita School of Engineering Coimbatore College of Engineering, Trivandrum Trivandrum West Bengal University of Technology Kolkata PES Insitute of Technology (PESIT) Bengaluru National Institute of Technology, Silchar Silchar Harcourt Butler Technological Institute Kanpur Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi Sivakashi Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology Bengaluru Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, College of Engineering Pune BNM Institute of Technology Bengaluru BS Abdur Rahman University Chennai Rungta College of Engineering & Technology Bhilai Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology Greater Noida New Horizon College of Enginering Bengaluru Dehradun Institute of Technology Dehradun Army Institute of Technology (AIT) Pune Oriental Institute of Science and Technology Bhopal Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology New Delhi GMR Institute of Technology Rajam Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology Kochi Bannari Amman Institute of Technology Erode Orissa Engineering College Bhubaneswar Ganesh Lal Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management Greater Noida Thiagarajar College of Engineering Madurai Thakural College of Technology Bhopal Total Score DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

4 Overall Scores Change Institutes City Score HR Perception Total Score B I T Sindri Dhanbad Panimalar Enineering College Chennai Govt Model Engineering College Kochi Easwari Engineering College Chennai Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata Kolkata Trident Academy of Technology Bhubaneswar Babu Banarsi Das Institute of Technology Ghaziabad Sona College of Technology Salem NIT Kurukshetra Kurukshetra Hindustan College of Science & Technology Mathura SJB Institute of Technology Bengaluru National Institute of Technology, Agartala Agartala Rajalakshmi Engineering College Chennai Government College of Engineering & Ceramic Technology Kolkata ABES Engineering College, Ghaziabad Ghaziabad Kasegaon Education Society, Rajarambapu Institute Islampur of Technology 68 Govt. College of Engineering, Amravati Amravati PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design & Jabalpur Manufacturing 70 Hindustan Institute of Technology & Management Agra National Institute of Technology, Patna Patna Turba Institute of Engineering and Information Technology Bhopal DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar Jalandhar MAER S MIT College of Engineering Pune Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engg Shimoga Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering & Technology Chittoor Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya Anand Anand Engineering College Agra RCC Institute of Information Technology Kolkata Vemana Institute of Technology Bengaluru Faculty of Science and Technology, ICFAI University Dehradun Velagapudi Ramakrishna Sidhhartha Engineering College Vijayawada M V J College of Engineering Bengaluru GH Patel College of Engineering & Technology Vallabh Vidyanagar 85 JB Institute of Engineering & Technology Hyderabad Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology Virudhunagar Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Tirupati Tirupati PES College of Engineering Mandya Dr MGR Education and Research Institute Chennai University College of Engineering Hyderabad Vel Tech Multi Tech Dr Rangarajan Dr Sakunthala Engineering Chennai College Marathwada Institute of Technology, Aurangabad Aurangabad Smt Kamala and Sri Venkappa M Agadi College of Engineering Laxmeshwar and Technology 94 G Pulla Reddy Engineering College Kurnool, AP University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering Bengaluru Ghousia College of Engineering Ramanagaram Textile & Engineering Institute Rajwada Inst Ichalkaranji Delhi Institute of Technology and Management Sonepat Konark Institute of Science and Technology Bhubaneswar KS Institute of Technology Bengaluru DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011

5 Knowledge itself is power Francis Bacon True to this saying, India s next logical evolution to a global superpower (from the much clichéd Asian tiger reference) lies in our ability to groom further home grown technology talent that should be truly global in nature. Clearly knowledge is the single most potent weapon India must leverage to become an economic superpower. But one needs to go beyond the rhetoric and must frequently do a due diligence on the state of our technology education delivery and make amends for its improvement. That is the Dataquest- CMR Top T-School Survey s key intention. Into its 7th year, this year s survey findings have their usual share of surprises and pointers. Over the years we have received our share of bouquets and brick- Many industry bodies have from time to time looked at the employability of overall engineering graduates (mostly non IITs which estimates suggest is as low as 25%. Clearly education reform experts argue that engineering schools need to engage in more empirical curriculum with strong orientation towards current job and demand dynamics Institutes offering Doctoral Programs In Engg (Base: 100) 44% No 56% Yes Salary (In Lakhs) Recruiment Level (All Companies) Average Max Salary PhD/Doctorate Count Average Annual Salary by All Companies Average Annual Salary by IT/ITeS Companies Just a marginal increase, hope this component also goes up going forward Average Strength of Final Year Batch Average no of Students Placed % of Students Placed Average no of Students Placed in IT/ITeS % of Students Placed in IT/ITeS No of Companies Visiting (Average) No significant changes here, it s been rather consistent over the years No of IT/ITeS- Companies Visiting (Average) No of Student Pursuing PhD (Average) No of Doctorate Awarded (Average) To foster more research this component has to increase. DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

