History and Vision
Engineering colleges all over the world are expected to provide engineering education whose outcome produces graduates with some key attributes. The National Board of Education (NBA) in India requires the following:
1) A Knowledge base for engineering
2) Problem analysis
3) Investigation
4) Design
5) Use of engineering tools
6) Individual and teamwork
7) Communication skills
8) Professionalism
9) Impact of engineering on society and the environment
10) Ethics and equity
11) Economics and project management
12) Life-long learning.
These are the same skills required by industry employers. These skills will also provide a foundation for entrepreneurship and innovation and help the engineering graduates to become leaders and socially responsible human beings.
The objectives of all IUCEE Student Programs are to assist the students in developing these attributes and skills. In particular, attributes 6 to 12 in the above are not covered meaningfully in the curriculum of most traditional engineering colleges. Our belief is that students develop these skills only by having project based experiences.IASF (IUCEE Annual Student Forum) 2020 was conducted successfully at Anurag Group of Institutions, Hyderabad from Jan 4 to 7, 2020, in conjunction with the annual International Conference on Transformations for in Engineering Education.
The overall Theme was “Challenge for a Change”. The overall objective was to provide an opportunity for engineering students in India to develop leadership skills and to address the grand challenges facing the World. Students participated in designing innovative solutions to the grand challenges facing human beings around the world. The focus was on four tracks: Sanitation, Alternate Energy, Air Pollution and Education Augmentation.189 students representing 24 institutions from TS, AP, TN, KN, KL, RJ, and MH participated. All students were provided accommodation and bonded with each other in various social events the three days. A workshop on “Creativity and Design Thinking” was conducted. This unique workshop has been designed for IASF students which features a creative, practical-oriented approach to impart creative skills and design thinking philosophy to encourage innovation in social engineering projects. Students stretch their imagination and apply design thinking to solve real-world problems confronting our society. The emphasis is on lateral thinking and working in a team environment. Students have lots of fun and learn in a stimulating environment.
Focus was on working in teams with students from different social and cultural backgrounds, researching critical aspects of one of the themes, exploring their relevance to specific communities, and designing preliminary action plans to address the challenge. Students worked in interdisciplinary teams and were guided by global experts participating in ICTIEE 2020. Teams made presentations on the last day and the best plans were recognized with Awards.