For the students aspiring to enroll in the University or are already a part of the university are welcomed here! Now, let us see what are the happenings going on, and read what the students and the professors of NorthCap University have to say! –

How to get a good internship opportunity?

Date: June 29, 2019

Undergoing a good internship can lead to a great start in your career. But the major challenge for an engineering student is to find the right kind of opportunity. Good Internships are not just for the few top universities, but nowadays, one can find the right kind of opportunity by keeping in mind the mentioned tips.

Start early

The first step is to start early, if you know that you want to get an internship in July then start at least three months prior to that. So that one can get ample time for submitting the applications and build necessary contacts.

Know your interests

​The next step is to get an idea of what are your interests. If you are still confused about your interests then talk to your seniors or refer articles on internship experiences. Follow blogs on Quora etc.

Make a resume

There is a requirement of skilled students in the companies, the point here is to show your skills to the employer so that the employer can see you as a future employee. There are many things that can be highlighted in your resume. A good resume can be made while studying in college only.

  • Start learning new module based courses: one can now learn any sort of module based course like analytics, CNC based programming, MATLAB, etc. that would add a skill to your career. Highlighting this added skill can be a plus point in your resume.
  • Undergo projects: working on a project can teach you teamwork which is generally required in the companies. Highlighting your projects can demonstrate teamwork.
  • Join the clubs/ societies: Joining a club or a society already there in the university/ department may teach you a skill that would help you in getting a good internship/placement opportunity. Moreover, many industry experts are also linked to these societies, that would also help you to get a good reference that needs to be added to the resume. We at Mechanical Engineering department, The NorthCap University have Society of Automotive Engineering, ISHRAE, etc that helps the students undertake projects, participate in different competitions, also we invite many industry experts for the guest lectures which helps the students enhancing their practical skills and also helps to make connections with them.
  • Make the resume presentable: There are several software tools that would enhance the presentation quality of your resume. A presentable resume would be eye-catching for the employer to get you shortlisted.

Find out your dream Company 

Make a list of your dream companies and start following up their websites for updates on the hiring opportunities, what skills are they looking for. Make contact with the professionals of these industries via LinkedIn. Companies nowadays do look for your LinkedIn profile before hiring. Do ask your professors, Training placement cell officers in order to make a contact with these officials.

Know what the companies want

Before applying to the company, if you know what skill is required by the company, then it would be a bit easy to get shortlisted. This will help you in getting a job opportunity with them too.

Stay in touch with the professors

One of the ways to get an internship to contact those whom you feel are connected to the business world. Talk to your professors or Alumni who may have contacts and may refer you to get internships. Students at NCU do approach faculty members for the internship as we are having contacts with the industries; we tie up the students with an official that would be helping him/her in the internship, that type of internship would prove beneficial as they would be having regular meetings with the allotted professional. Thus, the golden rule is to network with the academic staff.

Apply to the companies and do follow up

Next step is to apply in those companies may be your made contact would help you in applying. Many of the students apply to the companies but they do not follow up. A follow up can remind the person about your internship application and may lead to a clear chance of getting the opportunity.

By Anmol Bhatia
Assistant Prof. (Sr. Scale)
Dept. of ME, The NorthCap University, Gurugram.

The power of observation vs. the simple act of seeing

Date: June 29, 2019

How often do we sit and wonder the importance of observing various things with immense concentration and utmost attention could lend us the potential to understand things to the depth of its value of existence and creating unique pattern via such observations.

Observation is something we often do reactively. Observation helps us decide whether it’s safe to step out of the car in the middle of the traffic and helps to determine if cookies are ready to come out of the oven. Observation is more than simply noticing something.

Nature has the diversified combination of various aspects that could only be felt and understood by our observation not to be confused by the word seeing or looking. So how is seeing differentiated from the observation? Well, seeing at things is a physical process that doesn’t involve any efforts, Observation in seeing accompanied by our thoughts. No one could deny the fact that so many new start-ups and initiatives that are coming up in the recent times providing the most feasible solution to the daily problems and challenges people face, the entrepreneurs must have devoted extreme time and attention to their observations.

So how do we increase our observational skills?

1. Introspection in silence

Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. We are always accompanied by relentless thoughts and virtual problems that merely exist in our mind. This is one of the biggest hindrances on the way to observations. Observation needs efforts, efforts to think and perceive things that are possible if the mind is stable and crystal clear. If you are rushing you will never have time to observe, hence learn to be quite in order to observe the beauty of this world.

2. Record your thoughts

Now, no doubt you have immense potential to quiet the mind but humans have a natural tendency to forget incidences too quickly that could be extremely fatal until we have an alternative option way to get on the right track. So, I personally carry a small notepad wherever I go to note it down, making the observations worth remembering.

3. Be courteous and open to learning

We search and create role models for inspirations and learn from them. But powerful learning lessons can be learned from anyone irrespective of its age, gender, caste, etc. during any conversation by simply paying attention and listening rather than mere hearing.

