One of the top engineering colleges in Bangalore, 41-year-old People Education Society Institute of Technology (PESIT) has a spacious campus with exclusive blocks for each department and one for first-year students. “The idea behind this building is to help the first years settle down comfortably. They wouldn’t have to waste time wondering where their next class is because everything is in the same building. It also introduces them to campus culture better and ensures there is no ragging,” says KN Balasubramanya Murthy, the college’s principal. “There isn’t any ragging on campus but this ensures accountability. If a senior comes to talk to a first-year student, we can ask who h/she wants to meet and why.”
PESIT, an autonomous institution, is affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University. “I joined this college because it is highly ranked and reputed, not just in Bangalore but all over south India” says Anudeep, a fourth-year student. MR Doreswamy, founder chairman, PES Institutions, says, “In 1972, PES was founded with just over 40 students at a rented gymnasium in Bangalore. Today, we have more than 8,000 students spread across three campuses in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.”
Courses
The college offers four undergraduate courses in engineering, international hospitality administration, business management and computer applications and four postgraduate courses — MTech in bioinformatics, digital electronics and communication system, and computer science, MSc (engg) by research, MBA and MCA. Students have the opportunity to do an on-campus internship at the Crucible Of Research and Innovation during summer where they will assist their professors. Industry internships are also arranged by the college. A separate team is in-charge of placements, which the college claims is 100 per cent this year. “We have introduced civil engineering and are planning to introduce a few more engineering courses. We are also looking into different kinds of management courses like hospitality,” says Ajoy Kumar, CEO of PES Institutions. Courses in linguistics, music and philosophy are also in the pipeline.
The college tries to ensure holistic development of students. It has a strong community outreach programme. “Our college has adopted 20 rural government schools in south Bangalore and is working with them at two levels — to improve infrastructure like buildings, sanitation and drinking water facilities, and to upgrade teaching skills. Our students spend one-two hours every week on community outreach programmes,” says Murthy. “We give away scholarships worth Rs 1 crore. Free engineering scholarships are offered to 10 rural Kannada medium students per year. There are 40 such students in the college and we take care of everything including their tuition fees.”
Faculty
There are about 300 faculty members and 6,000 students on campus. The faculty is constantly evaluated by students, who have to fill up an evaluation sheet during their exams.
Extracurricular activities
The students of PESIT are involved in a number of academic-based projects. Clubs such as Pixels (a photography club) allows them to indulge in their hobbies. There is a gymnasium, cricket ground, indoor and outdoor basketball court, and badminton court for sport junkies. The annual inter-college cultural festival Atmatrisha is conducted in February. “Atmatrisha is a good showcase for our college — it is three days of colour. There are art, music, games, and even technical contests,” says Anudeep. “We also have Samarparna, which is basically an event for martyr’s families. This year we conducted a marathon.” The students are planning to build a robot to neatly arrange returned books in PESIT’s well-stocked library.
Future plans
In 2014, the college plans to become a university. “Our plans would entail complete autonomy for us to have good syllabi, promote extended learning that goes beyond the syllabus and get some accountability as well. PES University wants to give a well-rounded experience which encompasses learning, practical experiences, and research to the students. That would be the main agenda for PES,” concludes Ajoy Kumar.
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