B.Tech Curriculum Conclave for Mechanical Science Stream an one day event was held in an online mode at MIT Manipal on 26th October 2021 (Tuesday). 

The program was inaugurated by Dr Vinod V Thomas, Registrar Evaluation, MAHE Manipal. He started with the overview of evolution of curriculum over the years and highlighted the genesis of curriculum conclave at MIT Manipal and mentioned that this idea was a brainchild of former Vice chancellor of MAHE, Dr. K Ramnarayan, who suggested to take 360 degree feedback from all the stakeholders before we go for revision of curriculum. He also conveyed that the major revision of curriculum takes place once in 4 years at MIT Manipal and stressed on the need for relooking at adopting new teaching learning methodologies.

“Engineering Curriculum - an overview” was presented by Prof. N B Ballal, Emeritus Fellow, IIT Bombay. He mentioned about the changing scenario in industries including the extensive use of information technology and high level of automation. He pointed out that the soft skills are of paramount importance.  He highlighted the fact that students are looking for employability, career prospects mobility which requires intellectual challenge, and the curriculum should be framed accordingly. He also emphasized on the fact that startup opportunities to be encouraged.

Prof. C Amarnath, Professor Emeritus, IIT Bombay and Prof. Shunmugam, M S, Professor Emeritus, IIT Madras spoke on “Curriculum of Mechanical Engineering Stream – an overview” Prof. C. Amarnath highlighted on “Dream, Do not Borrow”  and the Engineering thought process, and suggested to construct a new immersive ECO System. Prof. Shunmugam was of the opinion that each Institution has its own goals and strengths. He also said that the curriculum must evolve organically.

“Graduate Engineer- Industry Expectations” was presented by Dr Raghavendra Bhat R, Additional General Manager (Retd), HAL, Bangalore. He started with relevance of curriculum and emphasized that basic courses should be made compulsory. Highlighting on the key industry expectations, he suggested to give due importance to it while revising the curriculum.

This was followed by presentations from  alumni of the Mechanical Science Stream.  Mr. Amit Kapur from Mechanical Engg, Mr. Anshal Raj from Industrial Production, Mr. Avinash Kapoor from Aeronotical Engineering and  Mr. Sunesh Agarwal from Automobile Engineering presented their views on the curriculum revision, particularly from the point of view of career and employability perspectives.

Student and Faculty representatives from Mechanical Science Streams presented their views on the curriculum related to their programs. Mr. Akshay Narayan from Mechanical Engg, Mr. Arvind Kaushik & Ms. Shubha Murthy from Aeronautical Engg, Ms. Shrutika Banerjee from IP and Mr. Vignesh Vinod from Automobile Engg    presented their views on the dream curriculum from the student side. Dr. Manjunath M S from Mechanical, Mr. Anand Pai from Automobile Engg, Dr. C Raghavendra Kamath, Mr. Ritesh Bhat from IP and Mr Manikanthan from Aeronautical Engg   presented their views from the faculty side.                  

Ms. Vibha Bhat from Automobile Engg., Mr. Shroat Mehta from IP, Mr. Name Zeno & Mr. Pranav Gupta from Aeronautical Engg and Mr. Vishwajith from Mechanical Engg. presented poster on their Dream Curriculum from student side. This was followed by poster presentations from faculty members. Dr. Padmaraj from Automobile Engg., Prof. Kevin Amith from IP, Prof. Thara Reshma from Aeronautical Engg, and Dr. Gowri Shankar from Mechanical Engg.  presented their posters from faculty side.

The event also had a group discussion among the students and faculty participants on the relevant topics. Six student groups and three faculty groups participated in the group discussion.

Dr. Raviraja Adhikari, Associate Director (Academics), presented the initial draft of B.Tech Curriculum 2022.

Cdr. Dr. Anil Rana, Director of MIT Manipal gave away the concluding remarks and summarized the proceedings. He appreciated the valuable inputs received from all the stakeholders and thanked them for passionately expressing their opnion.

Dr. Shankaranarayana Bhat, Associate Director (FD&W), delivered the welcome address in the beginning and presented the overview of the event.

The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Dr. Somashekara Bhat, Joint Director, MIT Manipal. He emphasized that attending curriculum related activities is critical for an academician. He thanked all the experts , students Faculty members and Alumni for their presentations. He mentioned that globalization cannot be avoided and graduates need to be a global citizen. He stressed on the importance of automation, data analytics, and programming and hence opined that they need to be included in the curriculum.

The Master of Ceremony for the event were Mr. C S Suhas Kowhik, Assistant Professor Senior Scale and Mr. Gowrava Shenoy B, Assistant Professor, both from the department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering. Mr. Gowrava Shenoy B, rendered the Invocation.

This event was organized by Office of the Faculty Development and Welfare, on behalf on MIT, under the leadership of Dr. Shankaranarayana Bhat, Associate Director (FD&W).

About  150  participants comprising of faculty members, students and alumni of MIT attended the online event.