The department of ECE was first started in the year 1997 with an intake of 60 students but later increased to 120 in the year 2002. The management fee is pretty high as compared to the other branches. The fee approx. varies from 9 lakhs to 14 lakhs. The Head of the Department (HOD) , Prof. Ch. Ganapathi Reddy has an experience of 19 years in the field of education. He is tagged with the name “cool” because of his dynamic nature and his wit. ECE has the most experienced professors from various backgrounds such as people who’ve completed their M.Tech from some of the reputed colleges like IITs and  IIITs. The labs are well equipped with latest updated technology such as ECA (Electronic Circuit Analysis) lab equipped with the latest MULTISIM software. “The best professor in this department is the HOD himself”, say Manisha, Sahaja. Sushila of 4^th year says, “ My branch is said to be the best branch in college, because of the placement record and the future prospects as well”. Another student of 2^nd year, Shilpa says, “Opting for this branch has given me an added advantage. We learn even non-ECE subjects, which helps us to explore the computers stream as well”.

Seminar by a student. Credit: Candid Eves

A batch of students of 3^rd year, Shaurya, Shweta, Priya and Sahiti feel they have made the right decision by joining this college, inspite of it being a “girls’” college. A second year student Manogya says, “The donation for management quota is pretty less when compared to other top colleges. I paid 10 lakhs”. The faculty in this department are the ones, who have a minimum of 3 years experience. Every branch organizes a “so called” IV tour (industrial visit) for the 3^rd years to places such as Shimla, Kulu Manali etc, for a period of 10 days as per the syllabi. This is the most memorable tour for every student studying engineering, especially, the bond between the teacher and the student grows even stronger. The major change is the revised syllabus for the present 2^nd years. It is focused more on core subjects with an additional subject – English in the 3^rd year. When Pranati, Sandhya, Sumedha, a group of 2nd years were asked about their interest to join this college, they had different opinions. Pranati says, “Initially, I was very apprehensive of joining a girls’ college thinking how boring it would be. But now, I am enjoying to the fullest”. A few of them had suggested their juniors not to join this college if they wanted to have fun!

On the trail of an admirable vision, relying on the power of technology; striking for “Leading Edge”, setting standards for excellence yet focused on adding quality to human life; we expand the reach of technology and information through innovation and invention. This is the CSE branch’s quote – a home for inspired minds. The department of CSE bloomed in the year 1998, which is currently headed by Ms. KVN Sunitha. 15 yrs after its inception, the Department of Computer Science & Engineering is taking strides in strengthening its facilities year after year. The department is glared up with latest equipment in tune, adapting latest trends in the field of teaching like computer visual aids.

The Head of the Department, Mrs.Sunitha foresees this branch as a place where intelligence, innovation and insight are given space to thrive. The venerable CYBERSUDS is an informal association of students and faculty of CSE. It was founded in the year 2005 to promote communication over a broad range of computer related issues and topics. CYBERSUDS hosts a series of frequent, special internet group meetings. Several specialists have been invited from the industries to share their experiences. The final year students, Sravani, Sharanya, Preeti, Sandhya cherish their 3 years of college. Sravani recollects, “I never dreamt of joining an exclusive girls college in the first place. Moreover, I hated computers and here I am today, on the verge of completing my Engineering in the very CSE branch itself! The faculty is simply mind blowing. The amount of knowledge, the patience till the output comes, the hardwork for CYBERSUDS is beyond words to describe”. Harini, of 2^nd year says, “It was my passion towards computers and the various languages that I wanted to learn that made me choose this branch”. But, a 2^nd year student, Anusha feels that the lectures are too boring with 6 to 7 classes a day at a stretch and most of them being theory classes. Also, the INFOSYS training which is mandatory for the 2^nd years is another add-on to their woes.

The EEE or the rockers of the college are the ones, who are the total bindaas types. This department was founded in the year 1997. The management quota fee varies from 5.5 lakhs to 9 lakhs being an upcoming branch. The labs are well furnished to cater the needs of the students. They also have a ‘Renewable Energy Club’. The Head of the Department, Dr.K.Ramesh Reddy, a young and dynamic personality with vast teaching experience, having many publications to his credit is the only HOD in the college, who has himself involved in the extra-curricular activities such as ISTE, IEEE etc. He says, “We have the best students especially the present 2nd years, who are simply electrifying”. Pavani, a final year student recalls, “My 3 years at college just flew without my notice. There are countless number of memorable memories. But, one of them is when we went for a tour and we missed our bus!” Her friend, Srujana, another final year student adds, “This happened at Goa.We didn’t know the route, language was a barrier and it was a no-man place. Our faculty missed the count and it was our fault as well to not have boarded at the right time”. Prajanya, a 3rd year student recollects her ragging experience, “I had the dreadful experience. I was asked to enact like a hijda on the main road with my mix and match costume. Since, I was very bold and daring, my guts pushed me to do it. It was more like a prestige issue for me”.

