[aravindb_0711]

[ATTACH=Compendium of Academic Courses After +2.pdf]2172687[/ATTACH]

I've attached a file of the list of courses that you can take and the colleges you can attend after 12th grade.

[ADFreak8322]

Hey Saikishor,

I was in a similar dilemma in 2015 and I would share some points after graduating as a mechanical engineer from Tier-2 college in India.

1. College matters a lot!! Many people say that only talent matters, but in India college's brand image is more important than any talent, so try to get admission to a renowned college.

2. In most colleges in India automobile engineering is just a sub-branch of mechanical engineering and there are only 1,2 subjects that are different from the mechanical branch. So, it's advisable to pursue mechanical engineering rather than automobile as it has a wider scope.

3. The syllabus is still decades old and is not updated to date and we all know EV's are coming and there is not a single subject on it, also right now it's not the right time to pursue engineering in any core branches as you would not be getting any practical knowledge out of it (due to practical sessions being done at home).

4. Mechanical/Automobile engineering branches are research/design-based and most of the colleges here are not capable and do not have the right resources to deliver practical knowledge to the students. But, I would suggest you join teams/societies of your college that participate in competitions, you would learn a lot and also how to work in a team.

5. Most of the students nowadays are aiming towards CS/IT branches so the future is bleak for mechanical/civil/automobile students.

6. Placements: I studied at SRM Institute of science and technology Chennai, and there are many manufacturing plants of major automotive companies, they came for placement, but you would not believe that they hardly took 300 students out of 3000 ones and they majorly took CS/IT students for them. So, placements would be an issue in the future. And I believe that when you invest 10 lacks in any course you ought to get some returns but here ROI is none. I would have gone outside India for MS but due to financial constraints I remained here only and changed my field.

So, think carefully and try to see what works in your favor, if you are hell-bent on pursuing automobile engineering then simply go to Germany as it is a mecca for automobile engineers. Else if you are in India then pursue a course that is aligned with the industry.

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by saikishor

I stay in Hyderabad, and I found that only two colleges offer Automobile engineering.

I really need your valuable and elaborate suggestions regarding the aforementioned. Even a small piece of information will really help me a lot.

Hi there, I believe I’m eligible to answer your question, as I am an under graduate in Automobile Engineering. With regards to syllabus, I would like to tell you that you will be looking at automobile related syllabus from 3rd year, for the first two years it would be more or less mechanical engineering. And you already have a great plan as you would be pursuing PG from Germany, I really wish you all the best for the same.

My only piece of advice would be- whether you go for Mechanical or Automobile engineering, make sure you take admission in such a college/university which is active in formula student/formula bharat/formula student E/Baha/Supra competitions. Open website of these competitions and see for yourself which colleges are performing good, because the real learning would be from such competitions only (as our syllabus is too dated I feel).

I took admission in a private university in automobile engineering but after taking admission, I realised that there’s absolutely nothing in terms of labs/infrastructure/faculties in the department. Thankfully, I was blessed to have like minded seniors and batchmates and we founded a racing team called Automantra racing. I was associated with the team for 3 years and I took responsibilities for marketing, business and cost department and I feel it was a life changing experience for me, from sourcing and fabricating carbon fibre bodywork to pitching ideas in front of investors, it indeed was one hell of a learning experience.

Some memories-









Wish you all the best!

[Turbojc]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Hello BHPians, hope everyone is doing fine...

Hi Sai Kishore, I hope you're doing well.

I did both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Automotive Engineering here in India, and I completely agree with what our fellow members have said. While I don't regret pursuing my degrees, I made a few mistakes along the way, which saw me end up in a completely unrelated field of work. Given an opportunity to do it all over again, here's what I'd do differently:

1. Choose a college wisely. Regardless of the course you wish to pursue, be it automotive or mechanical engineering, please do your due diligence and choose a reputed college with a good track record of participating in engineering competitions such as Formula SAE and Baja SAE. This would prove valuable when you are applying for your post graduate studies. I'd suggest you create a profile on LinkedIn (in case you don't have one already), and reach out to alumni from the schools you've shortlisted who are working in the industry for their advice.

