Bharatha Rathna M Viswehariah

15 September 1860 - 14 April 1962) was a legendary Indian engineer and statesman born in

Muddenahalli, near Kanivenarayanapura, Chikballapur District of Karnataka State. He is a

recipient of the Indian republic's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was also knighted by

the British for his myriad contributions to the public good

Every year, 15 September is celebrated as the Engineer's Day in India in his memory. He is held

in high regard as the first and pre-eminent Engineer of India.

Visvesvaraya achieved celebrity status when he designed a flood protection system to protect the city of Hyderabad from floods. He was also instrumental in developing a system to protect

Vishakapatnam port from sea erosion

Sir M. V. supervised the construction of the KRS dam across the Cauvery River from concept to inauguration.

This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia at the time it was built Sir MV was rightly called the "Father of modern Mysore state" (now Karnataka): The University

Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore popularly known as UVCE, is an engineering college

affiliated to the Bangalore University established in the year 1917 by Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The

college was renamed University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering from its earlier name University

College of Engineering, Bangalore in honour of its illustrious founder Sir. M Visvesvaraya .

More Ph.D. engineers and scientists in China by 2010 than in the US

It is widely recognized that there will be substantially more Ph.D. engineers and scientists in China in 2010 than in the United States, as China produces three

times the number of engineers per year.3 In 2001, only 5% of American 24 year olds with a bachelors degree

were engineers, compared to 39% in China and 19% or more in South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. R.E. Smalley, a

Nobel Prize-winning scientist from Rice University, recently concluded that by 2010 90% of all Ph.D.

physical scientists and engineers in the world will be Asians living in Asia.4 And among Asian Ph.D. engineers

and scientists, most will be produced by China.

Recent Chinese higher education policy promoted so-called “elite” universities and

consolidated other universities, reducing their numbers. Elite universities are the top ten

universities in China, which receive the largest education funds from central and local

governments. They have priority in selecting students through national entrance exams and have the best faculty and research resources in

China

The policy focus is to elevate a small number of Chinese universities to world-class status while enlarging them. All universities in China have in

recent years been subject to directives from central ministries to substantially increase their

undergraduate populations, even if the accompanying significant increases in

infrastructure fall behind. As a result, increases in undergraduates of 30% per year have been

common in many universities.

Indicators of educational attainments in terms of international rankings across countries, publications of papers, and

citations feed directly into annual performance indicators for Chinese faculty

in an ongoing process that goes substantially beyond the tenure-for-life system outside China. It is not uncommon for an annual

target of three international publications to be set for faculty members, and failure

means termination of employment

About That Engineering Gap... Is the U.S. really falling behind China and India in education? Not really. Take a closer look at

the data There are few topics that generate as much

heated debate as outsourcing. One side argues that globalization will lead to greater innovation and prosperity, the other says we are increasing

unemployment and misery. Everyone agrees that what's at stake is America's standard of

living and world economic leadership.

One would expect that the numbers used in such debate would be defensible and grounded. Yet

researchers at Duke University have determined that some of the most cited statistics on engineering

graduates are inaccurate. Statistics that say the U.S. is producing 70,000 engineers a year vs. 350,000 from India and 600,000 from China aren't valid, the Duke team says nfortunately, the message students are

getting is that many engineering jobs will be outsourced and U.S. engineers have a bleak future of

higher unemployment and lower remuneration.

. This could result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, as fearful young scholars stick to supposedly

"outsourcing-proof" professions. In other words, we have more to fear from fear itself .

The message that American engineering graduates compete with 1 million graduates from India and

China has created a sense of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Why would a smart student enter a field

where their job might soon be outsourced? Rather than encouraging our children to study more math and science and become engineers, we're turning

them into lawyers.

American’s say“When the world hears that the U.S. education system is in decline, we scare

away those who would otherwise come here to study. To keep America competitive, we must keep attracting the world's best and brightest.

America needs to do all it can to fuel innovation and maintain its lead in science and technology. By repeatedly sending the message that we're

weak, we in fact become weak. “

Fresh graduates from engineering programs have three primary career options:

1) Employment 2) Higher Education - India - M.E./M.Tech. or

MBA3) Higher Education - Abroad - MS or MBA

Premier Indian institutions like the IITs are also facing the brunt of the recession and their

placement numbers have taken a dip.

Graduates may be compromising and taking jobs of lesser preference resulting in dissatisfaction in terms of their career goals. This means that they would look for an change in employer or more

likely pursue higher education in short to medium term to fast track their careers.

In India, engineering graduates may pursue M.E./M.Tech. or MBA. Number of test takers for

graduate level entrance exams like Common Admission Test-CAT for admissions to MBA

institutes and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering-GATE to gain admission to graduate

engineering programs in India have increased consistently over the years. In 2009,

nearly 230,000 students took GATE as compared to 170,000 in 2008 indicating an increase of 27 per cent in one year

Likewise, number of CAT test takers have doubled in six years from a total of 130,000 in 2003 to 250,000 in 2008. It is estimated that

nearly 50% of total CAT test takers are engineers and 80% of admits in IIMs are engineers.

Graduate engineering programs (MS) are quite popular among Indian students going to the US.

For example, according to NSF Science and Engineering Indicators,

nearly 38,000 students from India were enrolled in graduate programs in Computer Science/Engineering

representing nearly 57% of total enrollment of Indian students in US universities in 2005.The popularity of MS programs among Indians is driven by the availability of

assistantships and relatively higher availability of technology jobs post-graduation. MBA programs,

although highly aspirational are limited by requirement of work-experience and lesser availability of financial

aid and jobs post-graduation.

Enrollment pattern of Indian students in US universities clearly indicate that it is the

preferred destination for higher education among Indian students. According to IIE

OpenDoors, most of the Indian students enroll at the graduate level (72.0% at graduate level as

compared to14.4% at undergraduate level). Number of Indian students enrolled in US universities have grown by 180% in ten years and more than doubled its proportion to total foreign student in US from 7% to 15% (IIE

OpenDoors).

Year # of Students from India % of Total Foreign Students in US

2007/08 94,563 15.2%1997/98 33,818 7.0%

To sum up, the confluence of oversupply of engineers, lesser availability of satisfying jobs and natural aspiration of Indians for US would continue to create high demand for graduate level programs in India and the US. Although,

CGS numbers report that number of Indian applications are down by 12%

India s scientists and engineers: Strong only �numerically

The World Economic Forum s latest �Competitiveness Index ranks India fourth in

terms of the number of engineers and scientists. But in terms of quality of scientific research, it is

ranked 22nd. The implications are obvious. INDIA BOASTS of a large number of scientists and engineers – so much so that only three other countries of the world are ahead of it

According to the Competitiveness Index recently released by the World Economic Forum, India ranks

4th in terms of the number of scientists and engineers available. But it slips to 22nd when ranked

by quality of scientific research. It further slips to 28th when ranked by innovative potential.

A team of six young software engineers working in a company suddenly decided to 'contribute' their bit

to the country. This idea blossomed into a trust "India Sudar" on 15th February 2004. They decided

to focus only on 'primary education'.

Today 180 software engineers across the country and even from outside have

become active members of this trust. Let us stand up and salute these young guys.

The Nation is proud of you