MUJ considers placement as an important outcome of efforts to provide latest in innovation and research to the students. To make it highly productive, MUJ undertakes one-to-one relationship with large number of industries and reputed institutions says Dr Sandeep Sancheti, President, Manipal University Jaipur, in a conversation with Dipen Pradhan of Elets News Network (ENN).
What are the interventions Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ) is taking for skilling and enhancing the employability of students?
Manipal University Jaipur has been conscious of the fact that jobs in the industrial set up are available to the students who are skilled and competent of handling real-life situations. Curriculum has been designed to include skill development courses for gainful employability. Further, MUJ has strengthened the delivery of all laboratory activities with deeper involvement using many high-end and precision equipment to enhance students’ hands-on experience and exposure. Efforts in the form of tinkering labs have also added new dimensions to experimental learning.
In order to bridge the skill gap, MUJ was one of the first Higher Education institutions to sign an MoU with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). NSDC has developed a unique model to integrate skill-based training into the academic cycle of the University. These trainings are being provided on the basis of National Occupational Standards set by industry through sector skill councils. The job roles offered are designed to be progressive in nature on National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
Keeping in view the available infrastructure and job prospects, six sectors, namely, Vehicle Testing, Software Development, Tourism, Acting, Banking and Fashion Technology were identified by the University. Manipal University Jaipur also partnered with agencies like Manipal City & Guilds to jointly organize a skill development program on variety of topics.
What are the initiatives Manipal University Jaipur has undertaken in Student Startup domain?
Entrepreneurship is not only a buzzword but also happening in the University Campus proactively. Manipal University Jaipur has been fostering entrepreneurship since inception. In order to promote entrepreneurship among students and encourage entrepreneurial culture in the University, an Entrepreneurship Cell has been setup that mentors guides and incubate entrepreneurial business plans of the students to enable them to start their businesses. Students and faculty members are nominated to various events relating to entrepreneurship including B-plan workshops, B-plan contests, seminars, workshops and conferences.
The University has also created endowments to offer financial support to some of these innovative ventures through their own resources. The University has already incubated 20 new start-ups in a short span of 2-3 years. Incubates are provided office space, business and legal support, access to all lab facilities and facilities like 3D printing etc. The University proposes to set up Technology Business Incubators (TBI) and has also applied for Government. sponsored Atal Incubation Mission.
Many countries have started introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Coding etc, in the curriculum. What initiatives is the Manipal University Jaipur undertaking to make students competent with the emerging technological trend ?
Manipal University Jaipur has always been committed to provide knowledge to students about emerging technological trends by introducing the new concepts in the curriculum. To enhance coding and problem solving, we have started ACM Coding Club which meets regularly on week-ends. The common problems found in contests (Hackathons, Online contests etc.) are discussed. Many of these problems can be solved using different methods through the illustrations and comparison of varied parameters by deliberations.
Through a project-based learning which emphasizes on hands-on learning, students are encouraged to look around for problems confronted by them. They are then helped by the faculty mentors to arrive at practical and feasible solutions and demonstrate through rapid prototypes or virtual models using many modelling and simulation tools like MATLAB, COMSOL and CATIA. To solve the complex problems and arrive at solutions, supercomputers like PARAM SHAVAK with power of 3+ teraflops are available to the students.
To evolve quick solutions, a variety of platforms are available to the students in state-of-the-art Internet of Things (IOT) lab with a plethora of sensors for ECG, Heart Beat, Ultrasound and Wireless communication paradigms like Low power Bluetooth (BLE), Low Power Radio (LoRa), GSM/GPRS, Wifi (802.11a,b,d,n). Using these, students can quickly conceive and test solutions for various applications like Smart transportation, Smart building, Smart energy, Smart health, Smart agriculture etc. A number of gateways with varying processing power are made available for intermediate data processing and uploading the same to clouds like AWS, Azure, and Blue Mix etc. for further processing and analytics.
Internship plays a vital role in enhancing the employability of students. Highlight the initiatives Manipal University Jaipur has undertaken to facilitate internship for students to provide them hands on experience within a corporate working environment ?
MUJ considers placement as an important outcome of efforts to provide latest in innovation and research to the students. To make it highly productive, MUJ undertakes one-to-one relationship with large number of industries and reputed institutions. The effectiveness of the academia – industry inter relationship underlines the use of the latest tools and techniques to make the pedagogy effective in all facets of its activity. Internships play a very important role in skill development and further increasing the employability of the students in the diverse domains. As such emphasis on industry component in the academic curriculum is made. The University offers basic and advanced training programmes to its students and exposes them to related research in contemporary and futuristic technologies by way of continual improvement and innovation.
MUJ encourages the students to go for summer internships which form the backbone for final internship during the final semester. Final year students are mandated to work for their Projects in the industry to get hands-on experience, through the Practice School concept. Campus recruitment process is conducted for providing internship as well as job opportunities to the students. MUJ insists on Industrial visits to be undertaken by students which provide a good industrial exposure which eventually helps them during their internships. The students are also encouraged to take certifications as per the industry requirements which help in getting desired internships and often leading to Pre-Placement offers for some students. The University facilitates students for short duration stints abroad under more than two dozen mutual agreements signed with reputed global academic institutes to expose them to the culture and work ethos and prepare them for global placements.
