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Career in Web Development

2012-07-17T09:44:00.001-07:00

When everything is online today, internet or web needs no introduction. Every business, whether big or small has a website to showcase its products & services to customers across the globe. Not just companies, TV channels, celebrities, political parties, and educators, everyone has a website since nobody wants to be left out from the global exposure that the internet offers. Who makes them, who is responsible for converting data in the form of websites, the answer is Web Developers. A web developer is a person who creates or develops a website and is responsible for its maintenance also. They are the people who make the web run. A web developer is a Programmer who specializes in, or is specifically engaged in, the development of World Wide Web applications, or distributed network applications that are run over HTTP from a web server to a web browser.

What does a web developer do?

With reference to a website, we can say ‘Everything’. A web developer’s main task it to create a website as per the client’s requirement, publish it on the web and see that it runs smoothly. A web developer is also responsible for modifying or upgrading the contents and features of the website as the client desires. A web developer’s task can be broadly discussed as

Understanding the requirement: The first and foremost task of a developer is to understand what the client needs. He/she must be fully aware of what’s expected of him/her. For example, if the client needs a social networking website, the developer must check whether the site will have the options of uploading videos and images, chat options, video conferencing etc. if the developers fails to understand the features, the website will not work as desired.
Select technology: Once the requirement is understood, the developer selects the programming languages, database applications and other required technologies to build the website. The selection varies from person to person as everyone has different set of skills and programming background.
Develop the website: This is the most important task of a web developer – developing or creating a website. The development of the website must be strictly according to the requirements mentioned by the client in the first phase of the process. Creating a website is somewhat similar to creating software, with the only exception is that software’s are meant to run on a standalone system, whereas a website is placed on a server and accessed by millions of users through the internet. Therefore, the responsibility of a developer is not only to create a website and host it over a web server but also to see that the sites functions properly when the web traffic increases. The website should not only be functional but also attractive and fast at the same time.
Hosting and maintenance: Once the site is finished, it must be deployed on web server so that it can be accessed by web users across the globe, this is called ‘Web Hosting’. The developer must choose a web hosting company that can support all the features present in the website. Changing contents from time to time, checking missing links and other errors are also part of web developer’s duties.

How to be a web developer

To be a web developer, you must have keen interest in programming and internet. A web developer must possess the following skills :

HTML : Hypertext Markup Language is the language of the web. The core of all the websites is HTML. HTML is not exactly a programming language like C or C++ but rather a ‘markup language’. It is used to set the layout, colors, fonts and the basic appearance of a website. Although there are many WSYWIG software’s like Microsoft Expression Web, Dreamweaver and Visual Studio that can automatically generate HTML code, knowledge of HTML is definitely a must have skill.
Scripting Languages: Since HTML is not a programming language, any programming related task like decision making, performing calculations, loops cannot be applied in HTML. Scripting languages are those languages that can be embedded in HTML to make a static HTML page dynamic. There are two main categories of a scripting languages:

Client Side Scripting : When a client requests for a web page from a web server, the server sends the HTML code of the page to the client. The browser of the client system reads the HTML code and displays it on the screen. Client side refers to operations that are performed by the client in a client–server relationship in a computer network. Typically, a client is a computer application, such as a web browser, that runs on a user's local computer or workstation and connects to a server as necessary. Popular Client Side Scripting Languages are VBScript and JavaScript.

Server Side Scripting: Server side refers to operations that are performed by the server in a client–server relationship in computer networking. Typically, a server is a software program, such as a web server, that runs on a remote server. Operations may be performed server-side because they require access to information or functionality that is not available on the client, or require typical behavior that is unreliable when it is done client-side. ASP.Net, PHP and JSP are the main server side scripting languages.

Database: A website needs to store the data entered by the user, for example an ecommerce site must store the information regarding the product chosen by the user, its price and the billing details of the purchase made, similarly a banking website needs to store the account details of a customer. All such data is stored in a database application like Oracle, SQL Server or MySQL. A developer must know how to handle a database application with the help of Structured Query Language (SQL). The typical functions are how to insert data, update changes, and delete rows from a table.

XML : Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. XML has come into common use for the interchange of data over the Internet. XML is easy to learn because you are in control of the layout and structure of the page. Page authors develop their own element names. This means there is no limit to the number of tags one can use on an XML document.

Difference between a web developer and a web designer

While having a discussion on web developer, we must know that a web developer is different from a web designer. A web developer is mainly a person who specializes in the coding part of a website. He/she is a programmer that knows how to make a website functional by integrating various technologies as mentioned above. A web designer on the other hand is a person whose main task is to make a website look attractive to the viewer. A designer uses images, colors, fonts, animations to make the site appealing. He/she creates and arranges the pages that make up a website. They often have to balance how a page looks versus how a web page functions, which can involve some compromises. If you are a programmer at heart, web development is where you should look at.

Courses : To become a web developer, you can join any web development course that teaches you the above mentioned technologies. There is no formal degree available in this field therefore you have to get the required skills by learning these skills as much as you can. The best practice for you will be to develop a test web site that includes all the technologies that you have learnt. It is recommended that before joining such a course, you should check whether it includes the knowledge of the web hosting process. If the course covers SEO (Search Engine Optimization) it will be icing on cake.

Institutes:Leading institutes for a course in web development are Aptech, NIIT, Arena Multimedia etc. The information regarding the courses offered by them can be obtained from their respective websites.

Fees: Fees of a course in web development can range between 5000 to 35000 depending on the course contents, level of study and the city where you pursue the course from.

Carrer Options:A skilled Web developer can seek a career in companies offering web solutions or in any company that has a website. You can also opt for developing websites as a freelancer using your contacts. A freelancer gets the order and develops the website on his own. There are many websites that offer web development jobs online also. As a freelancer you can register yourself in such site and search for online projects.

Salary: The salary of a web developer can be Rs. 10000/- per month to start with. As the skills and experience grows a web developer can expect a salary within the bracket of Rs. 20000 to Rs. 40000. As far as a freelancer is concerned, he/she can quote the price of a website according to number of pages and time involved.

The What and How of Physiotherapy

2012-07-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

What is Physiotherapy ?

The word Physiotherapy is made up of two words – Physio (Physical Agents) and Therapy (Treatment), therefore it can be defined as branch of medical science in which diseases/disabilities are treated with the help of physical means/agents e.g. exercise, electrical equipment like Muscle Stimulator, SWD etc, different types of rays like Infra-red, Ultraviolet rays etc.

Physiotherapy is a clinical health science and profession that aims to rehabilitate and improve people with movement disorders by using evidence-based, natural methods such as exercise, motivation, adapted equipment, education and advocacy. Practiced by physiotherapists or physical therapists, it is considered within the realm of conventional medicine. Methods for diagnosis can vary, depending on the situation, though physical examinations and testing are often employed for evaluation. Treatments can include a wide range of practices, including massage, applications of heat or electricity, and assistance with using mobility devices such as walkers and crutches.

Physiotherapy is a healthcare profession which deals with movement disorders of the body arising from certain conditions or illnesses. Treatment through physiotherapy can also be more efficient and cheap than other traditional medication or therapy. One of the main advantages of Physiotherapy is it has less or no side effect as compared to other systems of treatment. Because of its less side effects Physiotherapy has become popular among the intellectual people of our society.

Who is a Physiotherapist?

The person who performs physiotherapy profession is called a Physiotherapist/Physical therapist or physio for short. Physiotherapists study medical science subjects such as anatomy, neuroscience and physiology to develop skills and attitudes necessary for health education and prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with physical disorders and disabilities.

The physiotherapist works in health care systems in both hospitals and the community

Physiotherapists, who are known as physical therapists in America, work all around the world. They are the experts in the examination and treatment of musculoskeletal, neuromuscular and cardiothoracic problems that affect peoples’ abilities to move the way they want and function as well as they want in their daily lives. Physiotherapists assess, diagnose and treat people whose movement is restricted by injury, illness or age. Individuals in the physiotherapy career study their patient's history and physical condition in dealing with the movement disorders.

Scope

There is immense scope for a physiotherapist not only in India but abroad also. A trained physio can get employment in private hospitals, clinics, govt. and private rehabilitation centers, handicapped centers and schools. Physiotherapists can also opt for teaching, while those with adequate capital can establish private clinics of their own. The demand for physiotherapists in the country as well as abroad is immense. They are in great demand in USA, Canada and Australia and in Middle East.

Eligibility

A person with science background can opt for a course in physiotherapy. A candidate who has passed the 10+2 examination with physics, chemistry and biology can go for such a course. The passing percentage in 10+2 should be at least 50% and varies from institute to institute. The top institutes consider the score of CET (Common entrance examination), while some have their own selection procedure.

Courses

Various courses in physiotherapy are Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) and Master of Physiotherapy (MPT). The basic eligibility for BPT courses is 10+2 passed or equivalent examination with physics, chemistry, biology and English. At least 50% of marks should be secured in each of these subjects. Admission to BPT program is generally made on the basis of entrance examination conducted both at state and national level. BPT course is of 3 and ½ years – 4 and ½ years of duration. There is also a compulsory rotatory internship after the completion of the course. One who wishes to continue his/her study further can take admission into Master of Physiotherapy (MPT) program which is of two years duration. In this case he/she should have completed BPT course from any recognized institute/university.

B.Sc. Physiotherapy
Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT)
Diploma in Physiotherapy (D.P.T.)
Master of Physiotherapy (MPT)
Master of Physiotherapy in Hand conditions
Master of Physiotherapy in Neurology
Master of Physiotherapy in Orthopedics
Master of Sports Physiotherapy (M.S.P.T)
Post Graduate Diploma in Physiotherapy and Nutrition

Syllabus

I Year Behavioral sciences, Anatomy, Physiology and Bio-chemistry (2 semesters)
II Year Movement Science, Electrotherapy, Pathology and Pharmacology, General Medical conditions and surgical conditions including Pediatrics and Bio Mechanics (2 Semesters)
III Year Clinical subjects - Orthopaedics and traumatic conditions, Neurological conditions and cardio-respiratory diseases, Rehabilitation Medicine, Community medicine and Community physiotherapy (2 semester).
IV Year Applied physiotherapy in Orthopaedics and traumatic conditions, Neurological Sciences and Cardio respiratory diseases, Physical diagnosis, Ethics and management study (2 semesters).

Institutes

There are many government and private institutes that offer courses in BPT and MPT. Leading ones are

For MPT

Jamia Hamdard, Faculty of medicine, New Delhi
Meenakshi College of Physiotherapy, Chennai
MGM institute of Health science, Navi Mumbai
KMCH College of Physiotherapy, Coimbatore
KM College of physiotherapy, Coimbatore
Appolo College, Durg, Chhatisgarh
SRM institute of medical science and research, Chennai
School of medical education, MG university, Kottayam, Kerala
Vels College of physiotherapy , Pallavaram (TN)
National institute for the orthopedically handicapped, Kolkata
Integral University, Lucknow

For BPT

Aligarh Muslim Univerity, Aligarh (UP)
All India institutes of physical medicine and rehabilitation, Mumbai
Apollo College of medical science, Hyderabad
BCF College of phyiostherapy, Kottayam, Kerala
Devi Ahilya University, Indore, MP
MP Bhoj (Open) University, Bhopal
Rajeev Gandhi College, Bhopal
Sai College of Medical Science and technology, Kanpur
Santosh World medical academy, Ghaziabad (UP)
JM Institute of Speech and hearing, Patna (Bihar)
National institute of Physiotherapy and communication disorders, Patna (Bihar)
College of physiotherapy for Women, Mansa (Punjab)
Tripura Institute of paramedical sciences,Agartala (Tripura)

Remuneration

A physiotherapist can expect a salary of Rs. 5000 to 10000 per month to start with. If you choose your career as a physiotherapist in a hospital, you can something around Rs. 15000 to 25000 per month, depending on your skills and of course the level of hospital. The income of a freelance physiotherapist can be much higher than this depending on the clientele. A physio doing private practice can easily get Rs. 500/- to 2000/- per sitting.

Career in Mobile Application Development

2012-07-07T04:37:00.000-07:00

An application or ‘app’ for short is a software that is designed to perform various tasks on a mobile device or tablet. There many apps that the users can download from the internet and used. Some of these applications are free to download and use while some are paid ones. There are thousands of apps available of the web that perform basic task like a calculator or games and other utilities. Popular apps include facebook app, an app for twitter to name a few.

A mobile app. Developer is a basically a programmer who develops programs for mobiles, smartphones and tablets. Development of mobile application involves same rules that apply for development of computer software with some restrictions. A mobile developer has to design an application keeping in mind the limitations of a mobile device like memory, screen size, battery usage, processing speed etc. All these limitations are not present in a computer where the size of the screen, memory has reached new heights.

Industry status

Developing and building applications for smartphones, iPads and other tables is one of the most in-demand jobs in the world right now. The research firm - Gartner estimates that worldwide revenue from mobile apps can touch $15 billion this year.

The mobile application market is rapidly growing and gaining popularity as an emerging job opportunities market. India is the third fastest growing app market in the world. As per Gartner report, Indias active mobile connections will exceed 900 million by 2016, which translates to 72% penetration. According to Trai in January 2012 the number of active mobile connections in India has reached 659.99 million and the total mobile subscriber base stands at 903.72 million.

It is estimated that every Indian user spends nearly 52 minutes per-day using mobile apps. Similarly, mobile app economy-estimated at nearly $4 billion (Rs 20,000 crore) in 2009 and expected to grow to $18 billion in half a decade-continues to expand exponentially.

