Journal of Engineering Education Transformations

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Indian institutes do not stand high in the world list of educational institutions. Thousands of students every year go abroad for higher education. Foreign universities have started coming into India. Universities in India are being blamed for producing unemployable graduates. UGC (University Grants Commission) in India appears to have failed in its mandated mission. A committee appointed by MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource and Development), Government of India, under the chairmanship of Mr. Hari Gautamrecommended that UGC be abolished. Higher and technical education is behind the needs of themodem times, adversely affecting economic and social growth in India. Both the President and Prime Minister of India have been publicly expressing concern on this account for many years. Yet no improvement is noticed. Some Chinese universities on the other hand have shot up from very low ranking to 35 in the world. Are the words of President and Prime Minister falling on deaf ears? Are they merely speaking like parrots from year to year? Indian institutes are insensitive and woefully unsuited to global demands and are too far behind the world. Do we need to dream big, think great and show commitment to improve? It is said that those who dream big perform better; dreams give energy to minds, mobilize resources and make people competitive and ambitious.

The presence of world class institutions is a differentiating factor between the developed and the developing world. They produce globally competent leaders with high intellectual capability so badly needed to raise a nation to greater heights. They produce intellectual capital so essential for the welfare of people. Regions, nations and cities, even if endowed with abundant natural resources like minerals, land, water,etc., are not prosperous if they do not have world class higher education institutes. Knowledge institutions are like "Light Houses" to society. They are reference points providing guidance and giving direction to people and industry in stormy changes. This is an age of technology, in which scientific and technological capabilities matter most. Making the institutions world class is not an option but a compulsion. It is now not only a matter of spending more money, appointing more men, or providing infrastructure. It is more a matter of adopting appropriate visions and missions and selecting strategies. Indian education system is still traditionbound. Outdated systems like affiliated colleges, lack of autonomy,absence of research and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), have crippled the education. Investments being made by government are subsidizing only the inefficiencies. This is because they lack a strategic outlook.

Indian professors abroad have done wonders. Why cannot they perform wonders in India? Is it because they have to work here in India with poor systems and poor governance? This paper recommends adoption of autonomy, research approach, creation of research parks, commercial exploitation of findings of research, patenting, enabling professors to be globally competitive, increasing mobility of professors, etc. This article presents in brief, the gap analysis in respect of visions and missions, policies and practice, organization structures, systems and procedures in India and their counterpart institutions in developed countries. Transformation of higher and technical education to world class level is critical to nurturing able leaders in various professions and vocations, and in critical to turn people's well-being.

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The paper presents, in brief, the need and importance of world class technical university for the creation of the future of people of Maharashtra. It outlines new visions and new missions for the university, in the global context. Technical university is different from traditional university, in the sense it is enterprising, oriented to technology and industrial development. It generates and disseminates new knowledge ill emerging technologies. It is a spearheaded organization promoting employment in Hi Tech of high income.

The paper states that Maharashtra desperately needs, not one, but four technical universities that too of world class standard. This is essential to win in global competition, and to fulfill the rising aspirations of people. Technical university takes technology to vast masses, and maximizes its social impact.

Transnational intellectual inputs, as well as experiences in establishing universities from within India and abroad, are critical. The universities should essentially be enterprising, relevant, and purposeful for near and distant future. The universities should be enterprising doing teaching, research, innovation etc, what the counterpart universities in developed countries do. What are the world proven policies and practices, and how to bring them? The paper explains.

The technical universities will have to be competitive not only by local standards but by international. They should be able to upgrade the standard of education in all the engineering colleges, in urban as well as rural. The design of the university should be such that it should not be just an examination body but doing multifaceted activities like research, innovation, technology transfer, patent&IPR, and spinning off new technology based companies, entrepreneurship by adopting PPP mode. The universities should add value in colleges. How the universities can become world class? No doubt, it is a long journey, but the route chosen has to be right. The paper identifies factors which when attended enables University to become world class.

Each university should have an innovative character. It should help industry to win and become a "light house". It should be compatible to globalization. It should be adaptive to cope with changing situations especially in industry, from time to time. If the concept and design of the university is right, it will be easy during Implementation. This is a very important project bringing high returns to the economy and securing the future. Now is time for Maharashtra, to aim high. Low aim is a crime. It is too late; but letter late, than never; more than ten years before AICTE/UGC recommended. It should now make a Jump start by establishing not one but four World Class Technical Universities. The paper explains how to go about.

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The paper presents in brief, need and importance of research based innovative world class universities and colleges, for global competitiveness. To win in a competitive world, India needs professionals of world class standard, which with higher imagination can make India forerunner. Graduates to become Pace setters, technology pioneers and industry leaders demand institutes to be ahead of time. Conventional institutes produce mediocre, followers, fit to become soldiers at best in multinationals. There is huge energy in Indian youths, yet too few become leaders in industry and technology on global plane, because that is not what present institutes are teaching students to become.

