All India Council For Technical Education Research Articles

Discourses on War and Peace in a Professional Ethics Classroom

Empty seats, uninterested faces and distracted student behaviour are general characteristics of the classroom where humanities subjects are taught to students of science and technology. In this article, I discuss my experience of teaching a course, Professional Ethics, that is generally discarded by the students as ‘an additional burden’ made mandatory by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for securing a bachelor of technology degree from Indian institutes of higher education. The teaching note documents the initial attitude of students towards the course content, the process of their transformation into imbibing the essence of the course, and finally the outcomes of the adapted teaching method. Socratic questioning on memes and news reports was used to sensitise the students towards the ethics of war and weapon development. In other words, the teaching process was a discourse of peace building by engaging students in sustainability dialogues.

Preface

Proceedings 1st International Conference on Intelligent and Sustainable Power and Energy Systems (ICISPES 2023) 26 - 27 September, 2023 About the Conference The “1st International Conference on Intelligent and Sustainable Power and Energy Systems (ICISPES 2023)” is aimed to address the state-of-the-art multidisciplinary research needs and interdisciplinary aspects of intelligent and sustainable technologies in power and energy systems in the form of research papers from industry, faculty, research scholars, and PG/UG students, along with keynote lectures and a number of invited talks from reputed speakers. The ICISPES 2023 aims to provide a platform to present their work to share experiences and ideas in the areas of Renewable Energy, Electric Transportation, Power Electronics, Electric Drives, Control Techniques, Smart Grids, Communication Protocols, Intelligent Charging Infrastructure and Standards, machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, IoT, etc. In view of the changing scenario under intelligent and sustainable power and energy, this conference aims to put together the experts from these areas to disseminate their knowledge and experience for working in years to come.The ICISPES provides an international platform for all research scholars, practitioners, academicians, students and scientists to discuss and exhibit the latest research developments and discoveries in intelligent and sustainable technologies. This conference enables us to share and exchange research knowledge and ideas in power and energy systems. About the Institution Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering is approved by the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Govt. of India and affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, Karnataka. It has the widest choice of Engineering branches, having 20 undergraduate courses and 06 postgraduate courses. In addition, it has 20 research centres in different branches of Engineering catering to research scholars for obtaining a PhD under VTU. Various courses are accredited by the NBA. The Institute is spread over 23 acres of land with a requisite infrastructure supported by laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment and machines. The central library, with modern facilities and a digital library, provides the knowledge base for the students. The college has good faculty strength with the highest professional integrity and commitment to academics with transparency in their actions. The faculty members are research-oriented, having a number of sponsored R&D projects from different agencies such as the Department of Science & Technology, Defense R&D organizations, Indian Space Research Organization, AICTE, etc.List of Speakers, Organizing Committee is available in this Pdf.

