International Conference on Global Trends in Engineering, Technology and Management (ICGTETM-2016) Chemical Engineering Education in India: Present Scenario RishabShukla #1, Shukla R.N.#2 1 CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory,Pune,India. Sureshchandra Dhariwal Polytechnic, Jamner.Dist.Jalgaon,India 2 Abstract: Education means more than acquiring knowledge. It empowers people to develop personally and become politically active. This paperhowever reveals education in chemical engineering and its visions and missionincluding the essence of curriculum reform and personneldevelopment to meet today and future challenges of Indianchemical engineers. The paper aims at changing scenario in present engineering education in India. The paper attempts to replicate the impact of professional chemical engineers to thenation's development and improvement in the welfare of the societythrough producing skilled engineers and conducting applied research. I. Introduction India is a developing country in south Asia. It has made advanced progress in the field of science, engineering and technology. After independence there were a handful of colleges and universities offering courses in engineering and technology. Today, there isdrastic increase in the number of in engineering institutes. In recent time, the study ofengineering generally has received less attention. A number ofstudies suggest that socio-political factors such as the levelof technology acceptance are not solely responsible. [1]However; it is nowadays less common for parentsto advise young people tostudy a natural science or a technical subject. Disciplinessuch as business administration, accountancy, law,psychology, and medicine appeared to be more attractive thanengineering studies, which are regarded as more difficult and less lucrative. [3]Scenario has totally changed in present, youngsters are eager to join engineering institutes. Of great influence seems to be the actual situation in the job market for engineers (chemical engineers inclusive), which includes early retirements, and cautious recruiting practices by the employers. Today India is one of the largest producers of engineers after China and US. Later, chemical engineering departments were set up in few other tertiary institutions. Over a hundred universities are present in India of which considerable percent of them offer chemical engineering. Today, Institute of National Importance like IITs, NITS, Elite status granted State and Private universities provide undergraduate and post-graduate courses in india. Enormous growth in chemical engineering education was seen in the year whenapproval was given to private owned institutes for exploring the courses in chemical engineering and technology. The local Chemical Engineering is faced with an environment in which employment is temporal, unstable, and scarce. The orientation of the chemical engineering education received must change to accommodate the highlighted problems. Development of a nation can be made on the principle that the people are fully informed, educated and prepared to work very hard, be firm and stable both in planning and execution. Planned economy must put into consideration profitable utilization of the material resources and manpower of the country [9]. ISSN: 2231-5381 Keywords: Education, Chemical engineering, Curriculum. I. Eligibility criteria for Admission to Chemical Engineering UG/PG Programme The criteria‟s needs to be fulfilled who wish to enrol to UG degree programme in any discipline of engineering, chemical engineering inclusive. Criteria are, 1. Candidate should be an Indian National and should have passed the HSC examination of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education or its equivalent examination 2. Secured minimum 50 % marks in the subjects Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry/Biotechnology/Biology. 3. Obtained a positive Composite score and All India Rank in JEE (Main) given by CBSE. Criteria for students who wish to enrol for PG programme are: The candidates should fulfil the following eligibility criteria: 1. Candidate should be an Indian National. 2. Candidate should have passed Bachelor degree or equivalent in the relevant field of Engineering/Technology from State Governments/MHRD approved institutions. 3. The candidate should possess Bachelor degree in the relevant course of Engineering/Technology as specified in the eligibility criteria of the concerned University for which admission is being sought to a particular Post graduate degree course/specialization. The eligibility criteria for admission to UG/PG programme are in accordance with the guidelines laid down by Directorate of Technical Education, http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 255 International Conference on Global Trends in Engineering, Technology and Management (ICGTETM-2016) Maharashtra state, India. There are compulsories or core courses, the required and electives in the curriculum. Compulsory courses are those courses that are considered very important to the discipline which students must not only have knowledge of, but should have a minimum pass in them before they can be considered as well cultured products in their respective fields. Required courses are considered relevant and knowledge of such courses is considered adequate. Student must register for them and have the knowledge and also obtain a pass mark in the examination before they are graduated. [16] II. Graduation Necessities: Indian universities have bought some changes in their prescribed syllabus. Also they