There is an increase in the demand of mobile applications as more and more people are using smart phones. It has been projected that mobile value-added services market (which includes mobile apps) will reach Rs 214.1 crore by the end of 2012 from Rs 158.6 crore in 2011. Revenue generated by mobile VAS was INR 122 billion, as on March 2011. It is estimated to reach Rs 482 billion by 2015.
To put the demand in perspective, consider that Apple racked up $1.78 billion in app sales in 2010, and global mobile app sales are forecast to hit $4 billion this year, according to market researcher IHS. IT job site Dice.com found that job postings for Android developers soared 302% in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2010; ads for iPhone-related positions rose 220% in the same time frame.
Elance.com, a website for freelancers, reports comparable demand: In the first quarter of 2011, there were 4,500 mobile developer jobs posted on the site -- an increase of 101% over the number of similar job postings in the same quarter last year. The total number of job listings on the site expanded at a rate of 52% in that same time frame, indicating that mobile development as a career segment may be growing twice as fast as the overall job market, according to Ellen Pack, vice president of marketing at Elance.com.
It's not just tech companies that are on the prowl for mobile development talent. Today, all kinds of product and service companies are scrambling to come out with apps, just as, a short while ago, they were working to establish a presence on social networking sites.

Top technologies to learn

1) Java: Applications developed in Java for resource-constrained devices (e.g mobile phones) are known as MID. Java for mobile application developmentconsists of two elements: a coding terminology and operating environment, which can run programs written in that language. The format of the java coding syntax is similar to C ++ object-oriented language. A big difference between C ++ and Java is that the program designer in C ++ will compile the source code particularly for a particular device for which application is intended.

2) QT: Mobile development pulpits are many and sometimes it happens that the same application is developed for different platforms. This would mean lot of work and use of various technologies however with cross platform mobile development technology all these hassles become negligible. QT is an excellent cross platform mobile development pulpit and allows you to develop applications for different devices and OS, such as MS Windows, Mac OS X, Unix system, Symbian, Android and others.

3) Windows Phone SDK: The latest available version of Windows phone SDK is 7.1 allowingmobile developers to develop their own mobile applications and list them on the Windows Phone Marketplace. Windows Phone SDK 7.1 contains Windows phone emulator, additions for XNA game facilities 4.0, assemblies, Expression combination SDK, Silverlight SDK and DRT, WCF information services and Microsoft Promotion SDK to further enhance Windows mobile application development.

4) iPhone SDK: Developing for the iPhone for the operating system IOS is only for Mac OS X. To make programs for the iPhone, iPhone developers are motivated to use Objective-C. In this case it is possible to make the same application using C and C + +. However this is not as successful as most of the API is designed in Objective C.

5) Android SDK: To make for Android, you can use the Eclipse plug-in set up with the ADT. The development is in programming language Java. It is possible to debug using the emulator designed into the ADT, or immediately on a mobile device running Android. Different versions of the SDK have evolved to facilitate Android application development.

As newer technology for mobile application development emerges older technologies go down the record. To develop the best application a mobile application developer should be abreast with evolving technologies and use it in all latest projects.

How to go for it

Like most of the careers a graduation degree is a must to apply for a job. This formal qualification must be accompanied by strong programming skills, especially in Java, HTML and Object Oriented Programming. Expertise in the specific APIs and user interface toolkits of major mobile platforms like Google's Android and Apple's iOS is a plus -- though a lack of such experience wouldn't necessarily mean you have no chance of becoming a successful mobile app developer, experts say. A skilled programmer should be able to move between languages fairly easily, since mobile development essentially just involves learning a new syntax.

There are various institutes that offer a course in mobile app. Development. You can join a course that teaches you to designs for iOS or android(the latter becoming more popular now days) Being a practical subject, learning by doing will the best option for you. If you don’t want to join for a classroom course you can take the help of various online tutorials, you tube videos also.

Remuneration

A beginner in a mobile app development can expect a package anything between 2 to 3.5 lakh per annum whereas an expert can easily get a package of 4 to 6 lakhs.

Career as a freelancer

A freelance app developer is a person who develops the app by himself and put it on a app. sharing website.Mobile app development has come of age today. With the ever-rising demand for smartphone apps, this field is full of Apple, Android and BlackBerry developers. Submitting your app has become much easier, with the major app stores relaxing their restrictions. Most app stores charge a nominal registration fee, which makes it more lucrative for the app developer. But can a freelance mobile app developer really earn that much from his independent occupation Most of the major app stores charge you a 30% commission on the sales of your app in their marketplace. The BlackBerry World charges only 20% commissions.The webOS pays their developers via PayPal, which decreases your commission further. Hence, this one may not be an extremely viable for you, returns-wise, especially if you are a US-based mobile app developer. Your aim is not just breaking even, but also making a decent sum every month, from the sales of your app. For this, you will first have to decide a target sum you want to earn and based on that, see if you can manage to generate the volume of sales required to make that much amount of profit.

While you are projecting this figure, you will also have to look at the size of the particular marketplace that you are targeting. Right now, Apple and Google are at the very top of the rung. Hence, these also have the highest number of app users, which means, you have that much more chance of making profits in these markets.

In conclusion, you can definitely make profits being a freelance mobile app developer. But how much you can make each month depends on your costs, your marketing efforts, volume of sales and so on. Analyze each mobile platform in detail before selecting your chosen platform or platforms and then go ahead and develop apps for the same.

SAP

2012-07-05T01:50:00.001-07:00

SAP AG – The Company

SAP AG is a German multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software (ERP) to manage business operations and customer relations. Headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software. The company's best known software products are its enterprise resource planning application (SAP ERP), its enterprise data warehouse solution - SAP Business Warehouse, SAP Business Objects software, and most recently, Sybase mobile products and in-memory computing appliance SAP HANA. The company expects to be number two in IT database management in India, in spite of being relatively new in the business. SAP is one of the largest independent software corporations.

SAP – The Product

SAP stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing. Designed and developed by 5 IBM engineers during the 1970s as a standard based software alternative to custom built ERP software. SAP has been in the forefront of ERP software ever since. SAP develops ERP products to be used by companies to manage their enterprise. This includes managing their day to day operations, logistics, finances, month end, quarter end and yearly activities, reporting, HR etc. Although there are a couple of other ERP vendors who do the same, the key differentiator for SAP is the way in which SAP integrates all these operations and makes for a seamless system that is both easy to use and at the same time sophisticated enough to include all kinds of complex activities that are needed for any kind of enterprise. Examples of some of these activities could, be running Material resource planning, recruiting and managing an employee’s lifecycle, disbursing payrolls, recording all financial transactions and drawing balance sheets and P/L statements of the company etc. Now imagine a single system that takes care of all these diverse activities and still keep them well integrated. SAP system comprises of a number of fully integrated modules, which covers virtually every aspect of the business management. SAP is #1 in the ERP market .As of 2010, SAP has more than 140,000 installations worldwide ,over 25 industry-specific business solutions, and more than 75,000 customers in 120 countries Other Competitive products in market are Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics etc.

What is ERP ?

ERP stands for ‘Enterprise Resource Planning’. The term ERP was coined by a leading research and advisory company, Gartner in 1990.ERP involves the management and utilization of ‘Finance, Human Capital, Manufacturing and Order’.SAP ERP is one of five enterprise applications in SAP's Business Suite. The other four applications are:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – helps companies acquire and retain customers, gain marketing and customer insight
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) – helps manufacturers with product-related information
Supply Chain Management (SCM) – helps companies with the process of resourcing its manufacturing and service processes
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) – enables companies to procure from suppliers

SAP Terminology

SAP Netweaver

SAP Netweaver is the comprehensive integration and application platform and is the technological backbone of SAP Business Suite.SAP Netweaver includes the whole range of enabling technologies like SAP EP (Enterprise Portal) infrastructure, SAP BW (Business Warehousing), SAP XI (Exchange Integration), SAP WebAS (Web application server), mobile technologies and others.

SAP Business Suite

SAP Business Suite is a collection of integrated enterprise applications which enables enterprises to perform business processes designed to work with other SAP and non-SAP software. Core applications of SAP Business Suite are : SAP ERP, SAP CRM, SAP PLM, SAP SCM and SAP SRM. SAP Business Suite applications are built on an open, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and powered by SAP Netweaver platform.

SAP ERP

SAP ERP is the comprehensive enterprise resource planning solution from SAP. SAP ERP is powered by SAP Netweaver technology and includes the full suite of applications for Financials, Human Resources, Operations Management, Corporate Services and Analytics.

SAP CRM

SAP Customer Relationship Management helps businesses to focus on customer related business processes like Marketing, Sales, Customer services, e-commerce, etc.

SAP PLM

SAP Product Lifecycle Management is the application for product-related processes starting from the first product idea, through manufacturing to product service.

SAP SCM

SAP Supply Change Management applications helps businesses to plan and execute its supply networks. It also enables collaboration and co-ordination empowering the supply chain processes.

SAP SRM

SAP Supplier Relationship Management application focuses on supplier relationship to empower procurement process and suppliers as strategic partners in the organization. It is aimed at strengthening procure-to-pay processes for goods and services. Simplifying sourcing and procurement functions leads to reduction in procurement costs and better managed supplies.

SAP ABAP

SAP ABAP is the programming language of SAP. SAP developed ABAP for programming various SAP applications. ABAP stands for Advanced Business Application Programming. The language helps in customizing applications for different customer requirements which can not be provided as part of standard software.

ABAP Objects

ABAP Objects is the object-oriented extended version of the 4th generation ABAP language (called ABAP/4). Starting from version 4.6, ABAP is continuosly gaining new object-oriented features making it at par with other modern languages. ABAP Objects is not a 100% object-oriented language like Java rather a hybrid language where the old procedural paradigm exists with the modern object-oriented component.

mySAP

SAP introduced this term way back in 2003 to represent the web-enablement of its various applications and introduction of e-commerce capabilities. At that time, it was a big things in SAP circles and SAP products were referred as mySAP ERP, mySAP Business Suite, etc.

Functional components

Financial - FICO

SAP FI - Financial Accounting

SAP CO - Controlling

SAP EC - Enterprise Controlling

SAP AM - Asset Management

SAP EAM - Enterprise Asset Management

SAP TR - Treasury

SAP IM - capital Investment Management

SAP GL - General Ledger

SAP AP - Accounts Payable

SAP AR - Account Receivable)

SAP AA - Asset Accounting

SAP LC - Legal Consolidation

SAP FM - Funds Management

SAP BL - Bank-related Accounting

SAP TR-CB - Cash Budget Management

SAP TR-MRM - Market Risk Management

SAP TR-CM - Cash Management

SAP TR-LO - Loans Management

SAP TR-TM - Treasury Management

Human Resources - HR

SAP HR - Human Resource

SAP PA - Personnel Administration

SAP PD - Personnel planning and Development

SAP PA-APP - Applicant Management

SAP PA-BEN - Benefits

SAP PA-EMP - Employee Management

SAP PA-INW - Incentive wages

SAP PA-PAY - Payroll

SAP PA-TIM - Time Management

SAP PA-TRV - Travel Expenses

SAP PD-OM - Organizational Management

SAP PD-RPL - Room Reservations Planning

SAP PD-WFP - Workforce Planning

SAP PD-SCM - Seminar and Convention Management

SAP PD-PD - Personnel development.

Logistic and Manufacturing - Mainly SD/MM

SAP MM - Material Management

SAP MRP - Materials Requirement Planning

SAP ML - Material Ledger

SAP SD - Sales & Distribution

SAP PP - Production Planning

SAP DS - Detailed Scheduling

SAP LO - General Logistics

SAP SM - Service Management

SAP PM - Plant Maintenance

SAP LE - Logistic Execution

SAP MM-PUR - Purchasing

SAP MM-IM - Inventory Management

SAP MM-WM - Warehouse Management

SAP MM-IV - Invoice Verification

SAP MM-IS - Information System

SAP MM-CBP - Consumption Based Planning

SAP MM-EDI - Electronic Data Interchange

SAP SD-MD - Master Data

SAP SD-CAS - Sales Support

SAP SD-SLS - Sales

SAP SD-SHP - Shipping

SAP SD-TR - Transportation

SAP SD-BIL - Billing

SAP SD-SIS - Sales Information System

SAP SD-EDI - Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

SAP SD-GF General Sales Functions

SAP PP-SOP - Sales and Operations Planning

SAP PP-CRP - Capacity Requirement Planning

SAP PP-MP - Master planning

SAP PP-ATO - Assembly orders

SAP PP-BD - Basic Data

SAP PP-IS - Information System

SAP PP-KAB - Kanban/Just-in-Time

SAP PP-MRP - Material Requirements Planning

SAP PP-PDC - Plant Data Collection

SAP PP-PI - Production Planning for Process Industries

SAP PP-REM - Repetitive Manufacturing

SAP PP-SFC - Production orders

SAP PM-EQM - Equipment and Technical Objects

SAP PM-IS - PM Information System

SAP PM-PRM - Preventive Maintenance

SAP PM-PRO - Maintenance Projects

SAP PM-SM - Service Management

SAP PM-WOC - Maintenance Orders Management

SAP LO-AB-TC - Trading Contract

SAP LO-BM - Batches

SAP LO-ECH - Engineering Change Management

SAP LO-EHS - Environment Management

SAP LO-EWB - Engineering Workbench

SAP LO-HU - Handling Unit Management

SAP LO-LIS - Logistics Information System

SAP LO-MAP - Merchandise & Assortment Planning

SAP LO-MD - Logistics Basic Data

SAP LO-MDS - Merchandise Distribution

SAP LO-PDM - Product Data Management

SAP LO-PR - Forecast

SAP LO-RIS - Retail Information System

SAP LO-SCI - Supply Chain Planning Interface

SAP LO-SRS - Retail Store

SAP LO-VC - Variant Configuration

Product Life Cycle Management - PLM

SAP QM - Quality Management

SAP QM-QP - Quality Planning

SAP QM-IM - Quality Inspection processing

SAP QM-QC-AQC - Quality control

SAP QM-IT - Test equipment management

SAP QM-QN - Quality notifications

SAP QM-CA - Quality certificates

SAP PS - Project System

SAP DMS - Document Management System

SAP PPM - Project and Portfolio Management

SAP EHS - Environment, Health and Safety

SAP PLM_RM - Recipe Management

SAP PLM-AM - Audit Management

SAP QM-CR - General functions

SAP QM-PT-RP - Control in logistics

SAP PLM400 - Quality Management

SAP LO170 - Quality Management

SAP PLM405 - Quality Inspections

SAP LO705 - Quality Inspections

SAP PLM410 - Quality Notifications

SAP LO710 - Quality Notifications

SAP PLM425 - QM in Sales and Distribution

SAP LO725 - Quality Certificates

SAP PS-CAF - Payments

SAP PS-CON - Confirmation

SAP PS-COS - Costs

SAP PS-CRP - Resources

SAP PS-DAT - Dates

SAP PS-DOC - Documents

SAP PS-IS - Information System

SAP PS-MAT - Material

SAP PS-PRG - Progress

SAP PS-REV - Revenues and Earnings

SAP PS-SIM - Simulation

SAP PS-ST - Structures

SAP PS-VER - Versions

Cross Application (X-Apps)