“Whenever I meet people, I always have the feeling that I am encountering another human being, just like myself. I find it is much easier to communicate with others on that level. If we emphasize specific characteristics, like I am Tibetan or I am Buddhist, then there are differences. But those things are secondary. If we can leave the differences aside, I think we can easily communicate, exchange ideas, and share experiences.” — The Dalai Lama

Creativity is the ability to think differently and be unique enough to perceive the world in extremely new ways, to find hidden patterns, do permutation and combinations with the observations making connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena and hence providing a relevant solution to a problem. Creativity involves two basic processes thinking and producing accompanied by the simple act of observation. Hence, proper observation of human daily tasks and various problems and challenges faced by them is the most crucial way to create a relevant solution and then implementing them wherever needed.

Observing each day leads to meaningful learning. Multiply this over and over again to inculcate this skill and you’ll have wisdom, purpose, and joy. Each day we have 24 hours with 86400 seconds that lends infinite chances to accumulate a profound life lesson or insight. Does it always happen? No. But it is much more likely if you choose to actively observe instead of just passively see. Observation is the key to lifelong learning and learning is not limited to the classroom or a structured form when you actively observe. When you humbly approach life with a desire to observe and learn, you’ll find purpose and meaning in life.

By Naveen Goyal
www.newnaveen.com
B.Tech (ME) | Batch: 2014-18
NorthCap University, Gurugram

GATE: The pathway to fulfilling your dreams

Date: June 29, 2019

For the students who missed the premier institutes of the country like IITs/NITs and other top private colleges in their undergraduate, the dream of being an IITian/NITian becomes so far-fetched that they stop dreaming about it. They stop exploring the options that could still get them to their dream institutions and miss out on big opportunities. For a student belonging to tier 2 or tier 3 college, there are options like summer internship where they can contact any IIT professor from their field of interest and grab the chance to do a summer internship or training program under them.

Another option that can be explored is GATE, the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering which can be attempted in any stream that the student chooses for his/her B Tech program. GATE is an examination that is conducted by IISC(Indian Institute of Science) seven IITs namely Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Madras, Kharagpur, Roorkee, and Guwahati every year during the first or second week of February. The test is focused on testing the comprehensive understanding of the undergraduate subjects along with aptitude and math. The subjects in  Gate are primarily those subjects which form the core of that particular stream like Operating System, Computer Networks, Algorithms and Theory of Computation for Computer Science and Engineering, Electronic Devices, Digital and Analog Systems, Communications and Electromagnetics for Electronics Engineering and so on.

Most of the students enjoy their time in BTech and just study to pass the exams not giving due importance to the basics and the core subjects of their particular stream and when they get to know about this, they need to take coaching so as to cover all the subjects along with their ongoing internships or training and simultaneously prepare for placement interviews as well. This could well be avoided by just keeping your goal in focus right from the start and then exploring all of the options that can lead you towards your goal.

One of the easiest strategies to crack examinations like GATE is to study the core subjects of your stream with complete focus and attention, keeping the basics of these subjects’ clear while the subjects are being taught in the college curriculum. This gives the student an added advantage of having enough time to be able to complete the syllabus well before the exam.

Along with understanding the basics of the subject, the student should keep a tab on previous year papers of GATE to have an idea about the type of questions asked in the exam. Practicing the questions along with the theory gives the student a better grasp on the concept and its applications.

Apart from the core subjects of the particular stream, two major subjects that are a part of GATE are Mathematics and Aptitude. Aptitude basically consists of Verbal and Numerical Ability which is generally easy to a moderate level and can be an easy scoring area. Engineering mathematics is also a part of the undergraduate college curriculum and always contains a significant weight in the GATE exam. The level of math questions may vary from stream to stream and the focus on different areas within can be different for different streams such as in CSE, Discrete Mathematics forms the major chunk of questions and Calculus is generally easier as compared to those of other streams. ECE, Civil and Mechanical streams consist of Differential Equations and Numerical methods apart from Calculus and Probability and Statistics.

Focusing and clearing GATE exam with a good score opens another pathway for students, that is PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings). Most of the state and central PSUs call students for interviews based on their GATE Score and All India Rank. Major central PSUs such as IOCL (Indian Oil Corporation), ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Center), DRDO (Defence Research And Development Organisation) select students through GATE depending on their streams.

Apart from PSUs, qualifying GATE exam makes the student eligible for Junior Research Fellowship in CSIR Laboratories and CSIR sponsored projects. Also, GATE Score is considered valid by multiple foreign universities as a part of their selection process. Some of the universities that consider GATE score are National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore), Technical University of Munich(Germany) and RWTH Aachen University(Germany).

By Ms. Monika Yadav
Asst. Professor, Dept. of CSE & IT
NorthCap University, Gurugram