have introduced new system of marks and grades. Numerous universities adopted the cumulative grade point average system (CGPA) on a scale of 10.Under this system, all courses taken by a student are used in calculating his class of degree. Student has to complete the course with compulsory and electives having particular credits. Grade points are allotted with respect to credits for the subject and SGPA is calculated. It shows the academic performance of the student. Taking an example of course of UG, PG and PhD as per the guidelines and rules laid by North Maharashtra Jalgaon. In the first two years of a UG course, students are exposedto the basic engineering courses such as design of engineering drawing, strength of materials, principles of electrical engineering and electronics, statistics, economics, advanced mathematics, material science, workshop practice and management. The degree course UG course shall be of 52 credits for 1st, 2nd and 3rd years. There shall be total 200 credits allotted for 4 year degree course. The credits shall be awarded as 1 credit for 1 hour theory lecture and 0.5 credits for 1 hour practical / tutorial. There shall be some credit courses having grade points and some audit courses having audit points. However audit points shall not be counted in calculation of final SGPA and CGPA. The syllabus of UG course shall be divided into 5 groups with credit distribution as given in the following table: Sr. no. 1 2 3 4 5 Group name Basic sciences Basic Engineering Humanities, Social Science & Management and skills Programme Core Electives Total ISSN: 2231-5381 Group code A B C Credits D E 107 16 200 35.5 30.5 11 Degree shall be awarded to students earning credits of all eight semesters (Minimum 200 Credits) and completing of minimum number of Audit Points. Requirements for completion of PG course depends on the following rules and guidelines. In the first year of a PG course, students‟ knowledge is widened with advanced core subjects of engineering.The PG course is generally of 60 credits. The credits shall be awarded as 3 credits for 3 hours theory. There shall be some credit courses having grade points and some audit courses having audit points. Second year of PG course is devoted to Industrial training/research in renowned research centres. However audit points shall not be counted in calculation of final SGPA and CGPA. Student wishing for higher education like PhD should have Master‟s degree in relevant engineering field and must have scored a valid GATE score (Graduate Aptitude test in Engineering) or should have passed the Pre-engineering entrance test for PhD for the concerned university.[19] The chemical engineering curriculum is anchored onthree points which are to ensure adequate theoreticalinstructions, adequate practical exposure andentreprenuerability. III. Chemical Engineering syllabus in Indian universities The University Grants Commission (UGC) sanctions programmes of Indian universities in collaboration with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with respect to engineering disciplines. The Chemical Engineering institutes in India operate on the syllabus guidelines laid down by AICTE. The need for a curriculum reform is necessary on the recognition of changes taking place in the local and worldwide social environments and societies, scientific and technological wise. The traditional curriculum was successful for many years and was oriented towards a world of different conditions: mass, stable and well-paid employment; protected and buoyant economy. There is a need for curriculum reform to prepare a Chemical Engineer of all times [10]. One that is able to cope with both traditionaland new frontiers of Chemical Engineering, because the young Chemical Engineers probably will find a closed traditional environment and an open challenge to build a new career as discipline and profession. Such a curriculum reform has to include at least subject contents, pedagogy, assessment, academic environment and rules. The core curriculum is responsible for the confidence with which chemical engineers integrate knowledge from many disciplines for the solution of complex problems. The curriculum provides a background in basic sciences including Mathematics and Physics. This background is essential for a rigorous study of topics central to chemical engineering like http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 256 International Conference on Global Trends in Engineering, Technology and Management (ICGTETM-2016) Multicomponent thermodynamics and kinetics, Transport phenomenon Separation processes, Process design and control, Plant design and systems engineering for process safety, Environmental protection and economic operation. The curriculum is designed by the AICTE which depend on the expertise of the academic staff of the various chemical engineering programmes for university programme. Some prominent Institutes like IITs,NITs and some state universities have modified the curriculum by introducing industrial training for pre-final year students. Introduction of six months industrial training or research in a renowned national laboratories have boosted industry-academia interactions. It is helping the students to understand the actual working of the Industrial plants and process. It has now changed the perception of students towards the industries and research centres. It will be helpful for generation of future technocrats which would cater the needs of industries as well as the technological research and development.The objective of setting minimumacademic standards is to