SAP xApp for Manufacturing Integration & Intelligence

SAP APO - Advanced Planner and Optimizer

SAP Live Cache

SAP WF - Workflow

SAP BW- Business Warehouse

SAP BIW - Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing

SAP Analytics

SAP xPD - Product Definition

Governance, Risk, and Compliance - SAP GRC

SAP SDN

SAP Virsa

SAP GTS

SAP xEM

SAP CPM - Corporate Performance Management

SAP SEM - Strategic Enterprise Management

SAP Strategy Management

SAP Business Planning and Simulation

SAP Credit Management

Technical components

SAP Basis

SAP BC - BASIS Components

ABAP

ABAP - Advanced Business Application Programming

NetWeaver "Business Process Management" apps

SAP KMC - Knowledge Management & Collaboration

SAP DMS - Document Management Service

SAP CMS - Content Management Service

SAP XI - Exchange Infrastructure

SAP PI - Process Integration

SAP EP - Enterprise Portal

IS (Information Systems) Management

SAP CCMS - Computing Center Mgmt System

SAP MDM - Master Data Management

SAP BC-CCM-ADK - Archiving Development Kit

SAP CCM-API - Application Program Interfaces

SAP CCM-BTC - Background Processing

SAP CCM-CNF - Configuration

SAP CCM-HAV - High Availability

SAP CCM-MON - Monitoring

SAP CCM-PRN - Print and Output Management

SAP MDM100 - Master Data Management

SAP MDM101 - MDM GDS

SAP MDM300 - MDM Print Publishing

SAP MDM400 - MDM Data Modeling

Career in SAP

Demand is "strong" in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Thailand and Australia for SAP functional skills such as financial accounting and controlling (FICO), materials management (MM), and production planning (PP). Overall, the demand for such expertise is higher in discrete and process manufacturing industries, where the companies usually utilize a wider spectrum of SAP modules for different business areas. Although there is little difference between entry-level positions across the different technology areas, experienced SAP consultants generally command higher paychecks than the average IT professional.SAP consultants are paid a premium for their specific SAP project experience. Career prospects and development are good since there is a demand for these skill sets and companies are willing to pay good money for the best consultants.

Earning

How much one earns depends on several factors including the specific modules of specialization, as well as market demand and supply. In Singapore, for example, an SAPHR (human resources) consultant may be in the lower payscale compared to SAP SD (Sales and Distribution) where the general demand for SAP SD is higher.There is also a difference between working for an IT consulting company and in an end-user environment, and compensation also depends on the amount of travel required and the country of work. A consultant can choose to continue to specialize and hone his skills as a SAP subject matter expert, take up managerial responsibilities, or even lead a team and work his way up to senior business or application management.If you are already in an organization that implements SAP software, you can explore opportunities for internal transfers to get the relevant experience. Once you have clocked one to two full-cycle implementation projects, you can be considered as an experienced SAP consultant.

SAP consultants can hail from different walks of life; one can have functional skills or domain expertise.

A HR manager can take up a course, and find a job as a SAP HR consultant either in an end-user environment or a consulting company. As you gain project experience, say, six months to a year, you can expand into other areas.

Career advancement opportunities are also not limited to the SAP field. A consultant can take on a project lead role and later move on to become an IT head or CTO. And how important is obtaining professional certification? SAP certification is definitely nice to have, but it does not guarantee a smooth transition to a SAP career. Ultimately, companies are still looking at specific and related work experience in SAP. Strong communication skills and industry background will serve as a good foundation for an SAP consultant.

According to SAP, there are more than 8,000 SAP customer installations in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, and the German software giant has about 1,600 SAP consultants based in this region. The company continues to ensure it has a strong pool of consultants who can serve the market. Training is also provided at boot camps where participants pick up tips on strategy, consulting and change management

SAP Training Institutes

There are many SAP training institutes in India that offer good training but at the same time there are many ‘fly-by-night’ operators also that charge a hefty amount but just cover the basics. It is advisable to have a thorough look at the curriculum and their affiliations before joining any course. It is better to do SAP training from an autorized SAP training partner.

Careers in Hardware

2012-06-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

Introduction

The term hardware in the field of computers refers to the physical parts of a computer system like monitor, keyboard, printer etc. As the number of computer system is rising in the world there is a huge demand for professionals who can repair and troubleshoot hardware problems. Therefore a career in hardware is a very rewarding one provided that you have sounds skills in this domain. The professionals associated with the discipline of research of computer hardware are known as hardware engineers. They also design and supervise the process of manufacturing and installation of hardware. Presence of Indian and foreign IT majors in the country has created a lot of scope for youths in this sector.

Course Details

Although there is no popular formal degree course available for hardware professionals, there are many courses and qualifications available from informal sector. It will be better to complete at least a graduation degree (science/electronics preferred) along with a course in hardware. A diploma in hardware will definitely give you practical knowledge in the field which is very much required.

Institutes

There are many colleges and institutes that offer courses on hardware technology. You can search for an institute by making a small search on the internet. You should keep in mind that learning hardware is different from learning ‘assembling’ of computers. Many so called hardware training institutes teach computer assembling and very basic hardware skills like refilling an ink cartridge that isn’t exactly a job of hardware professionals. Before joining an institute, have a good look at their course contents, check whether it contains knowedege of mother boards,circuit boards, RAM, hard disks, printers etc. You should not learn how to replace the faulty component but also how to repair it. Remember that this is more of a practical subject so join a course that gives you more and more practice time on actual hardware rather than focusing on the theoretical part.

Career Prospects

This is no news that the use of computer is rising in the whole world and will continue to rise. The speed at which computers and related peripherals are being bought by the users also suggest that at some time these products will require some kind of repair or servicing also. This makes choosing the field of hardware a very decent option. Hardware developing companies are the favoured place for most of the Hardware engineers. They can seek to be employed in corporate houses, industries, public sector undertakings. All public and private sector banks, financial institutions, school and collages also require the service of Hardware and Networking experts. Besides they can be self-employed by starting their own Hardware assembling firm. He can also run consultancy to develop hardware according to the requirements of the clients. Teaching in technical educational institutions is also a very good option.

Institutes Offering
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is one of the leading institutes of the country followed by some private players including, Aptech Hardware and Networking Academy, JetKing, IIHT etc.

Hardware Courses

N+
Network Security
MNA
Cisco
Security+
Red Hat Certification
Diploma In Computer Hardware
Diploma In Networking
Certification in Hardware and Networking
Linux

Job roles in Hardware and Networking:

System administrator
Network administrator
System Engineer
Technical Engineer/Computer Hardware Engineer
Network Engineer
Technical support
Help desk technician/Network support technician
IT technician
IT administrator
Field service technician
Security Database development and administration
Intranet Specialist

Remuneration

To start with a hardware professional can easily earn anything between 8000 to 10000 per month. As the experience and qualification of a person increases he/she can expect an income of 20000 to 30000 per month. Having said that do remember that a person having an expertise in this field can certainly cross these limits and earn more than 50000 per month.

Exam Alert 2012

2012-06-27T09:17:00.001-07:00

EXAM ALERT 2012

Name of the Institute	Course/Discipline	Entrance Exam	Month	Website

Key Exams
CBSE Boards (X & XII)	Board Exams		March 1 (Class X, XII)	www.cbse.nic.in
IITs & Indian School of Mines	Engineering & Others	IIT-Jt. Entrance Exam	April 8, 2012	www.iitd.ernet.in
CBSE - All India Pre Medical Test	MBBS	AIPMT	April 1(P)-May 13 (Final)	www.aipmt.nic.in
UPSC	Civil Services	Civil Services Exam	May(P)/Oct.(Mains)-20/05/12 - 05/10/12	www.upsc.gov.in
Jawahar Lal Nehru University	UG & PG Courses	JNU Entrance	May(P)/Oct.(Mains)	www.jnu.ac.in
Delhi University	UG & PG Courses		June'2012	www.du.ac.in
Indian Institutes of Management & others	Management	CAT	November'2012	www.catiim.in
Medical Council of India (CBSE will conduct)	MBBS	NEET	May 13, 2012	www.mciindia.org

Admissions Abroad
US/UK/Australia/ Canada/ NZ/France/ Germany	Most of the Disciplines	Foreign	Jan-June for Aug-Sept intake

Other Admissions
Faculty of Mgt Studies, DU	MBA	FMS Entrance Test	December 4, 2011 (one month earlier)	www.fms.edu
PG seats in Medical Colleges -under AIIMS	Medical Science	All Ind PG Medical & Dental Ent. Exam	January 8th, 2012	www.aiims.edu
Faculty of Medical Science, DU	Medical Science	PG Medical Entrance Test-PGMET	February	www.du.ac.in
All India Management Association	Management	Management Aptitude Test	Feb/May/Sept /Dec.2012	www.aima-ind.org
PG courses with MHRD Scholar/ Assttship	Engi/Tech/Arcj etc.	Graduate Aptitude Test in Engi	29/01/2012 (Online) 12/02/2012 (Offline)	www.iitb.ac.in/gate
IIT (Mum/Del/ Guwahati/ Kanpur) & IISC	Design	Common Ent. Exam for Design-CEED	04/12/2011 - one month earlier	www.iitb.ac.in/gate
Indian Military/Navy/Air Force Academies	Defence	Comb. Defence Services Exam - C.D.S.	February - 12/02/2012	www.upsc.gov.in
IGNOU	Management	IGNOU OPEN MAT	February 12 & August 2012	www.ignou.ac.in
Jamia Millia Islamia	UG & PG Courses	Jamia Entrance	March-July 2012	http://jmi.ac.in
GGS IP University	UG & PG Courses	Common Entrance Test	April-June 2012	www.ipu.ac.in
National Defence & Naval Academy	Defence	NDA Exam	15th April'2012	www.upsc.gov.in
National Council for Hotel Mgt & Catering Tech	Hotel Mgt.	Jt. Entrance Exam	28th April 2012	www.nchmct.org
CBSE - Engineering & other colleges	Engg/Arch/ Pharmacy	All Ind Engg Ent. Exam (AIEEE)	UG-April 14, PG- April 15	www.icar.org.in
Veterinary Council of India	Veterinary Science	All India Pre-Veterinary Test	/12/2012	www.aipvt.com
Indian Council of Agri Research	Agriculture & Allied Sub	All India Entrance Exam	UG-April 14, PG- April 15	www.icar.org.in
Indian Instt. of Mass Communication	Mass Communication		3rd week of May'2012	www.iimc.nic.in
Dellhi College of Engg & Netaji Subash IT, DU	Engineering & Others	AIEEE	29th April, 2012	www.dce.edu www.nsit.ac.in
Faculty of Medical Science, DU	MBBS & BDS	DU Medical & Dental Ent. Test- DUMET	May	www.du.ac.in
AIIMS	MBBS	Entrance Examination	June	www.aiims.edu
Faculty of Law, DU	Law	Entrance for LLB & LLM	May-June	www.du.ac.in
National Law University Delhi	AILET	Entrance for Law School	May 6,2012	http://nludelhi.ac.in
Forest Services - Govt. of India	Forest Services	Indian Forest Service Exam	14th July' 2012	www.upsc.gov.in
School of Planning & Architecture	Architecture		June'2012	www.spa.ac.in
IGNOU	UG & PG Courses		Jan and Aug 2012	www.ignou.ac.in
Jr. Research Fellowship & NET	Education	Jt. UGC-CSIR	December'2012	http://csirhrdg.res.in
Symbiosis Institutes	PG Prof. Courses	Symb. National Apt. PG Test - SNAP	December'2012	www.siu.edu.in
Indian Instt. Of Tourism & Travel Mgt.	Travel & Tourism	IITTM Aptitude Test	26/02/2012	www.iittm.org
IITs & Indian Insttt. Of Science	Management	Jt. Mgt Entrance Test - JMET	Jan.29th'2012 (online) & Feb. 12th'2012 (offline)	http://gate.iisc.ernet.in

Career in digital marketing

2012-06-22T21:00:00.003-07:00

What is digital marketing : The world changes at immense speed. People are now living in the Information Age where prompt advertising and marketing decisions are needed. With the Internet’s continuous influence on various industries, major Search Engines are evolving and organizations are involving in search engine optimization (SEO). Analysts saw the advantages that the World Wide Web can offer in marketing companies and its products that paved way in searching for new strategies to utilize this online platform.

According to Wikipedia “Digital marketing is the use of digital sources based on electronic signal like Internet, digital display advertising and other digital media such as television, radio, and mobile phones in the promotion of brands and products to consumers. Digital marketing may cover the more traditional marketing areas such as Direct Marketing by providing the same method of communicating with an audience but in a digital fashion”.

In other words, Digital Marketing is using all forms digital advertising channels to promote a brand. These channels include mobiles, television, radio and internet among others. Advertising through mobile phones, SMS / MMS / digital outdoor and banners also comes under digital advertising. Promotion is done in the same method as that used in direct marketing but in a digital fashion.

