Latest news with #J.Prakash
The Hindu
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Anna University signs MoU with Autodesk to set up design and innovation lab
Anna University on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Autodesk, a multinational technology and design company, to set up a Design and Innovation Lab at the Centre for University-Industry Collaboration (CUIC) on the University campus in Chennai. With the establishment of the lab, over 30,000 students from Mechanical, Civil, Architecture, EEE, and Media Sciences will be able to use the educational version of Autodesk's technology products. Besides, at least 10,000 students from polytechnics and ITIs will be trained in futuristic technologies every year free of cost. In addition, about 400 faculty members will be trained every year as trainers for skilling, upskilling and reskilling. The company has made a ₹1.28-crore donation to the University to conduct year-long training programmes at the lab, said CUIC Director K. Shanmugasundaram. The MoU was signed by J. Prakash, Registrar, Anna University, and Conway Goh, Director-Asia Pacific and Japan, Autodesk Education Experiences, in the presence of Govi. Chezhiaan, Minister for Higher Education. Mr. Goh said recent figures in the company's State of Design and Make Report showed that talent crunch impacted business growth and industry leaders were struggling to find employees with the right technical skills while also lacking resources to build effective internal training programmes. The widening skill gap, he said, was forcing the leaders to rethink workforce strategies. At the Design and Innovation lab, students would be able to experiment on Autodesk platform solutions and have access to one of the most sophisticated AI technologies: Generative Design. QR-based feedback for students At the same event, the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) launched a QR-based feedback mechanism for students in government colleges and universities. The QR code will be made available at all campuses of government institutions and students would be encouraged to raise complaints or offer feedback over amenities like drinking water, sanitation and canteen. The feedback will be registered on a dashboard that would be managed by respective institutions with oversight from the Higher Education department. Guidelines for educational institutions Mr. Chezhiaan also released a draft policy on e-governance for higher education institutions in the State brought out by TANSCHE. M.P. Vijayakumar, vice-chairman, TANSCHE, said that the Council was in the process of bringing out a set of policies on 12 different areas, including recruitment, research, affiliation, university-industry collaboration, outcome-based education, skill-based education, and internet usage. These would first be released as draft policies and suggestions would be invited from all stakeholders. The final shape of these documents would be that of model policies, adherence to which would enable institutions certain privileges, like grants. J. Innocent Divya, Commissioner, Directorate of Technical Education, and E. Sundaravalli, Commissioner, Directorate of Collegiate Education, were present.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Anna University to ‘restructure' PG courses with poor student patronage
Anna University has begun the process of 'restructuring' postgraduate (PG) courses that have poor student patronage. At least 10 programmes, where student enrolment dwindled to less than half the sanctioned strength, will be suspended in their current form without altering the total sanctioned strength, university sources told The Hindu. This will mean that these programmes will either be merged with other popular PG courses and the sanctioned strength will be transferred to those courses, or the programmes will be suspended and the strength in the undergraduate (UG) level will be increased. This is being planned such that the total intake of students is not changed. Consultations with various departments and stakeholders are under way. After a consensus is arrived upon, the university will submit a proposal before the Convenor Committee for approval. Citing an example, a university official said an ME computer science engineering (CSE) programme was being offered with a sanctioned strength of 24 students, while another ME CSE (specialisation in big data analytics) programme had a sanctioned strength of 12. Due to poor patronage, the two courses would be merged, with a total sanctioned strength of 36. Electives, including big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cyber security, data science, and augmented reality/virtual reality, will offer students the flexibility to choose papers from any or each of these programmes, the official said. Similarly, in the master's programme in Leather Technology, offered by the Central Leather Research Institute, which has a sanctioned strength of 24 students, only two students enrolled last year and three students the previous one. Sources said this could be because of the abundant placement opportunities available for undergraduates. A new proposal seeks to sanction six seats for the PG course while increasing the intake at the undergraduate level by about 15%. Also, in ocean technology, offered by the Civil Engineering Department, may be suspended, with plans to start a new course on climate change and disaster management. A similar proposal is being considered to merge the ME programme in solar energy with the ME energy engineering programme offered by the Mechanical Department of the College of Engineering, Guindy. The newly introduced multimedia (specialisation in visual communication) course offered by the Media Sciences Department has also come under the scanner due to poor patronage, but a faculty member has opposed any move to suspend the programme. 'The restructuring exercise is aimed at enhancing the academic research and innovation ecosystem offered by different institutions at Anna University and improving its global ratings,' J. Prakash, Registrar of the university, told The Hindu. 'We have taken several steps to improve our QS World University Ranking from 383 this year to place within 150 next year, as mandated by the government. The restructuring of courses is one of the steps,' he added.
