Building bridges between syllabus and industry

With clubs in techstart.in such as ‘Java Script’,‘blogging’,‘security systems’,‘Linux’,‘PHP’ and so on,students can gain inputs from experienced professionals on various topics of their professional interest. “Every club on the website is owned by experienced professionals who guide the group members on the topic. For instance,Parag Shah is the guide for Java,Tarun Dua for open source technology and Tarun Chandel for blogging,” Murray said.

These professionals not only solve the students’ queries online but are committed to give two hours a week,which is equivalent to approximately 10 hours a month for addressing their groups. Dua,a Delhi-based professional who is the mentor for open source technology,said,“Other than guiding,we also give them tutorials and small exercises. Most of the students are well-versed with the basics and we just need to guide them in further reading. Most of the advanced systems that are used abroad are not known in India and it is,thus,important that our students know them well if they have to compete in the global market.”

He added,“Another advantage of this is that mentors on one topic can be group members for other topics. For instance,I am a mentor for open source technology but am a member of the topic blogging as I am interested in learning more about that topic.”

The mentors also give the students the opportunity to work on international projects,allowing them a chance to get hands-on experience of the industry. D Y Patil College engineering student Vipul Kalia,who is a member of the network security club on the website,said,“Text books teach us the basics,but I must also add that what is written in syllabus books is quite dated. With a community of this sort,available free of cost,students like us get groomed to enter the industry. In the backdrop of the economic recession,when getting a job is a tedious task,this is useful in order to market ourselves effectively in the industry.”