Model Engineering College

Coordinates: 10°04′56″N 76°19′43″E / 10.08233°N 76.3286°E / 10.08233; 76.3286

Model Engineering College
Motto	Manpower Development
Established	1989
Type	Public
Principal	Dr. T. K. Mani
Academic staff	105
Students	1600
Location	Kochi, Kerala, India
Campus	Thrikkakara (14-acre (57,000 m2))
Nickname	MEC
Affiliations	CUSAT, AICTE
Website	http://www.mec.ac.in

Model Engineering College, Thrikkakara (Malayalam: മോഡല്‍ യന്ത്രശാസ്ത്ര കലാലയം തൃക്കാക്കര , Devanāgarī: मॉडल प्रौद्योगिकी कलालय त्रिक्काकरा) (MEC) is an institute of engineering and technology in Thrikkakara near Kochi, Kerala in South India. The institution is the first self-financing college to be established by the Government of Kerala under the aegis of the Institute of Human Resource Development for Electronics, IHRDE (now IHRD) and the first to be affiliated to CUSAT (Cochin University of Science And Technology). It is the first recognised Research centre under the CUSAT. The institution has been ranked among the top government engineering institutes in the country, according to educational institution surveys. The MINT business newspaper ranked the college as the 28th best government institute in India.^[1]

The students of Model Engineering College are nicknamed "MECians" and the alumni are called the "XMEC". Among all the IHRD institutions, the college offers the maximum number of courses in engineering (four undergraduate and three postgraduate).^[2] The college is known for^{[citation needed]} its student festivals: Excel and Technopreneur.

General information

Model Engineering College is a technical institute which is affiliated to the All India Council of Technical Education and is located in a 14-acre (57,000 m²) campus near the city of Kochi at Thrikkakara, 12 km from the heart of the city. The college is located close to the technology and industrial campuses of InfoPark, Cochin Special Economic Zone and the KINFRA Export Promotional Industrial Park.

The institute has four undergraduate programmes and three postgraduate programmes, with 17 laboratories. The four undergraduate programmes are Electronics and Communication Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics and Biomedical Engineering. Model Engineering College is the first Engineering College in the state recognised by Cochin University of Science and Technology as the research Centre of University. Model Engineering College is the research centre of the University in the branch of Electronics and Communication Engineering. The major areas of research are VLSI, Embedded Systems, Signal processing, Opto Electronics, Image processing, Biomedical Engineering etc. The college has more than 100 faculty, 1500 students and 50 supporting staff. A residential facility is available through hostels run by the college as well as private institutions, for both men and women.

History

Similarity in architecture between the main building and the Aryabhatta satellite

On January 28, 1987, the Government of Kerala established the Institute of Human Resources Development in Electronics (IHRDE) (now known as IHRD) in Thiruvananthapuram for the purpose of establishing a central institution which would work for the development of technical education in the state. The governing body of the IHRDE was headed by the then education minister of Kerala, K. Chandrasekharan. The first institute established under the IHRDE was the Model Polytechnic in Vadakara in 1988.

In August 1989, Model Engineering College came into existence, as the first engineering institution under the auspices of the IHRDE. Prof. Sukulal was the first principal of the institute. The college started off with three undergraduate courses in engineering: Biomedical Engineering (BE), Computer Engineering (CE) and Electronics Engineering (EE). The college became the first government run self-financing college in Kerala and the first engineering institute to be affiliated to the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).

The initial functioning of the college was from its temporary premises at the Government High School at Edapally, while a new campus was being constructed at the suburb of Thrikkakara. In September 1994, the new campus at Thrikkakara was ready and the college started functioning from there. The new campus included the main building, the men's hostel and the play grounds, covering an area of 14 acres (57,000 m²). The design of the main building was inspired from India's first satellite, Aryabhatta.

Admission

The admission procedure and the fee structure for the B Tech. programmes are decided by the Government of Kerala.The details are given in the admission prospectus published by Kerala State Entrance Commissioner under the Government self-financing colleges category. However 15% of seats are reserved for the children of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). All admissions except to the NRI quota are based on the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) conducted by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations,which is usually conducted in April or may.