Preface

International Conference on Sustainable Practices in Engineering & Technology (IC-SPET’23) is the AICTE sponsored first international Conference organised by Department of Civil Engineering of Sree Buddha College of Engineering, Pattoor, from 14th to 16th June, 2023 with a focal theme on Sustainability in Civil Engineering. The sub themes were Structural Engineering & Sustainable Construction Technology, Water Resource & Environmental Engineering, & Transportation Engineering, Modelling & Computational Techniques in Civil Engineering and GIS application in Civil Engineering. The conference is planned and organized with an objective of providing a platform and conducive environment for the participants to share innovations in Engineering and Technology and to form international relationships among the researchers involved in Engineering and Technology.The three-day international conference was conducted from 14th June, 2023 to 16th June, 2023 in hybrid mode. The conference was inaugurated by the chief guest Dr. N.P. Rajamane, Professor, Scientist, Founder & Former Head (a) Centre for Advanced Concrete Research (CACR), SRM IST (b) Advanced Materials Lab (AML), CSIR-SERC. Renowned national and international speakers such as Dr. N. P. Rajamane (Scientist, Founder & Former Head - (a)CACR, SRM IST (b) AML, CSIR-SERC), Dr. Kamal Laksiri (Governor, Region 10, ASCE), Dr. Sumi Siddiqua (Associate Professor, The University of British Columbia, Canada), Dr. Tanmay Basak (Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Madras) and Dr. Vinu Unnikrishnan (Assistant Professor, College of Engineering, West Texas, USA) has delivered keynote address on sustainable practices in diverse fields of engineering.To IC-SPET’23, 103 technical papers from various institutions within and outside the state were submitted, out of which 65 papers accepted for presentation. And 17 papers were selected to include in this proceeding of conference through meticulous review process performed by experts in the field.We would like to greatly acknowledge the active contribution of keynote speakers, session chairs, reviewers, authors and participants towards the success of the conference. We express our indebted gratitude to Prof. K. Sasikumar, Hon'ble Chairman of the Sree Buddha Group of Institutions, Prof. V. Prasad (Secretary) and Sri. A. Sunil Kumar (Treasurer) of the Sree Buddha Educational Society, Dr. K. Krishnakumar, the Principal of Sree Buddha College of Engineering and all members of Sree Buddha Educational Society for their invaluable guidance and support for the successful coordination of the event. We appreciate the efforts of the faculty members, staff, and student volunteers of the Department of Civil Engineering, who worked as a team and shared responsibilities for the successful coordination.We would like to acknowledge the financial assistance received from AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) for organizing the conference. We express our sincere gratitude to all the associating organisations and institutions such as ASCE, IEI Kollam local center, ICI Kochi center, Habilete learning solutions, Indian Institute of Infrastructure and Construction, Qcrete and T. R. Associates for their timely assistance. Finally, we express our sincere thanks to the team of IOP Conference series lead by Cat Leyland and Rachelle Morris for bringing out this proceedings.

Analytical Investigation of Higher Education Quality Improvement by Using Six Sigma Approach

For over two decades in India, the technical industry's unique selling proposition (USP), with its wide infrastructure of technical institutes, has been capable of supplying best-in-class engineers. But recently, this claim does not hold water. According to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), about 2.6 lakh mechanical engineers graduate every year in India. But the real count of industry ready mechanical engineers is approximately 7%. Hence, there is a need to assess the quality of engineering education in India to reduce the flaws in higher education. The purpose of the paper is to identify the various defects associated with technical education and eliminate those defects using various quality tools. This research is based on the six sigma technique, which is used to assess the quality criteria proposed by the National Board of Accreditation India (NBA). The proposed model is then applied to a typical tier II Indian engineering college located in south India. Six Sigma has two main methodologies: DMAIC and DFSS. The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) methodology is implemented for existing systems, whereas DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) is for assuring quality in new products. In this project, the conclusion is driven by the DMAIC methodology. Various statistical and non-statistical tools are employed in this research. The tools used are CTS-CTQ, SIPOC, Pareto chart, normal process capability analysis, one-way ANOVA, Ishikawa diagram, FMEA, RCBD, and SPC chart. All the statistical processes are done using Minitab analytical software. From the results, it is identified that the factors that have a risk priority number (RPN) greater than 300 need improvement, such as versatility in program curriculum, laboratories and workshops, and credibility among universities. Six Sigma can be achieved by developing proper strategies for mitigating these defects. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2022-03-02-07 Full Text: PDF

Developmental challenges to internationalizing the higher education sector: a critical inquiry of business schools in Kerala

PurposeKerala is one of India's most advanced states in human development and other social indices. This study aims to look at the management education scenario in Kerala from a macro-perspective and examines the existing trends, major issues and present challenges facing the sector.Design/methodology/approachThe study is driven by previously unexplored secondary data published by India's apex technical education regulator–All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Qualitative and quantitative assessments are assimilated from the organization, dissection and categorization of unit-level data.FindingsBusiness schools (B-schools) in the state are facing acute distress in enrolments. There are intra-regional variations in institution count and occupancy rates. The vast majority of the institutions have no accreditation at all. The entire sector is facing a protracted decline.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has relied primarily on descriptive statistics considering a single discipline within the higher education sector in Kerala. Future studies should look at other disciplines (engineering, medicine) simultaneously. Use of statistical methods like panel data regression would be beneficial to find hidden trends in cross-sectional and longitudinal time-series data.Practical implicationsManagement education in Kerala is facing an existential crisis. This has implications for the state's economic development. The paper creates strong imperatives for government policymaking to forestall the complete decline of the sector.Social implicationsA highly literate state with advanced human development indices need not be a suitable location for building a knowledge-based economy. Government policy has strong implications for the development and sustenance of higher education. The relationship between government and business schools are symbiotic.Originality/valueThe paper maps the progression of B-schools from local to global. A typology of privately funded B-schools is proposed. The conceptual framework advanced in this study can contribute to further literature development. The suggested policy initiatives are applicable not only to Kerala but also to other tightly regulated markets.

