Media Release

Mangaluru, Aug 12: St Joseph Engineering College (SJEC), here, organized phase I workshop on IUCEE International Engineering Education Certification Program (IIEECP) for the faculty of Engineering colleges in the region from August 5 to 7 for a period of three days.

This certification programme (IIEECP) is designed and offered by Indo Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) in three phases so as to address the need for enhancing the teaching skills amongst the faculty members of technical education institutes. Dr Sohum Sohoni, associate director, IUCEE and professor, Milwaukee School of Engineering, USA, was the resource person for the event. Dr Sohumis is also considered as one of the renowned OBE leaders and a global expert in engineering education.

The workshop was formally inaugurated by Dr Sohum Sohoni in the presence of Fr Wilfred Prakash D’Souza, director of SJEC and Dr Rio D’Souza, principal of SJEC. Dr Binu K G, SJEC IIEECP cluster head and Ravikantha Prabhu, convener of the workshop were also present on the occasion.

Dr Rio D’Souza welcomed the gathering and spoke about the importance of programmes like IIEECP in the field of Engineering education.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Sohum said, "When I started working, I had zero experience in teaching in spite of having a PhD in computer architecture. All I wanted was to do a good job and I cared about my students and so, I tried my best to do that. After getting in touch with the National Effective Teaching Institute, USA, I learnt so much about various teaching skills. In these three days, you will get the best tools and skills to transform into a better teacher."

In his presidential address, Fr Wilfred Prakash said, "Today's youngsters look for quality education when selecting a course and teachers who are facilitators, who will guide them to the right path of excellence. Only quality education will survive in the current scenario. There should be an authority in place to tell someone whether or not someone is qualified based on their teaching and learning capabilities. In the next three days, new ways to improve your teaching techniques will be discussed so, please make good use of the opportunity."

The workshop was attended by 37 participants consisting of faculty members from SJEC and its neighbouring engineering institutes.