2. Take academics very seriously. The field of automotive design and manufacture is highly competitive, and OEMs only prefer the crème de la crème of applicants. Regardless of which stream you pursue, I urge you to put in extra effort towards your academics. Arrears are not an option - failing even a single paper could seriously affect your chances of getting placed in a top-tier OEM.

3. Learn one CAD tool, one CAE tool, and one related coding language (such as Python), and try to excel in them. They will provide you a great base to clearly express your ideas. I'd urge you to start working on this right away.

4. Do as many hands-on internships and participate in as many competitions as possible. Automotive Engineering is a purely practical subject, and no amount of classroom lessons can teach you as much as hands-on experience can. Getting your hands dirty on both the hardware and software side is the best - and dare I say, only - way you can excel in this field.

5. Create a detailed portfolio of your ideas. They could be original concepts, or improvements of existing ones. It doesn't matter how trivial or unrealistic they may seem to you, make it a point to journal all your ideas, which you can later develop as a portfolio. This will allow you to showcase your talent to potential recruiters and will give you an edge over your peers.

6. Attend as many seminars, workshops and internships as you can. You need to figure out which particular aspect of automotive design, development, and manufacture interests you the most, and you must specialize in it. Expertise is all that matters in the industry, and it the specialists who earn the big bucks.

As for good colleges in and around Hyderabad, I'll check with my friends and let you know soon. Wish you all the very best for your future !

Cheers!

[Apex1815]

I can relate to you as I was in the same dilemma when I was in class 12th.
Today I am an Automobile Professional working with a Global Manufacturer of Heavy Earthmoving Machinery from the last 10 years.

I did Mechanical Engg. which covers broader view of Machine Design, Thermodynamics , Manufacturing Technology etc. and found it extremely helpful in pursuing my career in the field of Automobiles.

Even in Automobile companies, the core operations (like Vehicle design, Validation, Production etc ) the Educational background requirement is mostly Mechanical/ Electronics/ Electrical/ Production Engg etc.

[revsperminute]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Hello BHPians, hope everyone is doing fine.

So to start off, I recently passed out of 12th and am currently preparing for my competitive exams.

Hey there bud, we have found ourselves in the same boat albeit you a year later. I will suggest you take a good hard look at mechanical/mechatronics engineering followed by a specialization/masters in the field of your choice. I enrolled myself in a Mechanical Engineering course for my bachelors and plan to follow the aforementioned path in the future. You will find plenty of like-minded individuals in any of the fields mentioned. (BHPians included)


All the best mate, choose wisely.

[SibiGeorge]

Originally Posted by francisvellara

Hey saikishor!

I ended up choosing a course called Engineering Design (with a specialisation in Automotive Engineering) at IIT Madras.
=====
There is also a lot of flexibility in choosing elective courses related to automobiles.
Francis

Engineering Design at IITM is a well-structured course, at least during my time at IITM. Lot of hands-on sessions. I often observed my college mates open cars, cars being assembled at the labs ..etc. The syllabus is also pretty modern/updated compared to the pure mechanical courses.

[14000rpm]

I am an automotive engineering having graduated from SJM Institute of technology in Chitradurga, Karnataka. Would I recommend? I'm not very sure.
There is another engineering college in Hassan that has this branch too.

[fazayal]

When I completed my Mechanical Engineering from Mumbai University in 2004, syllabus of Mechanical and Automobile Engineering was exactly same till 3rd year. In final year I took Automotive Systems as elective subject because I was passionate about automobiles.

However, since it was nearly 100% theory subject, I could not score high like my friends who took Power Plant Engineering (PPE) as elective. And syllabus of PPE was 70-80% similar to Thermal Engineering subject which was a compulsory subject in final year!

