Why industry interface is more important than ever for India's Engineering faculty

Indian engineers have been one of the country’s most reliable exports. Since the tech boom that occurred almost two decades ago, the Indian tech industry’s unique selling proposition has been our best-in-class engineers and technology workers.

We have sound reasons to make these claims as well. India boasts of a vast network of engineering colleges and technical institutes. According to AICTE, there are over 8,200 technical institutes and 3,500 polytechnics in the country. Another report shows that 25% of the world’s science and engineering graduates are from India, making India the biggest producer of science and engineering graduates. Given these numbers, we should be racing ahead in the innovation game. However, it’s clear that this is not really the case.

The fact is while India is a leading producer of engineering and technical talent, much of this talent (94%) has been found unfit for hire. In specific fields of engineering such as mechanical engineering, employability stood at a mere 5%. So, clearly we have some of the best engineers in the world but there are a large number of our graduates who are not quite so well-equipped to handle the real world.

We have a vast network of institutes, but outdated syllabi and old infrastructure seem to be acting as impediments. Add to that the fact the Indian engineering institutes are facing a faculty shortage of 1.5 lakh engineering teachers.

As the technology landscape constantly shape-shifts, India has to make some very calculated moves to span this chasm to create a workforce that is ready for the future. Or, even the present!

We see bodies such as the AICTE taking steps to revise the obsolete curriculums and make concentrated efforts to bridge the faculty gap. But along with this, if we want to improve our innovation capabilities and continue to remain a powerhouse of talent, we need to focus strongly on providing industry-interface to our engineering faculty.

Here’s some food for thought:

We need to focus on our research capabilities

India lags the world when it comes to research and development. If we want to stay ahead of the curve and truly make a success of initiatives like ‘Make in India’, we have to focus heavily on research and innovation.

While 1.5 million engineers graduate per year in India only a few get post-graduate doctoral degrees. In 2014, US awarded a record of 40,000 Science and Technology post-graduate doctoral degrees, China awarded 34,000 such degrees…India awarded only 13,000 of these.

One way to address this challenge would be for engineering faculty to build a strategic industry interface. Why? Our engineering faculty are trained, talented, wise, intelligent minds who have so far been focused only on pure teaching. But teaching itself is changing. What was relevant yesterday is no longer so today. Unless the academia becomes aware of real industrial and national needs, how will they assist students to develop their research capabilities? Relevant industry interfaces will also encourage faculty to do research and lead to many meaningful Ph.D.’s and help both the sides, the industry, and the students get exposed to and solve real-world problems.

Help in making education industry-responsive

We do need to improve the quality and relevance of technical education. The academic curriculum must address the shifting requirements and demands of the dynamic industry.

We agree that changing the curriculum might not be the easiest thing to do. Even as there is an exponential change in every field our curriculums stay rigid. So, what can the academia do here?

The challenge is to create a curriculum that is developed by what the industry needs. Who better to do this job than the academia? And how can they do this unless there is a clear industry interface? It is the academics who can evaluate the existing pedagogies and define how they can be improved and made more practical and relevant. 

So far, the academic system has had a heavy reliance on classroom methodology and a theory-heavy approach. This must change to produce graduates who are more job-ready by using more practical case-studies and choosing relevant internship projects. The academia needs to build a deeper industry connect to expose their students to the top minds of the industry and make them future-ready.

The industry needs academic minds and vice versa – it’s a win-win for both       

The industry needs to innovate. For that, it needs to be trained, intelligent, and inquisitive minds to solve its most pressing challenges. The industry needs academics to help them solve real-world problems since they have the knowledge and the capability to manipulate the knowledge to come up with creative solutions.

At the same time, academics too can leverage industry exposure for personal growth and development. By interacting with the industry, they are not just examining arm-chair theory but field cases. This further builds its competence and facilitates the creation of new knowledge. This knowledge is ultimately transferred to the students and the industry gets access to better human resources.

There must be a symbiotic relationship between the industry and academia to improve the quality of the workforce that graduates from colleges, bring change in the curriculum, update the age-old teaching methodologies and most importantly to foster innovation to drive economic growth. And if the academia is reluctant to come to the industry, it becomes the responsibility of the industry to carve out avenues that compel and excite academia to step out of the college walls and into the corporate world even if it is for a short while.