Dr. George Sleeba, Dean ,AISAT, delivered a talk on ‘Expectations of Industry’ for faculties on 20th July. He spoke on engineering education’s present scenario, what the industry expects from engineering graduates and how to equip organizations to meet these challenges. He suggested measures to develop the employability skills of students without affecting their academics.
He stressed on the fact that, employability of engineers is a great concern both for the employers and the industry. Therefore the quality of the product from engineering colleges is very important that is, it must be one with certain characteristics and attributes which can be trusted. Therefore carving of future must be done accordingly. The product must be relevant to the customer and it must be of great value to the employer. He was of opinion that it is better to co-create value than adding value. This is because the output is not a one man contribution. The employer as well as the employee has to accept corrections from the customers too. Even though technical knowledge is a must, efficiency& effectiveness also matters .Once you make a product, it must be purchasable. Customers, competition and change determine whether an enterprise is sustainable. It must have more features but less cost. So some sort of differentiation is to be there. In a factory or in an office we need, not managers but leaders with sense of purpose and alertness, who work together, innovative and co- creating.
There are some employability skills which are required for an employee. Apart from technical skills he must be capable of problem solving, he must have good human relationships. Other qualities required are willingness to shoulder responsibility, self-discipline and ability to meet the target etc. Another requirement of an employee is personal attributes and key skills. They can be listed like positive attitude, team work, flexibility and ability to work under pressure. Apart from this he must have good communication skills, computer literacy. He concluded that, quality & employability are not a matter of inspection but which has to be built up in an employee. The talk was extremely beneficial for the Albertian community to get a better vision on the industrial expectations from an engineering graduate.