Preventing predatory publications: Role of librarian and government agencies

Predatory publication is the latest threats emerged to the integrity of academic publishing. These publications in open access and paid journals have paved the way for low?quality articles. These publications lack the authentication of appropriateness of publications such as peer review, editing, editorial boards, editorial offices, and other editorial standards, imposing a number of new ethical issues in publishing research papers. Research publications carry significant importance in Indian universities when considering faculty selection, promotions, and increment. It is utmost responsibility of authors to promote publication ethics. Currently the government is cracking down on predatory publication practice. Academic agency like UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) made fully responsible for ensuring quality control and monitoring of academic journals. Librarians have a key role to play in educating users about predatory publishing. Collaborative efforts of authors, library professional and government agencies may prevent predatory publications. Keywords: Predatory Publication, Government regulation, Librarian, Open access publication.

Preface

AICTE Sponsored International E-Conference on Computing & Communication Systems for a Fourth Industrial Revolution, the 9th edition of Annual International Conference on Emerging Research Areas (AICERA 2020), held virtually on 14-16 December 2020 in Amal Jyothi College of Engineering Kanjirappally, Kerala, India. The AICERA 2020 was organized by Amal Jyothi College of Engineering in association with All India Council for technical Education (AICTE)New Delhi and technically sponsored by IOP Publishing.The Conference aims at bringing together the researchers, scientists, engineers, and scholar students in all areas of Engineering and Technology, and provides an international forum for the dissemination of original research results, new ideas and practical development experiences which concentrate on both theory and practices. AICERA-2020 aims to create a platform for open communication and idea exchange on the recent Technological and Engineering developments. This conference provides an international forum for sharing knowledge and innovations in the field of Computer Science and Information Technology. The three-day event has provided an exposure to erudite work by researchers in the field of engineering. It also facilitates interaction among academicians, engineers and research scholars. Sessions on the side-line discussed recent advances, challenges, breakthroughs and research innovations on various engineering aspects of green technologies. The conference consists of keynote lectures, tutorials, workshops and oral presentations on all aspects of Engineering and Science. Researchers were invited to speak and present the latest developments and technical solutions in their recent multidisciplinary area.List of Organizing Committee, Technical Review Committee and Internal Reviewers are available in this pdf.

Preface

International Conference on Recent Innovations in Engineering and Technology (ICRIET – 2020) aims at promoting high quality research by bringing together an international community of researchers and practitioners from academia and industry. It is a forum to communicate and discuss various research findings and innovations in Engineering and Technology. These emerging areas provide great scope for research and will help to address several challenges in the future. ICRIET 2020 also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Engineering and Technology. ICRIET 2020 is organised by Nandha Engineering College, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. The conference has been sponsored by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi, India. The conference has been scheduled during 04 – 05, December 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic followed by the travel restrictions in most of the countries, ICRIET – 2020 has been organized in virtual mode using Google Meet online platform. The conference included keynote sessions, invited talks from the experts and technical sessions. Around 140 research papers have been registered from different countries and presented by the authors. The organizing committee of ICRIET 2020 express the heartfelt thanks to all the contributors for the successful conference.Dr. C. N. MarimuthuConference ChairICRIET 2020List of Organizing Committee are available in this pdf.

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE TO MODERN ERA

The institutional framework of higher education in India consists of Universities and Colleges. As reported in 2019, India has 993 universities and 39,931 colleges. One of the key objectives of the Department is to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 30% by 2020. Higher Education system in the country is governed by multiple agencies with University Grant Commission (UGC) as the apex body. The rule and regulations by these agencies makes the higher education system more complex. The various stakeholders in the regulatory framework in the country are State Governments, professional councils like University Grant Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) etc. and five professional councils at the state level like Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), State Educational and Research Council (SCERT) etc. This regulatory arrangement of higher education in India is very complex and disfunctional. Global Initiative for Academics Network (GIAN): The programme seeks to invite distinguished academicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, experts from premier institutions from across the world, to teach in the higher educational institutions in India.UGCs Learning Outcome-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF) in HEIs.by updating curriculum fromacademic year 2019-20.and adopting learner centric teaching learning processes bysuitable improvement in the pedagogy.

