Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering (SVCE) (to be conferred University status) is a private college located in Pennalur, Sriperumbudur near Chennai. SVCE was founded by the Sri Venkateswara Educational and Health Trust (SVEHT) in the year 1985. The Trust was founded on August 1, 1984 at the behest of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal. The college, established in the city of Chennai by the SPIC group, a prominent petro-chemical corporation in India, is said to be among the top three colleges in Tamil Nadu, and a Tier-I institution among self financing colleges.

SVCE's founding objective was to plan and implement a programme of education in Engineering and Allied Sciences, to promote research, disseminate knowledge and to foster the cooperation and exchange of ideas between the academic community and industrial organizations and to develop entrepreneurship skills among students.

History

Initial Years

In November 1984 the college was granted permission to conduct Engineering courses in the disciplines of Mechanical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and Computer Science Engineering, awarded by the University of Madras.

The college complex at Nazarathpet (near Poonamallee) was inaugurated on April 8, 1985 by Sri S.L Khurana, former Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Expansion

In 1991, the college shifted into its new campus at Pennalur, near the town of Sriperumbudur. The buildings were designed by the architect P.T.Krishnan. The grihapravesam function of the new Campus was performed on July 25,1991 in the presence of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal, and was inaugurated by Shri R.Venketaraman (Former President of India) on January 5,1992, and received approval from the All India Council for Technical Education the same year. Courses in Electrical & Electronics Engineering and Chemical Engineering Courses were started in 1994. [[Sri_Venkateswara_College_of_Engineering#cite_note-2|^[3]]]

The college celebrated its decennial on 16-3-1995 in the presence of former Minister of State for Commerce and present Finance minister of the Government of India Shri P. Chidambaram. In 1996 the college initiated a course in Information Technology,and was the first college in the country to do so. The college obtained an 2000 certification in 2002.[[Sri_Venkateswara_College_of_Engineering#cite_note-2|^[3]]]

Challenges and controversies

SVCE went under the government scanner with the Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE) intensifying its drive against the collection of capitation fee and tuition fee in excess of that prescribed.

It was found that a donation of was allegedly paid by a student through a demand draft to the Spic Educational Trust. DOTE officials are said to have found that the trust was an unregistered entity and traced its bank account, which was supposedly linked to the college. DOTE officials claimed they would initiate legal action against the college and also ask the AICTE to cancel its recognition in the forthcoming academic year.

The crackdown by the Directorate of Technical Education officials on the college did not however, stop the filling up of its seats under the single window system in the first few days of the 2007 DOTE counselling.

Facilities

Library

SVCE has a well established, fully computerized library spanning three floors with over 21,000 titles covering major fields of Science and Engineering, a conference room, an ample study space and a seating capacity of over 200. The ground floor is Air-conditioned, with conferencing, multimedia, internet, reprography facilities, a CD-ROM collection and a book bank for deserving students.

The college subscribes to most major technical journals including the IEEE, ACM and ASME journals.Over 59,000 volumes and 200 CD's are available, and around 400 print and online journals are subscribed.

Apart from the central library, all departments maintain their own departmental libraries. SVCE is an institutional member of The British Council Library, IIT Madras, American Council Library, DELNET and MALIBNET The library uses multimedia computers with internet connectivity,CBT,CDs,e-books and e-journals to promote e-learning.

A library committee headed by the Principal, comprising of all the Heads of Departments,and Student Representatives,meet every semester to discuss the functioning of the library.

Placement Cell

The Training and Placement Cell plays an active role in getting students placed in various leading Multi National companies (MNCs) and Indian Companies. The college boasts of an average 95% placement every year.

Notable companies that recruit engineers from the college: Cognizant Technology Solutions Ltd., Chennai. I Nautix Technologies India limited., Chennai. Wilco International Ltd., Hyderabad. Exeter Systems Ltd., Bangalore. Future Software Limited., Chennai. CBSI (India) Limited., Chennai. Multi Tech Software Systems, Bangalore. S.R.A. Systems Ltd., Chennai. Wipro Info Tech Ltd., Chennai. SCM Microsystems (India) Pvt. Ltd., Chennai. Sathyam Computers Ltd., Chennai. Mascon Global Solutions Limited., Chennai. D.S.Q. Software Limited., Chennai. S.S.I. Technologies Limited., Chennai. S.I.P. Technologies Limited., Chennai. WIPRO Technologies Limited., Chennai. TVS Electronics Ltd., Chennai. Ramco Systems Limited., Chennai. SAGE Designs Systems Ltd., Bangalore. POLARIS SOFTWARE LAB Ltd., Chennai. I.T. Solutions Ltd., Chennai. C.M.C. Ltd., Chennai. Sundaram Clayton Limited., Chennai. Sundaram Fasteners Limited., Chennai. Tractors & Farm Equipment Ltd., Chennai. Murugappa Group of Companies, Chennai. Ashok Leyland Limited., Chennai.

