VTU makes prototype projects mandatory for engineering students

The Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has announced that all engineering students under its jurisdiction will have to henceforth develop a prototype project, either machinery or services. A separate app will be developed to monitor these projects, said Prof. S. Vidya Shankar, Vice-Chancellor, VTU. 

Speaking at a press conference in the city on Friday, he said students have to step out, identify the problems in various fields, analyse them, and find a solution by the end of their first semester. For this, VTU will award one credit to students. “This will provide students with necessary skill training and real-time work experience and make them employable. VTU will include skill programmes, prototyping, idea developing, and design thinking in the first semester itself, to make students entrepreneurs, instead of job seekers,” he said.

“A separate app will be developed to monitor these projects, and students will have to upload the prototypes they have developed on this app. These will be examined and given credit points,” Prof. Vidya Shankar explained.

VTU has already provided training to 2,000 students in collaboration with ERA Foundation in this regard, he said, adding that a demonstration of the prototypes developed by these students will be organised at all VTU centers on February 28.

ASI training

VTU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chiac ASI, a United Kingdom-based company, said to be one of the first Super Intelligence firms, to train engineers in Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), a future technology. 

“ASI is poised to create a revolution by 2030, while also controlling the ever-expanding AI. By adopting this, VTU students will be introduced to future technology. In addition, Chiac ASI will provide free internships to more than a thousand students and ASI textbooks to engineering college lecturers for effective teaching. These are not ordinary books; rather, they are self-updating research textbooks that evolve as research develops. Workshops have also been conducted for lecturers in VTU-affiliated colleges on this technology,” he added.

Chandrashekar Nagaraju, Chief Executive Officer, Chiac ASI, said that from a national security perspective, it was an urgent necessity for India to establish leadership in the field of ASI before 2030. “The United States of America (USA) and China are already advancing technology at great speed. In this regard, our goal is to shape one million engineering talents in India to work in this field. As the world’s largest technological university, VTU is ready to produce 400,000 skilled engineers trained in ASI. This is a highly significant contribution to the nation,” he said.