Dr. Rahul Goyal has been working as the Professor and Head of Mechanical Engineering Department at Manipal University Jaipur, Rajasthan. He did both his Graduation in Mechanical Engineering and Masters in Thermal Engineering from Rajasthan. He then pursued his PhD degree from Jaipur. His major research interests include alternative fuels in an IC engine, waste heat recovery technology, thermal energy storage, combustion, and renewable energy etc. He has a rich and wonderful experience of over 19 years in teaching, research, and administration. He has served prestigious institutions in capacities of Department Coordinator, Head of the Department and as Controller of Examinations. He was instrumental in developing Department laboratories, AICTE inspections and accreditation process of National Board of Accreditation and NAAC. He has published more than 50 research publications in international peer-reviewed journals, reputed conferences, and book chapters. He is a regular reviewer of research articles for many high impact journals. He has supervised 3 PhDs and currently 3 research scholars are doing their Ph.D. under his supervision. He has also organized various workshops, international conferences and symposiums related to the field of Mechanical Engineering. 

Manipal University

Which program are you offering in your institute to help students outperform and stand apart from the crowd?

"We are offering B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering and B. Tech Mechanical with specialization in Robotics"

The School of Automobile, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering comprises three departments in Manipal University Jaipur and the department of Mechanical Engineering is one of them. And we are offering two courses which include B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering and B. Tech Mechanical with specialization in Robotics to our students of the Mechanical Department. It's no secret that Mechanical Engineering is one of the most esteemed and wide-ranging career paths. 

Which factors make this program the best for the students to opt?

"Elective courses, awesome infrastructure, training and professional visits makes it worth pursuing"

There are a wide variety of factors which makes this program worth pursuing for students. Both programs offer a variety of electives, open electives, and value-added courses to students, because we focus equally on imparting both theoretical and practical knowledge in students. Study of Robotics will enable students to serve the society to automate their operations by implementing smart technologies. Our Department of Mechanical Engineering is accredited by NBA (National Board of Accreditation, AICTE). Next, we have an excellent infrastructure in terms of manpower, books, teaching aids and well-established laboratories with upgraded tools for producing excellent Engineers. We also conduct periodical industrial visits and apprenticeships (4-6 weeks) for better industrial exposure for students and to make them aware about industrial culture. Lastly, the IASTEA student exchange program provides international connections to the students. 

What will you say are the best practices of this course?

"We regularly connect with students, their parents and also provide them direct industrial exposure"

Our department follows a (TG) teacher-guardian scheme where a teacher becomes a guardian of students (a teacher has responsibilities of gathering the contact details of students, parents, and hostel warden during the first-second day of commencement of first semester) and for providing a holistic development to the students, this scheme has proven to be the best approach. We also conduct regular connect sessions with students' parents and to troubleshoot students' academic and personal issues, we connect with them usually once in 15 days via class committee meetings. Apart from this, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Training and Placement Cell jointly conduct seminars and counselling for students. Additionally, we organize expert lectures by industry experts, leading trainers, discussion sessions about competitive examinations, personality development classes for our students. Our faculty members also supervise students for their research projects. Also, our department conducts Innovation Day in alliance with the Entrepreneurship Cell of University to give students a platform to showcase their ideas. Continuous feedback is taken from students for various courses to review and improve the effectiveness of its teaching methodology. 

What are some of the valuable insights of this program that you are offering at your institute?

"Our laboratories are well equipped with latest tools, and equipments to carry out research projects"

Laboratories of our Mechanical Engineering department are well equipped with modern equipment and other necessary experimental set ups. These laboratories are manned with experienced technicians who take care of all these equipment and experimental setups and help faculties to carry-out experiments designed for the students. In addition to the regular labs, the department has developed research labs (BIONAC lab, EnBioMatRIC Lab, NICOP lab and MSRC lab) where students can carry out their projects and research work under the supervision of faculty members. 

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How does this program ensure the future preparedness of students?