6 Zone-wise Toppers Excluding IITs NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST S No Institute Overall 1 Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani 6 2 Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 8 3 Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology, Delhi 10 4 Delhi Technological University, Delhi 12 5 Amity School of Engineering and Technology, Noida 13 S No Institute Overall 1 International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad 5 2 National Institute of Technology, Karnataka Surathkal 9 3 National Institute of Technology, Warangal 15 4 National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 17 5 SSN College of Engineering, Chennai 24 S No Institute Overall 1 Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi 11 2 NIT Rourkela 18 3 National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur 23 4 West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata 29 5 National Institute of Technology, Silchar 31 S No Institute Overall 1 Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information Communication Technology, Gandhinagar 2 College of Engineering, Pune 16 3 Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat 21 4 Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad 26 5 Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, College of Engineering, Pune bats; we have considered the macro landscape comprising thousands of technology schools present across the country. Our intention is to present some of the best T-schools in the country, IITs and non-iits chosen through an elaborate process of selecting, short listing and ranking. In the end the institutes scores on various parameters that decide the top spots. Also, why include the IITs individually? Well, a convincing answer for that lies in the fact that though IITs are a collective intellectual ecosystem, each IIT has its share of unique differentiators and hence the need to rank them as separate entities from a ranking perspective, to foster healthy competition. Parameters Up Close Overall, looking at the top 10 listings there was quite a bit of change. As we look at the Ivy League of Top 5, the top 4 places go to the IITs with the exception of IIIT Hyderabad holding on to its #5 position. But it is interesting to note that while IIT Bombay retained its #1 position, tough competition ensued between the IITs of Delhi, Chennai, and Kharagpur and the outcomes altered the Top 5 ranking composition with IIT Madras making an impressive climb to #2 position. In fact it was a tight rope finish by IIT Bombay whose overall HR perception score helped it clinch the top spot, which IIT Madras missed by a whisker. Both IIT Bombay and IIT Madras rightful stature in the survey is due to the pioneering efforts they have been doing all these years, that s yielding fruits y-o-y. Be it initiatives like alumni funding in which IIT Bombay tops. For instance IIT-B has launched a dedicated online donations portal for better reach as well as transfer of funds easier from donors abroad. In terms of research and industry-institute DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011

7 Placement-wise ing Institutes City Total (Out of 40) International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad collaboration IIT B plays an aggressive role. For instance it is working on country specific unique research initiatives together with the industry and one good instance here is its collaboration with IBM for an Open Collaboration Research (OCR) project with the Industrial Design Center (IDC) at the institute. This unique research collaboration focuses on the development of new designs for mobile device interfaces that can easily be used by people who are semiliterate or illiterate, as well as individuals who have limited or no access to information technology. Ultimately through this collaboration the core focus is on developing simple, inexpensive mobile phone user interfaces for everyone, regardless of geography or education level, aims to introduce new levels of ease-ofuse to mobile phone interaction via developed software technology that will be made available to the public through open source. Meanwhile IIT Madras also has excellent industry academia collaborations. Hyderabad IIT Bombay Mumbai IIT Madras Chennai PES Insitute of Technology (PESIT) Bengaluru Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology Delhi Delhi Technological University Delhi IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Pilani National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Guwahati The patterns suggest IITs have stiff competion from institutes like IIIT Hyderabad which are clearly upping their ante Looking at the individual parameters, Infrastructure is one sweet spot for IIT Bombay and in the Top 5, IITs rule in these parameters with the only exception being NIT Rourkela at #5. Meanwhile NITK- Surathkal topped in the Industry Interface. In terms of Academic Environment, IIT Kharagpur took the honors and made it to the top spot followed by IIT Madras, Delhi, and Bombay. On academic environment as we look at the non-iits the top ones were Institute of Technology BHU, NIT Rourkela, IIIT Hyderabad, Dehradun Institute of Technology and BITS Pilani. Looking at the results on academic environment with bulk of institutes being IITs in the Top 5, the other non-iits need to work on this front more to give at least stiff competition to the IITs. Monitoring for Quality Of late the quality of engineering education is subject to much debate including the quality of faculty, as well as graduating students. Experts suggest that the mushrooming Salary in Lakhs Average Salary among IITs Average Salary among NIT Clearly a gap exists in terms of compensation between IITs and NITs of engineering colleges though a sign of supply to cater the demand but often times the availability of infrastructure, academic output and quality of faculty asking for more quality. Moreover the quality of students from these new and emerging engineering colleges which comes in all names with strong regional political affinities need to be closely monitored for quality and their overall academic credentials and their industry accreditations need to be taken into consideration. Putting this perspective many industry bodies have from time to time looked at the employability of overall engineering graduates (mostly non-iits) which estimates suggest is as low as 25%. Clearly education reform experts argue that engineering schools need to engage in more empirical curriculum with strong orientation towards current job and demand dynamics and try and arrive at a judicious blend of theory and practice with string emphasis on soft skills as well. This many experts feel will significantly improve the employability quotient of graduating engineers across disciplines and will bring more parity and even bridge the knowledge divide between IITs, NITs and other privately funded engineering institutions. In the recent times even IITs and its entrance test system the JEE has come in for debate and scrutiny. Some of the experts argue that the JEE candidate selection process has become so outdated and one needs more innovative testing processes that can test the candidates real engineering IQ rather than theoretical aspect of things. With the mushrooming of IIT coaching center experts are asking for ground-up engineering education reforms in the country. Many feel the JEE system has become too old and predictable and hence many candidates preparing for the IITs adopt the mugging theoretical concepts method and DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

