About the College: Siddaganga Institute of Technology (SIT), Tumkur was established in the year 1963 by his Holiness Dr Sree Sree Sivakumara Swamiji with a vision to impart technical education to the rural population. SIT has some great statistics in several areas such as:

• 13 undergraduate & 12 postgraduate programs
• 15 VTU recognised research centres
• 182 research scholars and 75 funded research projects of which 32 are ongoing
• 150 companies visiting the campus & 90% placement record
• Over 20% of students pursuing higher education in global universities
• Over 38,000 alumni spread across the globe and talented faculty

SIT has come a long way in the journey of offering quality technical education.

Value System and Five Strategic Pillars of SIT

As the saying goes “excellence is not the destination, it is a habit''. To create the habit of excellence, SIT is built with the values as its foundation and the five strategic pillars as building blocks to create and sustain excellence in education. The value system is imbibed in the minds of stakeholders and the foundation of the value system is aligned with the five pillars viz. faculties, research & development, entrepreneurship eco-system, industry-academia partnership, and co-curricular activities.

1. The Strategic Intent of Faculties as a Pillar of Strength: Attracting talents to teach fast-changing technical education had been a challenge for the institution in the initial years. Understanding the importance of this, SIT strategically instituted a first of its kind, “faculty sponsorship program for pursuing doctoral studies” among the private institutions in the state of Karnataka. The programme aimed at sponsoring talented young faculties to pursue research in the institutions of eminence such as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), National Institute of Technology (NITs), etc., to intellectually enrich and bring back the culture of ‘curiosity,’ a key element in research activities, into the institution. The initiative has transformed the Institute's knowledge landscape from five faculties having Ph.D. to currently 150 faculties having Ph.D. i.e., 50% of the total faculty strength. It is expected to go up to 75% in the next two to three years.
   
   
2. Fostering Research & Development: The sponsoring of faculties initiative encouraged faculties and students to pursue research & development, resulting in grants for sponsored projects from leading organizations such as the Defense Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The initiative has also created 15 research centres recognised by Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) and has received funded projects worth (cumulative) Rs 15 crores. The research activities pursued by faculties are reflected in the publications of more than 1500 research articles in international journals. The intense research activities resulted in the filing of 53 patents with 5 patents being granted. The culture of research is imbibed among undergraduate students in the early stages through “Research Component” with six credits as part of their graduate studies. All these initiatives created robust research infrastructure with several Centres of Excellence (CoE) in emerging areas.
   
   
3. Industry-Institute Partnership: SIT being an autonomous institution has the freedom to continuously upgrade the curriculum and introduce need-based courses in the emerging technologies. SIT facilitates industry-institute interaction in a structured manner by inviting industry experts to be part of the Board of Studies for designing the curriculum offering expert technical sessions, and collaborations to provide solutions to the industry/societal problems. The institution has partnered with more than 25 corporates through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and takes the assistance of expert alumni to continuously upgrade the curriculum. This helps bridge the industry-institute gap.
   
   
4. Entrepreneurship Eco-System: SIT had set up Entrepreneurial Development Cell (EDC) in the year 2008 with a grant from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). SIT has been recognised as one of the business Incubators by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India to promote and foster the untapped potential of young minds and to further promote the latest digital transformation technologies in manufacturing. Under this scheme, ideas are supported through funding of Rs 6.25 lakhs each for validating, and subsequently for commercialisation.
   
   Under the New Age Incubation Network (NAIN) Scheme by the Government of Karnataka, SIT has been nurturing and funding 10 project ideas every year and supports a financial grant of up to Rs 3 lakhs for each project. SIT has moved one step ahead by setting up a state-of-the-art SIT-Technology business incubation centre built on a 10,000 sq. ft. area having facilities worth Rs 4 crores, to encourage students, faculty, alumni, and others to set up start-ups to pursue their entrepreneurial dream.
   
   
5. Co-curricular Activities as a Strategic Pillar: SIT has extended learning beyond the classroom by engaging students to pursue their hobbies through co-curricular activities. The support extended by the institution has enabled students to actively pursue their hobbies through various academic clubs. These activities on the campus assist students to participate in several competitions at the national and international level, take up hobby projects, write codes and articles, etc., which improves their intellectual abilities.

Quality Benchmark and Excellence

The concerted efforts through the above-mentioned strategies translated SIT into an Institution of Excellence for offering technical education and it has been reflected through several accreditations, rankings, and credentials. Various prestigious recognitions are as under:

• Ranked among the top 100 engineering institutions in the country under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for the fifth time in a row.
• Accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with ‘A’ grade.
• Award of Academic Autonomy by University Grants Commission (UGC) from 2007-08.
• Award of overall Diamond Rating by QS I-GAUGE ratings.
• Award of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9001-2015 certification.

The Institution’s approach of value-based pillars has resulted in earning a distinctive name among technical institutions in the state of Karnataka and India at large. SIT’s endeavour to strive for excellence was further strengthened through QS I-GAUGE ratings. It was a wonderful experience to work with QS I-GAUGE for the ratings with excellent support and guidance from their team. Robust data collection was an eye-opener for the institution that highlighted the significance of quality in various aspects to achieve success. After the thorough analysis, SIT was awarded an overall Diamond rating from QS I-GAUGE which gave an impetus to the faculty and resulted in enhancing their involvement in teaching & learning, and research.

The journey has just begun, and the institution ensures to carry forward the vision of its founder to “further strengthen the institution as a Place of Excellence providing holistic education and become the most sought-after institution for learning and research for students.”

Disclaimer

The views & opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent those of QS-ERA India Private Limited and/or its employees, partners, shareholders, or other stakeholders.