ensure that no matter whichinstitution a student graduates from, he or she has the minimal capacity to provide the required chemical engineering services. The benefit of this becomes more appreciated when it is realized that an individual has the option of undertaking an undergraduate programme in one university and the postgraduate in another. It is only a minimum standard at the undergraduate level that can guarantee that such a student will be able to pursue a higher degree in another institution. The chemical engineering curriculum is constantly being reviewed to accommodate new developments and to expand the entrepreneurial potentials of chemical engineering graduates. The core of traditional Chemical Engineering has to be preserved as the basis for new developments as well as for traditional engineering; however it has to be expanded to new subjects, at least new in our environment, as are bio,Nano,medical and computational engineering. Many allied branches have evolved nowadays such as Petrochemical, Polymer, Paints, Oleo chemicals and surfactants, Food engineering, Paper and pulp, Biochemical engineering.Moreover, the formation for enterprise and for research and development based on new knowledge should be stressed. This new core of Chemical Engineering has to be supported on strong and modern formation in mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology. The new directions of the curriculum should embrace new scope: from nano to macro scale; steady and unsteady states; traditional and new frontiers of Chemical Engineering science and technology, business vision and a universal perspective. ISSN: 2231-5381 IV. Challenges of Chemical Engineering Education in india India is a large country with adequate manpower and resources. Nature has been very kind to us in that abundantresources like coal and minerals. However, we have nowcome to the realities with our potentials to some extent. India is rich in natural resources and being recognised as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Years by, America used to be called new world, on the same planet with India. Thecountry has witnessed many developmental plans but lackof understanding, patriotism, and dedication seem to haveput these plans in pieces.Today India has to work much faster and constructively in the areas ofCritical Infrastructure,Unemployment, Human Capital Development,National Security, Intelligence and Wealth Creation, Energy alternatives & its generation, Environmental friendly processes and Prevention of Terrorism. Till date, India is a developing nation. There is a basic requirement to produce better engineers with excellent potentials and skills to cater the needs of the industry. Energy, Oil, Food, all non-oil and manufacturing subsector can be the main basis for achieving development in India. Once the manufacturing sub sector is not functioning, the multiplier effect it has on other sectors of the economy that can help awaken and generate all round development will be lacking. Today, there is need for sound chemical engineering education in India. V. Funding and Facilities. India is the largest democracy in the world, functioning on the principle of federal system. Universities are owned by the Central, State governments and Private individuals. Government has set up Institutes of National Importance such as Indian institute of Technology (IITs), National Institute of Technology (NITs). The state governments have also set up University departments and Institutes having Elite status and potential of excellence. University Grants Commission (UGC) is a statutory body of government of India provides funding for various research projects in IIT, NITs, State, Central and deemed universities. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is also government organisation with different laboratories and institutes throughout the country provides funding to boost research in scientific field.Thecentral and state governments‟ universities relypredominantly on the governments for funding while theprivate universities obtain their incomes from the fees theycharge the students. Other sources of revenue areendowments, investment income, grant and gifts. Over theyears, governments‟ subventions to universities have neverbeen adequate. In India, the http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 257 International Conference on Global Trends in Engineering, Technology and Management (ICGTETM-2016) distribution to education as a share of GDPhas increased slightly. The percentage of GDP, expenditure on education has gone up from 2.9% in 2008-09 to 3.3% in 2013-14. In 2014-15, it slightly raised to 3.5%.In 1993, the Government of India allocated a budget of 1310 crores while in 2013 it rose upto 65869 crores for education.However, because ofthe increase in the demand for engineering education and existing high decadence in the infrastructure, the effect of the increase in funding could not be noticed substantially. Today, The IITs and NITs have well equipped laboratories, furnished classrooms, good qualified and experienced staff and spacious campus. On the same grounds, some private institutes and state universities have developed.In the present circumstances, there are many reputed institutes for higher education with all the facilities for promoting teaching, learning and research. Still some of the Institutes need to be developed on same grounds for providing an impetus to the research and teaching. It will lead to production of sufficient and prepared science graduates necessary for driving the technological and