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April - 2015 - issue > Cover Story

Thapar University:Taking a Leap towards a Global Future with a Great Vision

Dylan D'Souza
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Dylan D'Souza
In the year 2014 when the Japanese IT firm, Hikari Tsushin decided to recruit young web engineers from India for the first time, they broke they broke a myth by not only avoiding a visit to IITs but also by raking 12 graduates from Patiala based Thapar University with an annual pay package of Rs 24 lakhs per annum. While in 2014, Hikari Tsushin remained as a star of placement in Thapar University with highest offerings of that year, DE Shaw India was not far behind in picking two of the brightest students at the university at a substantial package of Rs 18.4 lakh. Global IT giant Microsoft and Samsung Engineering, too, endorsed the academic brilliance at the university by hiring nine students at an attractive starting salary of Rs 16 lakh per annum, which was much higher than the average starting salaries in India.

Campus placements at Thapar University have been a resounding success with marquee global and Indian corporate biggies outdoing each other with fat pay packages to recruit young Thaparites graduating from this prestigious university. The University has been able to achieve 95 percent in 2014 and has successfully provided prospective employees to companies of various sizes in India and abroad. The present academic year of 2014 – 2015 saw an extended performance of 2014 from the students of Thapar, with excellent figures like 730 job offers and over 100 companies visiting the campus during the first round of placements. "We have been associated with many industries like Avantha Group, which comprises of companies such as Crompton Greaves and Ballarpur and they offer their inputs about the change in industry requirements. Hence, we have been able to come up with industry oriented teaching methodologies and it is reflecting in our placements," says Dr. Prakash Gopalan, Director, Thapar University. To strengthen the linkage with the industry further, the university has introduced a program called 'Project Semester' where all engineering students can work and participate in live projects with global companies for an entire semester. "The students gain tremendous amount of knowledge through this Project Semester programs and they are ready to work in the industry from day one after their graduation from here," says Prof. Gopalan.

The introduction of the Project Semester has been a game changer for the university as it has helped the students to display their talents inside the industry. "The industry has been extremely impressed with our Project Semester Program to the point where the big multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Cisco, De Shaw, Deloitte and others have shown interest in accommodating our students in their offices," says H.S. Bawa, Industrial Coordinator, Center for Industrial Liaison and Placements (CILP), Thapar University. However, the relationship of Thapar University with numerous industries is not a phenomenon that happened over night. It is one of the outcomes of Thapar University curriculum that has been evolved during the years with research and industry oriented teaching methodologies as center of focus. Bawa, who was a student of Thapar University in the early 1990s and later became the part of management says, "When I was a student of this campus, most of my classmates were focused on studying what was taught in the class and they preferred to stay indoors. However, with the passage of time, the students have realized how important it is to apply the knowledge that they are taught in class and have started to build live projects and are constantly learning and adapting to new technologies."

"Our students with the guidance of the faculty members have built a Formula 1 car and out of 72 teams from 55 countries won the Best Endeavor Award for the same," says Dr. Gopalan. While this is just one of the projects that they have done, the students from the university have also built a surveillance aircraft and a formula hybrid car. Impressed by this nature of students, companies such as Crompton Greaves and TCS have begun to work on various projects in town with the students and faculties of Thapar University.

Backing up Faculty and Research is Vital


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