A faculty member, Mr.Vishnu says, “’TEJASS’, the departmental students technical association, provides a platform for the students to exhibit & improve their skills. To boost their technical awareness and instill confidence ‘The Institution of Engineers (India) students chapter’ was started in 2006″. Indeed, whatever branch the students are in, the enjoyment and the freedom they enjoy at college are like precious stones as each moment is precious.

Somehow, all the engineering magic seems to have vanished into thin air. This year has lead to lot of confusion amongst the final years, so as what to do about their future. A lot of colleges, in spite of their best efforts, are failing to offer campus placements to their students. Hence, many of the students who were aiming to work immediately after graduation are being forced to change their choices and are looking at future studies as the obvious substitute. Be it M.S, M.Tech or MBA, an increased number of students are struggling with the respective competitive exams.

Yet, there are some well established institutes which have managed to pull off the campus placements with ease. GNITS stands out as one amongst the institutes, which are providing campus recruitments to its students even during the rough times. GNITarians are all geared up to take their placements with as much ease and élan as they take up any task at hand. Addressing the students, the HR manager, Mr. Roopesh Sen Gupta said “The College will be getting placements like every year. That will be my responsibility and working for it will be yours.” As the students breathe a sigh of relief at the news, they realize that they also need to work hard towards achieving their jobs and setting their career.

While some of the students are all set to take up the interviews at any given time with every requirement fulfilled, there are a few others that need a helping hand. So, placement training was provided to the students by Globerana for 8 weeks covering all the important aspects of the process of getting through placements. Some of the aspects covered were the preparation of résumé, aptitude training, verbal ability training, mock interviews, etc. Grishma, who attended the training says, “The training was really helpful, especially because I did not have the basic idea about a lot of these things before.” On the other hand, there were a few who were already well versed with most of these aspects, thanks to the training they had to undergo to face the competitive exams like CAT and GRE.

The packages this year may not be as luring as the yesteryear’s, but the phrase, ‘Something is better than nothing’ says it all. The best institutes of the country, IIT’s are also facing similar problems, although not at the same level of severity as the regional colleges. “Basically, companies which came this year said that their requirement was less. So, traditionally companies which used to be called ‘truck’ companies due to their large intake took significantly less number of students this year,” shares Sankar of IIT, Guwahati.

Placements: A step towards choosing one's career! Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

Whatever may be the case, if one is aiming for an immediate career after engineering, one has to have a few key skills, like good communication and sound technical knowledge. Depending on the requirement of the company, the skill set of the students would be under test. If software companies gave preference to communication skills, the core companies would always give high importance to the technical skills of the students.

“Some of the companies that are expected to come on campus this year are Infosys, Delloite, ADP, Accenture, HP, Kony labs, etc. The process of recruiting may be more stringent this time; nevertheless, hard work always pays off,” opines Priyanka of GNITS.

For more information and preparation material on placements, log onto the sites:

www.freshersworld.com

www.placementpapers.net

www.campusconnect.infosys.com

www.learnhub.com

Recession or not, talent always finds its appropriate position. So, never give up and achieve what is desired. All the best!

vTurk – a once in a lifetime assignment that allows one to be all one can and prove to the world that, indeed, the next BIG thing has arrived! In short, to become a Virgin Mobile Entrepreneur (how cool does that sound!), all that one needs to do is:

1. Promote Virgin Mobile in the campus in an innovative way.

2. Be a proud owner of a VM (Virgin Mobile) branded merchandise.

3. Should answer a couple of questionnaires.

This internship is NOT involved with academics. The interview conducted by the Virgin Mobile Team is simple and getting recruited is very easy. Once recruited, apart from being an owner of VM merchandise, the other benefits are a certificate of completion from VMI, a nifty little paycheck and also a chance to compete at the national level with the other big wigs. A presentation (about this internship) was showcased on 23rd Sept. at G.Narayanamma Institute of Technology and Science. Mr.Rohit Goenka and Mr.Hitesh Kumar from the Virgin Mobile team had come for the recruitments. There are three aspects for the vTurk to cover. It is a 90-day internship program.

