Sengunthar Engineering College, Principal: Dr. C Venkatesh Interview

Dr. C Venkatesh is the principal of Sengunthar Engineering College, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu. He has a credit of three decades experience which includes 13 years as Principal and around 3 years in industry. He received the Best Teacher and Academic Leadership Awards. He has produced 10 PhDs and 3 scholars are pursuing their research. He has published 7 patents, 163 publications and one book. He has received funding and equipment worth Rs.32.9 lakhs from various organizations. He is the present Chairman, Founder Honorary Secretary of Institution of Engineers (India) - Erode Local Center. His research interests are Communication Networks, Soft Computing, Artificial Intelligence and IoT.

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the Students of the College?

“To ensure the best executions and implementations of the designed programs”

Sengunthar Engineering College is a student centric institute imbibing experiential, innovative and lifelong learning skills, addressing societal problems fostering research. I strive to facilitate Sengunthar Engineering College as an organization which inculcates entrepreneurial attitude and values amongst Learners. I would focus on the detailed implementation of the designed syllabus. I believe my role also includes enabling the students to develop their own abilities & talents in order to discover their teaming potential to the fullest under the privileged guidance of highly qualified and dedicated faculty members. And most importantly, to practice and encourage high standards of professional ethics, transparency and accountability in students to achieve, sustain and foster unmatched excellence in their placement and careers. 

How do you make the subjects industry-oriented?

“Providing students with industrial visits to gain practical experience”

The best way to bridge the gap and ensure that students learn industry practices in any educational institute is to collaborate with the industry and get them involved in the teaching learning process. Keeping this in mind Sengunthar Engineering College takes various steps in this direction. In order to acquire the knowledge of industrial practices, faculty members, in a group, visit the industries and observe the industrial practices and interact with technicians of industries. This updated knowledge of faculty members will be imparted to the students. We know that Industries continuously adopt new technologies and practices to meet the customer requirements. Therefore our students must too. With the direction of the BoS industry experts, the curriculum is structured at par with the industry needs.

How College ensured quality education for students during Pandemic?

“To ensure continuous education for students even during the pandemic and coming years”

Sengunthar Engineering College ensures continual quality education through a blended learning approach as a part of the curriculum. The classes were conducted online and the students were provided with adequate study materials (text & video) via Google Classroom. As a part of blended learning, students were facilitated with courses from Swayam, NPTEL portals and knowledge sharing via webinars with alumni and industry experts. 

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How do you encourage peer-to-peer learning in classrooms?

“By Promoting the live classes and discussion on social medias like Telegram Channels and WhatsApp Groups”

Sengunthar Engineering College realized this problem early on and took active steps to deal with this situation. To countervail peer-to-peer learning in the virtual environment, knowledge sharing portals have been initiated via telegram channels. Sengunthar Engineering College aids students in their career prospects through separate channels for placement training, entrepreneurship, GATE coaching, competitive exams. This helps them gain knowledge in other aspects as well. 

How are faculty trained for delivering newly designed programs?

“To Train Faculty for delivering newly designed programs”

When the pandemic started and it became clear that online mode of teaching was going to drive the coming semesters, Faculty members at Sengunthar Engineering College were trained for the online teaching process before inculcating it to students. The faculty members are continually insisted and encouraged to learn advanced online teaching tools through webinars and online faculty development programs. And college provides them the maximum support so that this knowledge and learnings can be used to take classes in the best way possible, utilizing the best of what online teaching can offer.

How was the Campus Placement of your college last year?

“More than 80% students of our College got placed last year”

Despite talks about the job market suffering, Sengunthar Engineering College achieved 80% placement in the academic year 2020 – 2021 amidst the pandemic. 

What do you do to maintain a healthy relationship with students and the fellow faculty in a virtual environment?

“To ensure the well being of Student and Faculty mental status, we organise virtual meetings at regular intervals”

Sengunthar Engineering College provides counselling sessions on a regular basis separately for students and faculty members to support their mental well-being. We understand that the pandemic has affected each person differently, and respect the mind state that our college family might be in. Therefore to maintain a healthy and positive learning environment, online tutor ward meetings were conducted to strengthen student teacher relationships during the pandemic.

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What advice would you give to the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead?

“Students should focus on the changing demands of Industry and adapt to it as soon as possible”

It’s hard to predict what tomorrow will look like in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing is for certain: big changes are coming to our world at large and, specifically, to the workforce. Time management in quarantine to your advantage is a great way to get ahead of the game. Students need to utilize digital platforms to develop new skills, cultivate professional networks and start working on projects and internships in their domain. Students can extend their focus on research and entrepreneurship with the support of faculty members.