Rajalakshmi Engineering College
By -Abhay Shankar Meganathan, VICE CHAIRMAN
Rajalakshmi College of Engineering has a vision to be an institute of excellence providing competent
and ethical professionals with a concern for Society.
"Ithink the journey over the past two decades has been
very different. Two decades is a very small duration in
an educational institution's lifetime," says Abhay Shankar
Meganathan who is the Vice Chairman and also
a member of the Governing Council of Rajalakshmi
Engineering College. Located in Thandalam, Tamil Nadu, this college
was started in 1997.
After spending the better half of 19 years focusing on the teaching
learning process, the college has spent the last five to seven years
strengthening the research process. A major highlight
of this dedication is the establishment of TIFAC
CORE in Machine Vision under the Mission
REACH (Relevance & Excellence in ACHieving
new heights in educational institutions) programme.
Centres of Relevance and Excellence
are created and REC was chosen as a base focused
on Machine Vision. With currently over 40 people
working in this centre, both post graduation
and under-graduation students are encouraged to
participate in it. The experience provided has no
comparison. An added advantage to this is that it
is a multidisciplinary effort with the mechanical,
electrical, auto, aeronautical and IT departments
working together in the Centre.
The college has signed numerous MoUs with
both industry and international universities. This
college is able to have six MoUs with foreign universities
from UK, Canada, Ethiopia and even
Russia as these are research related MoUs. The
college also has five MoUs with industry on research
and development as well and this naturally
fosters closer ties between the college and the
industry. In providing consultancy work, companies
like Mando Brakes and Super Auto Forge often
come back again for more consultancies. This
constant focus on maintaining close relationships
with industry through R&D and consultancy can
be seen in the fact that there is a division in faculty.
70-75 percent of faculty focus on the teachinglearning
process. These teachers focus on im-
"œI don't think there is
one single formula for an
institution to earn its name.
We feel research should be
cornerstone in our quality
process of our institution.
So it is not a primary a name
garnering initiative but it is
more of saying that this is
going to be the backbone
for our institution."
-Abhay Shankar Meganathan
VICE CHAIRMAN'S
MESSAGE
HIGHER|107 | June 2016
Review
proving their methodologies.
The smaller percentage has
focused purely on research so
much so that their teaching
load in theory is minimized.
"œYou cannot draw direct
parallels, but there are definitely
a lot of lines between
research and placement. Research
methodology gets into
the student's mindset, into
their way of work which will
help them in their careers
later on," says Meganathan.
However this college has been
able to place 95 percent of its
students successfully. The college,
through their training
and placement cell provides
training in soft skills and aptitude
tests right from the second
semester. Through a MoU
with Infosys Campus Connect,
they are
able to provide
students with the extra courses, lectures and even software.
TCS alone recruits approximately 50 percent of the students
of this college. Some of their other recruiters include Accenture,
Hewett and Packard and Wipro.
The college is rapidly expanding into the field of entrepreneurship.
With the attention given to research, the next step,
naturally, was to expand into the field of entrepreneurship.
The college is currently in the process of setting up incubation
centres in the college. However, it is through the Alumnus
that the college is able to provide guidance in this aspect.
Many of the Alumnus entered the field of entrepreneurship
and became successful entrepreneurs. They are often invited
to provide their inputs and their experiences
in the field to the students. This strong connection
with the Alumnus is proving beneficial to
the students. Gnanaskandhan, an alumnus of
the institute says "œI have had face to face sessions
with the juniors, where we gave the juniors
knowledge about how the industry is different
from college. This interaction between
the seniors, the juniors and the Alumnus
helps bridge the gap between academia and
the industry."
Looking ahead, the future of the college is aimed at pushing
the boundaries of academic achievements. The path ahead is
laid out crisply by Meganathan "œI think, going forward, we are
looking to be autonomous institution, we are looking to be a
university in the next 4-5 years, so we are definitely looking to
grow our research activity to support our growth plans.
and ethical professionals with a concern for Society.
"Ithink the journey over the past two decades has been
very different. Two decades is a very small duration in
an educational institution's lifetime," says Abhay Shankar
Meganathan who is the Vice Chairman and also
a member of the Governing Council of Rajalakshmi
Engineering College. Located in Thandalam, Tamil Nadu, this college
was started in 1997.
After spending the better half of 19 years focusing on the teaching
learning process, the college has spent the last five to seven years
strengthening the research process. A major highlight
of this dedication is the establishment of TIFAC
CORE in Machine Vision under the Mission
REACH (Relevance & Excellence in ACHieving
new heights in educational institutions) programme.
Centres of Relevance and Excellence
are created and REC was chosen as a base focused
on Machine Vision. With currently over 40 people
working in this centre, both post graduation
and under-graduation students are encouraged to
participate in it. The experience provided has no
comparison. An added advantage to this is that it
is a multidisciplinary effort with the mechanical,
electrical, auto, aeronautical and IT departments
working together in the Centre.
The college has signed numerous MoUs with
both industry and international universities. This
college is able to have six MoUs with foreign universities
from UK, Canada, Ethiopia and even
Russia as these are research related MoUs. The
college also has five MoUs with industry on research
and development as well and this naturally
fosters closer ties between the college and the
industry. In providing consultancy work, companies
like Mando Brakes and Super Auto Forge often
come back again for more consultancies. This
constant focus on maintaining close relationships
with industry through R&D and consultancy can
be seen in the fact that there is a division in faculty.
70-75 percent of faculty focus on the teachinglearning
process. These teachers focus on im-
"œI don't think there is
one single formula for an
institution to earn its name.
We feel research should be
cornerstone in our quality
process of our institution.
So it is not a primary a name
garnering initiative but it is
more of saying that this is
going to be the backbone
for our institution."
-Abhay Shankar Meganathan
VICE CHAIRMAN'S
MESSAGE
HIGHER|107 | June 2016
Review
proving their methodologies.
The smaller percentage has
focused purely on research so
much so that their teaching
load in theory is minimized.
"œYou cannot draw direct
parallels, but there are definitely
a lot of lines between
research and placement. Research
methodology gets into
the student's mindset, into
their way of work which will
help them in their careers
later on," says Meganathan.
However this college has been
able to place 95 percent of its
students successfully. The college,
through their training
and placement cell provides
training in soft skills and aptitude
tests right from the second
semester. Through a MoU
with Infosys Campus Connect,
they are
able to provide
students with the extra courses, lectures and even software.
TCS alone recruits approximately 50 percent of the students
of this college. Some of their other recruiters include Accenture,
Hewett and Packard and Wipro.
The college is rapidly expanding into the field of entrepreneurship.
With the attention given to research, the next step,
naturally, was to expand into the field of entrepreneurship.
The college is currently in the process of setting up incubation
centres in the college. However, it is through the Alumnus
that the college is able to provide guidance in this aspect.
Many of the Alumnus entered the field of entrepreneurship
and became successful entrepreneurs. They are often invited
to provide their inputs and their experiences
in the field to the students. This strong connection
with the Alumnus is proving beneficial to
the students. Gnanaskandhan, an alumnus of
the institute says "œI have had face to face sessions
with the juniors, where we gave the juniors
knowledge about how the industry is different
from college. This interaction between
the seniors, the juniors and the Alumnus
helps bridge the gap between academia and
the industry."
Looking ahead, the future of the college is aimed at pushing
the boundaries of academic achievements. The path ahead is
laid out crisply by Meganathan "œI think, going forward, we are
looking to be autonomous institution, we are looking to be a
university in the next 4-5 years, so we are definitely looking to
grow our research activity to support our growth plans.