Sports and athletic facilities

The facility has a swimming pool, synthetic and clay tennis courts, turf cricket ground, basketball, football grounds, ball badminton, volley ball courts and a 400 meter track for athletics. is dedicated to a table tennis hall, gymnasium, and carom and chess rooms.

Students are encouraged to participate in intramural,extramural and the Tamil Nadu Inter Engineering Sports (TIES) competitions. The College conducts inter-college tournaments in basketball, volleyball, cricket and ball badminton.

Medical Center

The campus houses a newly constructed medical center near the hostel blocks, with a nurse and doctor available round the clock to attend to any emergencies. There is also an emergency[AMBULANCE] van available round the clock.

Entrepreneurship Development Cell

The Entrepreneurship Development Cell was formed in 1996, and has organized a number of awareness camps in the last 10 years to motivate students to become entrepreneurs. Today this Development cell is one of its kind in Tamilnadu and one among 20 in the country.

The objective of this cell is to motivate and train students towards Science and Technology so that students become job creators rather than job seekers.

Transport

Since the campus is located away from Chennai city, transportation is provided between various parts of Chennai city and the college. Initially the college started out with eight buses, and now run over 65. Buses are operated on Saturdays and Sundays for special classes, NCC, Sports etc. On special occasions buses are sent for industrial visits and social service activities. The College owns four of the buses, one ambulance and a van.

A transport committee headed by a convener takes care of the smooth operation of buses.A staff member in charge of the bus (one teaching and one supporting) also ensure the smooth functioning of the buses.

Student Life

Housing

The SVCE dormitory housing comprise of five independent blocks. The first block was built and inaugurated in 1998. The second in December 1999, the third in August 2001 and the fourth block in August 2003. All the four blocks together accommodate 500 boys. A fifth block for girls was built and inaugurated in October 2002, housing 100 girls. In view of a high demand for housing, two more new dormitory blocks are under construction.

Scholarships and Awards

In 2004, the chairman and governing council initiated a scheme that would distribute 5% of the total college tuition fee income to students as a full semester scholarship,and as prizes to top scorers in college tests and university examinations.Gold medals are awarded to the top 10 university rank holders,and a silver medal is awarded to the college first rank holder.Other notable awards include the Outstanding Undergraduate student Award, Outstanding Sports person Award and the Best Student Award by the Indian Society for Technical Education.

Students are given a full semester scholarship on the basis of: Merit Merit and Economic Means Economic Means Sports NCC

Societies & Extra Curricular Activities

With the aim of technical skills and personality development,several societies, clubs and forums headed by members of the faculty were formed.

Societies of the college: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)Students Branch (Log in to the website for more information) Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD) Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers - Student Chapter Associations of the college: Students Biotechnology Forum (SBF) Society of Mechanical Engineers (SME) Association of Marine Engineers (AME) Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Association of Computer Engineers (ACE) Association of Information Technologists (AIT) Association of Chemical Technologists (ACT) Association of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (AEEE) Electronics and Communication Engineers Association (ECEA) MCA Students' Association Association of Bio-Technology Engineers Forum for Economic Studies by Engineers (FORESE) Clubs and forums: Youth Red Cross Leo Club NCC-Army NCC-Air Wing NCC-Naval NSS The speakers forum Rotaract Club Tamil Mandram

Academics

Academic Departments

Under-graduate programmes:

Post-graduate programmes:

Research

The electrical and electronics engineering and mechanical engineering departments have been recognized by Anna University as collaborative research Centers for PhD Degrees. R&D is aided by a technology innovation Center, which also houses SPIC's research center.

Forum For Economic Studies by Engineers

Forum For Economic Studies by Engineers (FORESE)() was created to equip engineering students with management skills and to help develop team management and interpersonal skills; to nurture young professionals into tomorrows leaders.

FORESE is a pioneer in having a national level management symposium(Kapital) in an engineering college. FORESE also conducts Mock Placements and several expert lectures.

Alumni

The first ever batch of students passed out in 1989. The alumni of the institution have been successfully placed in several top companies across the globe, and its students have completed Master's and PhD's from prestigious universities that include the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Harvard Medical School, University of Florida at Gainesville, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, MIT, University of Texas at Austin,Texas A&M University, Stanford University, Rutgers University and Carnegie Mellon University.

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