The ‘Push’ and ‘Pull’ of Digital Marketing

The digital marketing comes in two flavours – push and pull. Pull digital marketing in which the consumer must actively seek the marketing content often via web searches or the recipient has given permission to receive content that is sent to the consumer by email, text message and web feed. Websites, blogs and streaming media (audio and video) are also examples of pull digital marketing. Articles with specific target / topic are a great source to pull interested viewers. In each of these, users have to link to the website to view the content. Only current web browser technology is required to maintain static content. However, additional internet marketing technologies (search engine optimization) may be required to attract the desired consumer demographic.

Push digital marketing technologies in which the marketer sends a message without the consent of the recipients, such as display advertising on websites and news blogs. Email, text messaging and web feeds can also be classed as push digital marketing when the recipient has not given permission to receive the marketing message. (This is also known as spam). Push technologies can deliver content immediately as it becomes available and are better targeted to their consumer demographics, although audiences are often smaller, and the costs of creation and distribution are higher. Push digital marketing technologies are more proper when done with the prior permission, the concept called as permission marketing. This is also more ethical. Permission can be obtained either through subscriptions, or consent to send email etc.

Because it is digital, a reporting engine can be layered within a campaign allowing the organization see in real-time how that campaign is performing, such as what is being viewed, how often, how long, as well as other actions such as responses rates and purchases made. Please note that each digital marketing technology is different and they cannot all provide the same types of reports. Also, digital marketing is constantly evolving and new technologies are being created all of the time.

Digital Marketing in India

According to recent research, at least $100 million are being spent at present on digital marketing in India. Since digital marketing is on a growth curve, job prospects in this industry look very bright for skilled professionals. Job search portal ‘indeed.com’ in 2010 had stated that at least 5 out of top 10 job trends will focus on digital media. In the coming year too, there will be an incredible demand for Business Development Managers, Online Marketing Managers, Social & Digital Marketing Managers, Social Media Directors, Interactive Media Strategists, Web Marketing & PR Managers, Marketing Program Specialists and similar profiles. The future for digital marketing professionals is bright. The country's Internet population is predicted to reach 25% of the population, and e-commerce industry to reach 100 crores in revenues by 2015. There is a big need of skilled manpower in this industry. So, traditional marketers should acquire digital marketing skills and new marketing professionals can take up digital marketing courses and pursue a bright career here.

What do you need to do

Anyone who has an interest in marketing, technology and advertising can enter the field of digital marketing. There is no formal education degree required to enter the field of digital marketing but as in every career a graduation degree with good communication skill will be an advantage. Any education in marketing or related fields can also prove to be beneficial. It is advised that you learn the art of digital marketing by observing the different marketing strategies employed by big players like Facebook, Google and yahoo. Digital marketing career covers the basics of traditional marketing and marketing in a new internet environment. A career in digital marketing would cover internet marketing paradigm, web analytics and intelligence – a quantitative way to interpret data and create market intelligence for decision makers, market research to include internet mediums, digital marketing issues, consumer behaviour and internet laws. Understanding of the Internet technology is a must for a successful career in digital marketing along with the core traditional marketing skills. An understanding of the Internet consumer behaviour, web analytics, consumer engagement with different digital channels, applicable rules and regulations governing each digital channels and for protecting consumers, are very important for a digital marketer.

Where to learn

There are many institutes in major cities of India offering a course in digital marketing. It is better to have a formal training first and then jump in to the job field. A course in digital marketing is a must for anyone who has no or little knowledge about the field. You can search for such institutes on the web, go through their contents and credentials before taking admission.

Expected Salary

Salary of an individual does not only depend on The salary in digital marketing can range from 2-3 lakh per annum to start with. For an experienced and expert 7-8 lakh per annum can be on offer.

Choosing a college

2012-06-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Choosing a college for admission is very important decision as it plays a vital role in shaping your future. Selecting the right college is very confusing also, since each college promises to offer the very best of education and other facilities. Below is a list of some important points that must be looked into before taking admission.

Affiliation: Education now a day is more of a business then service. Many colleges start taking admission even before getting an approval from concerned authorities. Ask for documents regarding affiliation from the college without hesitation since it is a question of your future. Check whether the college has all the necessary approval s from AICTE and other departments. If a college states that it has international tie-ups or affiliations don’t just go by their word, check it yourself by looking at the documents, searching the websites of AICTE and other authorities, emailing the concerned person etc. If the overall infrastructure of the college is excellent but the affiliation is still under process don’t go for it.

Faculty : No matter how good the infrastructure of the college is, how much activities the colleges organizes, it is the faculty of the teaching staff that matters the most to a student. A student may not use all the college facilities every day but he/she will have to interact with the faculty(ies) daily as long as the course goes on. A faculty is not only a mentor or guide but also the academic representative of the college and therefore a good, qualified faculty is the one of the most crucial factor in choosing a college. While having a looking at the academic staff of the college, do have a look at the following points

a. How many faculty members are there in the college (both academic and non-academic) ?

b. How many of them are full time and how many are part timers?

c. What is the qualification and experience of the faculties? Do they have a PHD degree or a M.Tech, B.Tech, ME or BE.

d. Where did they complete their education from? Was it from any IIT, NIT or any other institute?

e. What is the student – teacher ratio? Is there sufficient number of faculties to handle the students?

These are some of the questions that you can ask the college or probe on your own. Keep in mind, that PHD is the highest qualification in a particular field; therefore if the majority of faculty members are PHD’s then there is no issue. An MTech qualified faculty is also not a problem. The area of concern now a days is that most college have BE’s as faculties. The issue becomes even worse when the faculty has done BE from the same college itself and is a pass out of the last batch having no experience. Faculties of small colleges are also given additional duties other than teaching, like getting admissions, student counseling, making arrangement for a college event etc. This disturbs the whole academic calendar of the college, since it diverts the faculty from performing the main which is - teaching.

Image: When we talk about the ‘image’ of a college it is the overall word of mouth generated by the students and their parents about the institute. Check out what is the overall reputation of the college. Have a word with the existing students and their parents, look for college reviews on the internet, search for some Facebook contacts of the same college and have a chat. Mention clearly that you want to know the insides of the college so that you can decide to opt for it or not. You can ask about the faculties, fees, placements and other information from the existing students of the college that will give you a clearer picture.
Facilities: Although academic quality is of utmost importance other facilities are also crucial while selecting a college. For example, library is a very important place of a college. While vising a college have a look at their library. Check how many books are there, are those books written by well-known authors or are they just to make the library look huge. Make sure that they have sufficient number of syllabus recommended books also. Some good college also subscribe to international engineering journals to be in touch with the happenings at the international level. Also find out the number of books you can get issued at a time, how much time can you keep the book with you etc. One often ignored feature of a college library is newspapers. Newspaper not only gives the in-depth analysis of current affairs but they also contain job supplements which can give you an idea of what the industry is asking for from an engineering graduate. The knowledge of current affairs will also give you an edge while going for interview and GD sessions. A good library must subscribe to at least 7-10 newspapers of national level.
Placements: Placement now a day has become a very important component while selecting a college. Check the number of placements made by the college in last 3-4 years. The type of companies visiting the campus and the package offered by them is also very important. Some colleges invite very small companies from Bangalore or Hyderabad that offer a very small package just to make it count as a ‘campus’ but such placements are just for the record nothing else. It is also very strange that some colleges ask their engineering students to sit for a marketing or call centre job interview so that the photographs can be used as a marketing tool in their annual magazine. Find out which companies visited the college for campus interviews, how many students were selected and for what type of job, what was the average package offered by the company etc. There are many colleges that ask for a ‘placement fee’ but invite very small ‘companies’ just to justify the fees.
Location: Location does not mean only the city or state where the institute is located but also its local address. The location of the college should be such that it can be reached easily. There should be easy accessibility to the college by common modes of transport. If the college has a bus facility it is an added advantage but even then the distance should not be too much that it makes you tired before reaching the college. For girls, it becomes even more important that the college should not be located at an isolated place and conveyance facilities are available.
Fees: Engineering is a costly affair when it comes to learning. Parents sacrifice the saving of their lives to get their child admitted to a good college therefore it is very unfortunate that many colleges ask for different ‘types’ of fee other than the tuition fee. Bus, Hostel, Uniform, Placement, Student Fund, Caution money, library, training and other such fee are forced on a student. Some of the them, like the hostel or bus fee is justified since these facilities cannot be offered from free but it should be reasonable and within the reach of the parents pockets. Some colleges go to the extent of first luring the students by charging them a small amount initially but then increase the fee unexpectedly when the student reaches second or third semester. Have a chat with the existing students of the college to find out if such malpractices are carried out by the college or not.
Other factors: Apart from the above features there are certain other factors also that you can look into before choosing a college.

a. Seminars and presentation: Syllabuses now a days are so lengthy that finishing them within the given time frame is very difficult and therefore some colleges keep their focus on teaching only as much as given in the syllabus. Engineering and technology are such fields where one must keep tab on what’s happening in the world right now. Technical seminars, paper presentations and workshops are aimed at providing the students the information about the current trends. Listening to a subject expert not only raises your level of knowledge but also clears any doubts you may have. Ask the college staff if they conduct such activities or not. The frequency of such events can also be enquired.

b. Industry visits: Teaching now a day is not confined to the walls of a classroom. Visit to an industry or a company allows the student to actually see how the things are carried out practically in real life. Such a visit will also let you experience what the corporate culture is. If the visit is accompanied by a session with the company staff it will definitely add a value.

c. Hostel: If you are an outstation student accommodation can be a menace. Find out if the college has hostel facility which in most cases will be there. If possible, visit the hostel yourself and check if the rooms are spacious, airy and away from noise and pollution. Most of the colleges allot a room for two students; therefore it should be large enough to contain two beds and at least one study table. Distance between the hostel and the college is also a point which should be looked into. For girls hostel, security issues should also be looked into.

What do they study?

2012-06-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

What do they study?

Here is a list of India's best minds educational achievements. Have a look,not all of them are products of IIT's or IIM's. Some of them for example Sunil Bharti Mittal is a BA. This just proves that only a high end degree can not make you successful in life The most important things to be a leader are passion, dedication and hardwork and on top of it,a DREAM.

Name	Company	Designation	Education	Institute
Shiv Nadar	HCL Group	Founder and Chairman	BE	PSC College of Technology, Coimbatore
Subroto Bagchi	MindTree	Chairman	BA	Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar
Vineet Nayar	HCL	Vice Chairman & CEO	MBA	XLRI, Jamshedpur
Chandrashekhar Natrajan	TCS	CEO	MCA	Coimbatore Institute Of Technology
Sunil Bharti Mittal	Bharti Airtel	Chairman and Group CEO Of Bharti Enterprises	BA	Punjab University, Chandigarh
Azim Premji	Wipro	Chairman Wipro Technologies	BE	Stanford Univerity, USA
Narayan Murthy	Infosys	Chairman Emeritus	BE/M.Tech	Mysore University/IIT Kanpur

Top 25 Employers In Engineering

2012-06-11T21:13:00.001-07:00

Top 25 Employers In Engineering

(As per Outlook India Survey)

NTPC Ltd
Microsoft
Indian Oil Corp Ltd
Cisco Systems
IBM
TCS
Tata Motors
L&T
Oracle
Adobe
Informatica
Intel
D.E. Shaw Group
Amazon
Ashok Leyland
Deloitte
Maruti Suzuki
Morgan Stanley
Infosys
Accenture
BHEL
Coal India Ltd
Google
McKinsey
Schlumberger

Based on number of visits to top campuses over the past three years

World's Top 100 Engineering Colleges

2012-06-10T21:00:00.001-07:00

These are the list of best 100 engineering institutes all over world.

Ranking	Name of the college	Points
1.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States	100.0
2.	University of California, Berkeley United States	93.9
3.	Stanford University United States	85.3
4.	California Institute of Technology (Caltech) United States	81.6
5.	University of Cambridge United Kingdom	76.2
6.	Carnegie Mellon University United States	71.6
7.	Imperial College London United Kingdom	70.9
8.	Georgia Institute of Technology United States	68.9
9.	University of Tokyo Japan	67.4
10.	University of Toronto Canada	66.0
11.	National University of SINGAPORE(NUS) Singapore	64.5
12.	Tsinghua University China	63.4
13.	Eth Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Switzerland	63.1
14.	University of Oxford United Kingdom	61.6
15.	Princeton University United States	61.5
16	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) United States	61.4
17.	Delft University of Technology Netherlands	60.4
18.	Mcgill University Canada	60.1
19.	Harvard University United States	59.6
20.	University of Illinois United States	58.4
21	Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan	57.0
22	Kyoto University Japan	56.8
22	University of British Columbia Canada	56.8
24	Cornell University United States	56.4
24	Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Hong Kong	56.4
26	Nanyang Technological University Singapore	55.2
27	University of New South Wales Australia	54.7
28	The University of Melbourne Australia	54.4
29	Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Israel	54.1
30	University of Waterloo Canada	53.9
31	École Polytechnique France	52.6
32	University of Texas at Austin United States	52.0
33	Purdue University United States	50.9
34	Kaist - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology Korea, South	50.5
35	University of California, San Diego United States	50.3
36	Australian National University Australia	49.9
36	Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) India	49.9
38	Peking University China	49.2
38	University of Michigan United States	49.2
40	Technische Universität München Germany	48.7
41	The University of Sydney Australia	48.0
42	Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) India	47.7
43	Seoul National University Korea, South	46.0
44	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland	45.2
45	University of Manchester United Kingdom	44.8
46	University of Alberta Canada	44.6
47	Monash University Australia	44.3
48	Shanghai Jiao Tong University China	43.8
49	Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands	42.3
50	National Taiwan University Taiwan	42.3
51	Osaka University Japan	42.3
52	University of Science and Technology of China China	42.3
53	Texas A&M University United States	41.8
54	Kth, Royal Institute of Technology Sweden	41.5
55	Chalmers University of Technology Sweden	41.3
56	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Belgium	40.8
56	The University of Auckland New Zealand	40.8
58	Yale University United States	40.7
59	Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VIRGINIA TECH) United States	40.4
60	University of Edinburgh United Kingdom	40.2
61	University of Queensland Australia	40.0
62	University of California, Santa Barbara United States	39.8
63	Columbia University United States	39.5
63	Politecnico di Milano Italy	39.5
65	Technische Universität Berlin Germany	39.3
66	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute United States	38.7
67	Johns Hopkins University United States	38.5
68	Universität Stuttgart Germany	38.0
69	University of Hong Kong Hong Kong	37.3
70	Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) India	37.1
70	Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen Germany	37.1
72	Universität Karlsruhe Germany	37.0
73	University of WISCONSIN-Madison United States	36.9
74	Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) India	36.0
74	The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong	36.0
76	Vienna University of Technology Austria	35.9
77	Technical University of Denmark Denmark	35.8
78	University of Pennsylvania United States	35.0
79	Mcmaster University Canada	34.9
79	Pennsylvania State University United States	34.9
81	Northwestern University United States	34.6
81	University of Maryland United States	34.6
83	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) India	34.5
83	University of Chicago United States	34.5
85	University of Washington United States	34.3
86	Chulalongkorn University Thailand	34.0
87	Université de Montréal Canada	33.9
87	University of Southern California United States	33.9
89	City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong	33.7
90	Bandung Institute of Technology Indonesia	33.5
90	University of Calgary Canada	33.5
92	Fudan University China	33.2
93	Brown University United States	33.1
94	Helsinki University of Technology Tkk Finland	33.0
94	Rmit University Australia	33.0
96	Ucl (University College London) United Kingdom	32.8
96	University of Southampton United Kingdom	32.8
98	Tohoku University Japan	32.7
98	University of Birmingham United Kingdom	32.7
100	École Normale Supérieure, Paris France	32.4

