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The Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat (Hindi: सरदार वल्लभभाई राष्ट्रीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान , सूरत) (Gujarati: સરદાર વલ્લભભાઈ રાષ્ટ્રીય પ્રૌદ્યોગિકી સંસ્થાન) also known as NIT Surat or SVNIT, is an autonomous engineering and technology oriented institute of higher education established by the Government of India in 1961. It is one of 30 National Institutes of Technology in India recognized by the Government Of India as an Institute of National Importance.^[1]

NIT Surat was established to train scientists and engineers to cater to the country's growing need for R&D and technological manpower. It shares its organizational structure and undergraduate admission process with sister NITs. The students and alumni of NIT Surat are informally referred to as SVNITians. The institute offers undergraduate, postgraduate and Doctoral courses in Engineering and Technology, Science, Humanities and Management.

The institute organizes annual cultural and technical festivals: MindBend (technical festival), Sparsh (social and cultural festival) and Autumnfest (automotive festival) that attract participants from all over the country and abroad.

History[link]

It was the dream of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to see India emerge as a leader in science and technology. In order to serve the growing demand for trained quality technical manpower, the Government Of India started fourteen RECs between 1959 and 1965 (NITs located at Bhopal, Allahabad, Calicut, Durgapur, Kurukshetra, Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Nagpur, Rourkela, Srinagar, Surathkal, Surat, Tiruchirappalli, and Warangal).

Sardar Vallabhbhai Regional College of Engineering and Technology was established in June 1961 as a co-operative venture between the Government of India and the Government of Gujarat. It is named after India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

A review committee (HPRC) was set up by the Union Government in 1998 for review of RECs. The HPRC, under the chairmanship of Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, submitted its report entitled "Strategic Road Map for Academic Excellence of Future RECs" in 1998. Following the recommendations of HPRC, in 2002, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India upgraded, all the seventeen Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) to National Institutes of Technology (NITs). In 2003 the institution was granted Deemed University status with the approval of the UGC/AICTE and was renamed Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology.

On 5 June 2007, the Parliament of India passed the National Institutes of Technology Act declaring it an Institute of National Importance which came in effect on Independence Day 2007.

Administration[link]

NIT Surat shares a common Visitor (a position held by the President of India) and the NIT Council with other NITs who is the most powerful person in the NIT organizational structure.

Below the NIT Council is SVNITs Board of Governors consisting of 12 members that includes representatives of the state of Gujarat, MHRD in addition to other members appointed by the NIT Council and the institute's senate.The Director serves under the Board of Governors, and is the school's chief academic and executive officer. Under the director and the deputy director are the deans, heads of departments, registrar, dean of students' council, and Chief Hostel Warden.

The Registrar is the chief administrative officer and oversees day-to-day operations. He is the custodian of records, funds, and other properties of the institute.Under the charge of the heads of departments (HOD) are the faculty (full-time professors as well as those of associate and assistant status). The wardens of hostels are placed under the Chief Hostel Warden in the organization.^[2]

NIT Surat receives funding from Government of India of Rs.500 million per year. Other sources of funds include student fees and research funding by industry-sponsored projects. NIT Surat subsidizes undergraduate student fees by approximately 80% and provide scholarships to all M.Tech. students and research scholars to encourage them to pursue higher studies.

The academic policies of NIT Surat are decided by its senate.It consists of all professors of the institute, and administrative and student representatives. The senate controls and approves the curriculum, courses, examinations and results and appoints committees to look into academic matters. The teaching, training and research activities of the institute are reviewed by the senate to maintain educational standards. The director is the ex officio chairman of the senate.

NIT Surat follows the credit-based system of performance evaluation, with proportional weighting of courses based on their importance. The total marks (usually out of 100) form the basis of grades, with a grade value (out of 10) assigned to a range of marks. For each semester, the students are graded by taking a weighted average from all the courses with their respective credit points. Each semester's evaluation is done independently with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) reflecting the average performance across semesters. The medium of instruction is English.

Campus[link]

The campus is located near Ichchhanath in the city of Surat. The campus is spread over 265 acres (1 km2) of lush green forest. The main entrance is located on the southern end of the campus, facing Surat-Dumas Highway 13 km from the Surat Railway Station. The 1.1 square kilometres (265 acres) campus has 5000 inhabitants which includes 210 faculty members and approximately 3,500 students living on the campus hostels.

Academic buildings[link]

NIT Surat has nine academic departments in addition to laboratories and central research facilities. The institute's academic facilities are located in the north-western part of the campus; these include the department buildings, laboratories, lecture halls, the computer centre and the central library. Each department has its own library, in addition to the central library.

The main building houses most of the administrative offices of the institute. It has lecture halls, and two drawing halls on either side.