If we do not envision building research based world class institutes, we will lose in brain race; India will continue to trail behind the developed world.

Students demand world class education. They are ready to pay for it. But not many are able to offer. Thousands of students every year go abroad. Foreign universities are coming. World class institutes are innovative in character. They generate Jobs, entrepreneurs and high income. In knowledge driven economy of today, they assume high significance. Industry looks at these institutes as "Light Houses". They are an idea source. They energize national and international environment. Spending any amount to make institutes world class is Justifiable. Can India hope to be a developed nation with present poor quality higher&technical education? At least some better performing institutions should forthwith be enabled to reach to world class status. Can we create world class centers of excellence? This will decide India s future. The number of world class institutes is now a differentiating factor between more developed and less developed countries.

The paper identifies strategies which contribute to make an institution world class. The strategies are grouped as governance, academic, administrative, financial etc. They are, however, tough to deliver and essentially call for political will.

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The article presents in brief the implications of ''Technology Change" on working of engineers, and their employing organizations. In rapidly changing socio-techno-economic environment of today, characterised by political interference, the role and responsibility of engineers in both technology and human handling have changed.

This is a world full of opportunities, especially for technocrats who can manage FUSION OF NEW TECHNOLOGY with natural resources to produce goods and services, so urgently required to upgrade vast masses which are living below the poverty line. Acquisition of technological capability is found to be the only way to gain economic and political power in the changing world, and the same is so crucial for well being of the people. It is therefore suggested that the engineers of today, unlike in the past, have to draw more on their innovative/research ability; make an attempt to enlarge their vision to cover GLOBAL MARKET and to become WORLD CLASS engineers.

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Many technological universities have five star infrastructure, brilliant faculty and scholarly students, who do possess lot of advanced scientific knowledge needed most by national and global economy. They continuously generate new knowledge through research at PhD, PG, UG levels. Mechanism for transfer of knowledge from lab to land, in both the private and public universities in India, is however almost absent. Universities are insensitive to market demands. Government has perfected systems for import of technology, but it has not perfected systems for technology transfer from universities to industry. Feedback loop today is incomplete. As a result continuous feedback inputs to reform education are not provided, productivity of various professions and vocations on this account remain low. 25% people live in poverty; the rate of return on investment in universities, due mainly to lack of outreach, is for too low. Technological universities are expected to be industry oriented. They are expected to provide ever emerging technology to industry, to keep them globally competitive. But today their impact is far too less. What is the experience of western schools?

Many western schools, on the other hand, are having well defined and perfected knowledge transfer systems and procedures. They are not only educating students to keep them competitive lifelong but practically generating and marketing new technology/ new knowledge and transferring their full scientific capacities To the benefit of society in their vicinity and all over the world. The outreach of technology universities and feedback, is far and wide. Hereby, they are enriching themselves and augmenting new ideas besides providing budget support for future growth. Technological Universities, large in number exist in US, Germany, Japan. By virtue of knowledge they have moved from periphery to the centre. They have become the drivers of economic and social prosperity. The visions&missions of Universities are dynamic, adaptive based on sharing experiences with people, at large.

The paper presents from experience in The world, new directions to the Indian technological universities so as to make them world class. They should not remain mere examination bodies, as they are today, producing soldiers fit to do lower end jobs in the army of multi nationals. Students have to be educated in what they like, and then they achieve excellence. Un(form standard does not facilitate excellence. Freedom to learn with necessary autonomy is the need of the hour. The paper presents in brief, the strategies to make technology universities competitive by world standards.

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The paper presents in brief, the desirable and not so desirable aspects of the unaided engineering education institutes in India. An analysis of the performance of these institutes is made and presented along with suggestions so as to make most of them.

Privatization is a global phenomenon. It facilitates more productive utilization of national resources, and hence is the trend, world over. In technical education its success, however, depends on the condition that it is accompanied by professionalism and without which, it may prove damaging. The paper advocates introduction of professionalism and adherence to academic norms and standards in the management of education.

Every change is essentially accompanied by turmoil. The transition from Governmentalization to privatization in technical education can not be an exception. The paper identifies the factors which need to be controlled so as to make privatization successful. Introduction of "Accreditation" forthwith, without any loss of time, is the crying need of the hour.

The attitude and role of AIGTE, University, State Directorate has not to remain the same as before but to change in the response to world wide phenomenon of privatization. The role has to be of regulatory, co-operative and developmental in nature instead of controlling. Establishing separate Universities for them, so as to shape these institutes in a better way, is strongly advocated.

In today's context, when export is the order the day, the technical education institutes have to think going global. The question which immediately comes to our mind is of global competitiveness of Indian Institutes. They have themselves to become competitive by world standards and pave the way for industry. Our institutes have to think to export technical education, which is both a cultural exchange, besides, business strategy. The unaided institutions with innovative entrepreneurship may respond favorably.

