When you are at sea and something goes wrong with your ship, you’ve got to fix it yourself. You can neither depend on nor blame somebody else at that moment. If you want to save your life, you have to get into action,” declares KA Simon, Director, Kunjali Marakkar School of Marine Engineering (KMSME), Ernakulam, Kerala. The institute’s mission is just that — to prepare a bunch of young seafarers, just out of college, who are ready for the voyage.
KMSME is situated inside the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) campus, and is the only institute under a State University that is under the direct control of the Directorate General (DG) of Shipping, Government of India. Graded A1 — outstanding by DG Shipping through a recognised classification system. It is also the only institute in India that offers an MTech in Marine Engineering.
Faculty
KMSME which began in 2003 was under the School of Engineering of CUSAT and became an independent school in 2007. There are 10 full-time faculty, of which three are marine engineers (two with a PhD), 15 visiting faculty and a dozen other non-teaching faculty (technicians). Like the school’s first and present Director KA Simon who had served for 17 years in the Directorate General of Shipping before taking voluntary retirement and joining KMSME, most teachers here have experience of working in Marine Engineering.
Student intake and fees
For the 80 seats in BTech, the college receives around 4,000 applications every year and for its one-year old MTech programme, which has 18 seats, the school receives around 500 applications.
The fee structure varies depending on the kind of seats offered. There are seats under State merit and All India merit categories. Fifty per cent of the seats are reserved for students from Kerala and the rest is divided among students from other States and other reserved quotas like sports, NRI and SC/ST. On an average, fee for BTech is `2 lakh pa and `50,000 pa for MTech.
Infrastructure
KMSME has an administrative block where all the classrooms and labs are located. There are three other buildings where the students receive hands-on experience in Marine Engineering. One of the buildings — the ‘overhauling’ shop has dismantled parts of the ship which the students can work on. There is a model of a ship built in the centre of the campus inside which the students can work just like in a real ship.
The BTech programme here is a residential one. The campus has a hostel for all those who are admitted in the college. For female students, as there are only three of them in the current batch, the rooms are provided at the CUSAT campus hostel.
Advantage women
Until two years ago, there were no female students who opted for this course. It was only in 2013 that a female student got selected to the course and made news in the city. Year after year the number is slowly increasing. “I chose this course because the female population in this campus was almost nil. I haven’t found it hectic as yet,” says Kshema Manu, a first-year BTech student.
Women students have an additional benefit if they grab a chance to get admitted into the BTech course. In a bid to encourage more women to enter the field, the institute requires them to pay only half of what their male counterparts pay as fees. The fee structure and other reservation norms for MTech are just like any other postgraduate course, as it comes under the CUSAT unlike the BTech course which comes under DG Shipping.
Short-term courses
KMSME is the only institute in Kerala that offers an Engine Room Simulation course for junior engineers (operational-level, three days) and for senior engineers (management-level, five days). The course is mandated by the Directorate General of Shipping for a career growth for sailing marine engineers. The course is taken up by both engineers in service and the students here. In an engine room simulation course, students are exposed to real-time problems faced by marine engineers at sea. The problems are simulated and students are prepared to figure out solutions.
“Our class begins at 6.30 in the morning except on weekends and ends only at 4 pm. In spite of this, we don’t find it hectic. The course is taught in a professional way and we are taught how to face the industry,” says Shibin Theophine, a first-year BTech student.
Placements
“Initially, the placements here were 100 per cent. Now since shipping industry is not in a good state, placements are down to 80 per cent. Even then, the institute is doing exceptionally well compared to others,” says Simon.
Graduates can avail of opportunities in ship building, consultation firms, classification societies (NGOs that maintain technical standards for the construction and operation of ships on behalf of the government) and ship repair yards among others.
revathi@newindianexpress.com