GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL

UNIVERSITY

AHMEDABAD

A REPORT

ON BRIDGE COURSE (2016-17)

Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya Engineering College

(An Autonomous Institution) Vallabh Vidyanagar – 388 120

BVM is managed by Charutar Vidya Mandal, (CVM) a registered charitable trust established in 1945. Since

its inception the trust has been striving for the upliftment of rural society through education. BVM is a

premier institute of CVM founded in 1948. The BVM Board of Governors defines the major policies and

guidelines which govern the activities and future growth of the college and also monitors closely the

functioning of the college. The college received an autonomous status in the year 2015 and it has become

the first autonomous college of Gujarat state.

Aiming at making the engineering smoother for the entrants, BVM has organized a two week bridge-course.

Its objective is to provide ample of time and a platform for the transition of students from school to the

hard-core engineering. In spite of having very good grades at Higher Secondary Exam, students had long

break since the month of April. Hence bridge course proves to be the best opportunity for the students to

adapt themselves to new social and academic environment. During this interaction of 2 weeks with the

experts and their classmates, the students will be equipped with the knowledge and the confidence needed

to take on bigger challenges as future engineers of this country. The bridge course in BVM Engineering

College was funded by TEQIP II Programme.

The bridge course initiated with registration followed by orientation programme on 4th August 2016. The

students with their great enthusiasm reported and registered themselves at the college. Orientation

programme was aimed to enhance students’ familiarity with the faculties, BVM Campus and the varied

activities of the institution. With a fresh startup of the bridge course, the students were exposed to the

milieu of the institution with zeal and enthusiasm. For the current bridge course, the committee members

planned to involve expert lectures and activity based learning. Keeping in mind the number of freshly

enrolled students, the bridge course committee split the whole group into two groups i.e. Group one

involved students of Civil, Mechanical and Production (Division 1, 2, 6, 7, 8) Engineering and Group two

involved students of Computer, electrical, Electronics, Electronics and communication and Information

Technology (Division 3, 4, 5, 9, 10) engineering. The college invited experts from different institutions to

interact with the new entrants and brief the learners with their expertise in various fields along with expert

talks the students were exposed to village visit and industrial visits for catering their social as well as

technical side of learning. On one hand expert talks aimed to equip students with industry experts

experience and knowledge; on the other hand the village and industrial visits were to enhance learners’

understanding and experience of society and industry in real way. An apt team of Faculties including Prof.

Shailesh Bhagat, Mr. Tridip Macwan, Mr. Nilesh Sonara, Mr. Ishan Pandya, and Mr. Mehul Patel actively

coordinated all the bridge course events.

The inaugural function for the bridge course was held in the BVM Auditorium on 5th August 2016 under

the chair of Dr. I. N. Patel (I/c Principal) and Dr. T. A. Desai (Bridge Course Convener). Being the Chair of

the inauguration function, Dr. I. N. Patel announced the programme open. He quoted the importance of soft

skills, discipline, and application of engineering for the betterment of the society in his address to the

students. Welcoming the students to the institution, he appealed the students to utilize the resources at the

most of their capacity for academic enhancement. He also briefed the students about the objectives behind

the entire bridge course programme and asked the students to participate in expert talks and the activities

designed for bridge course. The inauguration function ended up with the vote of thanks by Dr. T. A. Desai

which was followed by scheduled expert talks.

Expert Talks The college invited experts from different institutions to interact with the new entrants and brief the learners with their expertise in various fields. The committee unanimously decided to have experts from different section of the society which included professionals from Brahmakumaris, Endeavour Careers, Waymade College of Education, Bachpan (NGO), Microsoft and R. N. Patel Ipcowala School of Law and

Justice. The details of Expert talks are as mentioned:

Sr.

No. Name of Expert Name of Organization Topic for the Session

1. Ujjwal Nagar Endeavour Careers Soft Skills (Indoor)

2. Ujjwal Nagar Endeavour Careers Lab of Entrepreneurship Motivation

3. Dr. Chirag Darji Waymade College of

Education Map + Authentic Material

4. Dr. Dipali Gandhi Waymade College of

Education Per. Tab + Psychological Games

5. Prof. Bhumika Mangrola Waymade College of

Education Creativity + Critical Thinking

6. Dr. Bharti Rathod Waymade College of

Education Stories: Strip, Jigsaw

7. Prof. Kirit Vaniya Waymade College of

Education Cue Card + Simulation

8. Bk Vinay Pandya Brahmakumaris Dialogue with Self for Self

Development

9. Team of 8 – 10 people Endeavour Careers Soft Skills (Outdoor)

10. Ujjwal Nagar Endeavour Careers Profile building in 4 years of

engineering

11. Abhishek Kaul Endeavour Careers Campus vs. Corporate

12. Mr. Ujjval Nagar Endeavour Careers Conversational Skills, basics of E-mail

Writing, PPT Preparation

13. Prof. P. M. George R. N. Patel Ipcowala School

of Law and Justice Social Medial for Society and Law

14. Mr. Jagdish Salsa Microsoft Stress Management and Soft Skills

15. Mr. Pratik Bhatt Bachpan Engineers’ Social Responsibility

Flairs of Expert Talks & Soft Skills Activities

Village & Industry Visit Village visit and Industrial visits were arranged for the students for catering their social as well as technical side

of learning. Village and Industrial visits were to enhance learners’ understanding and experience of society and

industry in real way. The village visit was organized for the student in different regions of the Anand District

which involved various villages including Kasor, Meghva, Ajarpura, Sunav, Samarkha, Khamnholaj, Bochasan

and Ghana. Students were taken for the one day industrial exposure to the different companies ELECON,

ATLANTA, AMUL, HIMSON & FINECAST, RHINO INDUSTRIES. The BVM Faculties including Prof. F.R.

Vera, and Prof. J. N. Jain coordinated the event actively and the response of students exhibited a positive response.

Glimpse of Village Visit & Industry Visit

With the cooperation of the students and the faculty members the bridge course was able to record the feedbacks

of the students in Expert talks, Village Visit and Industry Visit. The faculties deputed from the individual

departments were totally involved in the responsibilities reposed in them and they were able to motivate the

students towards the importance of each and every event organized for the students which made the Bridge Course

a successful event in the College.

Conclusion New entrants got adequate time for the transition to hard core engineering courses with the help of Teaching learning exposures provided on entrepreneurship Development, Profile building in four years of engineering, Self-development and Life Skills, Social Media for Society and Law. Bridge course objectives are well satisfied. Students are made aware about multidisciplinary areas and their developments and developed ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems. Interaction with experts, faculties and classmates remained outstanding. Students have gained practical knowledge of village people life style and started thought process to solve their problems. BVM Engineering College has successfully completed the bridge course and Bridge course

in the institute was welcomed with a positive note by all the staff members.