8 by taking so much mock tests they clear the final real JEE. While these candidates are top scorers in both school and in IIT JEE the question is how much extempore knowledge they have on certain theoretical concepts and their orientation towards hardcore engineering. Recently former Infosys chief Narayana Murthy, pondered over the quality of students at IITs right now and the need for improvement when compared to global technology schools in the US. While quality of students is one issue raised by some in the industry in IITs and other engineering schools in the country, a more important debate is on the quality of the faculty as well. It might be recalled earlier this year Union Minister Jairam Ramesh openly criticised the quality of faculty in IITs and IIMs. But from the IITs perspective, the institutes do not seem to be unduly perturbed by all these criticisms and continue to do their work. But experts feel that the debate on improving the quality must be seriously taken in the right spirit and that attitude will ultimately benefit the whole IIT and overall engineering education system in the country and further its quality benchmarks. Industry Interface-wise ing The Placement Edge Getting back into the survey findings and as we look at parameters like placements there were some upsets. IIT Bombay vacated its #1 position (previous year) to IIIT, Hyderabad this year but managed to occupy the #2 position. According to IIT Mumbai s placement report it says, Amongst positive vibes about economic recovery and increased hiring, IIT Bombay entered its placement season with high expectations in Around 250 organizations participated in the campus placement and over 950 jobs have been offered through oncampus and pre-placement offers. Students from Bachelor of Technology (BTech), Master of Science (MSc), Dual Degree (DD), Master of Technology (MTech), Master of Design (MDes), Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs in various fields of engineering, science and technology, and design participated in the placement process. It s indeed an impressive climb by IIT Madras which zipped forward to #3 position compared to #11 the previous year. Interestingly none of the IITs surveyed made it to the number one spot and moreover in the Top 5 on placements there were College Name City Total Score (out of 5) National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal Surathkal IIT Madras Chennai IIT Delhi New Delhi IIT Bombay Mumbai Faculty of Science and Technology, ICFAI University Dehradun Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi Harcourt Butler Technological Institute Kanpur International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad Hyderabad National Institute of Technology, Patna Patna BS Abdur Rahman University Chennai This parameter defies popular perception and drives home a point that industry interface patterns are changing and IITs do have some serious competition Research Environment (Avg No of Papers/Year) The initiatives like the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010 drafted by the Ministry of HRD has set the stage for much needed reforms only 2 IITs and 3 non-iits (apart from IIIT, Hyderabad the others were PES Institute of Technology (PESIT) and Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology). This shows that other institutes apart from the IITs are fast catching up on the placements and attracting some of the best and big names in the industry. Instances like PESIT entering inside Top 5 shows the changing landscape and the recruiters attitudinal change in going for different caliber of institutes apart from the IITs. The prominent exits out of top 10 this year were ones like Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information Communication, IIT Guwahati, and NIT Karnataka Surathkal. Emphasis on Research This is one area India needs to foster more output of global standards. Also this is one area where experts call for rapid and well rounded reforms that can usher in the motivation and deepen opportunities for higher learning and research across disciplines. For instance the initiatives like the Higher Education and DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011