Architect - What, Why and How

2012-06-10T06:53:00.001-07:00

Construction is one of the fastest growing sectors in Indian economy. In the last few decades our economy has witnessed hectic and massive construction activities, new structures have been raised, and townships have evolved. All this has importantly led to creation of avenues for those interested in making a career in architect. Architects are the licensed professionals trained in the art and science of building. They are involved in all the phases of the building construction i.e. the functional, safety, economical and have to satisfy the needs of its occupants. They are responsible person for the planning, designing and supervision of construction works for houses, office buildings, skyscrapers, landscapes, and even entire cities.

Architectural Engineering

Architecture, the science of building, is the visualisation of building blocks. It is the area of study which deals with the designing and planning of buildings and structures and the spaces between them. Architecture is a highly competitive and multi-disciplinary profession which involves a variety of tasks at work. This is a field which covers various fields including spatial design, aesthetics, safety management, material management etc.

Architects are the licensed professionals trained in the art and science of building. They are involved in all the phases of the building construction i.e the functional, safety, economical and has to satisfy the needs of its occupants. They are responsible person for the planning, designing and supervision of construction works for houses, office buildings, skyscrapers, landscapes, and even entire cities. An Architect is a combination of artist, professional and businessperson. They ideates, sketches, makes blueprints of their designs and then sees them come to life as cottages, skyscrapers and even monuments. Apart from designing and construction, architects are trained in activities ranging from conceptual problem solving to project management.

One can rise to a successful position in the field through talent and hard work. Success in this competitive profession is measured by the size of responsibility entrusted to an individual, an invitation to partnership in a firm or, ideally, a well-established private practice.

Course Details and eligibility
A bachelor's degree in architecture (B.Arch) or Diploma in architecture is needed to become a qualified architect. Anybody who has studied Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry at the 10+2 level can apply for admission to study architecture at the graduate level in colleges offering the course. B.Arch is a 5 year course and most schools and colleges select students through a written test. Further on completion of the graduate course one can study architecture at the post graduate course which varies from 18 months to 2 years. The Council of Architecture conducts an aptitude test on an All India basis for admission to colleges of Architecture. Engineering colleges select students on the basis of the result to the appropriate engineering courses. Some other renowned institutes carry their own selection tests to identify suitable candidates.

Entrance Tests : Admission to first year of Five years full time undergraduate course in Architecture (Bachelor of Architecture) in various colleges of India is through National and State level entrance examinations.

The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education ) conducts a national level entrance examination- All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) on an All India basis for entry to undergraduate programmes in B. Architecture and B. Planning in government and private institutes. The paper consists of Mathematics, an Aptitude Test and a Drawing test. The National Aptitude test in Architecture (NATA), the online test with drawing exam is conducted by the National Institute of Advanced Studies and Architecture in association with the Council of Architecture (COA). NATA scores are used by admissions authorities of different unaided & Government aided schools / colleges of Architecture, to provide common measures for comparing the qualifications of applicants. NATA measures aesthetic sensitivity, critical thinking, perception, observation and architectural awareness. Entrance to architecture programmes at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT's) is through the national level Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Private institutes conduct entrance exams of their own. Different states also hold separate entrance exams for admission to architecture and engineering colleges in the state.

Career Prospects

With the country's current growth in industrial and economic activities, there exists wide employment opportunities for architects, both in the public and private sectors. A qualified architect can work with government organisations like central and state public work departments, housing and urban development corporation, municipalities, city development authorities, state housing boards etc. They are also employed in industrial ventures, consultancy and private architectural firms, teaching institutions, real estate development firms etc. The most privileged scope in the field of architecture is private practice. With some years of experience in an organisation, the architects can set up their own business.

Institutes Offering

Some of the Colleges and Universities offering Graduate/Post-Graduate courses in Architecture are: School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi; Chandigarh College of Architecture, Chandigarh; School of Architecture CEPT, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad; Govt. College of Architecture, Lucknow; College of Architecture, Goa; Sir J J College of Architecture, Mumbai; Indian Education Society's College of Architecture, Mumbai; Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Architecture, Pune; Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad; College of Engineering, Thiruvananthpuram; Anna University, Chennai; Bengal Engineering College, Howrah; Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon; School of Architecture & Interior Designing, New Delhi.

Remuneration

A fresh architectural graduate working as a trainee with established architects starts with a salary of Rs. 10000 - 12000 per month. With in a short span of time, the earnings can rise up to Rs.15000 ? 20000 per month depending upon the experience and the work involved. In the government sectors, the pay scale is not as lucrative as the private sector. Architects practicing through their own firm could earn a lot, and this could be from thousands to lakhs. Consultants charge anywhere between 4 and 10 per cent of the total cost of construction in case of apartments and multi storied buildings.

Career In Animation

2012-06-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Career In Animation

The word animation is derived from a Latin word anima, meaning soul i.e. when life breathes into characters. The art of animation started with the cavemen who used to draw pictures on the rocks surfaces. Then who can forget Walt Disney for the creation of his cartoons especially the Mickey Mouse! In the present sense it means linking the series of drawings and simulating their movements together. It is a rapid display of 2D or 3D images to create an illusion of motion. It is an art form in which inanimate objects are brought into life by sequencing the drawn images.

Animation is emerging a special form of media now days. Animation is growing into a multi-billion dollar industry generating a great scope of employment for those who ready to try their skills into it. From a simple flick book to the computer 3D animation of stories, animation involves a lot of hard work and long hours of meticulous planning. This field being new to the Indian sector has a lot of hidden potential and talent, which needs to be properly groomed and exploited according to the international standards. There are many companies like Walt Disney, I Max and Sony who are ready to outsource their cartoon characters and are ready to invest heavily in this sector in India.

Nature of Work

3D animation is a complete teamwork and works on the creative ideas.3D animation itself is a combination of wide variety of career combinations. The various steps included in the making of a 3D animation movie consists of:

Story → Story Boarding → Character Sketch → Concept creation → Modeling → Environments → Rigging → Character and Mechanical Animation → Storyboard Animation→ Lighting → Texturing → Dynamics → Voice Recording → Digital Editing → Vfx → Final Film

So one can work as a

· Modeler

· Layout artist

· Clean-up artist

· Scanner operator

· Digital ink and paint artist

· Compositor

· Key frame animator

· Background artist

· In-between animator

Every role is crucial for the successful creation of the Animated project.

What you need

As the scope of animation is rising as never before, there are many things that you need to keep in mind while opting for this career. Besides being innovative, you need to be full of ideas and be willing to implement them. Besides this, a degree or a diploma in animation and advanced courses is also requisite for forging ahead and making a place for you in the industry .For a beginner, a preliminary course in 2D and 3D animation is a must. The aspirant may move ahead to any advanced course later. Besides teaching graphics, these courses also aim at pre-production skills such as sketching, storyboarding and creative visualisation.

Career Options/ Scope

There is no dearth of career options in this field. One can be a modeller, layout artist, clean-up artist, key frame animator, background artist and in-between animator in this industry.Gaming industry is fast catching pace these days. There is the excellent prospect for early movers in the industry. It has tremendous potential because of a ready market across the country. Game modellers, rigging artists, game animators, level designers, environment modellers and mobile game designers are some of the latest career options.

India has a much bigger market than Hollywood as the cost of animation related projects is 10 times cheaper than in the United States.” Varun Raja Nemani. a freelance character animation artist. “Globally too it has widened the perspective and scope as a lot of outsourcing for international companies like Dreamworks, Pixar, Blue Sky and Sony pictures is going on these days.” Some institutes like Academy of Animation and Gaming (AAG) are offering a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in gaming accredited by Karnataka State Open University

Salary

Freshers can expect a start of Rs 5000-10000 depending on their skill and creativity. With time and experience, and depending on skill sets, sky is the limit.

Career in Ethical Hacking

2012-06-03T07:48:00.001-07:00

What is Hacking?

In computer networking, hacking is any technical effort to manipulate the normal behavior of network connections and connected systems. A hacker is any person engaged in hacking. The term "hacking" historically referred to constructive, clever technical work that was not necessarily related to computer systems. Today, however, hacking and hackers are most commonly associated with malicious programming attacks on the Internet and other networks.

Hacking vs. Cracking

Malicious attacks on computer networks are officially known as cracking, while hacking truly applies only to activities having good intentions. Most non-technical people fail to make this distinction, however. Outside of academia, its extremely common to see the term "hack" misused and be applied to cracks as well.

Cracker

One who breaks security on a system. Coined ca. 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of hacker (q.v., sense 8). An earlier attempt to establish ‘worm’ in this sense around 1981–82 on Usenet was largely a failure.Use of both these neologisms reflects a strong revulsion against the theft and vandalism perpetrated by cracking rings. While it is expected that any real hacker will have done some playful cracking and knows many of the basic techniques, anyone past larval stage is expected to have outgrown the desire to do so except for immediate, benign, practical reasons (for example, if it’s necessary to get around some security in order to get some work done).Thus, there is far less overlap between hackerdom and crackerdom than the mundane reader misled by sensationalistic journalism might expect. Crackers tend to gather in small, tight-knit,very secretive groups that have little overlap with the huge, open poly-culture this lexicon describes; though crackers often like to describe themselves as hackers, most true hackers consider them a separate and lower form of life. It’s clear that the term cracker is absolutely meant to be derogatory. One shouldn't take the tone too seriously though, as The Jargon File is done with a sense of humor, and the above is said with a smile. As we can see from the above, illegal or perhaps immoral activity is viewed with disdain by the “true hackers,” whomever they may be. It also makes reference to cracker being a possible intermediate step to hacker, perhaps something to be overcome.

Script Kiddie

The term script kiddie has come into vogue in recent years. The term refers to crackers who use scripts and programs written by others to perform their intrusions.If one is labeled a “script kiddie,” then he or she is assumed to be incapable of producing his or her own tools and exploits, and lacks proper understanding of exactly how the tools he or she uses work. As will be apparent by the end of this chapter, skill and knowledge (and secondarily, ethics) are the essential ingredients to achieving status in the minds of hackers. By definition,

a script kiddie has no skills, no knowledge, and no ethics.

Difference between Hacking and Ethical Hacking

Hacking is getting "unauthorized" access to a computer system or a resource Ethical hacking involves getting authorized access to resources in order to test if that resource is vulnerable against attacks. The main difference between both the terms lies in the intent of the hacker. A hacker(cracker) breaks into a system or network to use the gathered information in a illegal way whereas an ethical hacker finds the loopholes in the security system only to strengthen it.

Ethical Hacker

An ethical hacker is a computer and network expert who attacks a security system on behalf of its owners, seeking vulnerabilities that a malicious hacker could exploit. To test a security system, ethical hackers use the same methods as their less principled counterparts, but report problems instead of taking advantage of them. Ethical hacking is also known aspenetration testing, intrusion testing and red teaming. An ethical hacker is sometimes called a white hat, a term that comes from old Western movies, where the "good guy" wore a white hat and the "bad guy" wore a black hat.

One of the first examples of ethical hackers at work was in the 1970s, when the United States government used groups of experts called red teams to hack its own computer systems. According to Ed Skoudis, Vice President of Security Strategy for Predictive Systems' Global Integrity consulting practice, ethical hacking has continued to grow in an otherwise lackluster IT industry, and is becoming increasingly common outside the government and technology sectors where it began. Many large companies, such as IBM, maintain employee teams of ethical hackers.

