In the past, civil engineering’s appeal stemmed from the ever-present need for land ownership. Today, it’s become something more. The focus has shifted to the realm of seeing how we can make the most out of the resources available. The amount of land on Earth is finite, so how can we make our civil engineering and architecture smarter to fit a growing population and the nation’s infrastructure demand? That’s one of the primary questions in front of accomplished civil engineers today. Furthermore, with the dawn of the pandemic on all our lives, Civil Engineering too had to move along with the changing times and trends in pursuit of giving solid foundation in terms of career prospects, focusing towards helping students soar high in whatever career avenue suits them. Consequently, as many engineering colleges and universities across the length and breadth of our country have started on an endless race of giving back to society – trained and capable Civil Engineers of tomorrow, few institutes stand-out in terms of proving themselves as examples, carrying forward their legacy of educating with a difference. Thereby, one such renowned institute which was founded entirely by educationists, industrialists & businessmen with a prime focus on creating eminent tech personalities each year, VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology (VNR VJIET) came into existence.
Founded in the year 1995, VNRVJIET has been the most sought-after Engineering college in Andhra Pradesh. Sponsored by Vignana Jyothi society, a not for profit organization, helps the institute continuously adapt and improve the educational and career pathways of engineers, in turn, ensuring national competitiveness and quality of life. Affiliated to AICTE under the aegis of JNTU, Hyderabad, VNRVJIET offers 9 UG, 13 PG courses accredited by NBA. Furthermore, the tech institute earned its NAAC with ‘A++’ Grade and a NIRF ranking, which clearly validates the comprehensive vision of the institute. Also, with all the endeavors on campus catered in the form of VJ Spectral Pyramid, at VNR VJIET students accomplish excellence in academics, exploration of knowledge through Research, excitement of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, & gain the required skills to turn into rounded personalities with global Vision and social Responsibility.
Being an Autonomous institute helps VNRVJIET improve on its already existing academic excellence and value-added experiences. Assigning it’s Academic Wing with a challenging task of fostering outcome-based education adhering to the choice based credit system, the management and the onboard faculty members give in their equal efforts in designing the curriculum which meets the global requirements. Moreover, through Active Teaching Learning pedagogies blended with ethical values which are followed on the VNRVJIET campus has won appreciation from various accreditation bodies and academicians. In addition to this, the structured induction of the student into the curriculum enables all the learners to visualize their upcoming career opportunities and give a boost in terms of their overall confidence levels.
Discovering new possibilities
With emphasis on converting theoretical concepts into real world solutions, the Dept. of Civil Engineering in synchrony with current and continuously changing scenarios in this discipline formulates the curriculum for the students at all levels to get acquainted with the latest developments in various avenues of Civil Engineering. The accreditation of the BTech. Civil Engineering program by National Board of Accreditation (NBA) for five years (2016–2021) and with an extension of one year (2021 -2022) provides a testimony for the well-established curricula, state-of-art laboratories, research and consultancy.
Right on its track of imparting high quality education and with a goal of meeting the needs of today’s society, the CIVIL Department is equipped with state-of-art equipment and experimental facilities like Immersion type Wheel rutting Equipment, Repeated load test Apparatus, and many more. The licensed softwares like VISSIM, VISUM, E-Survey SAP, ETABS, NISA, ANSYS, MATLAB PLAXIS CTRAN GEOSLOPE Visual MODFLOW POLLUTE Bently MATLAB etc, provide a hassle free learning experience to one and all.
Also, the world-class amenities present on the institute campus, which comprise of both physical as well as ICT-enabled tools & setups, make sure students get the best of teaching/learning from their beloved mentors. Also, having the best of industrialists and academicians who hold strong Innovation & Entrepreneurship experiences, provide thorough platforms for students to give wings to their own dreams, via start-ups, where they convert ideas into commercially viable products. Consequently, the students also participate in the Big Idea Competition and the best ideas are rewarded. The VJHUB present on campus encourages the stakeholders to incubate the selected projects, by providing the seed money and infrastructure based on their credentials. The ED Cell too crucially works on generating the excitement in the young engineering brains to produce innovation and thus laying the stones for entrepreneurship.
VNR VJIET has good connections with the Industry and many skill development processes are integrated with our Academic curriculum. These programs are delivered with the support of Industry experts, where the experts also participate in the curricular design and the members of our Board of Studies. Course projects are designed and driven right from first year till final year on real time industry/society problems. The concept of WIT & WIL (what am I teaching from faculty & What am I learning from Student point) is practiced in each discipline. Students are also encouraged to participate in various competitions/HACKATHONS & Industry sponsored contests, where the students have shown their true skill and prowess by winning multiple recognitions and awards. Going forward, MoUs with top industries are signed regularly aimed towards strengthening and equipping students with practical knowledge and bridging the gap between industry and academia, and consequently, the Department of Civil Engineering has signed MoUs with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), BSCPL, Keerthi Industries, SEW Constructions, Pekati Ventures, Anewa solutions.