My suggestion would also be similar to many others. Better to do mechanical engineering and keep all your options open for future.

[PompousKnight]

Contrary to your plans, I would recommend you to go abroad for your undergrad and I would recommend choosing a broad domain that gives you opportunity to shift to other sectors later on: For example: Computer science, Electrical & Electronics and so on. Definitely not mechanical & worse- automotive. This comes from my life experience of being an automotive enthusiast & having to make this crucial choice at this all important juncture. Everyone's life experiences are different and in my case, I have realized that career plans will evolve and change over time (you may want to be an artist/ investment banker after 5 years!). But your degree won't, and it's important to have one that gives you the best exit options/ widely accepted across all streams. I understand that it seems like I'm asking you to choose over your passion (automotive), but I've been in your shoes and it worked out well for me.

My background:
I'm a computer science engineer & presently an MBA student in a reputed EU school. Like you, I wanted to do automotive engineering at the end of 12th std, but thankfully with the guidance of my sister, I did computer science engineering (I don't regret one bit). When I started undergrad, I was'nt terribly interested in computer science, but over the years it grew on me & I did pass with an above average GPA. Most importantly, my heart was with cars and I managed to get selected for the best Formula student team in my second year (there were many). Long story short, I did well over the three year there(me being the only C.Sc. student) & managed to be one of the leaders of the team when we qualified and participated in FSAE Italy (the first for our college). After my undergrad, I wanted to study business, & the FSAE international experience played a major part in getting admissions to one of the best EU business schools. After coming to the business school, I wanted to combine my interest in business and automotive via an strategy role in an automotive firm and I managed to get internships in the same. The computer science degree helped me all the way: from getting MBA admissions to getting a job. Regardless, it's a life skill(coding) that every student of this day & age needs to have at some point in his life. I remember I didn't like computer science much in my undergrad, but it grew on me after and it is now that I realize that I didn't have enough exposure in school to the possibilities of computer science that it never piqued my interest then. It might not be the case for you, but I would definitely not recommend taking mechanical/automotive streams. It is outdated and you can get most of the knowledge through online platforms like Coursera. For a professional degree, I implore you to definitely take a futuristic course and not get too narrow in your undergrad. Start broad- Computer science (preferably). Personally, I can tell you from my experience that recruiters world over give high preference to computer science engineering- even though my current job does not require coding, my manager seemed very excited to know that I can code/ atleast figure out the data analytical part if it comes to that. Degrees will be on your resume forever and hence it's important to consider all of these before making the choice. I don't want to be an advocate of computer science degree, but unfortunately the reality of the world is that people with this degree are favoured over others in all streams- finance, management & even technical automotive roles.

If I can go back in time and do things differently, I would use the investment for studies abroad for the undergrad than postgrad education. This makes a massive difference in career outcomes & most importantly: personality building. My friends who managed to go abroad for undergrad education tend to integrate/adapt much better to the local culture/environment which in turn translates to better career outcomes (especially the EU). Also, there is much less competition for good universities in undergrad vs postgrad (comparitively easier to get into) but more importantly, even easier to get into the EU job market.

[PrasunBannerjee]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Hello BHPians, hope everyone is doing fine.


I really need your valuable and elaborate suggestions regarding the aforementioned. Even a small piece of information will really help me a lot.

Engineer here. I can give my two cents, read patiently.

Background: Did my engineering from a private college in a small town, however well known (albeit not that crazy popular) for decent enough engineering colleges. University affiliated was curriculum/syllabus was state level government university, and not private. Heard it was lot better than a couple of neighbouring states, so many students from neighbouring states used to come here. I wonder how worse would be the others if mine was so bad and yet others claimed that this is far better than what they have.