The first one is the PROMOTION part. In this, one needs to promote the brand awareness in the campus by organizing activities such as short plays, dramas, etc. pertaining to virgin mobile only. This activity needs to be held only within the campus and needs to be completed in the 90-day period itself. The second one is the RESEARCH part. In this, a questionnaire would be given, which is to be filled by 30 people every month. This is an optional campus activity. After the completion of this, a report needs to be prepared and submitted. On the 45th day, an interim is given for the review of the project. At last comes the SALES part. In the 90-period duration, 30 sales (VM phones and sim cards) have to be made with a minimum of 5 sales per month mandatory. A stipend would also be given for this. After the successful completion of this project, a certificate, which is valuable indeed will be given, which is sure to impress any prospective employer.

Rajyalakshmi and Hima Bindu of ETM (4/4) and Shivalika of ICE (3/4) had been selected for the internship from GNITS. “The sales part would be really tough to meet”, feels Rajyalakshmi. But, Shivalika says excitedly, “The best part of this internship is that it’s not clubbed with academics. The stipend part is really cool whatever the amount might be!” When asked, Hima says, “This seems to be a good internship because it not only gives us an edge over  marketing skills, but also offers great discounts on mobile connections”. For example, the model name “Vjazz” the Vturks would sell for Rs.4175 (which includes the price of the handset plus Lifetime Validity of Rs.150) whereas the actual market price would be around Rs.4400. The highest performer will get a chance to intern at the national level, in Virgin Mobile India!

To make use of  this opportunity and to make Virgin Mobile team visit  the campus to hire vTurks, drop in at the placement coordinator’s office and ask him to send an e-mail to the Regional GM of Virgin Mobile India in this regard. For more detailed information on this please contact: Hitesh Kumar on 9885373127 and do visit the website of Virgin Mobile. Once one becomes a vTurk, he / she will be rewarded with a VM handset + connection, a hip sling bag and many more goodies. So guys and gals, hurry up, for this is the best chance to earn while you learn!

According to the Reader’s Digest Great Encyclopedia Dictionary, “Ragging means a noisy disorderly conduct, annual parade of students in fancy dress to collect money for charity, playing rough jokes, or throwing into wild disorder a person’s room etc“. In spite of all the powerful definitions made by various boards, ragging still exists! When asked, a batch of super seniors Samyuktha, Harshini, Sowjanya of ETM, they retorted back saying, “Ragging is all about having fun in the right way. F*** those, who give speeches which are meaningless and worthless. Why impose these silly stupid restrictions on us? The more they’re imposed on us, the more we try to break them”.

The efficacy of the enjoyment is enhanced, when the lecturers are a part of this. Mr. Ram Chander, an associate prof.of ICE dept, encourages the 2nd years and the 3rd years. He says, “I would encourage the seniors to rag for a good rapport is created between the seniors and juniors”. But, the posters stuck on the walls as well as in the buses, with the writing, “RAGGING IS PROHIBITED” have become increasingly unsuitable for the youth of today. Especially in colleges like GNITS, ragging is not to be called as ragging.

Board in the college reading cell phone prohibition. Credits: Candid Eves

The upcoming technology, such as mobiles have revolutionized the present youth of today. Right from a vegetable vendor to a servant maid, who hail from a poor background, own one. With the FM radio service, almost all students have headphones plugged in their ears all the time. But, the usage of mobiles has again been a forbidden fruit in the colleges. A student of GNITS has a few words to say about this. Amrita, a 3 rd year student recalls, “It’s amusing to see posters in the college walls warning students of dire consequences if they are found carrying a cell phone. The management keeps complaining about this. If it is supposed to be a ban, then why do they sell recharge cards at college?”

Rashmi, a final year student, narrates her experience, “It was my bad luck on the day the college re-opened. There is supposed to be an anti-mobile squad existing in every college and I didn’t know that. One of the persons from the squad came up to me and took my mobile instantly. To get it back, I had to pay a fine of 500 bucks. The worst part is that we are fined according to the mobile phone  model. For a basic model such as Nokia 1100, the fine would be around 350 bucks and for a Sony Ericsson model (say walkman), the fine would be 1000 bucks. This is highly disgusting”. When the principal was asked about this, he suggested the idea of having “lockers” for mobiles in each class so as to avoid “distraction”.