socioeconomic development. The numbers of engineering institutes have increased with respect to their intake capacities and indirectly the aspirants. Some institutes do not possess permanent staff, classrooms and laboratory equipment‟s. The situation is partly responsible for the reason why it has been increasingly difficult to run experiments effectively for students. The inadequacy in teaching, laboratory and workshop facilities has contributed to the diminution of the quality of the chemical engineering graduates in India. The implication of the scenario is that only a small proportion of the students benefit from the current pedagogical system. The high cost of computer and teaching aids ownership is a major constraint to acquisition of the items. Access to affordable and reliable internet connectivity is only available in a few institutions even then power fluctuations have considerably reduced the reliability of the access and inadequate bandwidth also makes access difficult. [13] The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. Guided by its vision and striving to achieve its mission, the NAAC primarily assesses the quality of institutions of higher education that volunteer for the process, through an internationally accepted methodology.[18] The National Board of Accreditation (NBA), India was established by AICTE (All India Council of Technical ISSN: 2231-5381 Education) as an autonomous body for periodic evaluations of technical institutions & programmes basis according to specified norms and standards as recommended by AICTE council. It has the full authority to recognise or derecognise institutions and programmes under them. It is the only authorized body in India entrusted with the task of undertaking accreditation of technical education programmes.[17] Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers(IIChE) was established just before the Indian Independence to cater the need for such a forum within the country to rear the nascent initiatives for spread of chemical engineering education and foster the interest of the profession.The Institute has emerged as the apex professional body of chemical engineering professionals in India and has developed a distinct profile of its own which is everchanging. Even as the IIChE is always moulding itself and playing a proactive role to keep up with the dynamic needs of the society and the economy. The activities of the Institute includes organizing meetings, conferences and seminars; arranging workshops, refresher courses and counseling sessions; promoting research; guiding chemical engineering students in career planning; and initiating any other activities which are of social, technical and professional relevance to their members. They serve as open fora for their members who regularly gather for informal get-togethers and exchange of notes. The Regional Centres also confer awards, prizes and scholarships. The migration of skilled individuals to other nations is referred as the brain drain or the human capital flight. This migration of talented individuals may be due to conflicts, lack of opportunity, or health hazards where they are living.In India, brain drain is more because educated individuals are emigrating for higher wages and better opportunities. It has been in our consciousness since 30 years and many bright youngsters have emigrated mainly to US from early 1960s onwards including a large fraction of the graduating class at IITs in India. Identified five different components of brain drain: (i)Professionals in academics who moved to the industry where they get better pay for their services. (ii)Lecturers and students who left the region to acquire more knowledge and skill but later refused to return. (iii)Skill professionals who abandon the practice of engineering in favour of other more lucrative economic activities and political appointments which are not related to their training. http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 258 International Conference on Global Trends in Engineering, Technology and Management (ICGTETM-2016) (iv)Skilled professionals, although in their field oftraining, who do not devote their full attention to their job because of their efforts to supplement their earnings through other unrelated economic activities. [1] Advantages The money the emigrants have sent back home has helped in alleviating poverty in their homes. It has resulted in less child labour, greater child schooling, more hours worked in selfemployment and a higher rate of people starting capital intensive enterprises. The money remittances have also reduced the level and severity of poverty. Moreover, the money migrants sent back are spent more in investments such as education, health and housing, rather than on food and other goods. Disadvantages Due to the influence of brain drain, the investment in higher education is lost as the highly educated person leaves India and becomes an asset to other country. Also, whatever social capital the individual has been a part of is reduced by his or her departure. With all the college graduates leaving their homelands, it raises the question as to whether their skills are being put to good use in the destination country.The chances of Brain Waste are possible. I In a similar way, there is a shortage of skilled and competent people in India. A tremendous increase in wages of high-skill labour can be seen now in India.The emigration has also created innumerous problems in the public sector. Every year, thousands of highly talented doctors, engineers, scientists and other intellectuals leave India and