Reality: I did computer engineering, yet there was no chapter or anything about even making a 1 page basic html website, leave alone building software, or server side scripting and things like these. While getting admission I thought by my second year, I will have enough knowledge to start building websites, software etc and make passive income, and cover my study expenses. How wrong. To add to it, I was the first person from my college to do internship in cloud computing, and for a mandatory 'viva after internship at college', for obvious reasons faculties didn't have much knowledge on what to ask me. I don't blame them. The curriculum didn't have it. Guilty pleasure: got away by giving wrong answers or answers that I had no knowledge about with a confident face, examiners couldn't even make out if it was correct or wrong. Questions were pretty generic though.

This was in an era when cloud computing despite being a buzzword and relatively newer, Azure, AWS, Heroku, Salesforce, Google Cloud, Rackspace, etc. major players were already into the market and ruling.

Realization: Technology is fast changing. I still am pursuing a career deep into the same field I pursued my degree in, but there's not a single iota of knowledge which I use in my field of work, that came from my education. I ahd C/C++ in my 11th-12th, and the textbook then had some more concepts than university curriculum, also it introduced me to coding in 11th, so there was nothing new I learnt in college syllabus. Though some theories were new and might come useful in my field, could have learnt them easily over google.
One of the 'latest' practical technology bit the subjects taught after 2010 was obsolete from the industry due to security concerns since 1998.


Speed of updating education curriculum would always be much slower than pacing technologies and era of change. This has been my observation for even other things, like electronics. LED TVs had taken over yet the practicals kept dissecting black and white CRT TVs, not even color.

Advice: Pursue a little more generic and fundamental course, and not a highly specialized one such as automobile or mechatronics. Sure, there will be lot of wastage subjects. For me my entire engineering syllabus was next to wastage, none of the 46 subjects I studied in 4 years are anywhere useful despite me working in the same field, ever. But then, the degree will be a validation of your education.

On the side gather knowledge on your own, to the things you seek. Look forward to internships in relevant companies. Those, and only those will give you first hand industry experience, and nothing else. Now with advent of autonomous cars, and so many gadgets thrown into a car, there's all the more usage or scope of even computer engineers into it.

After 10 years, your degree won't matter but the works you will be doing shall matter. Let the degree be your 'foot in the door', as for obvious reasons there are many eligibility criteria to pass.

Trivia: In many reputed foreign universities, there's no specialization of computer engineering in bachelors. Its there only in masters. You need to pursue electrical engineering. Computer is a part of that curriculum during bachelors. Don't know if things have changed in the last decade.

I won't spoonfeed with an answer. Its your life, you gotta explore it on your own. I'm trying to nudge you to a right path after having made many mistakes myself, might save your time in exploring.

All the best. Don't forget to do the due diligence on your part

[Turbojc]

Originally Posted by saikishor

I stay in Hyderabad, and I found that only two colleges offer Automobile engineering.

Hi Kishor, here's a list of the top engineering colleges in and around Hyderabad that I found here - https://www.nirfindia.org/2020/EngineeringRanking.html . Do check them out:


Cheers!

[RoadSurfer]

Originally Posted by saikishor

But after some research, my Dad suggested me to pursue Automobile engineering, as Mechanical will not go deeply into automobiles.

When I completed my Mechanical engineering is 2005, my college was the only one which also had Automobile engineering in that area. First 3 years the syllabus was exactly same. Only in the 4th year, there were 2 or 3 subjects that were directly related to Automobile engineering. So it would be wise to check with the colleges what exactly is the difference in course content. Don't go by what the college says verbally.
Coming to my suggestion who did his bachelors in Mechanical engineering and has pursued career from day 1 in Automobile field - Keep your hoirzons open by opting for Mechanical or Electronics if one wants to make a career in the Automobile field. Masters is where one should really think of any specilization.
At the end of the day a bit of luck is always needed.
Stay positive, work hard and all the best.

[anoop_lamba]

Go for Electrical / Electronics from a reputed college would be my honest suggestion.