The Central Library is located near the admin building of the institute. Its collection includes over 150,000 books and documents, and it subscribes to more than 600 printed and online journals and conference proceedings. The library has four halls and book bank section which is mainly for SC/ST/OBC students and Students of Lower Income Groups. The library's collection consists of books, reports, conference proceedings, back volumes of periodicals, standards, theses, microforms, CD-ROM, floppies, and audio-visual material. The library's transaction service is automated and online searches are possible through an Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). The Electronic Library section has a collection of databases, video lectures and miscellaneous other resources. Digital library also allow students access to online journals and other periodicals through the AICTE-INDEST consortium.

The Central Computer Center(CCC) is the institute's primary computer centre, with four computer labs, printing facilities and engineering software for use by students. The CCC serves as a central hub for interconnecting the campus-wide LAN.

Civic Amenities[link]

The institute campus has three guest houses, a dispensary, a post-office, two nationalized banks and three ATM within its limits. The campus has a water pumping station, electrical sub-station, telephone exchange and five cafeteria.

SVNIT Main Guest House is located opposite to the SVNIT main gate on Surat-Dumas road. It has 12 furnished rooms with telephone lines and television. It provides boarding and lodging facilities for the Institute guests, invited guests, visitors, newly appointed faculty, staff members, delegates and participants attending conferences, seminars, symposiums and workshops.

Residential facilities are provided on campus for students, faculty and staff of the institute. Most students live on campus in the residential hostels. There are 11 hostels (nine for boys and two for girls) that accommodate 3,500 students. With the exception of the girls' hostel, they are located on the southern side of the campus. Meals are served by all messes located in the hostels. Additionally, there are four cafeterias on campus where food is available for purchase.

Hostel and boarding facilities[link]

Hostel - 1 & Hostel - 8

SVNIT has eleven hostels with nine for boys and two dedicated to girls named after personalities of India. Each hostel is administrated by the Chief Hostel Warden. Each hostel elects representatives from the hostel residents for areas like Entertainment, Computer Facility, Network, Environment, and Cultural. Two mega hostels for boys and one mega hostel for girls with large number of facilities have been constructed.

Each hostel has its own mess, TV room, Sports room and computer facility.

Mega Hostel-1

Athletic facilities[link]

Most of the institute's athletic and sports facilities are located in and around the Student Activity Center (SAC) . The SAC has indoor badminton courts and a gymnasium. Adjoining this building are two basketball courts, a cricket ground and football ground. Other facilities on campus include a volleyball court, pool tables and indoor table-tennis tables in the residential hostels.

The girls hostel has a gym and badminton court exclusively for girls.

Admissions and academics[link]

Admission to most undergraduate and postgraduate courses in NIT Surat is granted through written entrance examinations. Admission to M.Tech. and Ph.D. programmes is based primarily on a personal interview, though candidates have to take written tests as well.

Admission to undergraduate programmes in all NITs is through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination popularly known as AIEEE. Candidates who qualify for admission through AIEEE can apply for admission in B.Tech. (Bachelor of Technology) and integrated M.Sc. (Master of Sciences) courses at NIT Surat.^[3] The admissions to postgraduate programmes (M.Tech.) are made primarily through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).

NIT Surat follows the reservation policy declared by the Supreme Court of India, by which 27% of seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 15% for Scheduled Castes (SCs), and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes (STs). The institute also accepts foreign nationals through scholarships awarded by the Government of India, and non-resident Indians through an independent scheme known as Direct Admission for Students Abroad (DASA).

Undergraduate education[link]

NIT Surat offers a number of degrees as part of its undergraduate programmes, including Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in six engineering disciplines and the five year integrated Master of Science in three science disciplines. The B.Tech. degree is the most popular undergraduate degree in NIT Surat in terms of student enrollment. It is based on a four-year programme with eight semesters. The first year of the B.Tech. curriculum has common courses from all departments. At the end of the first year, an option to change departments is given to meritorious students on the basis of their performance in the first two semesters.

From the second year onwards, the students take courses offered by their departments that are known as core courses. In addition to these, the students have to take inter-disciplinary courses known as elective courses. Separate courses from the humanities and social sciences department, and management and information technology are also required. At the end of the third year, the B.Tech. and Dual Degree students undertake mandatory industrial training or a project as part of the undergraduate curriculum.

In the final year of their studies, most of the students are offered jobs in industries and other organizations through the Training and Placement (T&P) section of the institute. Some students opt out of this facility in favour of higher studies or by applying to recruiting organizations directly.

Postgraduate and Doctoral education[link]

NIT Surat offers postgraduate programmes including Master of Technology (M.Tech.) and Master of Sciences (M.Sc.). The admission to M.Tech program is made through GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) exam conducted by IITs and IISC, Bangalore. The admission is given as per the score obtained in the GATE Exam. Presently the GATE Qualified students of M.Tech are offered an stipend of Rs. 8000 p/m from MHRD. The institute offers the Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) as part of its doctoral education programme in all disciplines.The doctoral scholars are given a topic of academic interest by the professor, or sometimes work on the consultancy projects sponsored by industries. The duration of the programme is usually unspecified. Ph.D. scholars submit a dissertation and conduct an oral defense of their thesis. Teaching assistantships (TA) and research assistantships (RA) are provided based on the scholar's academic profile.

