Goa Engineering College Explained

Goa College of Engineering
Motto:	Work is worship
Address:	Bhausaheb Bandodkar Technical Education Complex
Postalcode:	403 401
Coordinates:	15.4231°N 73.98°W
Campus:	Semi-urban, 300acres
Students:	2200
Undergrad:	1900 (2015)
Postgrad:	300 (2015)
Principal:	Dr. Krupashankara Mysore Sethuram
Language:	English

Goa Engineering College or Goa College of Engineering (abbreviated and colloquially referred to as GEC) is a public college in Goa, India, offering courses in engineering disciplines and affiliated to Goa University. Founded in 1967 and situated at Farmagudi plateau, Ponda, it is the oldest engineering college in Goa, with over 2,200 students.

Academics

Academic programmes

The college started in 1967 with undergraduate courses in mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering. The electronics and telecommunications course was introduced in 1982, computer science in 1988, information technology in 2001, and mining in 2011.^[1] In 2022, a course in electronics in VLSI was introduced in recognition of the growing semiconductor industry in India.^[2] All courses in the college are affiliated to Goa University.

It currently has eight masters programmes, the duration of each being two years:

Sr. no.	Course	Department	Year of commencement
1	Foundation engineering	Civil engineering	1986
2	Industrial engineering (part-time)	Mechanical engineering	1986
3	Microelectronics	Electronics and telecommunication engineering	2008
4	Electronics communication and instrumentation engineering	Electronics and telecommunication engineering	2008
5	Power and energy engineering	Electrical and electronics engineering	2010
6	Computer engineering	Computer engineering	2011
7	Industrial automation and radio frequency engineering	Electronics and telecommunication engineering	2012–13
8	Structural engineering	Civil engineering	2016
9	IT and engineering	Information technology	2017–18
10	VLSI engineering	VLSI ENGINEERING	2022News: Goa engineering college to add ninth Masters in engineering course in 2017–18 . The Times of India . 2017-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170110045139/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/gec-to-add-ninth-me-course-in-2017-18/articleshow/56363082.cms . 2017-01-10 . live. ^[3]

The college is recognized as a research institute under Goa University. The affiliation to Ph.D. programs in civil, mechanical, electrical and electronics, computer science and engineering, and electronics and telecommunication engineering are recognized from academic year 2014–15 onwards.

The college has a memorandum of understanding with IIT Bombay, and many of its faculty go there to pursue Ph.D. degrees.

The Farmagudi campus also houses National Institute of Technology Goa and Indian Institute of Technology Goa.^{[4] [5] [6]}

Accreditation and ranking

The National Board of Accreditation has accredited six branches of the college – the computer, mechanical, civil, electrical and electronics, information technology, and electronics and telecommunications branches.^[7] This means the academic curriculum and the teaching-learning process is of a good standard, with adequate infrastructure and faculty, acceptable to the All India Council of Technical Education.

A study conducted in 2006 by the magazine Dataquest India ranked the college at 75th in India.^[8] In Dataquest's 2011 survey the college was unranked.^[9]

As part of the golden jubilee celebrations, it was announced that the college would soon house an incubation centre for boosting entrepreneurship on campus.^[10]

Campus

The college has one of the largest libraries in the state. It is home to over 86,000 books, journals, and magazines, catering to all the subjects taught in the college. The library has a multimedia section that houses electronic modes of information such as encyclopedias. The library has a book bank facility with which students can obtain books for the entire year and return after the completion of the year, by paying a small fee.

With the largest campus in Goa, spread well over 285 acres atop Farmagudi hill, the college has five boys' and two girls' hostels, staff housing, and guest house facilities for visiting faculty and students.^[11] The campus also hosts IIT Goa and NIT Goa until they get their permanent campus. The campus also has bicycles, donated by the alumni, for use by the staff and students.^[12]

Besides the main canteen and multiple mess facilities, the college has small stalls and a restaurant that are frequented by students. The campus shopping complex has a restaurant, as well as shops that cater to student needs ranging from photocopying to stationery and other day-to-day needs. The campus has a post office and a computer center.