Quality of higher education & its issues in post Independence India

Introduction: India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years. The present format of higher education in India was started in 1857 with the inception of universities in the three presidency towns. At present, India possesses a highly developed higher education system which offers facility of education and training in almost all aspects of human’s creative and intellectual endeavors such as arts and humanities, natural, mathematical and social sciences, engineering; medicine, dentistry, agriculture, education, law, commerce and management, music and performing arts, national and foreign languages, culture, communications etc. Higher Education in India has evolved in distinct and divergent streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The 433 universities/ institutions, are mostly funded by the state governments. However, there are 42 important universities called Central universities, which are maintained by the Union Government and because of relatively large funding, they have an edge over the others. The engineering education and business schools are monitored and accredited by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) while medical education is monitored and accredited by the Medical Council of India (MCI). Like-wise, agriculture education and research is monitored by the Indian Council for Agriculture Research. Apart from these, National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) controls all the teacher training institutions in the country. India's higher education system is the second largest in the world, after the United States. The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission (UGC), which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 12 autonomous institutions established by the UGC. Indian higher education system has e

Embracing Disruption in Engineering Education

Role of an engineer is imperative in improving the quality of human life and India is one of the largest producers of engineers with 23 IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), 31 NITs (National Institute of Technology) and state universities offer technical education in the form of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs. Since India, a predominantly young population, IITs and NITs are not sufficient in number and hence AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) has approved over ten thousand self-financed private engineering colleges across the country to cater the huge demand for engineering education. Except for IITs, NITs, and other premier institutes, most engineering colleges failed to give quality education to the students, which would get them suitable jobs. As per the research carried out by Aspiring Minds a leading employability assessment company, only 1.7 percent of the engineering graduates are suitable for the new age jobs and top 10 IT companies recruit only 7 percent of the engineering graduates every year which is a serious concern. [1]

Power Engineering Education in India: Past, Present and Future Scenario

AbstractThe present paper deals with the sphere of Power Engineering and it’s past developments, current status and future scope of Power Engineering education in India. The aim of this manuscript is to explore the prevalent status of Power Engineering education in India from the grassroot level to Industry level applications, data has been collected from India’s premier Institutes of National Importance for this purpose. Introduction to Power Engineering has been given with India-specific past developments and current obstacles faced by the nation’s Power Engineering community in order to achieve a hundred percent electrification rate through clean and efficient means. India ranks second on the list of countries with the most population and seventh on the list of countries with the most land area, it is imperative that India becomes independent in terms of energy production, energy transmission and most importantly energy management. Electric power transmission-loss remains a major roadblock in the delivery of sufficient electric power to India’s citizens and the Power Engineers of India have to contribute to the best of their abilities in order to solve the problem of electric power transmission-loss in the worlds second most populated and seventh largest country. Challenges faced by Power Engineering aspirants and students who are pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Power Engineering have been analysed for every level of technical education available for students in India. Requirements for a Power Engineering Undergraduate aspirant currently in twelfth grade or currently pursuing a Diploma degree and requirements for a Power Engineering Post-Graduate currently in graduation have been explained separately using data from their syllabus which is verified by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a regulatory body formulated by the Government of India to guide, promote and scrutinize technical education syllabus’ in all institutes and organizations of India concerned with science and technology. Since a large portion of India’s population resides in rural areas and indulges in agrarian based employment practises, the importance of the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DUGJY) which is an initiative specifically formulated by the Government of India for electrification of India’s villages and rural areas has been explained, India is the second most populated country in the world and predominantly most of this population lives in villages, many of which are located in remote areas and thus it becomes nearly impossible to supply continuous electricity to these areas. As mentioned earlier a major part of India’s economy depends on agrarian products and by-products, thus it is imperative that Power Engineers of India contribute in the development of these areas through continuous supply of clean electrical power which helps in keeping the rural environments of India’s villages clean and green. Government of India’s approach towards marginalised sections of the Indian society for the implementations of these schemes so that they can offer last-mile connectivity has been statistically explained. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is being approached and implemented for using the sun as a source of electrical power on war-footing by the Government of India to meet the demands of the second most populated nation on the planet. Power Engineers have actively participated for the efficient utilization of India’s 7500-kilometre coastline in order to generate electrical power from the force of blowing wind, employment opportunities for Power Engineering aspirants, Power Engineering Graduate and Power Engineering Postgraduate students have been disclosed in this manuscript. Initiatives of the Government of India in developing and redefining Power Engineering courses through massive open online courses through National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) which is an online based platform for students and academia alike, NPTEL lectures are available in video format and are delivered by faculties from India’s designated Institutes of National Importance. Past involvement of power engineers in the electrification of India and their role in research and development of new technologies such as ultra-high voltage direct current and superconductors has been scrutinized. In conclusion, future scope of Power Engineering and new technological research and developments have been mentioned with regards to Industrial Revolution 4.0. Possibilities of Power Engineering’s contribution in research and development of Smart-Grids, Micro-Grids and Electrical Power Management sourced from academia, which includes the fourth largest Ph.D. population on the planet and industry alike have been explored in this manuscript.