“Despite the various challenges which came onboard due to covid pandemic, VNR VJIET could still connect with 80+ companies during this period for the batch 2021 and placed 72% of the students in good companies and it is in progress”, stated Dr. D. N. Rao, the President of the institute. Talking to us about the whole working ethos present on the VNR VJIET campus, the president – Dr. D. N. Rao and Dr. C. D. Naidu, the principal of the institute, took us on a virtual tour and explained in detail how the college has continued to give back to society – trained civil engineers, year after year. Also, adding to his above statement made by the president, the principal talking about the how students are made world ready, stated – “The on campus Competency Development Center connects with Industry for internships along with the team of faculty and shows a career path, also prepares skill development initiatives among the students by closely working with AICTE, MHRD & TASK etc”.
Furthermore, the spectrum of the projects and consultancy work carried by the Department of Civil Engineering reflects the contribution of the department towards societal impact. Getting an opportunity of executing Rs.90 lakh worth research funding projects, out of which 8 have been completed and 3 ongoing, the Civil Department also has received grants from AICTE and UGC (MODROBS, FDP, SEMINAR GRANT), DST (FIST, Travel grants) worth Rs.51.35 lakhs.
Keeping in mind development of rounded personalities among students, enabling them to strongly face the turbulent road of the future, the whole setup at VNR VJIET is such that – equal emphasis is laid on both inside and outside the classroom activities. Not only does the engineering institute partake in academic guidance, the management also ensures the students get career guidance, personal counselling, & training through a well-structured Mentoring Training and Placement (MTP) centre. Professional bodies and student associations also make VNR VJIET their home, who push students to outperform on all fronts.
All in all, being a brand ambassador of one of the best academic environments in the country, the meticulous efforts of faculty and supporting staff have enabled the students to bring laurels to the department and the institute by securing the highest ranks in the university. Not only do the students achieve a high pass percentage in the university examinations every year but also in placements, they come out with flying colors. Lastly, VNR VJIET having taken up the task of turning students into successful beings who have strong multidisciplinary knowledge and technical competence, all of the faculty members and the management give in their best towards imparting the best of knowledge and competence, necessary for success as a capable engineer, today and tomorrow.
Dr. D. N. Rao – President
A Technologist, Innovator, Business Strategist, Educationalist, Mentor and a Social Trustee, Dr. D.N.Rao advocates innovation and sustainable technologies to meet the needs of Industry 4.0. As a Patron and president of Vignana Jyothi, he transformed the Vignana Jyothi Institutions with Thought Leadership, Innovation and Teaching through Research etc. His brainchild Shadow Engineering won the award at World education summit 2014 under Industry – Academia interaction. His another initiative WIT & WIL (WIT- Why am I teaching and What I am teaching in faculty perspective) & (WIL – Why am I learning and what I am learning in student perspective) won award at Global education summit 2017.
Currently Dr. Rao is the Chairman of M/S X-Design Ventures Pvt. Ltd., Vice-Chairman and Director of M/S Jayem Automotives Limited, Director of M/S Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd., founder promoter of M/s Magellan Life Sciences and Director in a few other industries. Dr. D.N.Rao’s penchant for research motivated the stakeholders to provide solutions using Mezzanine technologies for societal transformation.
Dr. C. D. Naidu – Principal
An expert administrator, a visionary and a valued academician with 32 years of experience, Dr. Naidu, a doctorate in Electronics and Communication Engineering has chalked out quantified methodologies and targets for the holistic development of the students at VNRVJIET. He has guided the institute as Vice-Principal, Dean-Academics, and Professor & Head-Dept. of ECE before taking over as the principal of VNRVJIET. He also has imbibed research-oriented Teaching-Learning practices, unique holistic educational ecosystem, flexible academic structure curriculum to suit the aspirations of today’s youth and addressing the needs of the global industry needs. His proactive policies for creating a thriving research environment, strong industry-academia connect, start-up ecosystem and collaborations has provided impetus for VNRVJIET to be on the forefront of Engineering Education. A recipient of Best Principal Award, Dr. C.D. Naidu’s mentoring has aided VNRVJIET as a go – to place to pursue fundamental research contributing to global knowledge pool, leverage innovation and technology to produce visible success stories that would impact society in a positive way.
