AbstractsEngineering

Education is antidote to poverty, hunger, malnutrition, AIDS, corruption, apathy and other malaise. It is perhaps the single most important means for individuals to improve personal endowments, build capability levels, overcome constraints and in the process, enlarge their available set of opportunities and choices for a sustained improvement in wellbeing. Education at the beginning of 21st century is in crisis and contestation. The problem of the global era is not that of scarcity but of plenty. The competition level is all time high. This contest is not merely confined to securing high grades or getting employment but the competitiveness has sprung up in educational institutions as well. The need of the hour is not only restrained to provide quality teachers but also good infrastructure, better placements, better institute-community linkages and the like. In response to the changing nature of engineering practice, and its globalization, engineering educators have been reforming their offerings. In the classroom, the emphasis is typically moving from teaching to learning , where student centered active learning is seen as the goal. Modern technologies, particularly in computers and communications, are having major positive impacts on how the education is being delivered, and how students and faculty interact with one another. In India, medicine and engineering are still the most sought after careers specifically by the middle class since long. Engineering education has seen unprecedented growth since 1980s in Southern and Western India and 1990s in Northern India specifically in private sector. There are more than 4000 engineering colleges / university departments offering engineering programmes in India with an intake capacity of more than 15 Lacs per annum. With such a large number of options and huge variation in quality of instructions in the engineering colleges, it becomes very difficult for admission seekers to choose a particular engineering college / programme, specifically if the candidate is not%%%References p. 252-275, Appendix p. 276-289