As the famous saying goes,”Promises are meant to be kept and not broken”; in a similar fashion, a rule is a rule to be followed for all right from a student to a lecturer. With the funny and stupid thoughts that the management implements, it is worth a hearty laugh for all. “Suspension isn’t the solution for this”, says Shruti, a final year student of ECE dept. Instead, the better option would be to have different timings allotted for the juniors suggest GNITians.

“Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been.” -Albert Einstein

Engineering is one of the most opted fields for a Bachelors degree far and wide and this stature hasn’t been built in a day. It is the outcome of the diligence and perseverance of several eminent engineers, one of them being Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya. To commemorate his remarkable contribution to the field of engineering, his birthday, the 15^th of September, every year is celebrated as ‘Engineer’s Day’ all over India. Being a civil engineer by profession did not restrain him to handle the matters of economic development in India most effortlessly. Mr. M.Visvesvarayya went ahead to receive the Indian republic’s highest honor, Bharat Ratna, in 1955.

Dignitaries on stage. Credits: Enigmatic Euphony

“To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money”- Sir M.Visvesvarayya

As a tribute, the 15^th of September, 2009, the 147^th birth anniversary of Sir M.Visvesvarayya and the 42^nd Engineer’s Day was celebrated at GNITS with great enthusiasm. The event started off with a prayer song by Sravani of the IT department, followed by garlanding of the picture of Sir M.Visvesvarayya and lightening the lamp. The chief guest of the event was Sri. K.S.Rajashekara Rao, Retired Chairman & Managing Director of ECIL. Mr. Rao is himself a recipient of many laurels for his exceptional work in the 39 years of his industrial career.

The eloquent speech by Mr. K.S.R Rao was one of the highlights of the day. It was both interactive and inspiring. He brought forward the significance of the balance of the three quotients in life, viz. Intelligence, Emotional and Spiritual (IQ, EQ & SQ). When a student, P. Soujanya asked him, who his inspiration is, he answered, “I seek inspiration from many people in various aspects of life. To be specific, my greatest inspiration is Mr. A.S.Rao, who happened to be my senior at office. He is the most disciplined, honest and conscientious person I’ve ever seen. He didn’t think twice while dismissing his own son for a wrongdoing.” Such people surely are very rare to find. In the end he concluded saying, “Always be truthful, respectful and grateful to whatever comes across in life. Never forget your foundations.” He also wished the students luck for their future endeavors.

The mementos. Credits: Enigmatic Euphony

After a few inspirational speeches and a few others, which left the audiences groaning, the much awaited prize distribution ceremony began. The prizes that were handed out were:

·        ‘Young Promising Engineer’ award presented to one final year student from each of the six departments.

·        Winners of the Essay writing competition, which was conducted earlier this month as a part of the celebrations.

A ‘Young Promising Engineer’ should posses all round capabilities in the areas of academics, sports and extra-curricular activities. The winners were short listed from the received applications, weighing their overall performance and the final winners were:

• A. Yochana of ECE
• J. Mounica of CSE
• K. Manogya of EEE
• A. Madhuri of IT
• B. Priyanka of ETM
• N. Madhuri of ICE

The awardees were truly deserving candidates and received their certificates, mementos and a cash prize of Rs.2000 by the chief guest. He was seen interacting with each of them personally and discussing about their interests.

Mr. Rao in conversation with one of the 'Young Promising Engineers'. Credits: Enigmatic Euphony

Receiving the certificate. Credits: Enigmatic Euphony

The other Young Promising Engineers! Credits: Enigmatic Euphony

When asked how they feel at being recognized as the most promising engineers, all of them said that they were very excited and elated about it and thanked the institution, their respective HODs and faculty for guiding them through the years. “It is one of the most memorable moments in my life. It feels great to be the chosen one in the whole class. All my hard work has finally paid off,” shares a delighted B. Priyanka of ETM. On asked if she was expecting the award, N. Madhuri of ICE, said with confidence, “Yes, I was expecting the award from when I’ve applied for it. I trusted my sincerity and hard work and I am glad I wasn’t let down.”

Later, the Essay Writing competition winners were also awarded their prizes. The program ended with honoring the chief guest and a vote of thanks. At the very end, everyone was seen savoring the tasty snacks in the lawns and wishes of ‘Congratulations’ to the winners were pouring in from everywhere.

“Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”— Thomas A. Edison

Bearing the significance of success  in mind, the Humanities and Basic Sciences (H&BS) Department of GNITS, headed by Dr. P. Aparna, brought forward the exclusive opportunity for the final year students of GNITS to help develop their overall personality and achieve success through a Meta Mind Management Development Programme. The programme was conducted under the leadership of Ms. Revathi Turaga, an International Meta Mind Management Trainer, Inspirational Speaker and Behavioral Coach. She is an Executive Committee Member of the Global Academy of Meta Mind Management (GAMMA), an educational institution that has a presence in North America, Singapore and India. (Picture: Personality Development Training by Ms. Revathi Turaga. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony)

The program was carried through four weeks on Saturdays in the months of July – August. A certification by GAMMA was provided to the students who attended the program. A nominal fee of Rs. 350 was charged from each of the students as the management bore the rest. The sessions aimed at improving the overall development of one’s personality, focusing on strengths, weaknesses, goals and the means to achieve them.

The 1^st session was an introduction to the whole process of one’s personality development. It slowly turned into an interactive one when the students were asked to relate themselves to any of one of the few entities named in the activity.  ‘Ocean’ saw the highest number of students amongst the given ones.

The students took part enthusiastically and when asked why they choose what they did, Shubhleena said, “I choose the ocean because it is very mysterious and keeps changing from pleasure to power, resembling the tides. This is in accordance with my moodiness.” Adding to this, Soumya said that she relates herself to the ocean because every time life gives her some trouble, she fights back with greater strength, like the waves in an ocean always do so. A few others choose the mountain and said with confidence, “Mountain represents the power and also signifies the top position. I always want to be at the top of anything and everything I do.” Summing it all up, Ms. Revathi, the trainer, testified, “Here, the choice was to be done based on the major trait that one has, but in the end, everyone has a few traits of everything. How we perceive what we have and what we want makes one different from the rest.”

Revathi Turaga interacting with students. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

Enacting the poem! Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

Another set of Students. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

The 2^nd session was about the process involved in setting and achieving a goal. Goals are basically of two types: Long term and Short term. The short term goals are the means to achieve long term goals. The presentation given by the mentor, Ms. Revathi, also gave the students a lot of information on the means to achieve their goals. It was followed by the identification of one’s strengths and weaknesses. The students were asked to discuss them with a peer group and then with everyone in the hall.  The goals, things they love the most and dislike the most were also discussed this way.

Session 3 was where the importance of listening and speaking was highlighted. Various activities related to them were proposed and participated in by all the students. They were seen getting more and more comfortable and enthusiastic about the sessions as they were fun and educating at the same time. Yashaswinee shared, “I wouldn’t miss a single minute of these sessions. They were amusing and entertaining. And the best part was to rediscover myself.” Next was the most convivial and hilarious act. Few students were asked to volunteer randomly and were given a strange poem which was to be enacted in various emotions.The act sent the audience into fits of laughter. Each one of them, divided into groups, had to enact this in front of the others. The roars of laughter that echoed through the walls of the seminar hall were the loudest imaginable. It was fun at its best. Ms. Revathi saw to it that the students got adapted to being comfortable interacting with huge crowds.

Being the last session, many were looking forward to Session 4. Living up to the expectations, it turned out to be livelier than ever. It was very informative and interactive like the others and focused on positive thinking, behavior with others, forgiveness and other aspects. Using an eay way to remember the session, Ms. Revathi highlighted aspects of positivity, assertiveness, the power of smile, appreciation, responding to situations, etc.

Individual attention to build up confidence. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

“One should always follow these concepts in life to succeed and most importantly, stay happy and contented. Felicity and satisfaction are those which give a meaning to life.” added Ms. Revathi.

“The best part about the sessions was the anecdotes that were shared by Ms. Revathi from time to time and they fit into the discussion perfectly. I adore the way she conveyed everything with such an ease that I’m sure will stay in our minds forever,” asserts Vasundhara of ETM. “I am more confident than I was earlier. I am also clear about myself and what I need. I am glad that I attended this workshop,” expresses Vidya. On asking the students about the usefulness of the program, every one of them had a positive reply. They also opined that it should be offered for other batches as well.

The above article is authorized by GAMMA, and is in line with their copyright policies.

For further details on the trainer Ms. Revathi Turaga, and to invite her to your college, visit the site, http://www.revathionline.com/ and for to know more about Meta Mind Management, log on to http://www.metamindmanagement.com/.

When such fabulous opportunities are provided, they ought to be utilized effectively and efficiently. Here’s wishing all success!

