Journey of the E&ECE Dept. to Golden
Jubilee
By S.L. Maskara
When I joined the department in July 1966, both the Department and
the Institute were in their mid-teens while I was in my early twenties. This year the
Institute is celebrating its Golden Jubilee. I feel overwhelmed that I have stayed here
all these years and walked along to witness this mega event. Time has really passed very
fast leaving behind pleasant memories.
Growth and Sponsored Research
Ours was a small department then, but today Electronics & Telecommunication is one of
the bigger departments of the Institute. Fortunately, the department has kept pace with
the rapid developments in the field of Electronics & Telecommunications. We got a
larger space and shifted to a new building around 1972 -- from the front and middle second
floor of the main building. Many new laboratories have been set up in the department. It
offers many M.Tech. specializations. In fact a full fledged new department like the
Computer Science & Engineering came up, having origins in the E&ECE Department.
G.S. Sanyal School of Telecommunications is another offshoot of the E&ECE Dept.
Sponsored research activities had just started in the early 70s giving us another
dimension of work and research atmosphere. The Defence Research & Development
Organization (DRDO) sponsored a huge programme with the establishment of Radar &
Communication Centre (RCC) to focus research activities in the defence related areas. It
did serve its purpose very well and was merged again with its parent department. Today the
department has a large number of sponsored projects.
Despite the locational disadvantage of Kharagpur and minimal infrastructure and
facilities, the department continues to occupy a very respectable position
internationally. Great Professors like Prof. G.S. Sanyal and Prof. J. Das have contributed
immensely to the development of the department. Their work culture, devotion and
inspiration have kept the flag of the department very high. I had the privilege of working
with such renowned personalities. They have left their deep impressions on many of us.
Changes in Curricula
Since its inception, many students at all levels (B.Tech., M.Tech., PG Diploma & Ph.D)
have graduated from the department. All of them are very well placed and many have been
occupying very high positions in various organizations throughout the world. The
department is really very proud of its alumni.
The system of examinations and evaluation has undergone many changes. Curricula and
syllabi have been revised many times. We changed from the age-old annual to the semester
system. Laboratory work found a lot of emphasis in curricula. It was compulsory for all
students to come to the laboratory classes with soldering iron and other tools. Now the
emphasis is shifting more towards software, as per the needs of the day perhaps. Subjects
like Acoustics, Telegraphy, Carrier Telephony, Radio / Broadcast Engineering, Network
Synthesis, etc., have gone into oblivion. Of course, many new subjects have been
introduced. Contact hours have been recently reduced to allow the students to have more
time for self-study.
Technology Impact
Technology changes are reflected in the academics also. It is thrilling to remember that
the students were having experiments with bulky vacuum tubes. Later tiny transistors came
to the laboratory. Now IC's are the main devices. Problems and fears of electrical shocks,
present with vacuum tubes do not bother them any more. Today we talk of VLSI. Mechanical
calculators were used by teachers to tabulate the marks and do the calculations. Students
used slide rules for numerical calculations. In fact, in some of the classes, bringing
slide rules was compulsory. I remember the excitement when the department procured one
electronic desktop calculator in the mid 70s. Soon the electronic calculators became
cheaper and more functional than the slide rules. As a result, the latter vanished.
Unfortunately very few students bring the calculators to the class as a matter of regular
habit, nowadays, in spite of the convenience of calculators.
Transport and Communication facilities
Kharagpur lacked good transport and communication facilities. There were no local trains
in those days and going to Calcutta was quite inconvenient. That is why perhaps more
students were available in the campus during weekends and extra curricular activities had
more attendance. With the introduction of EMU local trains there has been a decline in
attendance in extra curricular activities and also in the classes particularly at the
beginning and the end of the weeks. Telephone facilities were particularly non-existent.
People used to say that it was faster to go to a place and come back than getting a
telephone connection. Nowadays, we have much better communication facilities. Students
from far-off places can communicate with their relations and feel comfortable.
Computerization, Networking and Office Automation
The availability of Xerox machines has also changed the working style considerably. The
question papers used to be sent to the press for printing and as such the teachers had to
set them even before the semester/session began. Subsequently, cyclostyling was introduced
making life of the teachers little easier. Now we have Xerox machines for printing
question papers. They are not only faster but quality is more elegant. In days before the
Xerox machines came, the students had great inconvenience in getting their thesis typed.
They had to go for carbon copy typing to make at the most 4 copies. Today writing the
thesis using computers, printing it by lasers and getting multiple copies by Xerox
machines, have really resulted in much better quality in less time. Office automation,
computerization of many operations and networks have changed the work style considerably.
Internet access and electronic library are new handy resources.
Concluding Remarks
This article is not intended to give any complete and factual account of the changes which
have taken place over the past 36 years of my presence here. Going down the memory lane, I
have just tried to recollect some of my observations and impressions over these years.
The improved infrastructure, better working conditions and more conducive study
environment always bring enhanced performance at all fronts. Let us continue our journey
and march ahead in pursuit of excellence!
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