Model Engineering College

Overview

Government Model Engineering College has made it to the pinnacle of the engineering arena in a span of just 20 years. Currently, MEC is one of the most sought after destinations among Engineering colleges in Kerala. The college has been constantly ranked at the very top in various surveys of Engineering colleges in Kerala, the MINT ranking being a good example. MEC was ranked 46th among the top 75 government and private engineering colleges in India by Outlook magazine in association with MDRA in 2013. MEC was ranked 4th best in terms of industrial interaction by MINT and 5th in terms of return on investment in the country by Outlook India. High academic standards, strict internal evaluation, state-of-the-art infrastructure and most importantly the vibrant student community makes it a favored destination for corporate giants. Placement statistics is updated every year at the college website in "MEC Placement stats".  The college has witnessed record breaking placements channelled through dynamic corporate scenarios.

General information

Government 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 five postgraduate programmes, with 19 laboratories. The four undergraduate programmes are Electronics and Communication Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics and Biomedical Engineering. Govt. 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 in the branch of Electronics and Communication Engineering. The major areas of research are VLSI and Embedded Systems, Signal and Image processing, Opto Electronics, Biomedical Engineering etc. The college has more than 200 faculty, 2000 students and 50 supporting staff.

History

On 28 January 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 Vatakara 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. Admissions to the institution is based on merit in the Kerala Engineering Entrance Examination (KEAM) conducted by the Commissioner of Entrance Examination (CEE), Government of Kerala. The details are given in the admission prospectus published by Kerala State Entrance Commissioner under the Government self-financing colleges category. 15% of seats are reserved for the children of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). The Admission to M.Tech courses are based on Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology, IITs.

Departments

All courses are accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). Benefits of the NBA accreditation are AICTE preferential funding, top preference from companies conducting campus interviews, exemption from undergoing eligibility tests for higher studies and employment in foreign countries that have a tie-up with NBA.

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: Electronics and Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering. In September 2008 it started a Master's course in VLSI Design, then later on in 2009 a new UG programme was started in EEE and by 2010, two more Master's courses in Electronics with specialization in OptoElectronics and Signal Processing were added on. Two M.Tech courses in Image processing and Energy management was added in the year 2012.

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.

Facilities

Principals

Notable alumni

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 both technical and non-technical nature.

College senate

There is also a college senate as a student body in MEC. The Chairman is an post supervised by the Principal. Senate members are selected from each class of the college. Each class can select 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, Electronics Association [Mixed Signals], The Electrical Minds Forum(EMF), The MEC Association of Computer Students (MACS), The Biomedical Association (BMA), Model Amateur Radio Association(MARC), 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. The Entrepreneurship Development Cell (E-Cell) is a fully functioning student body registered under the Technology Business Incubator of the Government Model Engineering College, Cochin. The club provides a platform for students with ideas to convert them into business reality. The stated aim of E-Cell is to foster a student start-up culture in the institution "A model college for entrepreneurs". The Hindu. 10 April 2013. 

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. 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. It has been held as an All India Annual Technical Fest since its beginning in 2001. Excel 2K8 was held from 31 January to 2 February 2008. Excel 2K9 was held from 23 January to 25 January 2009.

Arts and sports

The arts and sports festivals conducted every year by the college senate. The College Senate will divide students into 4 houses, each having one captain and a vice captain.(Normally each final year class will take one house or two classes will merge to take one house.) There will be a College inauguration ceremony.Arts and Sports festivals will be conducted in 2 semesters. The Arts festival of the university is named Sargam. MEC is the "OVERALL CHAMPION" of CUSAT inter-college arts fest SARGAM-2013 continuously for the third time "Sargam Results". .