9 Infrastructure-wise ing Institutes City Total Score (out of 10) IIT Bombay Mumbai IIT Madras Chennai IIT Delhi New Delhi Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Guwahati NIT Rourkela Rourkela IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology Surat Amity School of Engineering and Technology Noida National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal Surathkal International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad Research Bill, 2010 drafted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has set the stage for much needed reforms in space but it needs to be implemented fast and it is expected to be passed by end of this year. The proposed higher education bill will provide for the determination, co-ordination, maintenance of standards in, and promotion of higher education and research, including university education, technical and professional education other than agricultural and medical education, and for that purpose, to establish the National Commission for Higher Education and Research. Hyderabad Here IITs shine and other institutes need to emulate the benchmarks set by IITs Academic Environment-wise ing Institutes City Total Score (out of 20) IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur IIT Madras Chennai IIT Delhi New Delhi IIT Bombay Mumbai Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi NIT Rourkela Rourkela Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Guwahati International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad Hyderabad Birla Institute of Technology Ranchi Dehradun Institute of Technology Dehradun Yet again IITs make a point for others to follow The bill also proposes to further to promote the autonomy of higher educational institutions for the free pursuit of knowledge and innovation, and for facilitating access, inclusion and opportunities to all, and providing for comprehensive and holistic growth of higher education and research in a competitive global environment through reforms and renovation; and to provide for an advisory mechanism of eminent peers in academia. While cutting edge research on various fields happens across IITs, with the higher education bill one expects the other non-iits can also speed up their research initiatives. Looking at this year s survey outcomes on the research side, only 56% of the surveyed sample institutions offered PhD degrees and this component has to go up significantly for higher research activities. But yet again it also puts into focus the academic environment and infrastructure which are the two key elements for candidates pursuing research. For instance even in IITs a bulk of them moves out after their bachelors to MS programs abroad, mainly the US. So the challenge for IITs despite having the best of everything is to retain its own graduating students to opt for PG and PhD within the IIT system. But for non-iits with the exceptions like BITS and some NITs the overall infrastructure relating to research activities need to be increased. One needs focussed collaborations and speciality labs that can attract candidates who can feel more secured once they see a career path post their research completion. A closer look at data on this front this year shows a silver lining. For instance the average number of PhD intake saw an increase and in tandem the average number of research papers also increased. For the non-iits it can source some learning form the IITs model of higher research. For instance IIT Madras in addition to providing academic and departmental research programs, it has also initiated interdisciplinary research projects across 16 domains cutting across environmental technologies to IT. Also to foster more practical application of the research skills institutes must go on aggressively with Industrial Consultancy. In the case of IIT Madras, it provides for faculty and staff of the institute to undertake specific assignments for the industry, which include project design, testing and evaluation or even training in new areas of industrial development. Industries and organizations involved DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

10 Methodology How We ed the T-Schools (The methodology of the Dataquest-CMR Best Tech School Survey 2011 ) Background Dataquest compiled the seventh Dataquest-CMR survey scorecard on the best T-schools in the country on the basis of a methodology and calculations vetted by research firm CMR. Research Objective The aim of this survey was to determine the top Technology Schools (BE, BTech, or similar level graduate technical course) in the country and rank them on a list of parameters important for both students and recruiters. Research Methodology The Dataquest-CMR survey was done in 2 phases. Phase 1 Desk Research: In this phase, the CMR team so as to identify the list of 300 Tech Schools did an exhaustive desk research and leading 40 companies who would be invited to be a part of the survey. We screened colleges established post 2004 and the ones which were not offering a BE, BTech, or similar level graduate technical courses. Phase 2: The Tech Schools and the IT companies shortlisted in Phase 1 were approached by CMR team. For the Tech Schools both responses and face-to-face interviews with the college representative (preferably the placement coordinator) were considered. HR heads of the leading companies were contacted over to include the recruiter perception in the survey. The data was compiled on the basis of 2-year objective data (academic years and ) provided by institutes and perception scores of the recruiters. The ing The research team from CMR carried out the validation exercise. The objective scores were obtained by evaluating the T-schools against the following parameters: n Placements n Infrastructure n Academic Environment n Industry Interface The weights were distributed as: Placements (40%), Infrastructure (10%), Intellectual Capital (20%), and Industry Interface (5%). The total weightage assigned to objective data was 75%. These parameters were further categorized into sub parameters. This was done in the following manner. Placements n Percentage of students placed in all type of companies n Percentage of students placed in IT companies n Number of companies visiting campus in all type of companies per student n Number of IT companies visiting campus per student n Maximum Salary- Per Annum n Average salary of all type of companies- Per Annum n Average salary of IT companies- Per Annum Infrastructure n Computer to student ratio n Percentage of computers connected to internet n Percentage of students that can be accommodated in hostel n Internet access in hostel n Percentage of P IV/latest configuration computers n Internet access in computer labs n Batch strength for PG Course in engineering disciplines n Availability of Digital/Network in-campus library Academic Environment n Faculty/Student ratio n Percentage of permanent faculty n Percentage of Permanent Faculty with PhD n Number of Patents obtained by the institute n Batch strength of PhD course in engineering discipline n Percentage of students passed with first division in BE/BTech Degree n Average number of research papers in and Industry Interface n Number of MoU signed by the industry n Average number of assignments in and for organizations n Affiliation or linkages with international institute/education body Perception Score: The perception survey of recruiters was conducted through another questionnaire. Recruiters were asked to rate importance of various aspects while deciding which Tech School to visit for campus recruitments on a 5-point scale. Recruiters were also welcome to add any parameter of their choice. They were given a list of institutes which they had to rate on a 10-point scale. The overall weightage given to the recruiter s response was 25. The composite score, which is the total of the objective data score and the recruiter s perception score, was used to arrive at the final ranking. Analysis Methodology :All the absolute data provided by the institutions were normalized and converted to relative data to evaluate the relative distance among the institutes across different parameters. After normalization the data had been multiplied with respective weights of each parameter and then the total objective score out of 75 was calculated. Similarly from the HR s perception, the total score out of 25 was calculated only for those institutes that received some marks from the HR professionals otherwise the HR portion was kept blank. These 2 scores were then added up and composite score was calculated out of 100. The whole data was then arranged in descending order and we finally got the top institutes across India. Reasons for Change in : Every year, we experience few reshuffling of ranks every year mainly due to the reason that this survey is based on hard facts rather than perception only. As a result, the total score of a particular institute gets modified and altered every year. Validation Process : The CMR research team did all the data validation exercise. We had asked for few documents from the institutes like list of companies visited in the campus, number of students recruited by each one of them and the salary offered to the students, placement brochure, institute prospectus, companies for whom consulting/industrial assignment has been done, name of journal where research paper has been published, and official copy of semester results. Apart from these we had also validated the data from various secondary sources. Especially the placement data have been validated from the data provided by the various companies who generally visit campuses for placements. DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011

