ANNUAL REPORT – Year 2009 – 2010
Dr. P.K. PRATAPCHANDRAN, Principal

Chief Guest for today’s function, Mr. T. Thenappan, General Manager, Indian Overseas Bank, Guest of honour Mr. C. Arun Pandian, noted film personality, Actor, Director & Producer,  Respected Chairperson Mrs. Prremalatha Vijaykant, Secretary and Correspondent of the college Mr. L.K. Sudhish, Vice Principal Dr. V. Narasimhan, Special VIP Invitees to this function, HODs, Members of the teaching faculty, Management & supporting staff, my dear students, members of the press and other media, Ladies & Gentlemen,

As the Principal of this college I am happy to present the Annual Report of the college for the academic year 2009 – 2010.  Another academic year is coming to a close but it looks like as if we have just started.   This academic year also there has been a steady improvement in all areas including infrastructure, academics, extra-curricular activities and placement.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Coming to infrastructure development, the second floor of the Academic block is nearing completion and will add another 45,000 sq.ft. to already existing 1,30,000 sq.f.t. here.  Work has commenced on the 2nd Ladies Hostel Block to house another 200 inmates as also the completion work on the approach road.

From an intake of just 180 and four UG programs in 2001, the present annual intake is over four hundred with 6 UG programmes.  State of the art laboratories and workshops have been set up in all the departments and the college has obtained its ISO certification in 2004 itself.  In this academic year we have obtained Accreditation from the National Board of Accreditation, New Delhi for all the six undergraduate programmes being offered by us.

An Interdisciplinary initiative named ‘Centre for Renewables and Environmentally Sustainable Technologies’ (CREST) has gained momentum and one of the Research papers produced here has been presented at the International Waste Working Group Symposium at Sardinia, Europe in October 2009.  The department of Biotechnology has been selected by the CSIR as a partner in Bioinformatics area for a Research project in Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) to combat Tuberculosis.  Another joint initiative in the pipeline is the formation of a ‘centre for photonics’ with ECE, EEE and Physics being the contributing departments.

IN THE ACADEMIC AREAN

There has been a steady progress in the academic pursuits of the college and of the colleges that were started along with us in 2001 we are among the top with respect to all round development.  

The faculty strength at present is 132.  As part of the quality improvement programme nine of the faculty are undergoing Master’s and five undergoing Doctoral programmes in various institutions.  The supporting staff strength is now 30 and other staff such as ministerial security etc., total 45 on the campus.

The students’ performance in the University Examinations has shown marginal improvement during the year.  One of our students Anupriya procured 12th rank in the final University Exams held last year.

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

The Electrical and Electronics Engineering association conducted “SHOCKER’S” on 02.03.2010    which was inaugurated by Mr. R.S. Babu, former Director BHEL, who spoke on ‘Industry Readiness of Graduate Engineers’. The Electronics & Communication Engineering association function was conducted on 03.03.2010 where Mr. Vipin Bhogal, COO, PL Haulwel Ltd., made a presentation on “Life skills”.  The Computer Science & Information Technology Department association function was held on 04.03.2010 At the Biotechnology department function on 06.03.2010 Mr. Ramani Subramaniam, Associate Vice President (R & D) SRF Ltd., spoke on ‘Research Methodologies’. The Mechanical Engineering department association invited Prof. Dr. L. Vijayaraghavan, from IIT-Madras, and Mr. K.T. Ilango, Senior Manager from SSPL, who spoke on ‘Manufacturing Trends’ and ‘Quality Assurance’ respectively.

Besides this, the Energy Club on the campus, the SAE Students Chapter and the ISTE have organized seminars & arranged visits to industries during the year.Dr. P. Pandian, Professor, CMC Medical Hospital, visited the campus and created awareness in Swine Flu in his talk.  Mr. Sudhir Oberoi, Vice President, PSL Ltd., delivered a guest lecture on ‘Manufacturing in the Global Arena’. 

LIBRARY

At present there are totally 22000 volumes and 6000 titles including reference books available in the library.    National and International Journals totally 80 are being subscribed.  There is a separate reference section with more than 300 books for students to prepare themselves for appearing in competitive examinations.  There is also a large collection of Educational CDs and DVDs.  The Library Management system is fully automated and used for tracing, issuing and reservation of books. 

The college library has been enrolled as member of INDEST – AICTE, Consortium through which we are subscribing all the online journals and magazines of IEEE, ASME and ESDU.  We also have membership in Madras Library Network (Malibnet, Chennai) and the British Council Library.