Departments

• Electronics and Communication Engineering Department
• Computer Science and Engineering Department
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department
• Electronics and Biomedical Engineering Department
• General Engineering Department
• Applied Sciences Department

History

The college was established in 1989 by the Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD) to provide engineering education in Kerala. The college started functioning in August 1989 with three degree courses: Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering. In September 2008 it started a Master's course in VLSI Design, by 2009 a new UG programme was started in EEE and in 2010, two more Master's courses in OptoElectronics and Signal Processing were added on.

At the time of its establishment, MEC was the first self-financing college under the Government of Kerala and the first college to get affiliated to CUSAT and in 2010, it became the first research centre under the university.

Principals

• Prof. Dr. K. Sukulal
• Prof. Dr. K. S. M. Panicker
• Prof. Jyothi John
• Prof. Dr. Suresh Kumar
• Prof. Dr. T. K. Mani (present)

Location

MEC was established at a campus in Edappally (a suburb of Kochi) before it was shifted to its present campus at Thrikkakara in September 1994. It is now situated on a hilltop in Thrikkakara, providing a panoramic view of Kochi city and its suburbs.

The college is close to research institutions like Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) and Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) .The industrial centres of Aluva, Kalamassery, Cochin Special Economic Zone - CSEZ, KINFRA Software park Kakkanad and the VSNL international gateway are not far.

Student activities

The foremost student body of the college is the Senate, which consists of elected representatives from each stream. The college has several students associations, of technical and non-technical nature.

College senate

The college senate is the foremost student body of MEC. The Chairman is an ex-officio post held by the Principal. Senate members are elected from each class of the college. Each class can elect three representatives (two boys and one girl) to the senate. The senate has 60 student representatives (24 from Electronics, 24 from Computer Science and 12 from Biomedical streams). Posts held by the students include Student's Chairperson, Student's Vice Chairperson (has to be a girl), General Secretary, Arts Secretary, Sports Secretary and Extramural activities secretary.

Technical associations

These include IEEE student's branch, The MEC Association of Computer Students (MACS), The Biomedical Association (BMA), Model Amateur Radio Association(MARC), Electronics Association [Mixed Signals], IETE Student's Branch and a Robotics Club by the name [Cyborg].

Non-technical associations

These include Young Indians student net, the Illuminati(quizzing fraternity), the Music Club, the National Service Society chapter, and the Entrepreneurship forum by the name E-Cell.

Excel

Excel is the annual technical-management festival of the College. The event is held over a period of three days and is conducted in association with the IEEE Student Branch of the college^[3] This festival has science, technology and management based competitions, lectures, demonstrations and workshops. The event is organized by the students of the college and provides a platform where students can compete and showcase their technical skills and management capabilities.

The festival has been held every year since its inception in 2001.^[3] It has been held as an All India Annual Technical Fest since its beginning in 2001.^{[citation needed]}. Excel 2K8 was held from 31 January to 2 February 2008 ^[4]
Excel 2K9 was held from 23 January to 25 January 2009. ^[5]

References

1. ^ Shah, Gouri (2009-06-23). "India's Best Colleges - 50 Government Engineering Colleges in India". Kharagpur: Mint Business Magazine. http://www.livemint.com/2009/06/23184718/Top-govt-engineering-colleges.html. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 
2. ^ "Engineering Colleges under IHRD". http://director.ihrd.ac.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=31:engineering-colleges&Itemid=50&layout=default. Retrieved 2009-06-01. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b} "About Excel". http://www.excelmec.org. Retrieved 2009-06-02. 
4. ^ "Excel promises to inspire, innovate". Kochi: The Hindu. 2008-01-30. http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/30/stories/2008013050430200.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-02. 
5. ^ "Aeroshow, software contest at college fete". Kochi: The Hindu. 2009-01-23. http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/23/stories/2009012350760200.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-02. 

External links

• Official website
• Excel annual technical symposium conducted by IEEE student branch
• IEEE Student Chapter
• Association of Computer Students (MACS)