11 HR Perception-wise ing INSTITUTES HR SCORE 1 IIT Bombay 25 2 IIT Delhi IIT Kharagpur IIT Madras 22 5 Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Birla Institute of Technology Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, College of Engineering Amity School of Engineering and Technology National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal Delhi Technological University DA Institute of Information Communication Technology (DA-IICT), Gandhinagar Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology College of Engineering, Pune National Institute of Technology, Warangal GMR Institute of Technology B I T Sindri Thapar University Patiala Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology Institue of Technology, Nirma University SSN College of Engineering College of Engineering, Trivandrum National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur ABV IIIT and Management, Gwalior BNM Institute of Technology Motilal Nehru Institute of Engineering, Allahabad NIT Rourkela Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology NIT Kurukshetra Hindustan College of Science & Technology Harcourt Butler Technological Institute Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology Amrita School of Engineering National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli BS Abdur Rahman University Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology 5 Colleges were ranked according to the perception of the recruiters on various HR related aspects The proposed higher Education and Research Bill, 2010 drafted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has set the stage for much needed reforms in space but it needs to be implemented fast and IT is expected to be passed by the end of this year in the industrial development request IIT faculty to take up specific assignments channelled through the Center for Industrial Consultancy and sponsored Research (ICSR). So clearly institutes must attract more R&D jobs. If we take IIT-B s last placement season, its placement report says that with the economy increasingly striving for high-end products and services, a larger number of companies now strive to develop products on the forefront of technology. IIT-B saw an increase in organizations hiring fresh graduates in the R&D sector. This sector had been steadily growing for the past few years and this year IIT-B saw some premier job offers in this sector. A total of 16 R&D organizations offered around 70 positions this year. Compensation Matters While attracting top notch companies for the campus recruitment drive is a matter of great prestige but when it comes to compensation there exists a gap in terms of what is offered between the IITs and non-iits. Specifically if we compare IITs with NIT, the former takes the 10 DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

