The high-tech auditorium at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham had an erudite speaker, Mr. R Sundar, General Manager, L&T Ltd. He floored the audience - an august gathering that included Prof. C.Parameswaran, Director - CIR, Dr. M.P. Chandrasekharan, Dean – Engineering, Chairpersons and faculty members of various departments. The subject – a matter of paramount national importance to both the industry and the academia: Faculty role in preparing students for industry readiness.
Mr. Sundar began his talk by sharing his observations from L&T’s experience of recruiting from Tier-2 campuses in Coimbatore. He said that there had been a marked decrease in pass-through: While one in 10 applicants would get selected in campus interviews earlier, more recently as many as 12 to 15 candidates needed to be screened to result in the selection of one employee. In order to bridge the gap, he suggested we could examine the role of the following.
The first force comprises the students. They should gain conceptual clarity and have thorough understanding of basic sciences, e.g. Laws of Motion. Secondly, they should be in a position to uncover an applied concept, and not limit themselves to tackling straight, direct theory questions. Thirdly, they should develop eclectic knowledge – that comes from regular newspaper reading. Fourthly, they should develop the inclination to learn beyond their compartmentalized world (e.g. mechanical engineers claiming complete ignorance about electronics concepts).
The second realm, as per Mr. Sundar, comprising the eco-system, has an important role in improving the throughput. Here, the pedagogy should first and foremost give a far more grinding of basic sciences and mathematics in the first year. Secondly, selection of courses during the counseling process and while opting for electives, should reinforce the learning of the student, and not be based on ‘whims’ and ‘waves’. Thirdly, the curriculum should allow students to ‘get their feet wet’ and ‘their hands dirty’, to move towards industry expectations. Fourthly, the pedagogy should allow students to learn about teamwork, basics of micro-economics, costing and finance.
The third dimension is the faculty, and their important role includes firstly deciding what mix of theory and practicals to use and what mix of surprise quizzes, scheduled examinations and term assignments to administer, so that students don’t get into their comfort zones; but instead are galvanized into action. Secondly, they should nurture a process of understanding concepts based on data. Thirdly, faculty should play the role of an advisor or mentor or the ‘agony aunt’.
The fourth aspect – is the industry, as per Mr. Sundar. Their role should be to provide practical exposure through internships. Secondly, they should offer practical problems to student groups resulting in thrifty solutions for problems that are overpowered by priorities or lack of intellectual resources. Thirdly, they should perform the role of project guides and industry evaluators.
Mr. Sundar, who is an engineer from MIT, Madras and a Post Graduate from IIM, Ahmedabad, is also actively involved with CII, Coimbatore. One of the few who pursued a career in manufacturing after his management studies, Mr. Sundar who joined Larsen & Toubro in 1978, has more than three decades of experience in conceptualization and implementation of projects, developing new businesses with focus on operational efficiency and innovative manufacturing.