Ethical hackers attempt to assess the vulnerability of computer systems or networks at the request of the system or network owners. By using the same methodology and resources available to criminal hackers, ethical hackers help identify the weak spots which can be exploited and then programmers are roped in to build up defences to protect the hardware or software. The information security industry is growing at a rate of 21% globally. Frost and Sullivan has estimated that there are 2.28 million information security skilled personnel around the world, which is expected to grow up to 4.2 million by 2015. Ethical hacking is also known as penetration testing, intrusion testing and red teaming

An ethical hacker’s work is interesting in a way that s/he develops, tests and implements ways in which a network and its data can be protected. An ethical hacker is sometimes called a white hat, a term that comes from old Western movies, where the good guy wears a white hat and the bad guy wears a black hat

Ethical Hacking as a career

The payoff

A fresher after successful completion of an internship can start at Rs. 2.5 lakh per annum and with a year’s experience, s/he can move to the Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum bracket Professionals with work experience of five years or more can expect somewhere between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh per annum

Skills/TRAITS

Primarily the capability to inscribe programmes in several encoding languages akin to C, C++, Perl, Python, and Ruby are a requisite
Being an ethical hacker definitely calls for one to be creative in their understanding of things and coming up with out-of-the-box solutions
Comprehension of assembly language is also indispensable for those into evaluating disassembled binaries
Acquaintance with an assortment of operating systems like Microsoft Windows, various versions of Linux, etc, is crucial
Knowledge in diverse network devices, counting switches, routers and firewalls is absolutely required
An ethical hacker should possess a fundamental understanding of TCP/IP protocol, for example, SMTP, ICMP and HTTP
Besides technological dexterity, s/he also needs to have soft skills
Possibly the most essential ability, on the other hand, is flexibility. This is so because while testing software and security systems, ethical hackers cannot expect threats that might crop up, so the ability to be ingenious is imperative

Getting there

After passing your Class 12 examinations in science (with physics, chemistry and maths), do a bachelor’s in computer science or computer engineering from a recognised university in the country. While pursuing your undergraduate programme, you may enrol in a certificate course in ethical hacking, which might train you in the various elements in the field. These days, ethical hacking competitions are a rage in engineering colleges. If you are interested in making a career as an ethical hacker, make sure that you participate in these events. You should also enjoy working on computers because a sound base in information technology is a must to excel in this field

Careers in Software Industry

2012-01-15T21:39:00.000-08:00

Careers in Software Industry
Today there are more requirements for entry level jobs especially in the roles of a developer, networking specialist, tester or support engineer. Choosing a career path in software industry is a tough decision. This article will assist fresh engineering graduates to understand some of the roles and responsibilities of various career options in software industry. This article also describes the skills that need to be developed for various roles.

1. Software Programmer - A Software Programmer understands the business requirements and writes code for the given business requirement. A software programmer must have an in-depth understanding of the software development life cycle stages. A software programmer may use various dynamic programming tools and languages to develop applications, enhance and modify the code.

2. Software Test/QA engineer - A Test engineer evaluates the quality of software developed by software programmers. The key responsibilities of a test engineer include understanding the requirements, writing test cases, testing the software application, filing the defects and ensuring the defects filed are tracked to closure.

3. Network Engineer - The network engineer's role in the IT industry is very crucial. The responsibilities include monitoring the application/web server to ensure that the application is up and running, handle user/customer issues and assist the developers in deployment/maintenance of the application.

4. Software Support Engineer - They provide desktop support by assisting employees with their desktop/laptop setup/Server Support, maintain the servers in data centers and provide hardware/software assistance in case of system breakdown.

5. Technical Support Engineers help in the examination of network server equipment and it's maintenance, networking and connecting computers within the same organization to enhance communication, handle network, virus, malicious software, and hardware support issues.

MBA after engineering

2011-12-30T08:55:00.000-08:00

Engineering and MBA

Have you completed your engineering degree or will be appearing for your final year exam? Have you decided what to do next? Do you wish to study further, take up a job or a do MBA? Well these are some of the question that you must be facing now or will be facing soon.

This article will take you through all the important issues you need to think before making your decision of whether and when to obtain your MBA.

The most important question that most of you are facing is whether MBA a must after engineering? Today we see that 70-80% of the students appearing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) exam are engineers and in most of the cases it is not even a well thought decision but an act of going with the flow. Today, MBA has carved a niche for itself today in almost all the professions of the world. Doing MBA entirely depends upon individuals their priorities in life. Ideally speaking it is always good to have master’s degree because a single degree in today’s time of tough competitions is not enough. Before choosing MBA as a career you should do an analysis that whether it is the career for you or not? You can start by asking yourself questions like:

Do you have the traits of leadership?
Are you a team player?
Do you have good communication skills?
Do you have the ability to do multitasking independently?
Do you have convincing powers?

If the answer to these questions is an emphatic ‘YES’, then MBA is definitely the career for you.

Study OR Work?

You can start by considering the vital question – ‘Should you opt to study or work?’ Again if you are interested in studies and are financially well off with no responsibilities then sure you can complete your studies. If the answer is YES, then the next obvious thing is to decide whether to stick to your engineering stream, do MBA or look for other career options.

If you choose to stick to your technical field then you can do you post graduation (MTech/Msc. Engineering or Master of Science), develop your skills and then start working. Again as discussed above if you are financially sound then you can also choose to go abroad for your master’s degree. Obviously, after doing your masters from abroad your chances in the job market will be brighter both career wise and financially. But if your answer is ‘No’ then there many other options available to look out for and one of the most obvious choice is doing MBA.

What is MBA?

It's a Master of Business Administration degree, granted after one to two years of graduate-level university study that provides education in the theory and practice of business management. The MBA degree is basically a document that certifies that you have a general competency in all the major functional management roles you'll find in the modern organization. An MBA is a career accelerator across a number of industries and MBA graduates usually start with higher salaries.

Why MBA?

What does an MBA provide? Is it just a degree that will help you get a promotion, a chance to fly high in your career, or help you add some extra bucks in your pocket? An MBA degree is much more than that. Besides, giving you a degree that will help you add an extra column to your CV, an MBA helps you build on your skills, develop your brand and network. An MBA degree goes beyond classroom learning. Soft skills like teamwork, ethics, communication and leadership that an MBA teaches you helps you not only in your career but also leads to a holistic development. An MBA degree also helps you build a strong network with the elite alumni, faculty and community and industry people.

An MBA will surely help you analyze the balance sheet, solve complicated problems, and help you research and explore new opportunities for your company but at the backdrop an MBA provides something deeper, something life-altering. An MBA is not just Management in Business Administration but as much a business event as well.

When to join MBA?

One of the most important questions is whether to join MBA immediately after engineering or to work and then join. Well, some of the major institutes do prefer people with some work experience and many of the courses during the MBA program revolve around concepts and principles that one would get exposed to only at work. In such cases work experience becomes the distinguishing factor. The ability of the person with some work experience to interact, discuss and handle a particular situation will always have a more practical approach than a fresher.

It is significant that engineers widen their knowledge and skills in the management area if they wish to become senior managers in an organization. Having already obtained a technical degree, an MBA expands the horizon of their education in the wider areas of management. The role of the engineer is changing rapidly within an industrial organization. The engineer is likely to be the manager that has to implement new practices and new technology.

MBA gives you the confidence to pursue your dreams and gives you a force to innovate and experiment. A management degree polishes your managerial skills making you to work towards the goal of the application with greater productivity and lesser cost. The course makes you acquainted with all the aspects of running a company. It grooms the person to serve the best to oneself – only then can he be an asset to an organization.

MBA course prepares you to face the realities of life while you are still in the process of shaping your dreams. The management course gives you a chance to figure out your strengths, weaknesses, passions and harness them.

Types of MBA

MBA courses had always been full time courses, but in the last few years there has been an introduction of many types of MBA programs based on their structure. So now there are part time MBA courses, modular programs, international programs, distance learning programs, and even online MBA programs.
Many schools offer MBA programs along with other academic majors, and some focus only on business degrees.

Choose the MBA Program you want:

Two-Year, Full-Time MBA
One-Year, Full-Time MBA
Part-Time MBA
Executive MBA

Major Streams of MBA

Information Technology
Human Resource
Sales
Marketing
Finance
Systems
Operations

The above mentioned are few of the major streams but there are many other streams (For more you can visit our section on streams of management).

Other career options
Now after going through the article you still might feel that the above mentioned careers are not for you then don’t be disappointed you still have choices to choose from such as administrative services (IAS/IES), GMAT etc.

IAS/IES: Even though corporate jobs may offer the best of salaries and perks, a majority of engineers and their parents still crave for entry to the prestigious Indian Civil Services held by the UPSC. The very fact that a big share of every year's top posts in the civil services exams are bagged by engineering professionals from various streams, shows that IAS still remains the dream.

Consultancy Service: You can complete higher studies, and if you are a civil engineer, computer engineer or architect, you can become a consultant and have your own consultancy firm. If you thought it is only MBA which can fetch you big bucks, then think again!

Journalist/Technical writer: Have you ever thought that you can become a technical writer and earn a lot by simply having an engineering degree. You can become a technical writer and create technical manuals for corporate giants and see how you rise up the ladder in a couple of years. Your technical background will help you get an edge over your non-technical colleagues. You can also write for IT section of any leading newspaper. There are many takers for IT news today and the trend is going to increase in the coming years. There are dedicated technical magazines where you can contribute as well. So go ahead and become a writer and get instant respect and recognition in the industry.

Military service: Engineers are in great demand in our armed forces be it the Army, Navy or Air force. Be a proud Indian and enjoy the life of an Indian military.

Final Words
Whatever you choose, don't jump onto an MBA program without doing all the necessary introspection and research.

Marine Engineering

2011-12-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

Marine Engineering

Marine engineering is a branch of Engineering that deals with nautical architecture and science. The term 'Marine Engineering' is meant for research conducted in oceans and coastal or inland waters connected to the sea. Marine Engineering courses deal with construction and maintenance of ships and other sailing vessels. The three professions, i.e Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Ocean Engineering are interrelated and sometimes may be confusing. Naval Architects are those who are involved with basic ship design, starting with hull forms and overall arrangements, power requirements, structure and stability. Ocean Engineers study the ocean environment to determine its effects on ships and other marine vehicles and structures. They may design and operate stationary ocean platforms, or manned or remote-operated sub-surface vehicles used for deep sea exploration.

Marine Engineers have the complete responsibility of the ship's technical management. They are responsible for selecting the ships' machinery, which may include diesel engines, steam turbines, gas turbines; and for the design of mechanical, electrical, fluid and control systems throughout the vessel. They are the members of a ship's crew who are in charge for managing a team of marine technicians and craftspeople. The construction, operations and maintenance of the engine room are the main obligation of a Marine engineer. That means the Marine engineer deals with the technical area of the ship. In fact, they are the overall in charge of the engine and its crew, and ensure the safety and standards of the marine body. The role of Marine Engineers has widened and smoothened with modern development and electronic navigation.

A four year BE in Marine Engineering is the basic educational qualification needed to become a Marine engineer. This is a career that offers vast job opportunities including off-shore jobs and the most attractive part is its huge remuneration and NRI status. Many Indian and foreign institutes offer courses in Marine Engineering. Immense job opportunities are awaiting for Marine engineers and they have nearly 100% placement rates. The demand for Marine Engineers in public and private shipping companies has risen sharply, with the increase in international global sea traffic.Those interested in pursuing a career in marine engineering must weigh the advantages and disadvantages carefully. The major advantage of becoming a marine engineer is that students entering careers in marine engineering have nearly 100% placement rates because the demand for them is always so great, says Daniel Jones, dean of student services at Maine Maritime Academy . And for those who are particular about where they want to reside, a seaside job can give you this option: "You can live anywhere you want in the United States since most companies will fly you to your job site," says Jones. However, your company won't do this every day of the week because marine engineers are likely on board a ship or oil rig for several months at a time. Jones also notes the flexibility of the career. He says, "In a down cycle [in marine engineering], engineers are able to move to other parts of the industry."

Eligibility : BE in Marine Engineering / Nautical Science and PG Diploma in Mechanical Engineering are the basic qualifications to become a Marine Engineer. The minimum educational qualifications

Petroleum Engineering

2011-12-21T08:41:00.000-08:00

Petroleum engineering is an engineering discipline related to the activities under the surface in connection with the production of hydrocarbons, which can be crude oil or natural gas. These activities are considered within the upstream sector of oil and gas, that are include exploration for hydrocarbons. Petroleum engineeringrequires a good knowledge of many other related disciplines, such as geophysics, petroleum geology, formation evaluation (well logging), drilling, economics, reservoir simulation, well engineering, artificial lift systems and oil and gas facilities engineering. In other words, the scope of petroleum engineering includes exploration of hydrocarbons, reservoir studies, drilling and well completion, operations and production of oil and gas (onshore and / or offshore) and their transportation. One should be very clear that petroleum refining is not petroleum engineering. Most of active students in UK, USA and India said they took up the petroleum engineering because they loves the physical as well as the technical challenges of the job. No other industry fulfils this criteria and they didn't want to become a couch potato, sitting in front of a computer in some offices, the whole day. Petroleum engineering is about looking at the entire hydrocarbon (which can be either crude oil or natural gas) value chain. It, however, focuses more on upstream operations of the oil and gas industry, i.e. drilling, production, transportation and reservoir engineering.

Petroleum Engineers search the world for reservoirs containingoil and natural gas. On discovery of these resources they word with geologists and other specialists to understand the geologic formation and properties of the rock containing the reservoir, determine the drilling methods to be uses, and monitor drilling and production operations. Petroleum Engineers design equipment and processes to achieve maximum and profitable recovery of oil and gas. They rely heavily on computer models to simulate reservoir performance using different recovery techniques.

Petroleum engineering broadly consists of different areas called drilling, reservoir and production stream. Drilling deals with "placing a well to tap the pay zone and depending on its purpose, it may be used for analysing the hydrocarbon pool, its development for producing oil / gas,". Reservoir engineering deals with study of the pool and work out ways to exploit it. Production engineering comes into play after the reservoir has been understood and wells have been driled and the hydrocarbon begins to flow. "It deals with the study of optimising well performance through a suitable completion and production strategy. Production engineers are responsible for flow of well fluid through surface facilities, its subsequent separation into phases like oil, gas and water and bringing it to a quality acceptable by the refineries.

Jobs and Skills in Petroleum Engineering

The importance of petroleum in our day-to-day life and the increasing demand supply gap in the energy sector it can be said that there is a big demand of petroleum engineers, which is likely to grow. Jobs related to data processing and interpretations are done with the help of state-of-the-art software running on sophisticated hardware. Drilling involves dealing with subsurface conditions of pressures and temperatures and rquires high skill with machinery and related judgements. Production operations in petroleum engineering require people who love action and have a knack for keeping the operations smooth and running in the face of several challenges. The scope for petroleum engineers is very expansive. There is a constant challenge to ring up the recovery factor from the producing fields and even more pressure on discovering new reserves. All this is a translating into a high demand for professionals in the petroleum engineering sector.

