National Institute of Technology M.Tech Review By Ashish Vedanabatla

For civil engineering students, NIT, Trichy, the college offers a special course of Construction Technology. One drawback or maybe advantage of NIT Trichy was that the college is situated at off the limits of the city. Also, Trichy is far from famous cities of TN so one has nothing else to do but studies. Whenever I thought of go to a restaurant for having a dessert, or to go to a movie or shopping, it took me at least an hour to reach that place. So, most of the times, I actually dropped the idea of leaving the campus as we can roam inside the campus in our shorts and the food provided at the hostels was no less than in pursuit of a happy meal. If the location was the harm, then there are a greater number of positives inside the campus. NIT Trichy is one of the oldest NITs and therefore all the facilities that are being included in NITs are first allocated to NIT Trichy.

There were many transformation activities that went on during the year. Construction technology was made possible at the campus as the campus always had some construction going on. In the scorching heat, we had to stand in the queue and understand the technology because that is how we were supposed to work in future. NIT, Trichy is a leading institute in terms of academics as it has inherited the on time delivery from BITS Pilani, latest syllabus from IIT Madras, and flexibility like VIT.

The in-take is less at NIT Trichy and also not many students come this far apart from the students from the state. The faculty too are passed out from the same college but have been teaching from last 20 years. They have their quarters at the campus and one can go to their quarters for asking questions. They never mind students approaching them before their drinking time. Well jokes apart, the faculty of the college was a high end one as they used all the advanced method of teaching. They made our lives difficult but as a Civil engineer, we had no choice but had to learn how to work under extreme conditions.

Dilip Buildcon has been the college partner in this course. So, all the 70 students of Construction Technology were hired by them at an annual package of 8-10 LPA. The figures are as good as MBA students and these figures match the figures of kind of salary offered at IIT Madras. So, in terms of placements, NIT Trichy is at par with IIT. The internship was done in Chennai and it was a hardcore internship because for two months at a stretch we were not allowed a single holiday. All that was for good because if somebody would have asked me to work hard for two months and get a job as good as I got, I would have taken it hands down.

Unlike VIT, the hostels of NIT were little old and also didn’t had ACs. However, we had coolers in our rooms and PG hostel also had balconies in their rooms. Dining hall was clean and hygienic as we were served a three-course meal from breakfast to dinner. From Idli Vada to Uttapam, we had plenty of variety for the breakfast. Likewise in lunch and dinner too, we had ample choices to choose from. Hostels were a compulsory option for students opting NITs and all that for right reasons.

It is bigger than IIT Madras as the campus was wide and large. In two year’s time to see every inch of the campus one will have to take some additional time out as one ground was in the east and the other at the west. Nearly 12000 students stay at the campus and to cater their food and other demands, there are two shops at the campus. One was a dairy shop and the other one a general store that sold packed foods and medical aid. The temperature remained high for most part of the year, so I avoided using the sports ground but indoor sporting facilities were good enough to shed some extra weight that I gained at the campus. For fitness freaks there is a 400m running track, a gymnasium and yoga hall with instructor. Students were to use all the campus facilities at will as there was no stopping of students even if they wish to roam around from one place to another even at the night.

Our course was such that apart from guest lectures from big names like Pranab Mukherjee and Anand Mahindra, I hardly attended any. There was no compulsion for students to participate in events or fests and so I avoided those as well. NIT Trichy organizes an inter college fest among NIT students every year and is called Festember. The institute is ever developing and the facilities will only get better so that students can enjoy a great campus life.