Continuing education[link]

Sponsored research[link]

Research in the institute is sponsored by government agencies including Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST); in 2008–09, research grants from these agencies exceeded one crore Indian rupees (Rs. 1,00,00,000; approx. US$200,000).

Rankings[link]

Ranking by education surveys such as India Today,^[4] Outlook,^[5][6] DNA,^[7] Webometrics,^[8] Competition Success Review,^[9] put NIT Surat among the best engineering institutes of India.

According to CSR-GHRDC Engineering Colleges Survey 2011, SVNIT is at 10th rank among the Top 15 engineering colleges of super excellence.^[10]

In 2011, India Today ranked SVNIT, Surat as 18nd best engineering college among top 25 engineering colleges in the country.^[11] In 2010, SVNIT, Surat was 22nd best engineering college among top 25 engineering colleges in the same survey.^[12]

Student life[link]

NIT Surat provides on-campus residential facilities to its students, research scholars, faculty members and staff. The students live in hostels (referred to as bhavans) throughout their stay in the NIT. Wi-Fi facility is extended to all the hostels and the entire campus is connected via Gigabit LAN.^[13]

Festivals[link]

The institute has student-organised festivals like MindBend, Sparsh, Autumnfest, Quest(by ACM), Chunouti(Sports Fest), JoyFest(by iIndia) and MMNCT.

Mindbend is SVNIT's annual technical festival, the largest of its kind in Gujarat. Technical competitions and events covering all areas of engineering expose students across India to practical engineering. There are competitions, guest lectures, workshops and quizzes. The robotics events of Mindbend are famous in Westzone.

Kashish

Sparsh is SVNIT's annual cultural festival. It usually takes place in the second week of March. The largest of its kind in South Gujarat, this five-day festival consists of literary and debating events/competitions in the morning and gala cultural shows in the evenings. The 'Sparsh Nites' are the Singing Nite, Dance and Skit Nite, Fashion Nite, Fun-n-Fair and the Celebrity Nite. The last of these is a grand event that has seen performances by Euphoria, Udit Narayan, Shaan, Abhijeet Bhattacharya.

In March 2007, Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi came to perform on the celebrity night. The 2008 version was graced by Mohit Chauhan and Gaurav Dagaonkar. The 2009 version saw Bombay Rockers come to the college. The 2011 version boasted of Kailash Kher's performance. Occasionally events like Kavi sammelan and Ghazal nights have taken place during Sparsh. The personality contest is conducted by the Literary and Debating Committee.

AutumnFest is SVNIT's annual Automotive-Entrepreneurial festival. In 2007 events included The Apprentice, Business baazigar, Spark the B-plan event, Strategem, and Lock stock and trade. A workshop by Mantis was part of Entru-meet '07.

Manoj Memorial Night Cricket Tournament (MMNCT) is a cricket tournament, organised by the students with the help of SVNIT Board of Sports, Hostel Office and BSA Alumni. This tournament first started in 2006 in remembrance of a fellow student. All the matches are played under artificial lights. Nikhil Maheshwari holds the record for highest runs. In a poll held in 2011, Sarang Nirvikar is the all-time highest wicket taker, Mayur Bhatt captain Herculeans and man of the tournament 2008 and 2009 has been voted the best cricketer of all team for his exceptional decision-making and all round skills.

Student organisations[link]

• Official Language Implementation Committee (Hindi Cell)^[14]
• Entrepreneurship Cell
• Drishti
• ISF (IETE Student Forum)
• CHRD (Centre for Human Resource Development)
• L & D (The Literary and Debating Committee)
• i-INDIA (initiative-India) for help of Labor's children
• Nirvana
• ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Student Chapter^[15]
• SPICMACAY
• Student Council
• CES (Civil Engineering Society)
• SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)^[16]
• SCOSH (Society for Cultivation of Sciences and Humanity)^[17]

Student publications[link]

Various media bodies managed by students are also present in the campus, which includes "AS WE ARE" Student publication^[18](annual college magazine ) "सम्मुख"( राजभाषा विभाग की वार्षिक पत्रिका ),"Renesa" (monthly college magazine).

Alumni network[link]

The SVNIT Alumni Association^[19] is the organization in SVNIT which fosters the interaction between the institute and its alumni. The association consists of a group of SVNITians who maintain a rapport with their predecessors through networking, publications and alumni meets. The group is guided by the Dean, Alumni and Resource Generation and his office.

The SVNIT Alumni Association has chapters in India and abroad that hold annual meets to socialize and network.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National Institute of Technology Surat

• SVNIT homepage

Coordinates: 21°09′52″N 72°47′07″E / 21.164583°N 72.785239°E / 21.164583; 72.785239