- An automotive electrical design engineer
B.E.-Electrical

[Gaur]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Hello BHPians, hope everyone is doing fine.

So to start off, I recently passed out of 12th and am currently preparing for my competitive exams. I had decided to pursue Mechanical Engineering primarily to get into the automobile industry. But after some research, my Dad suggested me to pursue Automobile engineering, as Mechanical will not go deeply into automobiles. Thing is, very few colleges in India offer Automobile engineering and I am completely unaware of which one to get into. I do have plans to pursue my post graduation in Germany after I complete my under graduate degree. What better place to ask about an Automobile Engineering college than Team-BHP.

I stay in Hyderabad, and I found that only two colleges offer Automobile engineering.



I really need your valuable and elaborate suggestions regarding the aforementioned. Even a small piece of information will really help me a lot.

Regards,
Kishor





PS: I searched for this topic but found threads which were very old/dead. Hence, created a new one.

I will start with answering your question straight away : Do not go for Automobile engineering in any college in India.
Go for Mechanical/electronics/mechatronics engineering, it always better in terms of flexibility it will offer you in future.

Anyways automobile engineering in India is basically Mech engg. + a few automobile related subjects, most of which can be taken as elective in Mech engg final years as well.

Now elaborating on my answer and sharing my experience to give you an additional perspective.

So, by education i am a Automobile engineer (by choice) from a pretty decent college affiliated to Mumbai university and fortunate enough to be working in the automotive industry for more then a decade now.

Still i would say no to any automobile degree in India for reasons already explained by others but repeating few of them in my words.

: Syllabus was outdated 15yrs back when i was studying its for sure outdated even now. i had a friend who got pissed off with the syllabus dropped out after 2nd yr and started all over in Italy in Vehicle designing.

: Experienced Faculty is a myth, syllabus alike most professors are far away from latest developments in the industry (wouldn't blame them entirely, industry is moving ahead rapidly)

: 4yrs from now automobiles will have more electronics, means more job opportunities for electronic engineers in automotive domain. its already happening, much closer at home my better half, an electronics engineer is working on autonomous driving technology though she never dreamed of working in automotive domain. and i see interesting developments happening in her domain compared to my (so-called) core domain.

: At grad level if studying in India try out for colleges with deep involvement in FSAE/Baja or similar final year projects, you will learn more then the sum of 4yrs u spend in classroom. i can say this with authority as i have "been there done that"
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ge-2009-a.html ("Karma" Wins FSAE Design Challenge 2009!)

: Doing Automobile engg. doesn't guarantee a job in core automobile industry (atleast in India), I know automobile engineers working in auto insurance and service centers after getting a degree.
On the contrary most engineers in core automotive domain are from pure mechanical engg.

: Even after getting campus placed in automotive engineering you may not get a field of your choice, i have a friend who has a masters degree in thermal engg from IIT Mumbai but got placed in structural domain in auto industry and now switched field and moved to Big Data/A.I/M.L .
Keep all options open.

: Post grad from Germany/U.S is good thing, you are thinking in right direction ,still 4yrs away so don't worry too much.

: Most important, keep the passion alive, automobiles is all about passion, we had a classmate who topped university but failed the 1st round interview of an automobile major, simply because he wasn't passionate about automobiles , he just wanted a degree, whereas back-benchers like us didn't care for marks but were more interested in getting our hands dirty learning new things.

: Post my graduation i did a 6 months certificate course in CAD/CAM/CAE from CITD, Hyderabad, the reason i am mentioning this is because more than the 4yr degree this short 6months course helped me get my first job, again not the certificate but what i did during the course, was lucky enough to work under a prof on real world projects and helped me with cracking my first interview few months later.

: Also important would be keep learning yourself, scripting/coding, new developments in automobiles. lots of free resources available online.

Finally whichever course you join, in India or abroad don't worry about placements, just focus on the course and enjoy the journey.