‘Engineering students should not stick to just one subject’

Bengaluru: “Itis not enough if engineering students gain expertise in only one subject. Employment opportunities will be easier to obtain only when they acquire knowledge across disciplines,” said Dr. H. A. Sanjay, Dean of Engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU).

Inaugurating the workshop on “Interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning” organized for faculty at Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering (SVCE), he said, “Students must focus more on practical education. Today, what they learn in laboratories is becoming more important than textbook teaching. Therefore, teachers should also expose students more to practical education.”

“Students should not be confined to one branch. When students from Computer Science, Electronics, and other disciplines come together and think collectively, they can design better projects that contribute to solving today’s problems. Students too must pay attention to learning,” he added.

Dr. B. Karunakar Rai, Member of VTU Executive Council, said: “In our parents’ time, an engineer was someone who could solve many problems that arose in their own homes. Times have changed today. Unfortunately, most students are unable even to check a small fuse when there is a power cut at home. The reason is that today’s students are sticking only to one branch. They need to break free from this limitation.”

The event was attended by Dr. H. R. Sudarshan Reddy, Director of VTU Bengaluru Regional Office; Prof. Keshavamurthy, Member of VTU Executive Council; Dr. Harish Bendigeri, Special Officer; P. Muralidhar, Executive Director of ERA Foundation; Dr. Shashidhar Muniyappa, Managing Director of SVCE; Dr. B. M. Satish, Principal, and others.