The college gymkhana houses a power gym, which is accessible to students during non-working hours. There is an indoor badminton court, a basketball court, and a full-length natural grass football ground that can be used as a cricket field.

Notably, the Electronics and Telecommunications branch features a robotic arm - the KUKA KR-16 Industrial Robot, used in assembly lines across many industries, for training its students.^[13]

Student life

Student clubs and associations

The students of Goa Engineering College call themselves Engicos. However, not all post-graduate students identify themselves with this term.

The college has many active clubs:

• The college has a Nature Club which organizes tree planting programmes in the surrounding regions and organizes treks to locations in Goa.
• The college Photography Club has been organizing Photoflare, an international photography festival, since 2010.^{[14] [15]}
• The college Quiz Club organizes quizzes for the college events.
• The college Music Club conducts workshops and organizes open mike sessions at the college's festivals. It has its own music room with equipment in the Mining Department.
• The college Literary and Debate Club organizes many small activities and helps organize TEDxGEC.
• The college has a Coding Club.
• The college Drama (Theatre) Club was one of the oldest clubs, and has been restarted after a gap of almost seven years (in 2018).
• The college students founded the Astronomy Club in 2018, with the maiden event hosting Dr Vithal Tilvi, who discovered the furthest known galaxy in the Universe in 2013.^[16]
• The college also has active student chapters of the IEEE,^[17] CSI, Goa Technology Association (GTA)^[18] and FSAI (Fire and Security Association of India).^{[19] [20]}
• The college also had a Robotics club and a Linux User Group (which hosted Stallman in 2003).
• The college Coder's Club has been organizing various coding events and competitions, while developing college projects like the Tandav and Spectrum Website.
• The college has a new Robotics Club called ARM Society Of GEC (founded 2022) . It hosts workshops, talk sessions for students in and out of college. They also assisted in the organization of events like The Goa International Robotics Festival & Vibrant Goa-Global Tech Summit in 2023.

Student associations, based on their departments, are as follows:

• MESA – Mechanical Engineering Students Association
• ENEXSA – Electrical and Electronics Engineering Students Association (previously known as ELECTRA)
• ACES – Association of Civil Engineering Students
• CURSOR – Association of Computer Engineering Students^[21]
• INTENSA – Information Technology Students Association^[22]
• ASSETS – Association of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering Students
• MINESCO – Mining Engineering Students Council

These associations conduct events, technical and non-technical, once or twice per semester. They also come together to organise Spectrum, the college's technical festival.

The students also celebrate religious festivals Ganesh Chaturthi and Christmas every year on the campus.^[23]

Cultural events

Happenings

Happenings is the cultural festival organized by the college.^[24] Started in 1981, it is officially the oldest college festival in Goa.

The college has rock shows by Zero and Millennium in 1997, Parikrama in 1998, Pentagram (in both 1996 and 1999), Ezee Meat in 1997, Brahma in 2000, and Moksha, PDV, Psychomotor, Metakix, Sceptre in 2004. Rock machine, now known as Indus Creed, was the first band to ever play in GEC.

In 2008, Happenings became the biggest youth festival in Goa so far, and the event was hosted at Farmagudi. The biggest attractions were Jal from Pakistan performing for the Pronite on 22 February and two bands, Decibel (from Delhi) and Fahrenheit performing for the rock show on 23 February.

In 2009, two fresh and famous bands performed for the rock show, namely Bhayanak Maut and Reverse Polarity, both from Mumbai.^[25]

After a break of six years, Happenings was organized again in 2014. Happenings 2015, a two-day event witnessed Pronite by local band Within Ceres and a DJ night featuring the GEC Alumni Anish Sood.

In the year 2016 the venue of Happenings was shifted outside college campus for the first time in its history. Happenings 2016 was held at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium. The Happenings 2016 Pronite witnessed a performance by a local band, The 3 Horsemen, and the DJ night organized in association with Vh1 Supersonic featured Lost Stories.

