Engineering
While talking about advancement in science and technology, we’re generally referring to the huge strides taken by mankind in the field of technology and engineering. Starting from simple household gadgets to complicated medical equipments and supersonic jets to super fast computers all are the gifts of engineering and technology. In the technology driven world of today, engineering and technology have become an integral part of growth and advancement for any country.

An engineer applies scientific principle, theories and methods not only for finding solutions to technical problems but also in making new discoveries and designing new products and improving and modifying existing machines and systems. With the advancement in science and technology, there has been a tremendous increase in the scope of engineering and it no longer remains restricted to fields like civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. In fact courses in as many as 25 different branches of engineering are being offered today.

Engineering has a role to play in almost all the sectors of industry. With the dependence on IT growing all around, qualified engineers specializing in IT and related areas are required not only in the manufacturing sector but in large numbers in the service sector as well. Demand for qualified engineers is therefore there in almost all the sectors of industry. However, those with industry specific engineering qualification like telecommunications, computers, automobiles or technology specific qualifications such as ultrasonics, vacuum technology, polymer technology etc have even a better scope. Nowadays management courses have also become very popular with engineering graduates. The added qualification provides them with a tremendous advantage in the job market and they enter the industry not merely as engineers but as technocrats, ready to take up production, sales or marketing careers.

Government sector also has good openings for engineers. Other than the Public Sector Enterprises like BHEL, SAIL, NTPC etc., UPSC conducts an exclusive exam every year, called Indian Engineering Service (IES), for recruitment of engineers specializing in various fields, in organizations like the Railways, CPWD, Military Engineering Service etc. Civil Service is also quite a popular option with graduate engineers. Engineering subjects being more scoring, they have an edge over students from other streams, like humanities, in qualifying such exams. Management, Art and Design, Consultancy are some of the related career options for an engineer.

Educational Qualification:
There are three different levels of engineering courses available in the country. First are the degree courses offered by institutes like IITs, BHU, BITS and RECs second are the diploma courses offered by polytechnics and the third is training imparted in different engineering trades by the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). Here we would be concerned only with the first level of engineering courses i.e. degree courses.

Any candidate after successfully completing 10+2 with physics, chemistry and mathematics as subjects is eligible for pursuing a degree course in engineering. These courses are of 4 years duration and admission in them is either on the basis of merit i.e. marks obtained at 10+2 level or on the basis of selection through entrance examination.

The institute plays a very crucial role in determining the shape of a career in engineering and students passing out from reputed institutes like IITs are in great demand by the industry. Those passing out from such institutes are assured of a head start in their careers and are mostly recruited from the campus, by the end of their final year, with starting emoluments of upto Rs. 4.5.lakhs per annum. Most of them also have the alternative of going abroad, for further studies, on scholarship.

The branch of engineering is the second most important determinant in shaping of a career. Those choosing Computer Science, Electronics and Telecommunications would definitely have an edge over others as on today. However it must be realized that the more reputed the institute and more in demand the course the tougher it would be to get admission. Getting into one of the IITs, RECs or other good institutes like Roorkee Engineering College would require good grounding in physics, chemistry and mathematics and thorough preparation for the entrance examination.

In a recent survey, by a leading newsmagazine, the following have been rated as the top 10 engineering institutes in the country.

IIT Powai (Mumbai)	IIT Chennai	IIT Delhi
IIT Kanpur	IIT Kharagpur	BITS Pilani
Delhi College of Engineering Delhi	Roorkee Engineering College, Roorkee	PSG Coimbatore
IIT Guwahati

Realizing the huge gap between demand and supply for quality education in professional areas like engineering and its limitations in establishing more institutes or providing more funds to the existing ones government has permitted charging of capitation fees for admissions and reserving seats for NRIs to many institutes.

There is also the Associate Membership Examination (AMIE) of the Institute of Engineers that enables working people in the private and public sector or Diploma Holders to acquire a Bachelors’ Degree through distance learning for career advancement.