Instrumentation and Control Engineering (ICE), is an industry oriented course, which was introduced in 2002 by JNTU. The present intake of students at GNITS in this branch of Engineering is 60 per academic year. The admissions in this course are provided through EAMCET counseling as well as NRI quota. The fee structure is as follows:

Convener Quota (through EAMCET counseling): Rs. 33, 200 per annum

NRI Quota: Initial donation: Rs. 2-3 lakhs and annual fee of Rs. 94, 000.

The branch was earlier jointly headed by Prof. Y. Rajeswari & Prof. C. R. K. Murty, who have teaching experience of 8 years and 18 years respectively. Prof. C. R. K. Murty has retired from the post a few months back, thus the HOD of ICE department is Prof. Y. Rajeswari presently. She opines, “ICE branch of Engineering pertains to one of the most important functions in any industry. With the continuous advancements in the area Electronics, Communications, Information Technologies and Software, there has been considerable development in Instrumentation and Control Engineering. These advancements are being extensively used for plant automation, robotics, aircraft instrumentation, space crafts etc”. Few of the students, who do not wish to be named express their disapproval towards the HOD and a few staff members. They would like to see a little more responsiveness in their HOD regarding the problems of the students. They say that the lecturers need to be more knowledgeable in their subjects. Swetha (name changed) informs, “The faculty are so strict that they wouldn’t allow us into the class even a few minutes late. They need to be considerate regarding this as it is unavoidable at times. We loose our attendance also, which causes us trouble in the end”.

The following are some of the labs, unique to this department, where the students love to conduct their experiments:

1. Transducers & Instrumentation Lab

2. Industrial Instrumentation Lab

3. Analytical & Biomedical Instrumentation Lab

4. Process Control Lab

5. Control Systems I, II & III Lab

• CS-I includes experiments on linear control systems. Various parameters like pr, speed, etc are controlled by P, PI, PID controllers.
• CS-II also focuses on digital control systems like Robot control and digital communication system.
• CS-III includes design of linear and digital control systems by using MATLAB, SIMLINK softwares.

Apart from the college library, the departmental library maintained by the department has about 376 titles, which include books on Advanced Instrumentation and Control, Biomedical Instrumentation, Neural Networks, Projects with MATLAB, Project reports, Journals etc., which is an added advantage for the students so as to refer to the specific subjects required. The R & D cell of the department focuses on students aspiring to carry out projects, by using ARM processors and others.

The technical association of the department named as ‘INSTRUSPARK’ carries out different activities to motivate and improve the skills of students, like technical paper presentation, guest lectures by eminent professors and executives, technical quiz etc. and also non-technical events like elocution, debate, etc. The department wall magazine is updated every week with the on going developments in an artistic way so as to be both attractive and informative.

Analytical and Biomedical Instrumentation lab. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

The placements for this branch are offered in software companies like Satyam, Polaris, Wipro, Infosys , Accenture ,TCS. Instrumentation Graduates also have good opportunities in core companies such as the HAL, Tata Projects, Keithley, Hareetha Engineers, Reliance Industries, Navyuga Power Corporations, BHEL, ECIL, DRDL, Siemens, Rockwell, Allen Bradley, Yokagawa, Invensys, Honeywell etc.

Based on the survey conducted among the students belonging to ICE branch, the following can be quoted:

“The branch is a synergy of ECE, EEE & CSE, thus covering all the important fields of engineering. It is very interesting to study and gives us a larger perspective of the technology.” __ Anusha, 2^nd year

“The events conducted from time to time under the technical association are of a great help for us to be abreast of the latest technical developments taking place. We gain both knowledge and certificates from them. ” __ Deepthi, 3^rd year

“Most of us are now well settled in our respective jobs in various fields ranging from software to hardware. We are fortuante to have studied in this branch that gave us wide scope in career options.” __ Rohini, pass out student.

“Freshers aspiring to study instrumentation can opt for this branch without any further misconceptions.”__ Deepika, pass out student.

A few colleges accelerated towards the top positions through the cut-throat competition while a few others are yet to nurture the basic requirements of a decent college. Whatever it be, GNITS in Hyderabad, affiliated to the JNTU has managed to maintain its stance over the years. The department of IT is being headed by Mr.Ch. Sesha Gopala Rao, since its foundation in the year 1998. His immense knowledge and insight of the subject pertains to his 25 years of experience, 18yers in the teaching field and 7 years in the industry respectively. When asked the difference between CSE and IT, he informs, “Computer Science is a field of science which deals with theory and foundation of information and computations and their application in computer fields, whereas Information Technology, as the name suggests, deals with processing and managing of information in an environment. That is the reason why we’ll never come across CS companies, all of them are IT companies”. Surely, that has cleared any doubt ever borne in ones mind about these branches.