The Happenings 2017 Pronite was organized in association with Coke Studio and featured Bollywood sensation Jonita Gandhi, while the DJ night, in association with Vh1 Supersonic featured Zaeden.

Happenings 2018 had a Pronite witnessed a performance by Akash Mangueshkar, the Kingfisher Voice of Goa, 2014. The DJ night, in association with Vh1 Supersonic featured internationally acclaimed DJ Shaan.

Happenings 2019, which was held on 16 and 17 March 2019 witnessed one of the biggest Pronites in its history, with a performance of Emiway Bantai and second day DJ night featured one of India's top DJ duo the Progressive Brothers.^[26]

Happenings 2022 was held from 19-20 May 2022, after a break of 2 years, mostly due to the COVID-19 crisis. It was held at The Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium and witnessed the main performance by Russian DJ Julia Bliss. Other performances were by ProBros, Explicit Vibes and Sahil NRG.

Spectrum

Spectrum is the technical festival organized by the college.^{[27] [28]} It was started in 2016, after a decision to merge the technical events organized by the individual student associations of each department.

Spectrum 2017 Pronite featured Sapan Verma and Sorabh Pant from the comedy group EIC.

Spectrum 2018 Pronite was held in association with Sunburn and featured Sartek and The Unknown.

Tandav

Tandav is an annual inter-departmental cultural and sports event, in which all branches of the college compete across various events for a trophy.^[29]

TEDxGEC

TEDxGEC is Goa's second TEDx event and was started in 2016. Its first event featured four eminent personalities: Kanan Tandi, an expert in body language; Gaurav Padte, a social worker, awarded by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his work in cleaning up the Fatorda Stadium; Marietta Rodrigues e D'Souza, a clinical psychologist and counsellor from Sharada Mandir School, who spoke about teenage love; and Somu Rao, President of Goa Science Forum and Former National Secretary of Federation of Indian Rationalists Associations, who spoke about godmen and rationality.^{[30] [31]}

Their second event open to the general public was a Salon event titled "TEDxGECSalon: ARTiculate". Held in 2017, it featured alumni DJ Anish Sood and filmmaker Aditya Jambhale, along with noted artist Dr Subodh Kerkar.^{[32] [33] [34]}

Other notable events

• Richard M Stallman, founder of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation, visited the college Linux User Group in November 2001.^[35]
• The college celebrated its golden jubilee year in 2016-2017. A clock tower, funded by alumni, was erected on this occasion.^{[36] [37]}
• AICSSYC (All India IEEE Computer Society Students and Young Professionals Congress) 2018 was hosted by IEEE GEC Chapter.

Notable people

Notable alumni

• Aisha de Sequeira, co-head of Morgan Stanley India from 2013 through 2020.
• Anish Sood, DJ and EDM producer^[38]
• Cruz Silva, MLA of Velim constituency.
• Sameer Naik, founders of NextBiT Computing Pvt Ltd. The company was, in 2009, voted on the list of top 25 emerging technology companies in India
• Sidharth Kuncalienker, politician, ex-MLA of Panjim constituency^[39]
• Shikha Pandey, cricketer^[40]

List of principals

• Vivek Kamat (2009-2013)^[41]
• R.B. Lohani (2013-2014)^[42]
• Vinayak N. Shet (2014-2018)^[43]
• Dr. Krupashankara Mysore Sethuram (2018-2021)^[44]
• R.B. Lohani (2021-2023)
• Dr. Krupashankara Mysore Sethuram (2023 onwards)

External links

• • GEC Golden Jubilee – official website
• Happenings – official website
• Spectrum – official website
• Photoflare – official website
• TEDxGEC – official website
• GEC Music Club – official blog
• GEC Quiz Club – Facebook page
• Technix - official website