Integration of Pharmacy Education and Pharmacovigilance: Scope and Challenges in India

Abstract: Aim: Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are the two professional organizations which are presently regulating the pharmacy education in India. Curriculum change of pharmacy education has been undertaken by central government notification as per amendment of pharmacy act. Methods: All the information and data has been obtained from standard articles, books and official websites including current scenario and topics. Results: Introduction of Pharm. D program concerning the significance of Pharmacy Practice and clinical exposure for students is a remarkable step taken by PCI in the year 2008. Pharmacovigilance (PV) is the science, which maintains the safety and rational therapy, making an essential checkpoint for regulatory utilization and movement of drugs and medicines is main component of pharmacy practice. However, in spite of all the achievements regarding the significance of PV and its efforts, awareness and knowledge about rational utilization of drugs and its side effects is low. However, an aspect common to all developing countries, despite of economic level is that the PV education in universities is far below the minimum requirements to sustain an effective drug monitoring system. Conclusion: As future prospects increase, PV systems capable to detect new ADRs and taking regulatory actions are needed to protect public health which will achieved only by further strengthening the existence system and enhancing the quality of PV education. Key words: Pharmacovigilance, Pharmacy education, Awareness, Students Empowerment, Pharm. D, Career opportunities.

A Review of NBA's Accreditation Criteria for Programmes in Pharmacy

In India in order to ensure the quality of technical education, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has established the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) in 1994 to formulate the criteria or standards, by which individual programmes in any pharmacy institution can be evaluated. This article mainly focuses on the revised norms of NBA accreditation for Pharmacy institutions as published in January 2013. The nine criteria identified by NBA in this revised document are briefly presented. Concepts like Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs), Programme Outcomes (POs), Course Outcomes (COs), and Mapping will be new to the readers to figure out in the latest document of NBA. Accordingly, this paper is written to describe the assessment method used to measure the PO via direct assessment of the course outcomes (Cos) as an improvement to previous practice where the COs were assessed indirectly using survey and examination results.

Practices of Teaching & Learning in ABESIT: A Case Presentation of Even Semester 2015-16 & Odd Semester 2016-17

The educational governing bodies such as UGC, AICTE which are responsible for the quality of Higher Education in India emphasize on adopting the best practices in Teaching-Learning to yield superior results. In past few decades, several Engineering Colleges and Universities have been established, especially after the establishment of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The conventional curriculum and traditional teaching-learning in academics have proved to be less effective in terms of design and delivery of pedagogy, which needs regular revision to ensure quality education in India. In this paper, qualitative and quantitative analysis of Teaching-Learning practices in ABES Institute of Technology (ABESIT) has been carried out.