The dynamic environment of India and the world calls for a rethinking among the key people in technical education, as to how they can develop and reshape themselves to explore more and better opportunities globally for themselves and also for the countrymen. With this in view, the article examines the role and the response of unaided engineering colleges in the country.

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World experience tells us that now the economic development is technology driven. The limiting factor for growth and prosperity of a nation is not oil, minerals, land, water but it is the scientific and technological capability of people. This is a bold writing on the wall which the people and its Government have to read. Any neglect is however, likely to be too damaging for generations.

Nations like Japan, Germany, U.S.A. by virtue of their technological superiority are found capturing the world market and emerging as epicenters of our interdependent world. The ever emerging technologies are giving shocks to the economies of most of the nations including U.K., U.S.S.R., China and it is no wonder if Indian economy receives it. The tremors are experienced with varying intensity depending upon the level difference, more the level difference bigger it is.

There is a invasion by new technology on human civilization which ought to be realised. This invasion is not military, or by force, but it is willful with the hope of bettering life. It is however, creating problems such as high rate of inflation, unemployment, adverse B.O'p. etc. for nations; which are technologically backward. Any attempt to keep a nation isolated is further more damaging. The alternative available is therefore only to master the New technology, which is like a road roller chasing a man in a narrow lane. The man must run faster lest he will be run over.

There is a vast ocean of opportunities at national and global levels arising out of emerging technologies. In today's rapidly changing techno-economic environment ability of people, especially engineers to learn and relearn newer technologies has become a determinant factor.

The professional status of engineers and rewards to meritorious depend on their learning rate, and those who cannot cope with may have to face problems. The researchers, students and teachers would have to learn at a much faster pace to be able to reap the benefits from technology revolution.

This is a world full of opportunities that too of high payoff, which, however, are available to only those who can master the latest technology. Acquisition of technological capability on continuing basis is found from world experience to be the only way to acquire economic and political power. It is therefore argued that the engineers of today have to be more innovative, imaginative, and of world class standards.

The faults not so much with the political system, bureaucracy or social system as milch It is With the system responsible for educating people in scientific and technological subjects. The transformation of society to healthy status can be achieved by only upgrading the efforts of Science and Technology education.

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People, in globalization, want world class education. They are ready to pay for it. But Universities and colleges are not able to give this. Why? This needs examination in depth. Their frame work is old, out dated, primitive, and dysfunctional. They lack in creation of new knowledge. Discoveries, and creative endeavors are now the integral components of modern institutes. They lack in organizational capability. They lack in global visions and missions. From experience elsewhere in the world, it can be said that education has to be coupled with research and innovation. Multifaceted research, incubation, patent and IPR, entrepreneurship, start ups, Research Park are now the integral components. They are observed to have a deeper impact on quality of education.

Institutions must now change their orbit of operation and jump up to creating hi- tech enterprises, hi-tech world class entrepreneurs, producing not just engineers but more of M Tech and PhDs. Institutes must take active role in corporate development, become a light house for industry. The center of gravity of operations must be shifted from UG to PG, PhD and post doctoral studies. This is what National Knowledge Commission has recommended. Without them India can not hope to become a super power, which is its declared dream.

Attempts for reforms are being made in India through TEQIP. Techniques of industrial management like TQM are being implemented. Leaders in industry are being appointed as chairmen and members of board of governors. These efforts are good but not enough. Hi- breeding by way of transnational collaboration is necessary. Role of academicians in reformation is crucial. The paper says leadership skills on the part of academicians to establish and run institutes in world class manner need urgently to be developed. It is ultimately their responsibility. First class professors need to be recruited and enabled to grow to international standard.

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With the adoption of privatization policy in engineering education, in India and abroad, a new class of people. "Educational Entrepreneurs" has emerged. They have initiated vigourously critical examination of old values, institutions, missions, work methods., needs of education etc. demanding change in the perceptions of people. They wish to outwit in local and global competition and to make most of the opportunities.

They have generated a much needed competitive environment for themselves as well as for Govt. and aided institutes. Institutions now have developed a strong will to win. But mere will and enthusiasm is not enough. They ought to have the skills of strategic planning, without which, they will not be able to stand in competition.

The article, therefore prescribes, the adoption of strategic planning, with cut any loss of time, for all institutions including those which are managed and maintained by Government. This is not now an option but a compulsion without which they will become dis functional.

The paper presents, in brief, what is meant by strategic planning, what is a mission statement, how to arrive at it, who are stakeholders, how to assess their expectations, how to prepare strategic plan and how to implement it. Forces which Hi-JACK the planning process are identified. Strategies which have worked well in India and abroad, are also presented.

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