About University of Engineering & Management, Kolkata (UEM Kolkata): The University of Engineering & Management (UEM), Kolkata founded by the IEM-Trust, has been established in the year 2014. It is one of the topmost universities in India under the able management of the IEM group which has been ranked at 79^th position by NIRF, Ministry of Education, Government of India. UEM has been internationally recognised as the "Best Educational Institution in Engineering" under the "Educational Leadership Program" and received the prestigious "Golden Globe Tigers Award" 2017. The university has been recognised by the Government of India for establishing ‘Institution’s Innovation Council’. UEM has been selected as the only partner institution from Eastern India in the prestigious European Union-sponsored project ‘FRACTION’ which is a great international recognition. UEM Kolkata has bagged several prestigious awards of international and national repute including GOLD overall rating by QS I-GAUGE in 2021.

QS I-GAUGE audit – the journey

The key challenge was to collect all the pinpointed evidence for several aspects like student diversity, student societies, and their activities, scholarships, community outreach, social recognition, research, and entrepreneurship.

“The most challenging part was to introspect the existing evidence and submit them for the assessment. Sometimes, the quantifying and qualitative information became a challenge as the data was procured in different formats, but the audit process had different expectations to meet the stringent review guidelines. This exercise was helpful in streamlining the data management activities besides making them ready for further evaluation”.

Overcoming initial mindset challenges

The initial apprehension was about the possibility of complying with the exhaustive data inputs required for various fields such as teaching and learning, innovation, community outreach, student diversity, scholarship documents, etc.

“The guidance of our hon’ble VC and Dean of UEM Kolkata and end to end support by the team at QS I-GAUGE, Bangalore helped overcome the initial bottlenecks”.

Three qualities that an institution must have to achieve success

Engineering is a precious national asset for the country. It is a people-focused profession working to devise solutions to global challenges such as clean, affordable energy, ensuring safe and resilient infrastructure, supporting advanced healthcare, mitigating the effects of climate change, and keeping people connected in an increasingly digitised world. It is a broad and meritocratic profession that welcomes talented people regardless of their background. This review focuses on three essential qualities that an institution should attain to increase the in-flow of students pursuing careers in engineering and ensuring their career choice to be ‘the optimum and the best.’

• Academic foundations and inspiration

The academic wing of the institution must aim to introduce a broad and balanced study program meeting the national and international educational standards. Learners should have the opportunity to study mathematics, science & technology subjects along with arts and humanities at the very initiation of their course curriculum. With regular amendments in course structure, the new curriculum for computing, for example, has significantly increased the focus on computer science, programming, and computational thinking. Similarly, the design and technology curriculum is now very progressive and reflects modern engineering design thinking and manufacturing practices.

• Flourishing creativity: Education in the age of wonder

The 21st century is often described as an age of uncertainty and ambiguity with unprecedented challenges. Active learners with a creative mind frame rename this millennium as the ‘age of wonder’ to create, apply and synthesise new technologies.

“Our institution envisioned the cognitive functions of creativity, inter-related with output-based curriculum and ICT enabled pedagogical dissemination.”

Moving with the current trend, organisations insist that they need people who can think creatively, communicate, and work in teams. People with the ability to think creatively come up with novel solutions to problems, contextualising learning, providing the footsteps for serendipity and imagination.

• Upskilling the existing workforce

2021, the year of Engineering is a major step forward with the Government, professional bodies, industry, and the wider community coming together in an unprecedented manner to celebrate the pivotal role engineering plays in shaping our world.

“UEM played a vital role to seize this opportunity and build on the momentum generated to create a sustainable legacy for engineering. The diligence and dedication of the UEM-faculty fraternity have paved the way to attain the significant academic zenith in the field of technical education, harnessing skills for technocrats across the global scenario triumphing the pandemic era”.

Way forward

Considering globalisation in the 21st century, businesses are seeking employees with skills that would make them more competitive in the international arena. Hence, graduates of universities collaborate more with people from other cultures and different countries to be successful in the international market. They are required to work in multicultural teams and speak/understand other languages.

UEM Kolkata is committed to guide and prepare students towards a globalised environment, thus enabling graduates to be more employable or skilled in research & development activities in renowned laboratories or institutions. Aided with multifarious FDP’s for faculty up-skilling and course diversions to internationalise students’ curricula and classrooms, the university positions its rankings/ratings in the academic scenario to help globalise the higher education environment and to prepare students to participate in global markets.

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.