A transformed analytical model for thermal noise of FinFET based on fringing field approximation**Project supported in part by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

This paper delineates the effect of nonplanar structure of FinFETs on noise performance. We demonstrate the thermal noise analytical model that has been inferred by taking into account the presence of an additional inverted region in the extended (underlap) S/D region due to finite gate electrode thickness. Noise investigation includes the effects of source drain resistances which become significant as channel length becomes shorter. In this paper, we evaluate the additional noise caused by three dimensional (3-D) structure of the single fin device and then extended analysis of the multi-fin and multi-fingers structure. The addition of fringe field increases its minimum noise figure and noise resistance of approximately 1 dB and 100 Ω respectively and optimum admittance increases to 5.45 mƱ at 20 GHz for a device operating under saturation region. Hence, our transformed model plays a significant function in evaluation of accurate noise performance at circuit level.

The AICTE Review: an Opportunity for Engineering Education Reform

This article outlines the issues faced by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the statutory body which governs technical education in India. It points out various lacunae in many areas of technical education such as placements, the use of GATE and JEE scores for selection, accreditation, TEQIP and research in engineering, and the role of the centrally funded institutions. The article also recommends expanding AICTE into a think-tank which may design policy for such an important area.

Public health and patient care aspects in Indian pharmacy curriculum: A comparison between DPharm, BPharm, and PharmD programs

BackgroundThere are about one million registered pharmacists practicing in both community and hospital pharmacies in India. Since the public health services do not cater to the entire population, pharmacies can play a major role in the health care system in India. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the Indian pharmacy curriculum of DPharm, BPharm, and PharmD programs to see overall differences with a focus on the amount of time devoted for public health, patient care, and pharmacy practice aspects. Study designThe DPharm and PharmD curricula were included as prescribed by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), and the BPharm curriculum was derived from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Duration of the selected curriculum programs is given in number of hours in four core areas according to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) criteria, which is used for comparison. Results and conclusionThe results indicate that DPharm and BPharm are industry focused, and only the PharmD is focused on clinical pharmacy and patient-oriented services. DPharm holders are the mainstays of pharmacy practice in India, but their degree least contains patient care and public health aspects. There is a gap in curriculum, particularly at DPharm level. This needs to be addressed in future studies and curriculum development actions, as well as in pharmacists’ continuing education and professional development programs.

Will open-access journals substitute big-deal subscriptions in engineering college libraries in India?

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse the impact of open-access (OA) journals in engineering and technology institutions, if libraries are not subscribed to the journals through the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) mandatory packages. In India, many engineering colleges do not subscribe to journals through business subscription models or consortia and invariably a majority of them depend on OA journals to fulfil their users’ needs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper identifies the impact factors of mandatory journals made in big-deal subscriptions with the impact factors of OA journals available to access in Directory of OA Journals pertaining to engineering and technology. Findings – The study reveals that journals subscribed through big-deal subscriptions have better impact in the scholarly communications than the OA journals. Research limitations/implications – The results of this study cannot be generalized to all disciplines. Impact factors of journals can also be calculated by use of SCImago Journal Rank indicator, which uses the Scopus database. Publish or Perish can also be used to analyse Google Scholar rankings to identify the individual journal’s impact. Originality/value – The result of the study is useful for selection of e-journals in big-deal subscriptions and it highlights the implications and impact of OA journals in engineering and technology.

Load Allocation in Academic Environment: A Multi Objective PSO Approach

AbstractIn an Organization, mapping the competency of personnel with different level of expertise, skill set, and experience in professional fields is a tough, complex but essential task. In this work, we have considered an Engineering College with moderate number of faculties with different level of experience, expertise and research exposure. Here we have considered the load assignment to the faculties at the beginning of a semester as the competency mapping task. Each faculty having capabilities of teaching different subjects out of the total set of papers needs to take about two theory papers with or without laboratory component. The decisive factors for subject assignment may be depth of knowledge, sincerity, class management, contribution towards research, text book publication. Further preference of the faculty member should be considered with top priority unless there are some valid constraints. Again the teaching personnel in a department hold different designations and different administrative responsibility, therefore each of them cannot be assigned equal hours of teaching load. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) guidelines is considered as a baseline for assignment of teaching load. The decisive factors are considered as objectives to be optimized and multi-objective particle Swarm optimization (MOPSO) is employed to perform the competency mapping task. The simulation results show the effectiveness of this approach.