At the entry level jobs of petroleum engineers, one may get anything between Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 8 lakh a year. A petroleum engineer normally works in harsh conditions in remote areas such as offshore drilling sites, hence is compensated well. Petroleum Engineer salary is at least 1.5 times more that that of his conterparts in other core sectors. Engineers with added skills ear two-three times as much and career advancement is very fast.

Petroleum Engineering Universities & Institutes

If you want a degree in petroleum engineering and become a petroleum engineer than you must need a goodpetroluem engineering university to do that. We are mentioned below some good universities and institutes who provide the petroleum engineering degree.

Indian School of Mines (ISM)Dhandabad
Oandit Deendayal Petroleum Unversity (PDPU) Gandhinagar
MIT Pune
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies - Dehradun
Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology - Rai Barei

Diploma In Advanced Computing

2011-12-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

Diploma In Advanced Computing

About

The Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Computing (DAC) is the flagship programme of ACTS. The course is targeted towards engineers and IT professionals who wish to venture into the domain of advanced computing. The course aims to groom the students to enable them to work on current technology scenarios as well as prepare them to keep pace with the changing face of technology and the requirements of the growing IT industry. The course curriculum has been designed keeping in view the emerging trends in advanced computing as well as contemporary and futuristic human resource requirements of the ICT industry. The entire course syllabus, courseware, teaching methodology and the course delivery have been derived from the rich research and development background of C-DAC. The depth and width of the course is unique in the industry covering a wide spectrum of requirements of the ICT industry. Running successfully for more than ten years, the DAC course has yielded thousands of students, who are well positioned in the industry today.

24 weeks full-time Post-Graduate Diploma Programs
Ten Modules followed by a project
Evaluation at the mid and end of the course
Curriculum designed in consultation with industry experts,
Courseware designed with leading publishers.
Well-equipped laboratory and can be accessed 24 hours.
Well-equipped library.
Support for International Certification Exams.
Extensive hands on sessions
Live exercises relevant to the standards of industry.
Limited Internet access
100+ hrs for soft skills
Assistance for hostel accommodation
Placement assistance
Centralized examination system.
Corporate / industry interaction
Best student award.

Career in Online Security

2011-12-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

Career in Online Security

The recent report of NASSCOM says that there is a demand for two lakh information security professionals worldwide. As netizens, our lives stand exposed to the innumerable mishaps of the cyber world. For those who have a special place in their heart for computer science along with a knack of understanding the space of internet beyond the obvious, a career as an online security analyst could well be the ideal way to turn your passion into a fruitful career.

WHAT IS THE JOB?

The comfort of technology comes with the threat of criminal hackers who misuse confidential data available on the web. Online security analysts hack with legal permission to strengthen systems and make the system penetration proof. “An online security analyst is responsible for protecting all sensitive information within a company. They are responsible for insuring all networks have adequate security firewalls to prevent unauthorised access and must develop reports to share with administrators and stake holders in a company about the efficiency of security policies and recommend changes. Analysts also ensure that security systems are updated with any software or hardware changes in the company along with documenting security information in the company including physical and internet security,” explains Dr Zaki Qureshi, founder and chairman, E2labs Information Security, India’s first anti-hacking company. An online security analyst should understand the working of different protocols and services and should give viable solutions in case of security breaches.

Also, in the recent years, there has been an alarming increase in the number of email frauds and other cyber crime cases. In such a scenario, the demand for online security analysts has seen an unprecedented rise. Ankit Fadia, an independent computer security consultant says, “Online security analysts are ethical hackers. They are hired by leading companies, especially banking institutions, to secure their website as well as online transactions. Today, companies commonly employ a dedicated team of online security analysts who avert cyber crime on a daily basis.”

HOW DO I BECOME AN ANALYST?

In spite of the growing demand for professionals skilled in ethical hacking, there are only a few recognised institutes which offer complete training in ethical hacking. While a background in computer science is preferred, certifications are available which act as an advantage and provide an entry into the online security industry. Certifications help a person to understand the technical aspect along with training to deal with security breaches. Asian School of Cyber Law offers courses in cyber law and security. Month-long hacking courses like those conducted by Ankit Fadia Certified Ethical Hacker are available in more than 100 cities across India. You can also pursue a year-long PG Diploma course in Cyber Security and a two-year masters’ degree in cyber law and cyber security offered by IMT Ghaziabad. Some of the most well-known certifications are offered by the International Council of E-commerce. The certified ethical hacker is a certificate course offered by the organisation covering a basic area of ethical hacking and students can avail this programme in several study centers in Asia.

While being computer savvy and gadget friendly are important pre-requisites, keen interest in networking and continuously updating programming skills are essential in this field. “While education in this field is an advantage, the most important skill required to be a successful online analyst is to have an insatiable passion for the newest developments in the field of computers and the ability to think like a criminal,” stresses Fadia.

WHAT IS THE INDUSTRY LIKE?

While there is no hard and fast rule to become a security analyst, training in ethical hacking along with programming knowledge is a good way to make an entry into the industry. Assessing risks, creation of high complexity security plans and the ability to defend the systems from dangerous attacks are some of the high points of this career. “An online security analyst’s job is more interesting than that of a regular programmer. It is almost like solving a mystery and a regular day at work involves hacking into the company’s website, finding out the security loopholes and developing programmes to fix it,” informs Gitesh Suchak, practice lead, Liquidhub, Hyderabad. Suchak’s opinion is echoed by Shyamoli Chattopadhay who has worked as a network administrator with Infosys. Says Chattopadhay, “The best part of the job is the delight of being a step ahead of the thief’s mind.” Due to the demand in this industry, starting salary ranges between four to six lakh per annum and experienced professionals can earn a salary of 30 to 40 lakh per annum.

So if you are looking to pursue something more exciting than programming and look forward to new challenges daily, you may want to consider becoming an online security analyst.

Software that identifies right career for your child

2011-12-11T21:16:00.000-08:00

A new approach

It can identify the right career for your child, tell you when he's mischievously missing from the class and message you his test scores as soon as he's been handed the answer sheet. A software developed by three IT professionals promises to change the teacher, students, parents dynamics in Kerala.

Called Edualert, the software has been developed by US-based Keralites Akbar Narendran and Sanjay Nair, and Rajiv Viswanath who is based here.
"Edualert can give suggestions to a student and his parents as to which career suits him best based on his academic performance," 33-year-old Narendran told IANS on a visit to Kerala to promote the software.

The modus operandi goes something like this. Details of a child's entire academic history, his interests and extra curricular activities right from the first grade is fed into the software. "Through an analysis, it would reveal which is the best career option for the student," Narendran said.

Edualert operations manager Ramakrishnan said the thinking of parents in the state for long has been that there are only two good professions -- engineering and medicine.
"We have observed that many children for fear of earning the wrath of their parents unwillingly opt for either of the two most sought after professions," said Ramakrishnan.
The basic version of Edualert is free for schools. Around 10 schools in the state have already given the nod to this unique product.

"In January, we will come again because we have got numerous enquiries from schools in some metros and Tier II cities. We will first do a demonstration of our product in front of teachers and parents," said Narendran.

The software with add-ons version comes fairly cheap and it will cost 10 percent of the annual fee of a student, said Narendran.

"It includes a centralised process of taking attendance which takes only a few minutes. When done, an SMS will be sent to the parents of all those students who are absent. Likewise, the moment corrected answer papers are distributed, parents will get an SMS about how their child has performed," said Narendran.

Another interesting feature is that the moment the child enters the school bus, he will be monitored and in case there is a traffic jam, an SMS alert will go to the parents.
"It took us two years to fully develop it as we did it in our spare time. We are now working on some other add-ons," said Narendran.

Krishnamurthy Iyer, principal of the ARR Public School, predicts the "revolutionary" software to be a huge hit in the education sector. "We installed it just two weeks back and from the first look, it's something unique. It is certainly going to improve the quality of students, parents and teachers. All the information on children and their progress would be available at a click of a mouse," said Iyer.

However, a Class 12 student had different views on the subject.

"In many homes, the relation between parents and children is friendly. The software wouldn't bother those kids. But overall, parents would always like to know what their ward is doing which is a little scary," said the student, before saying that since his schooling was almost over, he had escaped.

However, a mother of a Class 10 student said: "Children need not be worried because this is a tool for their own betterment and for their good future. Just look into the positives and not the negative aspect that it will track children," she said.

What Do Mechanical Engineers Do

2011-12-10T03:37:00.001-08:00

What Do Mechanical Engineers Do

“Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.”

-James A. Michener

Engineers solve complex problems for society. Mechanical engineers create and build mechanical devices. They apply the fundamentals of science and math to create practical, useful solutions that the rest of us can use.

The diverse mechanical engineering field can be divided in a variety of ways in terms of job functions. Some of the most common functions relate to these areas of technology, but not all do. Among these fields are:

Product Design -- developing products ranging from biomedical devices to gasoline-powered engines. A mechanical engineer designs anything that uses mechanical motion.
Research and Development -- discovering new solutions to human needs or improving older methods.
Manufacturing -- developing the machines that process materials into products. Designing and building machines and systems of machines that improve operating efficiency is of prime importance.
Systems management -- overseeing operations of a large system, such as a power plant, as well as supervising the people who work there.
Energy -- planning how energy is generated, stored, and moved. Industries that produce and deliver electrical power, such as natural gas, oil and alternative energy, employ mechanical engineers to develop more fuel-efficient cars, motors, and appliances.

In most of these fields, the mechanical engineer is concerned with heat utilization or machine design--in other words, harnessing or creating energy. Heat utilization techniques are applied in boilers, air conditioners, and refrigeration units. Machine design is more focused on hardware, including automobile engines, computers, and washing machines.

Trends in Mechanical Engineering Careers

2011-12-10T03:32:00.000-08:00

Trends in Mechanical Engineering Careers

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), mechanical engineers hold over 222,000 jobs, more than half of which are in manufacturing: machinery, transportation equipment, computer and electronic products, and fabricated metal products manufacturing industries. The BLS predicts an increase of nearly 10,000 mechanical engineering jobs by 2016.

The median annual salary for a mechanical engineer is slightly over $75,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2007. Starting salaries average about $50,000+ per year, and top-tier engineers can earn over $100,000 annually.

Remember, these are just estimates. Your salary will depend on a number of factors as well as the current state of the economy.

Career options for aspiring mechanical engineers

Practically every company that designs and produces a product employs a mechanical engineer. But mechanical engineers can also be found in research labs, the military, government, and in other professions such as medicine, law or teaching.

Most mechanical engineering jobs require design experience. When a need comes about for a new or improved product, companies call upon mechanical engineers to do the job. Engineers have to push beyond the limits of their previous work and use innovative technology to meet project requirements successfully.

A second major area of employment for mechanical engineers is manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs cover nearly everything involved in developing a product, from selecting the appropriate materials to choosing the correct machinery to manufacture the product. Most mechanical engineers in this industry work for equipment manufacturers, aerospace companies, utilities, material processing plants, transportation companies, and petroleum companies. They also work with small firms, consulting practices, universities, and government research labs.

Specific assignments might involve research and development, design of equipment or systems, supervision of production, plant engineering, administration, sales engineering, the testing and evaluation of machines and entire plants. Some mechanical engineering titles and their functions include:

Automotive engineer: Mechanical engineers design many car parts for the automobile industry. As an automotive engineer, you could solve transportation and safety problems by creating better and more efficient engines or by developing improved safety features
Biomedical engineer: Mechanical engineers work with a variety of medical professionals to design mobility aids, prosthetics, and artificial organs.
Consulting: Once mechanical engineers have gained significant on-the-job experience and developed a high level of expertise, they might choose to work for themselves as consultants or independent contractors. Here they can work on projects of their choosing for clients they respect. The consulting field offers opportunities in large and small engineering service firms and in private practice.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) engineer: In this field, engineers design refrigeration systems for making frozen foods, or air-conditioning and heating systems for businesses and industrial buildings, residential homes, autos, hospitals, and schools.
Nuclear engineer: The design of nuclear power plants requires the services of a mechanical engineer. The engineer must understand the fundamentals of nuclear design, know how to operate the plant efficiently, and evaluate the environmental factors associated with nuclear plants.
Robotics engineer: A mechanical engineer may design machines that build other machines. For instance, a robotics engineer may be involved with creating the devices that are used in assembling automobiles. Engineers are concerned with the robot's structure, its joint mechanisms, bearings, and heat transfer characteristics.
Teaching: A desire to help mold the next generation of engineers motivates some mechanical engineers to move into academic careers. Engineers in colleges oversee research activities, manage laboratories, and mentor students. They also write and publish books and technical papers about mechanical engineering.

Mechanical engineers can find employment at virtually any institute where innovation takes place. They commonly work in the government, research, industry, military, teaching, management or consulting sectors.

The government agencies that typically hire mechanical engineers include the U.S. Navy, Patent and Trademark Office, International Trade Commission, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Energy and even the U.S. Postal Service.

From developing toys to prosthetic legs, the types of projects you can be a part of are as vast as your imagination. With a degree in mechanical engineering, diversity is the key. You can wind up working in a laboratory or an outdoor construction site. Remember, nearly every mechanical device was created by a mechanical engineer so the possibilities for employment are virtually endless!

Aeronautical Engineering

2011-12-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

Aeronautical Engineering : Introduction

Aeronautical / Aerospace Engineering is one of the most challenging fields of engineering with a wide scope for growth. This field deals with the development of new technology in the field of aviation, space exploration and defence systems. It specialises in the designing, construction, development, testing, operation and maintenance of both commercial and military aircraft, spacecrafts and their components as well as satellites and missiles.

As Aerospace engineering involves design and manufacture of very high technology systems, the job requires manual, technical as well as mechanical aptitude. Aeronautical engineer's usually work in teams under the supervision of senior engineers, bringing together their skills and technical expertise. Though highly paid, the work is very demanding. An aeronautical engineer needs to be physically fit and fully dedicated to his work. One needs to be alert, have an eye for detail and should have a high level of mathematical precision to be successful.

