Every year close to 1.3 million students write JEE-Main exam, but considering limited seats availability and other parameters only few hundred aspirants succeed in cracking the entrance to the top colleges such as the IITs. Those who don’t make it to IITs, there are many premier Universities and institutes that offer four year B.Tech programs. However, very few institutes offer specialized, industry-aligned B.Tech courses for those who are interested in ‘non-generic’ engineering courses. Consider some of these specializations- Fire & Safety Engineering, Avionics Engineering, Big Data, Dev Ops, Cyber Security and Forensics, Graphics and Gaming, Internet of Things and Smart Cities, Machine Design, Material Science and Nano Technology, Thermal Engineering. The good news is that you don’t have to lose heart in case you haven’t scored well in your JEE exams or entrance exams conducted by private universities. You can opt for non-exam pathway that considers your board merit or JEE Mains Scores.
For instance, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun that offers 31 highly specialized B.Tech programs, and many of them in academic collaboration with industry leaders like IBM, Xebia has following non-exam pathway eligibility criteria:
- Board Merit: Minimum 80% marks in 10th and 12th + minimum 80% aggregate in PCM (Physics, Chemistry, Maths) in 12th OR
- JEE Main Scores: Minimum 60% marks in 10th and 12th + minimum 60% aggregate in PCM in 12th + 70 or above JEE Mains score
Given the current mayhem in the IT sector with hundreds of lay-offs, if engineering students are to be prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow focus of their qualification should be professional practice integrated with technical knowledge and skills. As students prepare to choose right programs and apply for admissions they should be watchful of some important industry trends.
The global big data market is expected to grow from $18.3B in 2014 to $92.2B by 2026. This will definitely lead to a rise in demand for big data experts. Automation will continue to drive Indian and global IT industry and DevOps is the technology behind automation. In fact, by 2020, 20% of the companies will be using DevOps to support the traditional IT initiatives. However, DevOps ranks amongst most difficult tech jobs for companies to fill, suggesting there is a huge shortage of skilled DevOps professionals in market. The list of ‘10 Great IT and Engineering Jobs in 2016 and Beyond’ includes Web Developer, Network and computer systems administrator, civil engineer, mechanical engineer, environmental engineer, computer systems analysts, information security analyst, software engineer, data scientists and petroleum engineer. Biotechnology, genetic engineering and aeronautical engineering is also gaining considerable prominence.
Engineering a successful career