migrate to foreign countries. They generally go to U.S.A, UK, Canada, West Germany, etc for monetary gains and facilities for higher research. US is the biggest gainer from the loss of India due to brain drain. In 2010, India with an estimated stock of 11.4 million emigrants was the second emigration country in the world, behind Mexico (11.9 million). In absolute terms, India is among the countries which lose most highly-skilled workers to foreign markets. In 2000, India was, for example, the first sending country of physicians with 57,383or 9.9% of the total number of physicians trained in the country going abroad. India and the Philippines supply most foreigntrained doctors and nurses to the OECD, notably to English-speaking countries. The emigration of health professionals has negative effects on India, especially in rural areas where the density of ISSN: 2231-5381 doctors is lower than in urban areas. Despite increasing internal demand, India still has a very low density of doctors (0.6 per thousand people in 2004) compared with 3 in the US and 2 in Canada. Most of the students who go abroad for higher studies do not return to India. After seeing, the affluent life of foreign countries they lose all interest in their own country. Many Indians are teaching at various US Universities and other Institutions of higher learning. Some of them are placed on quite lucrative and high posts. There is another attraction of leading a higher standard of living in foreign countries, because the technical experts and intellectuals, are give special facilities there. In foreign countries, there is the advantage that while learning a person can also earn his own living. The stipends in foreign countries are sufficient enough. A frugal Indian Student living there can also save something to send home. There is no doubt that India is having vast natural and man power resources. If both these resources are put to the maximum utilization astounding advancement can be achieved in all fields. These technical and other talented reasons that we lose every year, can greatly help in the development of our natural resources. VI.Staff Training and Retention The training of academic staff is ordinarily a continuous exercise to ensure consistent improvement in the quality oftheir outputs. The training is in two-fold: training to acquire minimum qualification (PhD) to teach and continued professional training. Usually, local training within each nation is cheaper than overseas training but more strenuous because of inadequate facilities, literature and distractions arising from the need to meet the necessary demands. However, over time it has always been difficult to get the trainees back to their respective countries after the completion of their study. When related to economy, one US dollar was equivalent to approx. 60 Indian rupees.Hence, this exchange provides good attraction to move out. [1] Salary is one of the issues;self-fulfilment interms of output via research efforts is also part of the driving force. The salary and service benefits paid to engineering teachers in India is insufficient, they migrate to other countries especially the United States of America, or local industry for better pay. AICTE has now given the guidelines of grade pay in the engineering institutes in different class of professor, reader, asst. professor and Lecturer. Academics from within migrate to foreign countries because of high wages that they pay to the academics and relatively better equipped laboratories. The picture has changed today. Many universities have now developed well equipped laboratories and college campus. Private, state and central universities have now started a high pay http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 259 International Conference on Global Trends in Engineering, Technology and Management (ICGTETM-2016) scale according to AICTE norms to the faculty members to inhibit the migration. Government has taken initiatives to invite foreign industries to setup their plants in India which could help in reduction of drain. [15] technologies. Their impact in the newer areas will be enhanced by continuing the core curriculum, and augmenting it by expanded examples of applications, incorporating biology in all core courses, and including orientation towards both product and process design. By offering imaginative courses using new teaching methods and tools, and by providing intellectual challenges, we need to attract the best and the brightest to chemical engineering, and educate them to become leaders in industry, academia and society. The potential for a new Golden Age ofChemical Engineering then rests on transformative trends that favour leadership and contributions from chemical engineering and a broad vision of the profession. Through this principle, we can attain our ultimate professional goals to create value and to advance the quality of life. Conclusion: The discipline of chemical engineering is undergoing a major transformation which continues to withstand the tests of time. Negligence may pose potential threatto the industrialization and indirectly economics of any country. It is obvious that there his lack of professionalcommitment among members of the engineering profession. Skills developed as result of a solid foundation in the fundamental sciences - chemistry, physics, mathematics and now increasingly, biology - along with a quantitative engineering science approach, have permitted chemical engineers to move rapidly into many emerging 4. References: 1. 2. 3. 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