CHENNAI: The Higher Education Department has planned to develop government engineering colleges at Salem, Coimbatore, and Tirunelveli as Centres of Excellence (CoE) by integrating AI, robotics, and advanced manufacturing with industry-aligned research.
A senior official from the department said that the key focus areas for CoE status also included Industry 4.0 skills.
“The proposal will also include setting up advanced manufacturing such as 3D printing and additive manufacturing for healthcare and prosthetics,” he added. “CoE will also give focus on aerospace and electric vehicles (EVs) – both of which offer a lot of job opportunities for students.”
Engineering colleges with CoE will have key focus industry-aligned syllabus, research/innovative labs approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and close collaborations with private partners to meet industrial requirements. CoEs will also offer enable students to be involved in research projects and participate in competitions at the State and national levels.
“They can also participate in international events. The centres will provide facilities for students to develop innovative research products to set up startups,” the official stated. “Additionally, the CoEs will help faculty to carry out research especially in emerging technologies and publish research papers in conferences and journals. The centres will help with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) like patents and copyrights.”
An expert committee, comprising senior authorities in technical education, academicians, alumni members and retired professors, will release a detailed plan to set up CoEs as per the requirement of the colleges.