Started with a vision to establish a centre of excellence for professional education with focus on societal service for nation building, Lourdes Matha College of Science and Technology is an institute of prime excellence in South Kerala. The college puts emphasis on research and development in cutting edge technologies for the advancement of the students and to create the future human resources for the country. Read here to know more about the institution.

Industry Institution Consultation at LMCST

Date: April 28, 2021

Recently, LMCST organized a Industry Institution Consultancy. The meet was an online event where about 25 industrial heads participated. The first such initiative of the college happened in 2019. Bishop Mar Thomas Tharayil, Patron of the college said that the college focuses on adding value to students to improve their academic, ethical, spiritual excellence. He elaborated that the college is working on establishing a Technology Based Incubation Center, NAAC accreditation, improving the place ability of students through various add on courses and soft skill development programs. He added that with the growth and expansion of Trivandrum the benefits should percolate into the college for academic and research excellence.

Mr. Gilroy Mathew, Vice President and Head of Semiconductor, UST Global, the first to share his thoughts. He is part of the Board of Governors of the college. He said that UST Global and LMCST were entering into a MOU to benefit both the parties mutually. He suggested that the college must focus on three important areas to improve the quality of education here. The three areas identified and emphasized by him were:

  1. Training specific skill sets: Communication and Attitude

  2. Machine Learning and other Industry 4.0 live projects to be carried out by students

  3. Joint curriculum designed by industry partners with special laboratories for the designed curriculum to make students industry ready. These courses can be three month courses.

Mr. Sunil Jose, Associate Vice President and Delivery Head-Engineering Services and Software Products, Infosys Ltd., said that the placement models have changed and organizations are conducting national level tests to give opportunities to all colleges. To participate and excel in these national level tests for recruitment by great corporates students must improve their quality in terms of academic knowledge, soft skills and application of theoretical knowledge through projects. Infosys has a platform called CampusConnect which provides course materials, electives support, etc. It is also important to train and build the faculty members through Faculty Development Programs so that they can build the students.

Engineer Philip John agreed to the fact that academia and industry run parallel and they don’t meet at any connecting point. The alumni of the institutions can be the best bridges connecting industry and academia. Alumni should contribute to the growth of the institution by tapping the CSR projects of their own corporations to provide scholarships for poor students, faculty sponsor programs, funding labs, funding R & D units in the campus for the corporate, etc. On the other hand, institutes must take initiatives as a strong and effective IEDC unit with a powerful ecosystem or start-ups. He also suggested that the branding of the college is important and hence necessary initiatives must be carried out for the same. 

Sebastian Ukken, Business Excellence Head at Nissan Digital, emphasized that quality of students should be improved. For instance, Nissan had recruited students from all over India and found that the North Indian students are forthcoming as they articulate themselves in meetings with confidence and are willing to clarify if they are not convinced. This quality is not seen in 50% of Kerala students. The questioning and debating skills of our students should be improved. But the positive side is that the technology part of our students is pretty good. 

Philip John, Managing Director, Cetronics Technologies Pvt.LTD explained that the best bridge between Industry and Academia is Alumni. They can take the reputation of the college high. Successful Alumni can contribute to the college in multi fold ways – becoming academic resource persons, mentoring the students in technical skills or even extending financial supports like sponsoring scholarships or donating buildings and other infrastructure facilities. He also mentioned that IEDC/ TBI should be enhanced through which start-up culture should be encouraged. Further organize Campus Drives and attract companies to the campus.

Mr. Rony K Sebastian, Director, Softnotions Technologies said that there are plenty of opportunities for students to do internships with not enough qualifying students. Faculty and students must improve their approach to industry and must be prepared to meet industry needs. Students must be encouraged and prepared to participate in industry based events. Participating in industry based events gives them an opportunity to learn from the events the latest and current technology and also to develop the right attitude. 

Ms. Bincy Baby, Director at Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and Director, Graameen said that water, sanitation and hygiene is a highly potential area for mechanical engineers. The automated sanitation industry is Rs.6000 crore worth. The research involved and the involvement of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation makes it all the more interesting. She also said that the attitude of the students is very important and that must be taken care of very well.

Mr. Sandep K P, Co- founder,Trenser Technology Solution, an alumnus of LMCST said that he works for a company that has only 100 plus employees. Yet he recruited 5 LMCST students in the company. He suggested that to improve the possibility for employment of freshers they must be trained excellently well in profile and CV writing and in exhibiting the right attitude.

Mr. Pius Vargheses, COO of VinVish explained that industry-ready students, able to execute projects that they are part of. Academia must train students in excellent laboratories with highly commendable faculty members. VinVish has research projects on IoT, Optics, etc. which can be explored as collaborative research with LMCST. Therefore it is important to acquire DSIR R & D recognition. LMCST can look for corporate outsourcing projects to colleges – with 800 students electronics, mechanical, electrical both small and big can be brought in as real time projects for students. Further, LMCST must explore opportunities for project internship training and industrial visits. 

Mr. Moncy Sebastian, Delivery Manager, Infosys Ltd. spoke on the soft skills required for graduating students. He required the graduates to be good in communication, strong with a passion for technology, highly responsible for whatever is expected of them. He suggested that the institution LMCST must take feedback from corporates where the students are placed during the earlier years. He emphasized that true Christian values must be inculcated in them from the first semester and they must be imparted with value-based education.

