Improving NIRF ranking, quality research top priorities, says NIT Hamirpur Director
In an interview with Shiksha.com, HM Suryavanshi, the newly appointed Director of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Hamirpur, said he wants to bring multiple entry and exit options in degree courses and focus on fund generation and foreign collaborations.
HM Suryavanshi was recently appointed as the new Director of NIT Hamirpur.
HM Suryavanshi was earlier working as a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur. He replaced Lalit Awasthi, who was holding the additional charge of the post of the Director. Below are the excerpts from the interview.
Q. Since you have just taken over as NIT Hamirpur Director, what transformation are you planning to bring about in the institute?
A. First of all, I want to bring transparency in the system as only then transformation will be possible. My top priority is to fill vacant posts of faculty in the institute and ensure that suitable candidates make it to NIT Hamirpur. There is a need to look into promotions as there are faculties who have not been promoted for 10-15 years. As per the Ministry of Education’s National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2021, NIT Hamirpur ranked 99th in engineering category, which is very poor. All efforts will be made to improve the NIRF ranking and promote quality research at the institute. Another thing we need to focus on is fund generation and foreign collaborations.
Q. Are you planning to bring any change in your curriculum as per the guidelines of the New Education Policy 2020?
A. Yes, we are planning to revamp the curriculum in line with the recommendations of the NEP 2020. There will be multiple entry and exit options for students. This will allow a student to drop a course and resume it as per his/her convenience.
Q. Are there any expansion plans in terms of building more infrastructure, campus, facilities such as labs, innovation centres, etc?
A. We have a shortage of students’ hostels. We also need to increase the number of classrooms to accommodate more students as the number of students getting admission at the institute has increased. We already have an innovation centre, but we have to develop it by adding more equipment. We recently had a meeting with the head of departments, wherein we decided to buy equipment for some departments for which funds have already been allocated.
Q. What is the proportion of male to female enrolment at NIT Hamirpur? What steps will you taken to increase the enrolment of girl students at the institute?
A. I do not know exactly about it as I had joined the institute only recently, but I have seen the number of girl students taking admission at the institute has increased. I think we already have some seats reserved for female candidates.
Q. What are the emerging trends in engineering education?
A. The future of electric vehicles is bright. Courses in electrical and electronics engineering need to be upgraded so that students can specialise in battery technologies and management.
Q. Internships and placements are essential for gaining industry experience and securing well-paid jobs. What do you think will be the future of placements and internships in the post-pandemic era?
A. Despite pandemic, we have already recorded 75 per cent placements as compared to 66 per cent last year, so the future will definitely be better. As many as 121 companies such as Amazon, Paytm and Samsung visited the campus for recruitment and more companies are coming as placements are still going on. Also, seven students of NIT Hamirpur have bagged more than INR 1 crore package from top international companies.
Q. What are your future plans?
A. We are planning to implement industry-oriented curriculum so that students after completing final year are able to start their own business. We have an incubation centre at the institute, but we need to initiate more activities to make it more beneficial for the students.
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