12 Weightage of Parameters and Sub Parameters Parameters Sub Parameters Weights Placements % of students placed in last 2 years 13 % of students placed in last 2 years in IT companies 2 No of companies visiting campus in last 2 years 7 No of IT companies visiting campus in last 2 years 2 Max Salary (last 2 yrs) - Per Annum 3 Avg salary (last 2 yrs) of all type of companies- Per Annum 11 Avg salary (last 2 yrs) of IT companies- Per Annum 2 Infrastructure Computer to students ratio 2 Academic Environment Industry Interface % of computers connected to internet 1 Hostel facility 0 % of students can be accomodate in hostel 1 Internet access in hostel 1 % P IV / latest configuration 1 % of students having access to computer 0 Internet access to computer labs 1 Batch strength for UG Course in Final year exams 0 Batch strength for PG Course in Final 2 Offering post graduation program course in engineering 0 Availability of Digital/Network in-campus library 1 Faculty/Students ratio 4 % of permanent faculty 3 % of visiting faculty 0 % of Permanent Faculty with PHD 4 Number of Patent obtained by the institute 3 Batch strength of PhD course in engineering discipline by institute % of students passed in first attempt 0 % of students passed with first division in BE/BTech Degree 2 Avg no of research papers in last two years 2 Number of MoU signed by the industry 2 Avg no of assigments in last two years 2 Affiliation or linkages 1 Total-Institute response (Out of 75) 75 Total-HR Response 25 The quality of students from these new and emerging engineering colleges which come in all names with strong regional political affinities need to be closely monitored for quality and their overall academic credentials and their industry accreditations need to be taken into consideration trophy with average annual salary ranging in the `7 lakh while NITs managed to get around an average salary of `5 lakh annually. Industry Interface This parameter is increasingly becoming a USP for non-iits which are walking the extra mile to forge closer ties with the industry. For instance NITK Surathkal took the #1 spot in this parameter and other names like Faculty of Science and Technology, ICFAI University and Harcourt Butler Technological Institute signify the growing clout these institutes have on Industry Interface. Experts believe that closer ties the institutes forge with the industry will augur well for them as they can leverage the industry s expertise in many ways and increase the opportunities for the students. Outlook At the end of the day, looking back at the survey findings some are on expected lines and some findings point to the new and changing equations. For instance as the debate on delivering quality technology education gets louder, even IITs are not spared in those debate and it applies to all. Moreover if we look at some of the key parameters like placement and industry interface, one can see shifts happening there and names like IIIT, Hyderabad which topped in placements and NITK Surathkal which topped in Industry Interface certainly drives home the stiff competition emerging for IITs from these fronts. The good news is such competition will usher in new benchmarks on quality and open up new development platforms. With pointers like these one hopes that the overall quality of technology education in the country will leapfrog in the years to come. n Shrikanth G shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools,

13 Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Leader Shows the Way Knowledge is the supreme goal says the motto of one of India s most revered and hallowed institutes of engineering, IIT Bombay. As part of this vision, to promote knowledge and not just rote learning, the institute has been following the liberal approach, including their programs too. For the undergrad students, the institute has come out with a liberal approach to ease off the pressure to earn the maximum credits. As per this approach, students can earn their basic degree with lesser credits (the minimum now is 252 credits) and choose the course of their liking to allow them to graduate with a major degree and a minor degree in a subject of their choice. On the one hand, there are more than 15 minor courses being offered. On the other hand, students who do not wish to work for any minor degree can simply shop around for a mixed bag of subjects. Every year, the institute launches around 5-10 new courses based on the current favorites, thereby leading to a huge basket of electives. Perhaps, it is this liberal approach that has made IIT Bombay one of the most sought-after destinations for the UG and PG studies, thus attracting the top performers in JEE. For instance, in JEE 2011, 70 of the top 100 rankers have joined the institute and this includes 8 of the top 10 JEE rank holders. In 2011, the institute has awarded 1,846 degrees and 173 PhD degrees. The institute, a pioneer in many respects, launched 2 new dual Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface degree programs MTech and PhD and MSc and MTech (4-year course) in order to increase their research component. Keeping in mind the increasing needs of the growing student base, new hostels and faculty accommodation are being made and a new lecturer hall complex is already operational. Shaking off the recession blues, the institute s placement season attracted 250 organizations with over 950 job offers being made through on-campus and pre-placement offers. Interestingly, more than two-thirds of the students opted for science, engineering, and technology oriented jobs. A vertical-wise dissection of the companies visited shows that the finance sector was a major recruiter offering more than 90 offers followed closely by management consulting, wherein 20 such companies visited and over 90 offers were made in the management consulting sector. Besides 37 students, several with doctoral degrees were also offered jobs in education. n 12 DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