Notes and References

1. Jul 30, 2011. Business Line: Goa Govt, Sesa Goa join hands for 4-year degree course. Businessline. Asia Intelligence Wire from FT Information. .
2. News: 2022-07-19 . BE in VLSI and design tech at GEC likely from this year . The Times of India . 2023-03-07 . 0971-8257.
3. News: ME in IT & Engg at GEC from 2017-18 . The Times of India . 2018-04-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180408222933/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/me-in-it-engg-at-gec-from-2017-18/articleshow/59837927.cms . 2018-04-08 . live.
4. News: Land trouble finally over for NIT Goa . The Times of India . 2017-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170822031139/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Land-trouble-finally-over-for-NIT-Goa/articleshow/14560058.cms?referral=PM . 2017-08-22 . live.
5. Web site: Goa Engineering College ready to welcome IIT. www.navhindtimes.in. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20170512171225/http://www.navhindtimes.in/goa-engineering-college-ready-to-welcome-iit/. 2017-05-12. dead. 2017-04-17.
6. News: Three's a crowd! Goa's NIT, IIT and a state engineering college share the same campus . CatchNews.com . 2017-04-17 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20170418162338/http://www.catchnews.com/india-news/three-s-a-crowd-goa-s-nit-iit-and-a-state-engineering-college-share-the-same-campus-1470319036.html. 2017-04-18 . live.
7. Web site: NBA – National Board of Accreditation . www.nbaind.org.
8. http://www.dqindia.com/images06/Complete%20Score%20Card.pdf{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
9. Web site: Dataquest : Top Stories : India's Top Engineering Colleges 2011 (DQ-CMR Top T-Schools Survey 2011) . 1 November 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121009110618/http://archive.dqindia.com/content/top_stories/2011/111121302.asp . 9 October 2012.
10. News: Incubation centre at GEC in its Golden Jubilee year. Jul 22, 2016. The Times of India. 2018-12-03.
11. Dhuri . Keshav Ramesh . Use and user study of e-resources in medical and engineering college libraries in Goa . 2017 . PhD in Library and Information Science . Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth University . en-US . 65–66 . 10603/166485 .
12. News: GEC to get bicycles to reduce pollution. Jul 18, 2016. The Times of India. 2018-12-03.
13. News: GEC gets 'practical' with 1 cr giant robotic arm. Malkarnekar. Gauree. Jul 29, 2015. The Times of India. 2018-12-03.
14. Book: Dalvi , Priya . What about Passion?: Journeys of 12 Engineers who in their 20s created Success stories towards Success . 2018-02-12 . Notion Press . 9781642491425 . en.
15. News: Photoflare. 2013-10-28. Goa.me. 2018-12-03. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20181204005712/https://goa.me/photoflare/. 2018-12-04. dead.
16. • The college recently started its very own Debate Club.

    News: India likely to face shortage of astronomers: Dr Tilve . Oct 6, 2018 . The Goan . 2018-12-26.

