Engineering college to train SL students

An academic tieup between the Mysore-based National Institute of Engineering (NIE) and Sri Lanka’s Spectrum Institute of Science and Technology (SIST) enables Sri Lankan students to study post-graduate diploma programmes in software engineering and embedded systems in Colombo from this academic year.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed recently in Mysore, is valid for five years and may be renewed through mutual agreements. However, the financial arrangement initially is for two years subject to its further renewal or extension.

According to principal and CEO of NIE M S Shivakumar, the collaboration will offer training and education expertise of the NIE to the Sri Lankan students. NIE offers its two post-graduate diploma programmes — in Software Engineering and Embedded Systems — through a joint examination-cum-certification procedure at Colombo.

In order to maintain high standards of teaching and training, SIST would run these programmes strictly adhering to the overall framework of the post-graduate programme of NIE through a joint examination-cum-certification programme, said SIST CEO Jay Kulasingam.

“A higher education venture, the SIST is involved in developing human resources for various industrial sectors, more so for the ICT-related companies, by providing opportunities to people who are not in a position to pursue their education in universities or technical institutions like the NIE,” he said.

To maintain high standards of teaching and training, the SIST will run the programmes strictly adhering to the overall framework of the post-graduate programme of the NIE. It will work out the admission procedure and fee structure taking into consideration the local needs in Sri Lanka. The NIE will designate a senior faculty member to coordinate with SIST for the conduct of the programmes, NIE IP engineering professor G L Shekar told Business Standard.

A pioneering engineering college in the State, NIE is imparting quality technical education leading to degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral programmes under the aegis of the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) and in offering certificateôpost-graduate diploma in industry-specific topics.