14 Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Connecting Knowledge with Industry 2 The year was identified by IIT Madras as the year of bridging knowledge with industry. The institute invested in setting up various research centers including the well-known university-level research park that has got around 31 companies focusing on R&D across different branches of engineering and management. The institute got 2 major sanctions (upto `50 crore) to set up a multidisciplinary virtual center for study Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi On an Expansion Spree IIT Delhi slipped down by one place to rank #3, perhaps one can blame it on its low rating in placement parameter. Nevertheless, IIT Delhi is geared up for a massive exercise of renewal and expansion in its golden jubilee year. Its consistent efforts in obtaining additional land for its future expansion are finally yielding fruit and the Haryana Government has agreed to allot 100 acres of land in the NCR region to IIT Delhi. and research on combustion involving participation from aerospace, mechanical, chemical engineering; and a virtual project focused on nanoelectronic study for manufacturing engineering. Currently there are around 1,484 PhD students, 963 MTech students, and around 698 students pursuing MS in research, respectively. IITM plans to increase the faculty from 480 to 600 in the next couple of years. It invested `8.5 crore for the journals and `1.4 crore in books. These initiatives get reflected on the Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface In FY11, 27 new regular faculty members were appointed and `175 lakh allocated to encourage development in research facilities. In April 2011, 6 new projects worth `79 lakh were sponsored by international organizations and 285 new projects worth `43.68 crore were sponsored by national organizations. Meanwhile, a PhD program under the National Resource Center for Value Education in Engineering (NRCVEE) was undertaken. The institute has Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface overall ranking in placement, where after a flat year, it saw an increase jumping up to the third position from 11th in Around 252 companies visited campus last year. Interestingly, the college follows a 10-year vision plan. While was about focusing on research and development works, would be the time for industry partnerships focusing towards industryoriented research apart from the fundamental research, and building a robust team. n also set up a Curriculum Review Committee to look into the courses and syllabus for UG programs in view of changed circumstances and aspiration of students. With all such efforts in academia, no wonder it ranked #3 in academic environment parameter. Even in industry interface parameter, the institute faired very well 8 MoUs signed with international universities/corporate/government and 2 with national. n DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools,

15 Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Time to Introspect 4 IIT Kharagpur s sweet spot is its academic environment in which it s the undisputed leader this time and that s an impressive escalation given that the same parameter was a pain area the previous year. However its overall rank slipped to #4 due to the key concern areas related to parameters like industry interface and placements. On the positive side, it significantly bettered its scores on infrastructure, for instance, the rollout of campus wide optical fiber network that would be completed by March Its impressive #1 rank on academic environment reinforces its commitment to broad base on its disciplines and in line with that it has launched 2 new 4-year PG programs in water management and entrepreneurship management. In addition, it has also established a research center for bio-energy and is also ramping up its hostel facilities (men & women) and staff quarters. Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface On the research front, it secured a good deal of government/corporate-funded research projects and also upped its industry/academia collaborations. While it continues to place the bulk (almost 100%) of students, it needs to focus on the quality as well. In terms of recruitment diversity, 35% was picked up by the IT companies, 30% by the core industries, and the rest preferred teaching and academic roles. n Indian Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad Sustained Performance 5 IIIT-Hyderabad has really put in efforts to maintain a unique position among the top 5 T-schools of India. Notable fact is that now it has been accredited at Grade A by NAAC, for a period of 5 years, in effect from September Parameters like 100% niche placement, world class faculty, and high-quality research projects have actually contributed to the overall increase in the scores of the institute over the years. It ranks #1 in terms of placement among all the T-schools surveyed. This year more than 40% of undergrad students have proactively opted for research programs in For the record, 8 industry MoUs, 26 industry-funded consultancy projects, and 70 governmentfunded projects have been signed in In continuation of its focus on Computational Linguistics, IIIT-H has introduced dual degree transdisciplinary programs, 5-year Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface courses in which undergraduate students of computer science can opt for humanities, linguistics, and natural sciences in their third year. One of the major initiatives has been the 30% increase in its annual intake at undergraduate level from 185 to 240 from the academic session of So the infrastructure also has been upgraded accordingly including an amphitheater and 2 new research centers in the campus. n 14 DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

