DTU forays into Management Studies

Having made its mark as a premier institute of technology, the Delhi Technological University (formerly the Delhi College of Engineering) is venturing into management studies from the session 2009-10. DTU, which attained university status this year, seems to be making optimum use of its newly acquired autonomy. 

Engineers-cum-Managers 
Learning managerial skills is undoubtedly very important for an engineer, and many engineering colleges have kept this in mind. Management programmes have been offered for more than a decade in the IITs, and DTU has now followed suit. But this university intends to be different. 

“Most of the time, engineers do an MBA and drift away from engineering, joining marketing or finance. So, while designing our MBA programme, we have ensured that technical focus is maintained while grooming future leaders,” said Dr. PB Sharma, DTU vice-chancellor. 

Who should study it? 
The MBA programme will have three specialisations - knowledge and technology management; supply chain management; and information technology management. The pilot batch started five weeks ago with 68 students. The students will branch out to any one of the three specialisations after the common first-year study programme. The eligibility criteria for the programme is an engineering degree with minimum 60 per cent marks, or a Master’s degree in any discipline of science with minimum 60 per cent marks, or a Master’s degree in commerce or economics. Selection is on the basis of the CAT (Common Admission Test) score, group discussion and personal interview. 

“We have kept admissions open even for non-engineers to create a heterogeneous group in the classroom. Quality of learning improves remarkably when students belong to diverse academic backgrounds,” says Prof. SK Garg, head of the Delhi School of Management, which runs the MBA programme in DTU. Interestingly, before it became a university, the DCE got the AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) approval for an MBA programme, but it could not convince Delhi University to set up a B-school on the DCE campus. 

“We were waiting for this (autonomy) to happen and had done our homework a long time ago, including designing the curricula and getting the AICTE approval. We made the curricula for all the courses after several rounds of discussions with the industry,” says Prof. Garg. The professor, who is also the head of training and placement in DTU, is hopeful of a good response from companies looking to hire. 

Vimal Chander Joshi
Source:www.campus.shine.com