Panel Discussion on the topic ‘Career Guidance for Engineering Students’

IEEE Education Society (EdSoc) Kerala Chapter organized a Panel Discussion as part of the IEEE Day celebration on Saturday, 9th October from 4.30 PM to 6.00 PM IST. The discussion was on the topic ‘Career Guidance for Engineering Students’ and was moderated by Dr. Chithra Prasad, Former Professor & Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, TKM College of Engineering, Kollam. The panelists for the discussion were Er. Satish Rao, Retired Engineer from Caterpillar India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore, Er. Shinto Joseph Director, South East Asia Operations,  LDRA India and Er. Saj Kapoor, Senior Director (Engg.), Wireless Communication Chip Development, Analog Devices, Bangalore. The event is organized in association with IEEE ES SBC AVVP AMRITAPURI, IEEE ES SBC CE PERUMON, IEEE ES SBC NSSCE PLGT, IEEE SB CE ADOOR, IEEE SB MEAEC PTMNA, IEEE SB TKMCE KOLLAM, IEEE SB SJCET PALAI, IEEE SB RSET KOCHI, IEEE SB MACE KTMLM, and IEEE SB ASIET KALADI.

To commence the event, Ms. Parvathy I, WIE Coordinator of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter invited Dr. Ushadevi Amma C, Treasurer of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter for the welcome note. graciously accepted the invitation and came forward. On behalf of the EdSoc Kerala Chapter, he welcomed all the honored panelists and the attendees who had gathered for the session.

Following that, Ms. Parvathy invited Prof. Muhammed Kasim, Founder Chair of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter for to provide an introduction into the IEEE Kerala Section and IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter. In response to that, Prof. Kasim came forward. In the note followed, he gave an overview of the activities, achievements, and vision of the IEEE Kerala Section. Following that, Prof. Kasim gave a short note of the IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter, with respect to events,  membership counts, and objectives. With that note, he concluded his address.

After that, Ms. Parvathy invited the Student Representative of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter, Mr. Sajin Sachidanandan to welcome the moderator into the session. Accepting the invite. Mr. Sajin came forward and provided a brief profile of  Dr. Chithra Prasad, Former Professor & Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, TKM College of Engineering, Kollam. With that note, he invited Dr. Chithra Prasad into the session.

In response to that, Dr. Chithra Prasad came forward and gave an insight into the panel discussion and into its objective. Pointing out the relevance of such an event in the community with personal experiences, Dr. Chithra Prasad welcomed everyone into the discussion. 

Following that, Ms. Paravathy invited Mr. Govind S Warrier, Technical Coordinator of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter to welcome the first panelist Er. Shinto Joseph into the session. Accepting the invitation, Mr. Govind came forward with a brief note introduction of Er. Shinto Joseph. With that note, he welcomed Er. Shinto Joseph into the discussion.

In response to the welcome, Er. Shinto Joseph came forward. He began his note presenting his agenda for the discussion. With that, he commenced giving an insight into 360 Degree Digitization, and its opportunities and challenges. With clear examples of the scenario, he carried his talk further. Following that, he gave his opinion on entrepreneurship as an alternative career. He also pointed out the strategies that can be adopted to plan a career in the most effective way. With real-life examples like SWOT Analysis, he explained how careers should be planned. With that, he concluded his talk.

Thanking him, Dr. Chithra Prasad handed the session back to Ms. Parvathy. Following that, Ms. Parvathy invited Mr. Aromal PS, Webmaster of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter to welcome the second panelist Er. Saj Kapoor into the session. In response to that, Mr. Aromal came forward with a brief profile of Er. Saj Kapoor. With that note, he welcomed Er. Saj Kapoor into the discussion.

Accepting the invitation, Er. Saj Kapoor joined into the discussion. He commenced his talk with an introduction to the career in core engineering fields. Pointing out the benefits that these careers are offering, he introduced some of the fields for the attendees, namely semiconductors, and core electronics. With a few tips on how to achieve a career in these fields, Er. Saj Kapoor concluded his talk.

Thanking him, handed the session back to Ms. Parvathy. Following that, Ms. Parvathy invited Ms. Kavya KS, MDC of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter to welcome the final panelist Er. Satish Rao into the session.  In response to that, Ms. Kavya came forward with a brief profile of Er. Saj Kapoor. With that note, he welcomed Er. Satish Rao into the discussion.

Accepting the invitation, Er. Satish Rao came forward to join the discussion. He commenced his talk with an overview of higher studies abroad for engineering graduates. Following that, he gave out strategies to crack interviews in the most effective way.  With a brief note on these topics, he concluded his talk.

Thanking him Dr. Chithra Prasad took over the session to the Q&A. Dr. Chithra Prasad requested Ms. Lidviya Paulose, MDC of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter to read out the collected questions from the attendees. In response to that, she read out the questions and Dr. Chithra Prasad handled the Q&A with the support of the three panelists. After that, the session was opened for open questions. In response to that, a number of queries were put forward by the attendees. Answering all those questions, Dr. Chithra Prasad concluded the Q&A session.

Following that, Ms. Lidviya thanked the panelists and the moderator for their active presence. In recognition of their participation, a virtual memento was presented to each panelist and to the moderator. After that, a virtual photograph of the session was taken. After that, Mr. Eldho Babu, ECC of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter came forward for the vote of thanks.  In his note, he expressed his gratitude to all the delegates and attendees for their active participation. The webinar ended with that thanking note.