‘Wannabe engineers’ add colour to campus
Classes for first year engineering students begin in city colleges
Nervous excitement, shy smiles, a sense of accomplishment, vrooming bikes, anxious parents were all part of the scenes one saw on the opening day when first year classes started in various engineering colleges in the city on Monday.
Most of the colleges held orientation programmes to familiarise students with the various academic, cultural and sporting activities in the colleges. While the autonomous colleges such as Sri Jayachamarajendra Of Engineering (SJCE) and National Institute of Engineering (NIE) briefed students about the course structure, colleges under the Visvesvararya Technological University (VTU) such as Vidya Vardhaka College of Engineering (VVCE) discussed about the VTU exams and held visits for students and parents to the several departments.
Vivek Poovanna of SJCE said that he was little bit nervous about ragging when he came to college. But the strict regulations against ragging have made him more comfortable. He said that due to the pressure owing to studies in II PUC he had quit playing hockey and hopes to make good use of it during his engineering days.
For another student Om Kumar Umrani of Gokak, it was his dream come true that he got into Polymer Science branch during his engineering course.When asked about ragging, a senior student said even if you call students to rag, chances are that they won’t since busy academic calender leaves students with little leisure time. For Rachana, Soundarya and Mitravinda, it was time for making new friends. Having come from different colleges they had gotten to know each other rather soon. Rachana who has played tennis at the national level said that she hopes to take up the sport again. She had to quit tennis temporarily due to a ligament tear. However, she hopes to shine at the university. SJCE principal Dr B G Sangameshwara said that during the present year industry participation will be enhanced. Lot of industries are willing to work with students.
More emphasis will be laid on research and design oriented projects, he said. Gaekwad, public relations officer of NIE said that students were welcomed and briefed about the college. Asked about measures to check ragging in colleges, he said that the culture of ragging in college doesn’t exist. Several squad teams have been made in the college and hostel to ensure that there are no incidents of ragging, he said.
