Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU, Kannada: ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯ ತಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯ) is an affiliating state university in Karnataka, India. It was established on 1st April 1998 by the Government of Karnataka[9] as per VTU Act 1994, to improve the quality of technical education in the state.[10] Apart from a few notable exceptions, VTU has complete authority in the state of Karnataka. It is a statutory requirement for colleges offering any program in engineering or technology in the state to be affiliated with the university.[10]
The university is named after Sir Visvesvaraya from Karnataka, the only engineer to be awarded a Bharat Ratna award, the highest civilian award in India. Jnana Sangama, Belgaum is the headquarters of VTU. Additionally, the university has three regional centers located in Bangalore, Gulbarga and Mysore.
VTU is one of the largest universities in India with 208 colleges affiliated to it with an intake capacity of over 67100 undergraduate students and 12666 postgraduate students. The university encompasses various technical & management fields which offers a total of 30 undergraduate [11] and 71 postgraduate courses. [12] The university has around 1800 PhD candidates.[13]
Presently, VTU has 13 QIP centers and 17 extension centers [14] in its various affiliated colleges offering post graduate courses. It has around 2305 departments recognized as research centers which are spread across its various affiliated institutions in different cities of Karnataka.[3][15] It is one of the few universities of India to have 16 of its affiliated colleges recognised by the World Bank for getting assistance in setting up state of art laboratories, campus facilities and research centers under the TEQIP program. [3]
The university is administered by its Executive Council and Academic Senate whose members are selected from the academic community and government servants.[16] The present Chancellor of the university is His Excellency, Sri Hans Raj Bhardwaj, Pro-Chancellor is Dr. VS Acharya and the present Vice-Chancellor is Dr. H. Maheshappa.[16][2]
VTU is currently only an affiliating university and does not have an undergraduate college of its own. The Jnana Sangama, Belgaum campus and the regional and extension centers of VTU at Bangalore, Davangere, Gulbarga and Mysore offer M.Tech, MBA, MCA and PhD courses. [17][18][19] However, Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology, Bangalore expected to open in August 2011 shall become the first college run by the university.[20]
The University has signed MoUs with various MNCs like IBM, Intel Asia Electronics Inc., Ingersoll-Rand (India) Ltd., Bangalore, Nokia, Bosch Rexroth and Microsoft to improve the industry interactions for both students and the teachers. [3][21]
VTU is one of the member universities of the Association of Indian Universities and Association of Commonwealth Universities. [22][23]
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In India, the state governments are responsible for education in their states. So, development and monitoring of universities is in the mandate of a state government. In view of improving the quality of technical education in Karnataka, the Karnataka State government passed the VTU Act in 1994 which led to formation of VTU and its dedication to technical education. VTU’s mandate is defined as : [24]
The VTU Act vested authority to VTU as the sole affiliating university for technical education in the state. All the existing colleges in the state that offered technical programs, mostly affiliated to regional state universities, were obligated to shift affiliation to VTU. Notable exceptions to the VTU Act include, but are not limited to University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (Affiliated to Bangalore University), National Institute of Technology Surathkal, and Manipal Institute of Technology.
At undergraduate level, VTU admits students to its affiliated colleges on basis of their Karnataka CET ranks.
The COMEDK, a body of private colleges, conducts a separate entrance examination known as COMEDK UGET, which also acts as a window for getting admission to the university seats in the private colleges.
The university also admits students under Management quota to the affiliated private colleges, which does not demand any merit requirements.
At postgraduate level, students are admitted on the basis of their GATE test scores, as well as on their Karnataka Post Graduate CET (PGCET) and KMAT PGCET scores.[25]
The seat matrix is decided by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) which annually conducts the competitive CET for the domicile candidates of the state. Complying the Government of Karnataka rules, 50% of the seats in Private Colleges and 100% seats in the Government Colleges are given to the KEA for CET counselling as Merit seats.
The remaining 50% seats in the Private colleges are shared in equal proportion and are given as the COMEDK and Management seats. [26]
VTU offers an undergraduate engineering course that awards a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree. The university also offers postgraduate programs that lead to Master of Technology (M.Tech), Master of Science (MSc) by research, Master of Business Administration (MBA) , Master of Computer Applications (MCA) and doctorate (Ph.D). The MSc and PhD are research degrees while the rest are taught degrees.
The university, presently has 12 undergraduate boards which offer Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) courses and 1 undergraduate board which offers Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) course. The courses are listed below :
| Board | Undergraduate courses [11] |
|---|---|
| Architecture ‡ | Architecture |
| Automobile Engineering | Automobile Engineering |
| Biotechnology | Biotechnology |
| Civil Engineering | Cement Technology, Ceramics & Civil Engineering, Construction Technology and Management , Environmental Engineering |
| Chemical / Polymer Engineering | Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science & Engineering |
| CSE / ISE | Computer Science & Engineering and Information Science & Engineering |
| Electrical Engineering | Electrical & Electronics Engineering |
| Electronics & communication Engineering | Electronics & Communication Engineering, Telecommunication Engineering |
| IPE / IEM / MA | Industrial & Production Engineering, Industrial Engineering & Management, Manufacturing Science & Engineering |
| IT / BM / ML | Biomedical Engineering, Instrumentation Technology, Medical Electronics |
| Mechanical Engineering | Aeronautical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Precision Engineering, Printing Technology, Tool Engineering |
| Mechatronics Engineering | Mechatronics Engineering |
| Silk / Textile Engineering | Fashion Technology, Silk Technology, Textile Technology |
‡ - The Architecture board offers B.Arch course.
