MES College of Engineering B.Tech Review By Shreekanth Kumar

I pursued my B. Tech from MES College of Engineering and would say the college is fine. There were some other colleges like CET Trivandrum, GEC Thrissur, MITS Ernakulam, and CUSAT Kochi. It doesn’t matter now because I ended up at MES and happy. One thing with Engineering students of not just MES but Kerala as a whole is that the passing percentage in engineering is quite low. That is why half the Kerala is seen working in Gulf countries as Indian companies avoid taking students who have passed writing supplementary exams. This is why the college’s placement record is poor, and it will remain so because only one out of 3 passes their exams in one go, and the rest all have to go under the hammer. MES has addressed this issue during my time, and the results have started improving. Students dropping mid-way, which is common in Kerala, is least at MES as they back the students till the moon. One has to stand up and applaud MES for their efforts.

It’s written in the stars that Kerala will never produce good engineers because the course and the syllabus are mostly irrelevant. Why do I study IT subject when I am pursuing mechanical? It’s the other way round as well as IT students also have to study about machines. I seriously don’t know if it is for real, but yes, friends, this is how it is in Kerala. Also, out of 8 subjects that we had in all semesters, one has to clear 6 to go to the next semester or you will be dropped for that semester. Thus, four years of engineering will take you a while to complete.

The best thing about MES is that they have got rid of those strict old teachers and brought in some inspiring young teachers. Some of the non-teaching faculty were snobbish and rude but the teaching faculty were outstanding. Just because the university sets the papers, they had to make us study what’s there in the books; they took time out and taught us the things required in mechanical stream. Faculty even went against the management to have students for extra classes. Students were more than happy to be a part of it, and students and faculty relations at MES went hand in hand during our batch.

Extremely poor as those who have appeared for supplementary exams straightaway becomes ineligible by the placement cell. They are allowed to appear for the interviews, but they don’t help those students from their end. Even those all who clear all their papers are not guaranteed a job so no point dreaming for placements from MES. Some who got placed through campus have bagged extremely good offers, but that is more because of their own talent or something that the companies saw in them but not the college. Overall, placements are quite poor, and the scenario doesn’t seem like it’s changing soon.

There are 2 boys and 1 girls hostel inside the campus. One of the boys hostel is old and have soil all around it. The other one is beautifully built and is for 3rd and final year students. The new hostel has a ground at its backside and a garden in front. The guards also don’t mind if students wish to stay in the gardens for long hours. The in time for the hostels though is quite strict as it is 7.30 pm for girls and 8 pm for boys. Most students are from Kerala state, and food served in the hostel mess is authentic Kerala food. The hostels weren’t that clean though, and more than anyone else, it’s the students who should be blamed for that as they were the ones who kept the hostel untidy.

The campus is quite big and has ample facilities in it. There are 3 academic buildings and one building with a library and a reading room separate for boys and girls. There’s a huge auditorium block, and an SBI bank branch is available at the campus. There are two canteens at the campus, and one can savour the best south Indian dishes at those canteens.

Difference of opinion among students, teachers, and management was quite common. Due to that, sometimes students would do a mass bunk or sometimes teachers would say they won’t take classes. The end result was that students had to suffer while some enjoyed as they were happy not to be going to classes and having fun at the campus. The campus was fun, though, as many activities were happening all around the year.