Aerospace engineering courses Special provisions for girls

Pervin Malhotra      

Q.Where can I study aerospace engineering in India after Plus II?  I  am a Class XI student. Are there any special provisions for girls in these courses? — Shanaya Trehan

A.Here are some of the best places in India to pursue Aerospace engineering at the Bachelor’s level:

Course: BTech Aerospace Engg (4-yr)

IIT Bombay 57 seats + 5 for Females

IIT Kharagpur 28 seats + 5 for Females

IIT Kanpur 46 seats + 5 for Females

IIT Madras 37 seats + 5 for Females

Course: Integrated MTech in Aerospace Engg (5-years)

IIT Kharagpur 16 seats + 3 for Females  

IIT Madras 10 seats + 3 for Females

Indian Institute of Engg Science & Technology, Shibpur: 33 seats + 3 for Females

Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (Deemed Univ), Thiruvananthapuram (www.iist.ac.in), 

 B.Tech & Dual Degree Prog with specialisation in Avionics / Aerospace engg, Physical Sciences. 60 seats

Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh: 26 seats

Amity University, Amity School of Engineering, Noida (www.amity.edu) 

Amrita School of Engineering under Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (www.amrita.edu)

SRM University, Chennai & Ghaziabad (www.srmuniv.ac.in) 

UPES, Dehradun (www.upes.ac.in) 

IGNOU, New Delhi (www.ignou.ac.in /  www.iiaeit.org)

BTech (Aerospace Engg), 4 years (120 seats at Pune)

(In collab with Aeronautical Engg & Research Organization, Pune (www.iiaeit.org).

Eligibility: 10+2 (PCM, 55%)

By the way, none of the IIITs, NITs or even BITS-Pilani offer Aerospace or Aeronautical programmes.  

Alternatively, you could do a BTech (Aeronautical Engg) which is offered at several engineering colleges.

Admission to all the above, is on the basis of JEE-Adv

Right course of action after GATE

Q. I am very confused about my career. I scored  94.1 percentile in GATE. Some suggest that I should go for MTech, while others say that I should go for a job. They say there are very few job opportunities after MTech. Please help and guide me for my future.

— j l vij

A.Here’s an option that will allow you to have your cake and eat it too. Since your GATE scores are valid for two years, you can opt for a good job – the economy is picking up, so although you haven’t mentioned your branch, the chances of landing one are good. Moreover, now all the PSUs also recruit engineers on the basis of GATE scores, so you really have nothing to worry about.

If you find yourself enjoying the work and the company offers the kind of opportunities that appeal to you, you can decide to stick on. 

If not, you can go for MTech from a top-rung engineering college or who knows, even an MBA or PhD if you wish to go into academics. 

In a way, your friends are right. By and large, industry doesn’t give as much weightage to MTech in the conventional fields as in the West, unless they’re recruiting for fairly specialized hi-tech fields or for R&D roles. But even this scenario is now swiftly changing. In the knowledge economy, higher learning is always, always an asset.

Scope in furniture design

Q. What is the scope for furniture design? What course should I pursue? 

— devina bedi

A.Increase in purchasing power and improved standards of living have spurred the demand for functional as well as customised designer or `lifestyle’ furniture. 

While carpentry is a craft, furniture design is an applied art. It applies creative concepts that balance innovative design, functional requirements and aesthetic appeal to meet industrial, commercial and domestic requirements. 

At the concept stage, the furniture designer expresses his ideas through sketches, which in turn calls for good drawing skills. You also need a good sense of colour, materials, spatial relationship and sensitivity to ergonomics (relationship between people and their environment). 

Typical work includes developing and working on briefs from the client, establishing design and performance criteria, developing and testing product designs using sketches or full-size card models and now sophisticated computer aided design (CAD) that allows you to work and view the design in 3D.

Besides in-depth knowledge of ergonomics, materials, processes and finishes, you must keep abreast of market requirements and monitor prevalent trends. 

As a self-employed/ freelancer designer you can work alone or team up with a group of like-minded professionals. A freelancer’s job encompasses myriad functions -- designer, production manager, buyer, salesperson, accountant, and maintenance engineer all rolled into one. Multi-tasking is the name of the game). The trick lies in planning the work schedule in advance, checking and co-ordinating deadlines after assessing the available resources.

The growing domestic and export market for designer furniture also provides great opportunities for entrepreneurs.

You can join a manufacturing company as their in-house designer. Experienced designers are often picked up as consultants who work on the client’s brief and manage the project on behalf of the client.

Furniture restoration is yet another specialised field you could consider.Furniture conservators/restorers undertake the protection and preservation of historic and modern furniture by applying theoretical knowledge of period furniture with and modern restoration al techniques.