Every year 60 students are admitted into this department, who are later joined by 4-5 diploma students in the second year. The admission procedure is the same as that of any other branch, i.e. done by dividing into two quotas, viz. Convener quota and NRI quota. About 80% of the total seats account to the convener quota, for which a yearly fee of Rs. 33,200 is charged. The rest of the seats belong to the NRI quota, wherein an initial donation of around Rs.5-6 lakh is charged for this course along with the annual fee of Rs. 94,000.

On being asked so as to why they choose this branch, Shravya says, “My seniors and cousins advised me to take it up as  it is considered the easiest amongst all other branches of engineering and I have no regrets”. When it comes to choosing a branch it all depends on the advice one gets, the interest one has or in some cases the EAMCET rank also plays a significant role. Priyanka declares that she has the natural liking towards logic and that is the very reason for her to take up this course. “Working on computers is far better than working with hardware stuff. Circuits et al are not my cup of tea”, shares Kavya of 2nd year.

Computer Lab. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

According to the JNTU curriculum, the software languages that one would be well acquainted by the end of this course are: Red hat Linux-9, SCO-Unix , Turbo C++, Visualstudio.NET, Flash, Java, Dream weaver, Adobe Photoshop, Turbo C, Windows–NT, Microsoft Office-2000,C++,C,Oracle. Adequate numbers of computer labs are provided for the students, each equipped with P4 processor computers for the smooth running of the lab sessions. Apart from the computer labs, other related labs are also well maintained. “The faculty is truly knowledgeable and well experienced, that leaves us no scope for complaints. A few of them are strict but that’s manageable as the rest are very friendly and understanding”, chips in Ramya of 3rd year.

The technical association of the department is termed ‘Techno Boom’, which conducts technical activities like paper presentation, poster presentation, project exhibition, technical quiz and various computer languages based tests and activities, etc. take place. The students take part in the activities with a great deal of enthusiasm and thus learn the practical applications of the theory subjects they study.

The college has a brilliant placement record over the years and most of the students have been recruited into the IT companies such as the Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, TCS, etc. Deepthi, a pass out student of the IT branch, currently working in Infosys informs, “If one has the right kind of aptitude and interest in working for the software sector, there’s no point in worrying about the recession. They need to concentrate more on their studies now than before, but it pays off well in the end”. All in all, be it recession or not, the significance of IT is never lost. It continues to lure many of the engineering aspirants and why not, when it is one of the best courses of engineering.

GNITS (G. Narayanamma Institute of Technology and Science), affiliated to the JNTU, is the sole college offering a course in ETM, a collaboration of both Electronics and Telematics. The symbiosis of the substantial streams of engineering, i.e. electronics, telecommunications and information technology is at its best in this department of Electronics and Telematics (ETM).

ETM was started in the year 1999, and boasts of being the unique branch being offered at the undergraduate engineering level. Since then, the department is being headed by Prof. K. Rama Linga Reddy, who has 15 years of teaching experience to his credit. On being asked about the branch, he opines, “It is one of the best courses that a student can opt for, the insight provided in the various fields helps in better employment opportunities”. His hard work and perseverance through the years has made this branch gain the prominence it so well deserves.

Digital Switching lab. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

The intake for this branch is 60 students per academic year through EAMCET counseling and NRI quota. The fee for the NRI quota is Rs.94,000 per year apart from the initial donation of about Rs.7-8 lakhs, whereas the annual fee for the convenor quota is  Rs.33,200  for the fresh batch of students joining this academic year.  The curriculum of ETM includes a few telematics’ subjects and a lab, which otherwise is the same as that of ECE (Electronics and Communication Engineering). This is one of the major reasons for students to opt for this branch. For further education abroad, the branch is certified as equivalent to ECE to avoid any glitches. “The added advantage is that, if one top a class of 60 students, one can walk away with the University gold medal”, says Divya excitedly.

When asked the students of ETM, a reason for this choice of branch, they have of answers such as, “I like networking and telecommunications a lot, this is the only branch in Hyderabad offering the subjects of my interest” ; “When I got to know that ETM is almost the same as ECE and also has Telematics in it, what more can I ask for” and “I wanted to get into a top college like GNITS, and hence choose ETM”, are the undistinguished replies of many students.

