In the epic, Mahabharata, Price Arjuna was Guru Dronacharya’s favourite pupil because of his devotion and the ability to master a skill. The Dronacharya College of Engineering at Gurgaon has discovered two such Arjunas in Himanshu Sharma and Deepak Vashisth. They have done the College proud. Even at this young age their reputation has spread beyond the City. While Himanshu has attracted the attention of both Microsoft and Yahoo, Deepak has been picked up by India’s IT giant, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The College has recently entered into collaboration with Microsoft Inc. to launch the Microsoft Innovation Center, which will help propel the research focus at the College to new heights. The Center, which was launched at DCE on the 26th of August this year, is the fifty-fifth that the US software giant has established in India. All the Centers have been set up in leading technical institutions nationwide. Primarily, these Centers are state-of-the-art technology facilities, which are open to students, developers, IT professionals, entrepreneurs, start-ups and academic researchers. While these facilities do tune their programs to local needs, they all provide similar content and services, which are designed to accelerate technology advances and stimulate local software economies. This is accomplished through skill and professional training, industry partnerships and innovation.
Himanshu is an astute software designer who helps companies and business entities to beef up their security systems (and to take on ‘hackers’ at their own game). It’s a profession that is beginning to take root in India. With the world being increasingly ruled from cyberspace, and the action having moved to the skies, it is important for people like Himanshu to keep a strict vigil out there and help companies prevent harmful intrusions into their systems. Himanshu, who hails from Paschim Delhi, was not too keen a student. But his intelligence and sharp skills began to blossom in the environment provided at DCE. At a tender age of 21, Himanshu has won worthy laurels. His work has been handsomely lauded by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. His special skill at developing cyber security products has earned him a place as a guest lecturer at NIT and also a ticket to the prestigious IT conference in Myanmar. "In future I want to represent my country at PWN 2 OWN (Hacker contest) and want to spend more time as a security consultant,” he says. He has helped Harbhajan Singh, the Indian cricketer, with his security needs too. Himanshu has also been offered an internship with Apple, but he wants to first complete his studies. Himanshu also feels that his responsibility lies here in India. “I would love to help the government and my country,” he says. Deepak Vashisth, another brilliant student of DCE, was selected by TCS at the final placement round. He will undergo training at Chennai. He will also accompany Himanshu Sharma to a conference at IEE (California). Recently he has also attended conferences at IBM and Microsoft in the US. Born to an Army officer, in Haryana, Deepak dreamt of becoming a researcher. He has already developed expertise in the area of website development and hopes to work for the Indian government.
The mission of the Dronacharya College of Engineering (DCE) mission is to take the quality of education in Engineering and management to new heights. The aim is to cater to the needs of students and industry, and humanity too. DCE was established in 1998 and is managed by the Smt Anguri Devi Charitable Trust. The institute is recognised by AICTE, New Delhi and is affiliated to Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak. ‘Our goal is to continuously improve the healthy learning environment and the facilities provided to the students, to enable them to achieve academic excellence - for employability as world class technocrats and managers’, says the College ’HOD Mission and Goal Statement.’ The college believes that it is crucial to groom the students so that they can match the expectations of the corporate world, not only in the country but globally.
DCE has a great campus, with exceptional infrastructure. It houses hostel facilities for both men and women, though the girls’ college is located outside the campus. The College provides more than 20 buses to carry its students to the campus from most parts of Delhi and Haryana. To facilitate greater learning, the College has UGS and PGS programs, besides being associated with IBM Center, Cisco Network Academy and Oracle Network Academy. It also operates as an away center for IIT, Bombay and IIT, Kharagpur. The College provides scholarships for the financially weaker students. Students who do exceptionally well are given a Rs 25,000 reward, irrespective of their financial status. The Principal, Prof. M.N. Hussain, believes that not only should the students feel happy with the College, it is equally important for their parents to feel satisfied that they chose the right institution. “It’s not always about getting the students a job, though that is important; equally important to us is the faith of the parents in our ability to offer quality education to their children,” he says. Dr. Jitendra Kumar, HOD – IT, beams like a proud father when he talks about the students at DCE. “Today we may not be seen to be in the same league as IIT Delhi, but we believe that in many ways we are no less in specific areas. We want to be the best. In Haryana we hold the number one position in Information and Technology education. We are now also the first to have introduced the Microsoft Innovation Center to our students,” he signs off.
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