PLACEMENT & TRAINING

A great deal of emphasis is laid on Training & Placement activities starting from the entry year itself.  As part of the Industry Institute Initiative a full fledged placement and training cell headed by a full time senior faculty has been functioning on the campus since 2004 itself.  Thanks to the initiatives of the Management and logistics support from our Chennai office, reputed companies have started calling on us.  We have signed an MOU with M/s. ACE Panacea Softskills (P) Ltd., in this regard.

In the first year English language training is imparted to the students along with testing in quantitative and mathematics skills.  In the second year English speaking including conversation, dialogue, group discussion and public speaking skills are imparted.  In the third and fourth years training in communication skills, attitudinal change and interview skills development is emphasized together with preparation and writing of resume and cover letter.  This year we have also organized a one day workshop on 27th February 2010 for Faculty for enhancing the Teaching-Learning process.

Industrial visits and guest lectures are arranged every semester for every class to give students practical exposure and improve their confidence levels.  This year TNEB, Aavin, Ashok Leyland, PSL Ltd., NLC, Neyveli, Auto Tech Industries, Ennore Thermal Power Station & Madras Vetrinary College, Chennai were some of the visits.

On-Campus, Off-Campus and Joint-Campus interviews are arranged for final year students of the six undergraduate programmes.  Students have been placed in companies both in the software & core sectors.  These include CTS, PL Hauwel Trailers Ltd., United S/W Solution Pvt. Ltd., Educomp, Samsys Technologies, Firament Technologies and Captain Media.  The feedback about our Engineers & Technologists from these companies reassuring.

A one day workshop for Polytechnic College faculty entitled ‘Bridging the Gap’ was held on 18th December 2009 where faculty from all over Tamilnadu attended.

TECHNICAL EXHIBITION

This year also the Technical Exhibition cum Open House was organized on 20th & 21st October 2009.  Mr. P.K.N. Panicker, President, Chemical Industries Association, Chennai was the chief guest.  School students from Chengalpattu, Madurantakam, Kancheepuram, Kalpakkam and Tambaram viewed the various exhibits.  On the second day High School students were invited for a state level project contest cum exhibition where the best projects were selected and rewarded.

NSS ACTIVITIES

Shri Andal Alagar College of Engineering (SAACE) and Anna University jointly organized a 7 days special camp  between 25.01.2010 to 31.01.2010 at Kumaravadi Government School near Madurantakam.  The theme of the camp was “Healthy Youth for Healthy India”.  The camp was inaugurated by the Vice Principal.

Through outreach programs like the NSS, YRC & RRC we have reached out to the rural areas and tied up with schools for upliftment of the poor and the needy.
SIFE namely Students in Free Enterprise is another opportunity for students to participate in community development combined with Entrepreneurship Training.    An ornamental Fish project has been initiated.
As part of RRC activities Dr. Tandapani Resource person and Director, RRC, Kancheepuram addressed the students on issues related to personal health and hygiene.
 

STUDENTS WELFARE& CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

The Medical & Insurance scheme for students continues to be a great benefit to families affected by sudden setbacks in the family.  A passport procurement scheme launched last year continues to benefit the students.

SPORTS

Physical Education is an essential ingredient to tap a student’s full potential.  Three Physical Directors including a lady Physical Director look after the day-to-day sports activities on the campus.  Our students also participate in Zonal and University tournaments and athletic meets.

This year the college womens Table Tennis team was the zonal runnersup.  The Badminton team was placed third at the zone level.  In Athletics D. Pradeep Kumar, IV/IT, K. Venkatesh, I / EEE, S. Dinesh, III / IT, M. Soundari, III / ECE,  Evlin Titu, I/CSE, and in the University Inter Zonal Boxing Tournament T.S. Narendran, IV / ECE, M. Tamilselvan, II/BT, S. Premkumar, IV/ECE, S. Pandeeswaran, II/CSE, brought laurels to the college.

CONCLUSION

On behalf of the staff and students and on my own behalf, my prayers to the almighty for showering his blessings on us throughout.  I thank the Management for the continuous support, the Founder for gracing the campus during this year and for the total support given by our chairperson and the Secretary & Correspondent and for their keen interest in the day-to-day activities.

I thank the faculty, the management and supporting staff for their co-operation and I seek their continued support in the future.  Let us all strive and work together to build up this Institution into a model Engineering College of repute.

Thank you,