The department is specially equipped with Digital Switching Laboratory, with Fiber Optic workstation, 64 – line Digital Automatic Telephone Exchange, DSP Processor, Antenna Trainer system and ISDN equipment set up apart from the usual electronics and computer labs available. “Labs are the best part of learning through a practical approach. The experiments in the labs are conducted with great interest and all of us enjoy them”, declares Swati, a 4^th year ETM student, whereas a few others find it difficult to mange with the labs.

Clearing Doubts. Credit: Enigmatic Euphony

The lecturers of this department are well experienced having a minimum teaching experience of about five years. 90% of the students have opined that they are glad to have such an amazing teaching staff, who are knowledgeable and friendly. On being asked if they want to change anything in their department, most of the students say that they are fully content and happy with their branch. This might be totally true or might be sheer apprehension in expressing their views out in the open.

The branch also has a technical association, coined as ‘Telestorm’, which has been established for the benefit of the students to excel in all fields. Various technical, extra -curricular and co – curricular activities are organized under this banner every year to bring about the best talents amongst it’s students. The association involves mainly students from all years in organizing, planning and working. The events thus organized see many enthusiastic students taking part in them, may it be for the certificates or merrily having fun.

One of the National Service Scheme (NSS) groups named ‘Sahaya’ organizes various social service activities for the students to take part in. It has visited various orphanages, old-age homes, rural areas and schools to help bring about a change in the society. All the students, who have a heart for service take part in its voluntary activities.

The placements offered in Infosys, Accenture, Wipro, Satyam, TATA, Elexsi, MAQ S/W, TCS, etc saw to it that most of the students got placed last year. What more does any student need? When the students are so appeased with everything this department has to offer, their advice to the freshers cannot be contradicting. They sync in saying it is one of the best courses and that they are fortunate enough to have chosen it.

The seminar was given on various topics such as the latest WEB 2.0, which is in demand these days, for the most popular sites such as Skype, Google Beta, Youtube,etc. This latest technology can be modified with additional features according to the choice of the users. Mrs.Shyama spoke about HTML with explanations on various programs, XHTML (Extensive Hyper Text Mark Up Language), the differences  between HTML and XHTML which are very important for one to know. The students also took part in a ’surprise quiz’ of 20 questions. As the saying goes, “aah not again, the boring seminar!”, the students had no chance of escaping this time though! Most of the CSE and IT students gave their best shot, while the rest were engrossed in solving CAT problems, GRE, few listened to the ipod and most importantly, girls passed their time with the favourite “Gossiping”.

After a short break, Mrs.Gayatri took over and spoke about CSS basics, which include the Internal and External, the Javascript, PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and AJAX (Asynchronous Java Script and XML). The above topics are very useful for students, who want to get into core software stream. Another topic was JSON (Java Subscript Object Notation), which can be used with no muss or fuss as it is user friendly. This was followed by MXML (Minimal XML), which is an XML-based user interface markup language first introduced by Macromedia in 2004. After a really long presentation, the benefits of this presentation were explained to the students.

Firstly, in the interviews, the non CSE and IT students are asked questions about these in the technical round. Secondly, one needs to know what domain is he/she using instead of blindly using them. This helps the students to increase their knowledge as well. They also stressed on the point that the recruitments would be less this year compared to the previous batches and advised the students to concentrate more on further studies and improve their skills.

Students deeply involved. Credit: Candid Eves

The next part of the seminar was regarding how to go about preparing for an interview. As the test pattern’s primary step is firstly, the aptitude test, which is basically an elimination process while an interview is a selection process, Mrs.Shyama also made a point to the students to attempt the written test very carefully. A high cut off would result in elimination while a low one in rejection, instead, an average cut off would be preferable. Time management is important as well. The next stage would be a group discussion. Here, the confidence levels and the communication skills are very essential. After clearing these rounds, the next round would be technical round. For fortunate students, the technical round may be just like a HR round. Mrs.Gayatri cited a practical experience. She said, “I was pretty lucky for my tech round to go smoothly. I wasn`t asked much about technical stuff, but yes, I was asked about management instead, eg. ’setting up an organization’”. One should focus on the core subjects of B.Tech thoroughly. In this off-peak time, where the technical content in one matters more than the communication skills, it is very important for one to know about their projects in depth. This would enhance their technical skills. Mrs.Shyma also suggested that, by doing “Live projects” on .DOT, AJAX etc. at an institute, it adds a lot to one`s resume.

As the saying goes, “All`s well that ends well”, indeed, it was truly a well delivered lecture that proved to be thought provoking for the ones, who seemed to give a deaf ear!