JOIN USThe first-ever Internship Mela conducted by Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) for its undergraduate engineering students here on Saturday was so successful that the varsity plans to hold similar events in others parts of the State soon.
The VTU Vice-Chancellor, H Maheshappa, says Internship Melas might be held in Belgaum, Gulbarga, Mysore, and Mangalore regions in September-October. The maiden event held at Dayanand Sagar Institutions in Kumaraswamy Layout here was attended by almost 70 percent of the 16,000 students who had registered and those who arrived unannounced.
In a surprise to the VTU, nearly 4,000 students turned up unannounced as the event began. In addition, 12,000 candidates had registered online earlier.
Students of all semesters attended the event, Maheshappa said. Although it is unclear how many of them actually landed internship offers made by the 120 companies, Maheshappa insisted that a large number of students benefited from the event.
Such a Mela would go a long way in making the graduating students industry-ready, the
V-C added. Students who received internship offers have three distinctive opportunities — hands-on experience, working on projects in the company, and the prospects of landing a regular job. As classes for the 2012-13 academic years start only in August, students have a full month to hone their skills at the companies.
The Mela’s success notwithstanding, the university does not intend to make it compulsory for all students in the future events. Nearly 60,000 engineering students graduate each year. “Not all of them can be accommodated in the job market,” Maheshappa admitted.