"We assign projects to students and also organize guest lectures and international visits"

All the fundamental and advanced courses are included in the B. Tech Mechanical Engineering curriculum. And we regularly update it as per the inputs received from industry people, advisory groups, alumni, and current students. And we have adopted the approach of Project Based Learning (PBL) and Experiential Learning (EL) to enhance the interest of students towards skill-based learning. This project-based learning is carried forward in the higher semesters under mentorship program and students get a platform to present their work at conferences. DME always invites the eminent speakers from industries as well as reputed academic institutions to give valuable information from their experience (industry challenges, its latest technologies, and ever-changing requirements) and expertise to our students. The department always encourages collaborations with prestigious national/international universities. We have also signed various MoUs with QS listed foreign universities to provide students with an excellent opportunity for international exchange (by organizing conferences, workshops, by attending training programs and doing internships). There are different student clubs and technical student chapters running in the department. 

How do you train your faculty to deliver this program to the students?

"We offer them FDPs using platforms like MOOCs, NPTEL and SWAYAM"

I firmly believe that self-learning can be endorsed in the university by generating various facilities, activities, resources, and environments for the faculty members based on their academic background. It also provides a multidirectional learning approach to them from the basic to the advanced level. The university has created an Internet facility with 700 Mbps leased line and 1600 computer terminals facility to promote and motivate the ambiance of self-learning. And we generally prefer platforms like MOOCs, NPTEL, SWAYAM, Coursera to provide them various kinds of training programs as and when required. We also encourage our faculty members to participate in Faculty Development Programme conducted by AICTE and other government bodies. In labs and workshops, faculty personnel typically conduct more qualitative research than students do. There are resources available to faculty members who wish to carry out their own or student-led projects.

What approaches do you use to ensure placement of the students pursuing courses from your institute?

"We regularly take inputs from industry people and offer placement training to students"

The centralized Training and Placement Department of MUJ's has built an exclusive placement facility and faculty and students in the Mechanical Engineering Department nominate student placement coordinators for each batch. TPO then contacts the industry persons and shares the received information with Faculty Placement Coordinator and Student Placement Coordinator. And to inform students about company profiles, job descriptions, we have a program called Super. Students can also submit their applications directly from the super set. Non-Super Set companies can share their information with FPC and apply. General aptitude and technical skills tests are commonly administered in the workplace, and a departmental team is responsible for providing students with study materials and administering mock exams twice a week. 

What extracurricular activities are organized in college to enhance the skills of the students?

"Activities like conferences, guest lectures, sports events and social welfare tasks are organized by us"

We organize a wide variety of co-curricular activities for the overall development of our students. Two international conferences are held each semester. Along with this, guest lectures, symposiums and talks by industry experts and reputed academic institutes are the major activities conducted by our department on a regular basis. Next, we have sports activities including Football, Volleyball, American Football, Chess, and Table Tennis both on and off campus. Events like Road Safety with MUSKAAN NGO and a Robotics Workshop in collaboration with Indian Women Impact are often organized by the department for Societal Connect (Indian Women Blog). There are a total of 30 technical and non-technical clubs operational in university and students regularly participate in various events. 

How do you build an industry connectedness with this program?

"We have signed MoUs with industry partners to bring best opportunities for students"

More than eighty-seven MoUs have been linked with various industries to provide our students with required training programs and to make them ready for placements. Academics, internships, projects, and research decisions are made based on comments from the department's advisory committee, which consists of high-ranking industry professionals. Each semester's course topics feature guest speakers from the industry who discuss the latest developments in their fields. 

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Which benefits and career options are available for students after pursuing this course?

"The Mechanical Engineering professional are currently in demand in industries"

In my opinion, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Chemical and Civil Engineering are among the most popular majors among students. Demand for mechanical engineers is expected to soar soon. The students of our department who graduated from 2022 found great jobs in well-paying and highly reputed companies. Students who complete an internship in industry for six months, have more opportunity to get a job offer from the same company.