The university, presently has 11 postgraduate boards which offer Master of Technology (M.Tech) courses. The courses are listed below :
| Board | Postgraduate courses [12] |
|---|---|
| Civil Engineering | Computer Aided Design of Structure, Construction Technology, Environmental Engineering, Geo-Informatics, Highway Technology, Structural Engineering, Transportation Engineering And Management |
| Chemical Engineering | Chemical Engineering |
| Computer Science and Engineering | Computer Engineering, Computer Network Engineering, Computer Science And Engineering, Information Technology, Software Engineering |
| Electrical Engineering | Computer Applications In Industrial Drives(ECD), Energy Systems & Management (EEM), Microelectronics And Control Systems(EMS), Power Electronics (EPE), Power Systems, Engineering (EPS) |
| Electronics & Communication Engineering | Digital Communication Engineering, Digital Communication & Networking, Digital Electronics, Digital Electronics & Communication, Digital Electronics & Communication Systems, Electronics, Industrial Electronics, Information & Communication System, Network & Internet Engineering, VLSI Design & Embedded Systems, Signal Processing, Communication Systems |
| IP Engineering | Manufacturing Science & Engineering (MSE), Master Of Engineering Management (MEM), Product Design & Manufacturing (MPD), Production Engineering & System Technology (MPT), Production Engineering (MPE), Production Management (MPM), Production Technology (MPY) |
| IT Engineering | Biomedical Signal Processing & Instrumentation |
| MBA | Master Of Business Administration |
| MCA | Master of Computer Applications |
| Mechanical Engineering | Computational Analysis In Mechanical Sciences, M.Tech in Aeronautical Engineering (MAE), Industrial Automation And Robotics (MAR), Computer Integrated Manufacturing (MCM), Design Engineering (MDE), Engineering Analysis (MEA), Machine Design (MMD), Thermal Power (MTP), Tool Engineering (MTE) |
| Textile Technology | Textile Technology |
The university accomplished its primary task of setting a common syllabus across the state in 1998. The university revises the syllabus every four years keeping in view the technology upgrades around the world. The syllabus was revised in 2002, 2006 and 2010. [27]
Presently, VTU has over 2305 Research Centers in 75 affiliated colleges. [28]
The university provides research scopes in the following fields : [29]
See : List of Research Centers
The University has signed MoUs with various MNCs like IBM, Intel Asia Electronics Inc., Ingersoll-Rand (India) Ltd., Bangalore, Nokia, Bosch Rexroth and Microsoft and has set up various Centers of Excellence. [30][31][32][33]
A few Centers of Excellence are listed below :
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In 2007, the University granted academic and administrative autonomy to 14 colleges in the state. Autonomy implies that the college has the freedom to set its own syllabus, evaluation system and grading system, but the degree awarded at the end of the course will be by the university. This degree differs from the degree awarded by non-autonomous colleges, with the difference being that the college name is boldly marked as 'Autonomous'. [34]
All the affiliated non autonomous colleges assess the students by a mark system. An aggregate score is calculated out of 100 as a percentage. All the subjects get equal weightage. The final score is not calculated as a GPA but are instead awarded with various classes according to the marks obtained.
The different classes awarded to the students of non-autonomous colleges are :
| Class Awarded | Marks Range | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| First Class with Distinction | 70 - 100 | FCD |
| First Class | 60 - 69 | FC |
| Second Class | 35 - 59 | SC |
All the autonomous colleges follow a grading system, the system being absolute grading or relative grading. The final score is calculated as a GPA.
The university organizes competitions for most sports played in India. Most competitions are held in its affiliated colleges except for tennis Hockey, Tennis and Table-Tennis which are held in the university campus at Belgaum. The winning teams then represent the University in national level competitions. VTU organizes the national level inter-university competition in Table Tennis.[35]
The university annually organises an inter-collegiate culfest which sees participants from all its affiliated colleges.[36]
Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology, also known as VIAT, is a research institute being constructed in Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura, Karnataka, India. The institute is located on 200 acres (0.81 km2) of prime land nestled in the Nandi Hills adjacent to the Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli and is expected to cost 600 crores.[37][38][39] In the initial years, VIAT will focus on research in embedded technology, software quality, agricultural engineering and bioengineering. Each department would function as a discovery-innovation center. The institute will offer graduate and PhD programs in the sciences.
Presently, there are 208 colleges affiliated to the university. The colleges are categorised as government, private-aided and private-unaided based on the type of funding. A few colleges may be classified as Minority Linguistic and Minority Religious based on the minority status of languages and religions. [40][41] Further, these colleges are placed under Autonomous and Non-Autonomous category of institutions based on the autonomy granted by UGC. [34]
See : List of colleges affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University
| Agency | Indian Rank § | World Rank † | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 International Colleges & Universities (4icu.org) | 12 [42] | 1053 [43] | 2011 |
| Webometrics | 27 [44] | 3951 [44] | 2011 |
§ - The Rank among all the Indian universities
† - The Rank among all the World universities
| No. | From | To | Name | Position previously held |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 1, 1998 | March 30, 2001 | Prof. Dr. S. Rajashekharaiah [45][46] | Principal, |
| 2 | April 1, 2001 | June 30, 2007 | Prof. Dr. K. Balaveera Reddy [47] | Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, |
| 3 | July 1, 2007 | June 30, 2010 | Prof. Dr. H. P. Khincha [49] | Chairman, Division of Electrical Sciences, |
| 4 | July 1, 2010 | Till Date | Prof. Dr. H. Maheshappa [51][52] | Principal, |
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