CS and EC: Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology Date:   Thursday , January 22, 2015 With a boom in telecom and IT sector, the demand for Electronics and Communications (EC) and Computer Science (CS) courses were at an all-time high among the engineering streams until the past couple of years. However, students who took these courses are now facing difficulties in getting a job with a decent pay as the course materials are not at par with the modern industry requirements. Abating this major problem, which most engineering institutes face is Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology (NIET). The institute has tied-up with many corporate organizations to gain an edge over other institutions and thus allow its students to benefit from various interactions that constantly take place between them. \"Our unique 360 degree approach builds synergy between education and industry; and ensures that our EC and CS programs are completely in sync with the contemporary, economic context,\" says Raman Batra, Director of Career Management Cell, Pyramid Finishing School and NIET Business School. \"At NIET, students get an environment that opens up a new world of opportunities, helps them make the right choices and ensures that they are ready to start out on their own,\" he adds. The institute, which is set on a sprawling area of 13 acres, understands that the major problem prevalent in the country is the gap existing between Industry and Academia. Accordingly, they have increased the importance of imparting practical knowledge to the students. \"The need of the industry is knowledge and skills acquired with an eligibility to include skills-ready employees from day one,\" says Raman. NIET constantly reviews the engineering curriculum of EC and CS departments every year and thus ensures that the subject matter it teaches the students is up to date with the latest trends. Over the past few years the engineering practice has undergone a paradigm shift due to the globalization of manufacturing and service sectors, worldwide shift from defense to commercial competition, explosion of information technology into a major driver for engineering employment, and the imperatives of environmental protection and sustainable development. This has resulted in NIET creating and adapting to the latest andragogy of teaching. These methods cater to the increasing demands of adaptability in newer areas of technology and research, skills in communication and persuasion, ability to lead and work effectively as a member of a team and understanding of the socio-economic forces that affect engineering decisions. \"It provides an optimum mix of theory and practical, with strong bias on industrial applications. In recent years, introduction of modern computational tools and digital equipment have further improved the program,\" says Raman. The Pyramid Finishing School To fill the gap between the University curriculum and the needs of industry, the institute has established a finishing school called Pyramid Finishing School (PFS) in 2007. \"Before setting up the PFS, we organized several meetings with the HR Heads of various companies to understand the specific skill and competency that they were looking in the new recruits,\" says Raman. The institute takes a step further and prepares a specific curriculum to enhance the skill and competency set of the students. While the students are trained by external trainers to impart these skills, the institute conducts regular workshops, group discussions, mock tests, mock interviews and role-plays. \"This is where they are made to hone their communication skills, body language, overall personality, aptitude, work place skills and corporate etiquette,\" says Batra. As there has been a rise in the utilization and submission of video curriculum vitas in the recent time, the institute is training the students by video recording the presentations and interviews that they attend to provide relevant and specific feedback for improving the student\'s performance. Hence, the campus recruitment drives at NIET have been positive. In addition to that, the institute has created a variety of topics which cater to the requirements of various tech companies that include Networking for HCL Technologies, Telecommunications for Ericson, Financial tools and Banking for ING Vysya Bank and Automation for PARI. \"Due to this rigorous exercise, the students feel that their future is secure at NIET and many of the corporate chose to visit us every year. The placement record of the college has been outstanding,\" says Raman. Some of the companies who have visited the campus are TCS, Accenture, Microsoft, Sahara Computers (South Africa), Aditya Birla Group, IBM, Evolution Consulting Ltd. (Canada), Blackberry, Tech Mahindra and others. In order to ensure that students develop holistically, they are provided a variety of opportunities to take part in extracurricular activities such as sports. The mix of technology and management skills along with holistic development at NIET makes sure that each NIETian is an invaluable asset to any organization. Raman Batra He is currently the Director of the Career Management Cell, Pyramid Finishing School and NIET Business School. He has guided NIET to extend its placement activities to the Middle East and African countries and has also setup an office in Dubai.