17. News: AICSSYC 2018 held at GEC . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181118204335/http://epaper.navhindtimes.in/NewsDetail.aspx?storyid=64095&date=2018-11-09&pageid=1 . November 18, 2018 . live.
18. Web site: GTA student chapter launched . Nov 12, 2018 . The Navhind Times . en-US . 2018-12-16.
19. News: A thumbs up to the launch of FSAI student chapter . May 7, 2018 . The Navhind Times . 2018-11-20 . en-US . https://web.archive.org/web/20180507164051/http://www.navhindtimes.in/a-thumbs-up-to-the-launch-of-fsai-student-chapter/ . 2018-05-07 . live.
20. News: FSAI installs students' Chapter . oHeraldo . 2018-11-20 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20180505020901/https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa-News/FSAI-installs-students%E2%80%99-Chapter/130386.html . 2018-05-05 . live.
21. Web site: Technical workshops held at GEC. June 17, 2016. The Navhind Times. en-US. 2018-12-03.
22. News: Goa can make niche in start-up: Rohan Khaunte. Aug 30, 2018. United News of India.
23. News: Students celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi on campus . The Times of India . 2018-11-20 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120083305/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/students-celebrate-ganesh-chaturthi-on-campus/articleshow/65934102.cms . November 20, 2018 . live.
24. News: Let the campus fests begin!. oHeraldo. 2018-12-03. en.
25. Web site: GEC: Happenings – All Goa Youth Fest. gec.ac.in. 2018-12-29.
26. Web site: GEC-Happenings-2018 History. GEC Happenings. en. 2018-12-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20181229220423/https://www.gechappenings.com/history. 2018-12-29. dead.
27. News: LOKMAT E-Paper. 2017-04-16.
28. Web site: Spectrum '17- Technical, Non-Technical and Sports Events@ Goa College of Engineering, Ponda. digitalgoa.com. en-US. 2018-12-03.
29. Web site: GEC students want principal suspended for 'rude attitude'. Oct 8, 2013. The Times of India. 2019-01-27.
30. News: Goa College of Engineering: Spreading ideas through TED. Fernandes. Maria. Aug 12, 2016. Navhind Times. 2017-04-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20170414081652/http://www.navhindtimes.in/goa-college-of-engineering-spreading-ideas-through-ted/. 2017-04-14. live. en-US.
31. News: TEDx comes to GEC. Camara Hendricks. Edmar. Aug 12, 2016. oHeraldo.
32. News: Talking about Art at TedxGEC. The Goan. 2018-12-03.
33. News: Have you met the other TED?. Monte Da Silva. Fernando. Jul 28, 2017. oHeraldo. 2018-12-03. en.
34. News: Students in Farmagudi college get inspired through this event. Aug 9, 2017. The Times of India.
35. GOA: Software needs its freedom to grow, students and techies agree. Aug 29, 2004. Noronha. Frederick. South Asia Information Technology Mailing List. Frederick Noronha. 2018-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20180408210015/https://mailman.apnic.net/mailing-lists/s-asia-it/archive/2004/08/msg00033.html. 2018-04-08. live.
36. News: Year-round celebrations to mark GEC golden jubilee Navhind Times. Navhind Times. 2018-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20180408205758/http://www.navhindtimes.in/year-round-celebrations-to-mark-gec-golden-jubilee/. 2018-04-08. live.
37. News: GEC golden jubilee to be monumental Herald Goa. Herald Goa. 2018-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20180408205918/https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/GEC-golden-jubilee-to-be-monumental-/103262.html. 2018-04-08. live.
38. News: Anish Sood set to make his TEDx debut . Radioandmusic.com . 2018-11-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180405125441/http://www.radioandmusic.com/entertainment/editorial/news/170721-anish-sood-set-make-his-tedx-debut . 2018-04-05 . live.
39. News: GEC jubilee celebrations: Yearning for alumni-student connect . The Goan Everyday . 2018-11-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120082018/http://englishnews.thegoan.net/story.php?id=20286 . November 20, 2018 . live.
40. News: Shikha Pandey flying high after late takeoff . The Times of India . 2018-11-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120082444/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/shikha-pandey-flying-high-after-late-takeoff/articleshow/59866269.cms . 2018-11-20 . live.
41. MPT Chairman honours faculty and alumni at GEC Freshers' Day . Viva Goa . 2018-11-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120082809/https://issuu.com/vivagoaonline/docs/august_issue_new_trim/72 . 2018-11-20 . live.
42. News: GEC principal replaced; Oct student protest likely cause . The Times of India . 2018-11-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120083045/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/GEC-principal-replaced-Oct-student-protest-likely-cause/articleshow/29174748.cms . 2018-11-20 . live.
43. News: GEC holds annual project exhibition . The Navhind Times . 2018-11-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120090149/http://www.navhindtimes.in/gec-holds-annual-project-exhibition/ . 2018-11-20 . live.
44. News: Years later, GEC gets full-time principal . The Times of India . 2018-11-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120090326/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/years-later-gec-gets-full-time-principal/articleshow/66684774.cms . 2018-11-20 . live.