The specialisations includes in areas like structural design, navigational guidance and control systems, instrumentation and communication or production methods or it can be in a particular product such as military aircrafts, passenger planes, helicopters, satellites, rockets etc. Engineers may work in areas like design, development, maintenance as well as in the managerial and teaching posts in institutes. They find a very good demand in airlines, aircraft manufacturing units, air turbine production plants or design development programmes for the aviation industry. Aerospace environment is sophisticated with rewarding career opportunities involving leading-edge technology.

Eligibility & Course Area

To be an aeronautical engineer one should have a graduate degree (B.E/B.Tech.) or at least a diploma in Aeronautics. The degree and postgraduate degree courses are offered by the engineering colleges and Institutes of Technology (IITs), and the diploma courses are available at polytechnics. The basic eligibility criteria for a BE / B.Tech is 10+2 or equivalent examination, with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and must have a fairly high percentage of marks in the aggregate. One must also pass the qualifying exam JEE (Joint Entrance Exam) conducted by the IIT’s.

Selection : Selection to the graduate courses ( BE / B.Tech ) is based on merit i.e the marks secured in the final exams of 10+2 and through entrance exams. Entrance to the IIT’s is through ‘JEE’ (Joint Entrance Exam) and for other institutions through their own separate entrance exams and other state level and national level exams. Most of the institutes conducting engineering courses in Aeronautics consider JEE score as the qualifying grade.

There is also the Associate Membership Examination of the Institute of Engineers (AMIE), which enables working people in the private and public sector, or diploma holders to acquire a Bachelor’s engineering degree through distance education by studying the syllabus and appearing for the Associate membership examination of the Institute of Engineers (AMIE) conducted by ASI (‘The Aeronautical Society of India’). This degree is equivalent to aeronautical engineering degree. Those with a degree in electronics, mathematics or physics can also find opportunities in this area.

Some Institutes offer postgraduate (M Tech) and Doctoral (Ph D) programmes in Aeronautics. The Madras Institute of Technology offers a three year Graduate Programme in Aeronautical Engineering for B Sc students, subject to their having passed Maths and Physics at the graduation stage. The Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore has M Tech and Ph D programmes in aeronautics.

Duration : The duration is four years, ending with a degree recognised by the ministry of education, government of India. The diploma courses are of 2-3 years duration.

Personal Skills : Aeronautical engineers should have an eye for detail and be good at problem-solving. They need mathematical precision and design skills, computer skills, and the ability to communicate well. They also need good planning ability and a knack for working under pressure. An aeronautical engineer needs to be physically fit an may need to often work at great speed especially in checking and maintenance of aircrafts during turnarounds. They must have a normal colour vision.

Remuneration

Engineers in government organisations, are paid official scales while those in the private sector are paid according to the scales decided by the management of the company.
The approximate starting salaries in the government /public sectors such as HAL, NAL are Rs. 8,000 to Rs.10,000 (excluding other allowances). In the private sector, the scales are decided by the management of the company and are approximately Rs.8,000 to Rs.15,000 per month plus perks. Engineering graduates with management degrees get a starting salary of Rs.10,000 to Rs.40,000 per month plus perks. Entrepreneurs can earn above Rs.20,000/- per month. Airline professionals get fringe benefits of free travel for self and family also, apart from numerous other perks.

Institutes

Adhiyamaan College of Engineering, Hosur (Tamil Nadu)
Dr. M.G.R. Nagar, Krishnagiri , Hosur (Krishnagiri Dist.) - 635109

Agra College of Management and Technology (A.C.M.T.), New Delhi (Delhi)
D-14/148 Sector-3,Rohini Opposite Ayodhya Chowk Bus Stand , New Delhi (Delhi) - 110085

B.S. Abdur Rahman University, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
Seethakathi Estate, GST Road, Vandalur , Chennai (Chennai Dist.) - 600048

Bannari Amman Institute of Technology (BIT), Erode (Tamil Nadu)
Alathukombai - Post, Sathyamangalam , Erode (Erode Dist.) - 638 401

Bharat Institute of Engineering and Technology (B.I.E.T.), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)
Manglapally,Ibrahimpatnam,Ranga Reddy , Hyderabad (Hyderabad Dist.) - 501510

C.M. Engineering College (C.M.E.C.), Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh)
Malla Reddy Group Of Institutions, Maisammaguda,Dhulapally, KomPally, Medchal , Secunderabad (Rangareddy Dist.) - 500014

Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan College of Engineering and Technology, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
East Coast Road, Mamallapuram , Chennai (Chennai Dist.) - 603104

Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Engineering College, Perambalur (Tamil Nadu)
Trichy , Perambalur (Perambalur Dist.) - 621 212

Engineers Training Centre ( E.T.C), Thrissur (Kerala)
Plakkat Lane, Naikkanal , Thrissur (Thrissur Dist.) - 680001

Feroze Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Rai Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh)
Ratapur Crossing , Rai Bareilly (Rai Bareilly Dist.) - 229001

Flytech Aviation Academy, Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh)
1-8-303/33, Nagam, Towers, 3rd and 4th Floor, NTR, Circle, Minister Road , Secunderabad (Rangareddy Dist.) - 500003

Guru Gram Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Technology, Nagpur (Maharashtra)
Royal Complex - 467 , Near Old Paradi Naka, Bhandara Road , Nagpur (Nagpur Dist.) - 440008

Guru Gram Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Technology, Gurgaon (Haryana)
Laxman Vihar , M.L Complex, Dhanwapur Road, Opp. Sec 4, (NCR Delhi) , Gurgaon (Gurgaon Dist.) - 122001

Guru Nanak Engineering College, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)
Ibrahimpatnam, RR District. , Hyderabad (Hyderabad Dist.) - 501506

Differences between Java and C++.

2011-12-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

Introduction

This lesson introduces you to Java programming by presenting some of the similarities and differences between Java and C++.

Similarities and Differences

1. Java does not support typedefs, defines, or a preprocessor. Without a preprocessor, there are no provisions for including header files.

2. Since Java does not have a preprocessor there is no concept of #define macros or manifest constants. However, the declaration of named constants is supported in Java through use of the final keyword.

3. Java does not support enums but, as mentioned above, does support named constants.

4. Java supports classes, but does not support structures or unions.

5. All stand-alone C++ programs require a function named main and can have numerous other functions, including both stand-alone functions and functions, which are members of a class. There are no stand-alone functions in Java. Instead, there are only functions that are members of a class, usually called methods. Global functions and global data are not allowed in Java.

6. All classes in Java ultimately inherit from the Object class. This is significantly different from C++ where it is possible to create inheritance trees that are completely unrelated to one another.

7. All function or method definitions in Java are contained within the class definition. To a C++ programmer, they may look like inline function definitions, but they aren't. Java doesn't allow the programmer to request that a function be made inline, at least not directly.

8. Both C++ and Java support class (static) methods or functions that can be called without the requirement to instantiate an object of the class.

9. The interface keyword in Java is used to create the equivalence of an abstract base class containing only method declarations and constants. No variable data members or method definitions are allowed. (True abstract base classes can also be created in Java.) The interface concept is not supported by C++.

10. Java does not support multiple inheritance. To some extent, the interface feature provides the desirable features of multiple inheritance to a Java program without some of the underlying problems.

11. While Java does not support multiple inheritance, single inheritance in Java is similar to C++, but the manner in which you implement inheritance differs significantly, especially with respect to the use of constructors in the inheritance chain.

12. In addition to the access specifiers applied to individual members of a class, C++ allows you to provide an additional access specifier when inheriting from a class. This latter concept is not supported by Java.

13. Java does not support the goto statement (but goto is a reserved word). However, it does support labeled break and continue statements, a feature not supported by C++. In certain restricted situations, labeled break and continue statements can be used where a goto statement might otherwise be used.

14. Java does not support operator overloading.

15. Java does not support automatic type conversions (except where guaranteed safe).

16. Unlike C++, Java has a String type, and objects of this type are immutable (cannot be modified). Quoted strings are automatically converted into String objects. Java also has a StringBuffer type. Objects of this type can be modified, and a variety of string manipulation methods are provided.

17. Unlike C++, Java provides true arrays as first-class objects. There is a length member, which tells you how big the array is. An exception is thrown if you attempt to access an array out of bounds. All arrays are instantiated in dynamic memory and assignment of one array to another is allowed. However, when you make such an assignment, you simply have two references to the same array. Changing the value of an element in the array using one of the references changes the value insofar as both references are concerned.

18. Unlike C++, having two "pointers" or references to the same object in dynamic memory is not necessarily a problem (but it can result in somewhat confusing results). In Java, dynamic memory is reclaimed automatically, but is not reclaimed until all references to that memory become NULL or cease to exist. Therefore, unlike in C++, the allocated dynamic memory cannot become invalid for as long as it is being referenced by any reference variable.

19. Java does not support pointers (at least it does not allow you to modify the address contained in a pointer or to perform pointer arithmetic). Much of the need for pointers was eliminated by providing types for arrays and strings. For example, the oft-used C++ declaration char* ptr needed to point to the first character in a C++ null-terminated "string" is not required in Java, because a string is a true object in Java.

20. A class definition in Java looks similar to a class definition in C++, but there is no closing semicolon. Also forward reference declarations that are sometimes required in C++ are not required in Java.

21. The scope resolution operator (::) required in C++ is not used in Java. The dot is used to construct all fully-qualified references. Also, since there are no pointers, the pointer operator (->) used in C++ is not required in Java.

22. In C++, static data members and functions are called using the name of the class and the name of the static member connected by the scope resolution operator. In Java, the dot is used for this purpose.

23. Like C++, Java has primitive types such as int, float, etc. Unlike C++, the size of each primitive type is the same regardless of the platform. There is no unsigned integer type in Java. Type checking and type requirements are much tighter in Java than in C++.

24. Unlike C++, Java provides a true boolean type.

25. Conditional expressions in Java must evaluate to boolean rather than to integer, as is the case in C++. Statements such as if(x+y)... are not allowed in Java because the conditional expression doesn't evaluate to a boolean.

26. The char type in C++ is an 8-bit type that maps to the ASCII (or extended ASCII) character set. The char type in Java is a 16-bit type and uses the Unicode character set (the Unicode values from 0 through 127 match the ASCII character set). For information on the Unicode character set see http://www.stonehand.com/unicode.html.

27. Unlike C++, the >> operator in Java is a "signed" right bit shift, inserting the sign bit into the vacated bit position. Java adds an operator that inserts zeros into the vacated bit positions.

28. C++ allows the instantiation of variables or objects of all types either at compile time in static memory or at run time using dynamic memory. However, Java requires all variables of primitive types to be instantiated at compile time, and requires all objects to be instantiated in dynamic memory at runtime. Wrapper classes are provided for all primitive types except byte and short to allow them to be instantiated as objects in dynamic memory at runtime if needed.

29. C++ requires that classes and functions be declared before they are used. This is not necessary in Java.

30. The "namespace" issues prevalent in C++ are handled in Java by including everything in a class, and collecting classes into packages.

31. C++ requires that you re-declare static data members outside the class. This is not required in Java.

32. In C++, unless you specifically initialize variables of primitive types, they will contain garbage. Although local variables of primitive types can be initialized in the declaration, primitive data members of a class cannot be initialized in the class definition in C++.

33. In Java, you can initialize primitive data members in the class definition. You can also initialize them in the constructor. If you fail to initialize them, they will be initialized to zero (or equivalent) automatically.

34. Like C++, Java supports constructors that may be overloaded. As in C++, if you fail to provide a constructor, a default constructor will be provided for you. If you provide a constructor, the default constructor is not provided automatically.

35. All objects in Java are passed by reference, eliminating the need for the copy constructor used in C++.

36. (In reality, all parameters are passed by value in Java. However, passing a copy of a reference variable makes it possible for code in the receiving method to access the object referred to by the variable, and possibly to modify the contents of that object. However, code in the receiving method cannot cause the original reference variable to refer to a different object.)

37. There are no destructors in Java. Unused memory is returned to the operating system by way of a garbage collector, which runs in a different thread from the main program. This leads to a whole host of subtle and extremely important differences between Java and C++.

38. Like C++, Java allows you to overload functions. However, default arguments are not supported by Java.

39. Unlike C++, Java does not support templates. Thus, there are no generic functions or classes.

40. Unlike C++, several "data structure" classes are contained in the "standard" version of Java. More specifically, they are contained in the standard class library that is distributed with the Java Development Kit (JDK). For example, the standard version of Java provides the containers Vector and Hashtable that can be used to contain any object through recognition that any object is an object of type Object. However, to use these containers, you must perform the appropriate upcasting and downcasting, which may lead to efficiency problems.

41. Multithreading is a standard feature of the Java language.

42. Although Java uses the same keywords as C++ for access control: private, public, and protected, the interpretation of these keywords is significantly different between Java and C++.

43. There is no virtual keyword in Java. All non-static methods always use dynamic binding, so the virtual keyword isn't needed for the same purpose that it is used in C++.

44. Java provides the final keyword that can be used to specify that a method cannot be overridden and that it can be statically bound. (The compiler may elect to make it inline in this case.)

45. The detailed implementation of the exception handling system in Java is significantly different from that in C++.

46. Unlike C++, Java does not support operator overloading. However, the (+) and (+=) operators are automatically overloaded to concatenate strings, and to convert other types to string in the process.

47. As in C++, Java applications can call functions written in another language. This is commonly referred to as native methods. However, applets cannot call native methods.

48. Unlike C++, Java has built-in support for program documentation. Specially written comments can be automatically stripped out using a separate program named javadoc to produce program documentation.

49. Generally Java is more robust than C++ due to the following:

Object handles (references) are automatically initialized to null.
Handles are checked before accessing, and exceptions are thrown in the event of problems.
You cannot access an array out of bounds.
Memory leaks are prevented by automatic garbage collection.