Electronics Engineering Education in India—A Review

Abstract

The projections visualized in the Bhabha Committee Report for the development of electronics in India during the decade 1965–75 have been almost fully realized; and the annual targets proposed in the perspective plan for 1975–85 drawn up by the Department of Electronics for the production of electronic equipment, components and accessories have been surpassed during the years 1976 and 1977. But there is no room for complacency. Our manpower planning over the years has been haphazard; and the majority of our technical institutions are not geared to meet the standards of modern electronics both in terms of the required laboratory facilities and faculty-strength. In our good institutions, the work done tends to be excessively academic in character and their linkage with the outside world of R & D and industrial production is fragile and superfluous. This paper draws attention to the deficiencies in the system and outlines a series of constructive steps that should be taken—in a crusading spirit and at the national level—if the country is keen to tap the potentials of electronics to accelerate its scientific advancement and economic growth.

Indexing Terms:

• Education
• Electronics Engineering Education
• Manpower
• Teaching
• Training

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S. Sampath

SAMPATH, S (Prof.): He is an alumnus of Madras University (1945), IISc., Bangalore (1948) and Stanford University, USA (1953). He has previously served on the Engineering Staff of AIR (1948–52) and the Faculty of the ECE Department at IISc (1953–61). He was with IIT, Madras during 1961–75 and worked for various periods as Professor-in-Charge, Centre for Systems and Devices, Head of the Computer Centre and Deputy Director. He played a key-role in establishing the most modern digital computing facility in the country, as of 1973 at this Institute. He joined BEL, Bangalore in 1975 as Head of its Development and Engineering and Quality Assurance Divisions and directed design and development work in several functional areas relating to communication equipment, radar and computer systems. He has been a Member of the UPSC since 1977; and in this assignment he is also incharge of the Commission's electronic data processing activities.

He has published around 25 research papers. He has taught courses and guided research work in the areas of control systems, measurement techniques, analog and digital computation and television engineering. He has been an active member of several State-level and National Committees in the field of electronics and telecommunication engineering, notably the Working Group on Electronics for Tamil Nadu, the Regional Computer Evaluation Committee for the Madras Region, the Semi-Conductors Committee of the Department of Electronics and the Telecommunications Research Review Committee of the Ministry of Communications. He has been awarded the Fellowship of the ISI for his contribution to standardization work in the realm of professional electron tubes. He was President of the Indian Society for Information Science during 1976–77. He has been an active member of the IETE since its inception.