Mr. Rejus Joseph, Manager, Data Analytics, UST Global, explained that according to his research LMCST is among the top ten colleges of Trivandrum. Unfortunately, in the microsite of Collegedunia it is showing a rating of 7.2. This he explained is due to the lack of reviews from existing students and alumni. Reviews in various platforms will bring both potential employers and potential students to the campus. Students must be prepared for interviews with mock interviews and constructive feedback must be shared with students. Alumni interactions must be organized regularly and more frequently. Freelance services must be part of the activities of students. 

Mr. Ajin Thomas, Associate Director of Populus Solutions was very proud to state that all the students hired from LMCST over the last four years have been proving to be excellent employees. During the pandemic times Poulos Solutions tried an internship model that served as a game changer. This model has enabled students to get the best industrial experience and exposure and then to find the right opportunities by marketing themselves.

Mr. Jojy George, Group Project Manager, Infosys Ltd. suggested that LMCST must look for mutual benefits and win-win situations. While the short term vision can be to provide placement for students, the long-term vision must be a strategic vision in providing quality technical experts to the industry.

Mr. Lal Cyrisl Lead, Technical Architect, IBS, emphasized the importance of students to adapt to changing technologies which are fast changing. Adaptability and hands on experience will go a long way in helping students find the right opportunities. It is important that an alumni panel is constituted to conduct mock interviews before the students are facing the real campus interviews. 

Mr. P. J. Paul, Assistant General Manager, Communication, Navigation and Surveillance Department, Airport Authority of India promised internship opportunities for students from ECE branch with regard to communication, surveillance, etc. The equipment available for these purposes are the most sophisticated and the best in the industry and gives a great learning experience to students. Internship students are expected to submit a report at the end of their internship. Job opportunities as Engineers at AAI are based on GATE score. Interviews have a very minimal role in selection. For the Air Traffic Controller position AAI conducts a specific written test.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development

Date: April 27, 2021

Lourdes Matha College of Science and Technology, Kuttichal, Trivandrum organized the Faculty Development Program titled Developing an Entrepreneurial and Start-up Ecosystem. A Turning Point event it was, as Prof. Sherin Sam Jose, CEO at Maker Valley, AmalJyothi College addressed the faculty team. His career life as faculty member of AmalJyothi College of Engineering is a remarkable proof that if you commit yourself to the profession sincerely, wholeheartedly, you will be rewarded multi fold in unexpected channels and aspects of life. As a young teacher at AmalJyothi he committed himself to create a mark in the history of the institution and he has done it already. From creating a department library with books worth Rs.7000 in his first year he has achieved acquiring Rs.20 crore funding for the institution during 2021.

After struggling for three years drafting a proposal he submitted a proposal to get an Entrepreneurship Development Centre worth Rs.24 lakhs. Then he prepared a project proposal for Rs.47 lakhs funding from DST. He had to spend a full day at Technopark, Trivandrum just to make it impressive to the panel, though the preparation of the basic PowerPoint was over a week of burning midnight oil. From there he grew to write proposals worth crores of rupees. Today he is not only HOD of the Mechanical Department at AmalJyothi, he is also the CEO of the Maker Valley there. He has 5 skill development centers attached to his department sponsored by various corporates like JK Tyres, Bosch, etc. He has brought in more than Rs.20 crores funding to the institution to support the start-ups generated by student ideas with Industry 4.0 technology.

He presented how he expanded his dreams by associating with great people. He was participating in a training event with a professor from NIT Trichy who was invited by the then Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram for some consultation. This incident inspired him to dream for a meeting with the Finance Minister of Kerala and finally he achieved this when the Finance Minister of Kerala had a discussion with him regarding the start-up ecosystem. He shared how he used to build teams to support the entrepreneurial initiatives, choosing the young enterprising faculty members with the right attitude. He has been empowering students with the right listening to student ideas, correcting them only when required.

He was also sharing how he used to sacrifice his free time and pleasure time for the institution. Once on a visit to Delhi instead of spending his days sightseeing in Delhi he travelled to Chandigarh to learn and understand how the start-up and entrepreneurial activities were being carried out. He had to spend Rs 65,000 on this trip. Yet nothing productive came out of this visit. 

His message was as simple as this: Invest yourself 100 percent in your profession, you will reap 1000 fold return on investment.  A totally committed faculty will never go unrewarded. Also our career commitment will enrich our personal, social and economic well being. Learning from the life and testimony of a committed and successful teacher is a real inspiration indeed. I hope this inspiration imparted will reap rich dividends for all concerned. 

During the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem session he mentioned and narrated about Happy Hens as an entrepreneurship venture. He explained how small life observations and curiosity can lead to very creative solutions. He narrated the story of the founder who was paralyzed and was working from his wheel chair for preparing some herbal medicines and selling them for his living. When he became too weak to make the medicines he sold the herbs straight away. In every walk of life there is an opportunity to innovate and be creative. Thinking out of the box can help everyone come up with solutions that can make the world a better place for themselves and others.

A full day of speaking about his willingness to carry other institutions forward in their Entrepreneurship journey didn't get interrupted by time or energy. Even the audience were eager to listen and learn more when it was time to close. Every teacher can create great history like Prof. Sherin Sam Jose.