16 Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Raising the Bar 6 BITS Pilani took a lot of new initiatives towards research and infrastructure which positively impacted its ranking. The institute follows long-term vision roadmaps with short-term goals and a grand vision for This strategy clearly gives it a phased approach to realize its goals and objectives. Augmenting infrastructure indeed topped the institute s agenda initiatives like the deployment of an open standards based Oracle s People- Soft Enterprise Applications with an aim to automate its academic and administrative functions will significantly up its operations efficiency. It has also earmarked around `400 crore for a complete uplift of its infrastructure. The institute, with all these initiatives and investments, intends to transit into a seat of more advanced learning with strong research and multidisciplinary orientation. While BITS Pilani received good scores on placement and academic Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface environment, it needs to further up the ante in parameters like industry interface. While students get ample industry exposure right from the beginning, while comparing it to the others at the top, it has some scope for improvement. Interestingly, the institute has more than 200 industry collaborations and some feel that needs to be utilized to its fullest potential. Also, many feel the institute needs more innovation labs like the ones it has with Motorola and HM. n Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Getting Better 7 Bettering its performance from the previous year, IIT Guwahati s scores across parameters reflect the concerted attempts it has taken for overall improvement whether it s academics, infrastructure, or research. However, one of the issues that has pained IIT Guwahati consistently is attracting quality faculty, owing to its remote location. Three substantial initiatives to plug that lacunae, widen opportunities, and tap talent from within the institute were taken. Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface These are: allowing undergraduates to opt for research programs from their third year; dual degree programs; and programs like the one that allows an undergraduate student to get a degree in any branch of engineering along with a minor degree. The institute considers itself young and vibrant in spirit, so it realizes the importance of regular addition and innovation in infrastructure and quality of research projects. On an average it spends `80-90 crore per year on infrastructural development and earns `40 crore per year from various ongoing and new research projects. This year, , it has signed 88 new sponsored projects (worth `37 crore) and 9 MoUs (7 with foreign institutions and 2 with TCS and Wipro). IIT Guwahati has fared worse than last year in terms of placement. So, it needs to proactively take initiatives to increase its industry interface to ensure better absorption in the years to come. n DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools,

17 Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Raring to Go 8 The long pending conversion of IT-BHU to IIT- BHU, seems to be coming closer to becoming a reality, with the Lok Sabha giving its nod earlier this year. The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill 2011 is now pending for approval in the Rajya Sabha and is expected to be cleared soon. Given this backdrop as we look at the survey findings, except for placement parameters (the Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface institute says that there are no placement issues and it continues to place the bulk of them) which went down a bit, however on other parameters the institute has either retained or bettered its position compared to last year. For instance its rank on infrastructure and industry went up, while it retained its place in academic environment. Some of the infrastructure scaling up initiatives it embarked over the year include ones like the expansion of hostel facilities, putting in place 10 Gbps network connectivity among others. Looking ahead, the institute is pinning its hopes that its conversion to IIT-BHU happens soon and that it will attain a new found status and will join the league of elite IITs. Moreover this new status as an IIT will help the institute to attract and garner more funds for its academic and research activities. n National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal Spending for the Future A lot has been happening at NITK Surathkal; it introduced 2 new PG courses MTech in Nano Technology and MTech in Mechatronics with 15 and 27 students admitted in both courses, respectively, taking the total to 28 PG programs. The student intake saw a marginal increase (the NRI student intake increased to 83). It enhanced its research capabilities by hiking its research budget to `25 crore this year across 70 research projects. The institute also ramped up its infrastructure, spending close to `166 crore on new infrastructure; it plans to spend `50 crore more. There has been a significant increase in the number of tie-ups too as NITK inked 5 international MoUs and 6 national MoUs with Bengaluru based CPRI and MRPL, Alstom, CMTI. For the students, FY11 was a fantastic year as the UG placements touched the 97% mark and PG Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface placements touched 65% wherein the MCA program saw 100% placements. The number of visiting companies too saw an upswing in the first 6 months of 2011 itself, there have been 150 company visits. This year it s seeing the rollout of the phase 2 of the Technical Education Quality Improvement project, the total financial outplay is `12.5 crore. The institute also plans to set up 6 inter-disciplinary Centers of Excellence, which will attract further funding of `5 crore. n 16 DQ-CMR Top T-Schools, 2011 visit DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication

18 Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology Well Placed 10 This time, Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology managed to move up one place to the rank #10, securing a place in the list of Top 10 T-schools. Placements ensured that NSIT received all the attention. It attributes its impressive performance to its ability to attract the top rankers of AIEEE in admissions, excellent educational programs and academic trainings, adequate emphasis on extra-curricular activities, excellent performance of alumni in major MNCs and PSUs, and its high standing among the major recruiters within the country and abroad. NSIT has 30 positions of Teaching-cum-Research Fellowships (TRF) for PhD students but are very particular in selecting them, hence sometimes there is a shortfall. This could be one of the reasons for its poor performance in the academic environment parameter. Nevertheless, a number of faculty members completed their PhD, several of them were sponsored to attend and Parameters Total Weights Score s Placement Infrastructure Academic Environment Industry Interface present their research papers in various international conferences, and a number of them went abroad as visiting faculty with their counterparts for a short-term program of collaborative research. As far as infrastructure is concerned, several new labs were created last year. In spite of low rankings in few parameters, NSIT managed to climb up to the Top 10 list and the placement statistics certainly justifies its high rank. n DATAQUEST A CyberMedia Publication visit DQ-CMR Top T-Schools,