Civil engineering was among the first core engineering disciplines started in the engineering areas. Over time many other disciplines have evolved like computer engineering, instrumentation, bio-technology, mechatronics, electronics, communications, quantum, systems engineering and so on – on top of the other two core disciplines of mechanical & electrical. But even with so much evolution of engineering over the decades and years, Tier 2/3 colleges face a challenge of placing civil engineering pass outs in management & technology areas. Bridge courses do exist if pass outs join technology firms but these placements are few and far in-between with a steep learning curve. Trends for empty seats in engineering in Tier 2 / 3 colleges in last few years indicate similar points as mentioned in this blog.

Problems for civil engineers in Tier 2 / 3 colleges / universities in terms of employability include:

• Super-specialized Master of Technology / Master of Engineering which are highly isolated from other disciplines like mechanical, electrical, electronics among others.
• Bachelor of Technology being heavily focussed on core areas of civil with less skills being developed for collaborative working in management & technology areas.
• Outside of design and super-specialization, civil engineers find employment in maintenance of bridges, buildings and so on other than construction management which is largely dependent on economy and thus, not always a good, long term, stable employment option.

Subjects in civil engineering especially in Tier 2 / 3 colleges in India fall into below categories:

• Year 1 – Introductory courses of mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanical, electrical & electronics engineering, engineering labs along with mechanics, engineering drawing and so on
• Year 2 / 3 / 4 – Subjects from structural / earthquake / computer based design theories and engineering, environmental engineering, transportation, soil & foundation engineering, water / irrigation / hydraulics engineering, geology, surveying, town planning, basics of remote sensing, advanced mathematics and high level basics of programming and construction management

Persistent problem with above course structure is the lack of skills related to digital, technology, modern management and inter-disciplinary subjects. Employment & startup world in 21st century has shifted to technology, modern management, bio-technology, advanced applied engineering and similar areas over time. Core civil engineering jobs exist with good salaries as well but they lock engineers into those areas without an option to easily switch to other areas. Changes from civil engineering into MSc Computer Science and such are still not very popular though allowed now in India in recent years.

Here are my suggestions for Tier 2 / 3 colleges for civil engineering:

• Year 2 / 3 / 4 should include more subjects of mechanical & electrical engineering
• Many of the subjects around building & construction management should be converted to lesser credit workshop or practical mode and some credits should be saved from there. These credits should be switched to technology & modern management.
• Multiple subjects around hydraulics, structural engineering, advanced mathematics, soil & foundation engineering and similar should be consolidated into 1 or maximum 2 subjects in each of these areas to make way for mechanical, electrical, technology & modern management subjects.
• Geo-informatics & remote sensing should be taught in more detail including overlapping subjects with electronics like micro-processors / controllers & communications / networks.
• Many courses like transportation should have a much larger component of practical, simulations, case studies, design software included in them.

Such changes would make the civil engineering course more relevant to modern 21st century job / startup / business / collaborative world. Also, switching from Bachelor of Technology / Engineering to Master of Science in Computer Science in post graduation should be encouraged. As of now students do shift from Civil engineering to MBA but other options as described in my blog also need to be considered.

Would be keen to hear thoughts of fellow civil engineers. Email me: Neil@HarwaniSystems.in