Assam Engineering College. Picture by UB Photos

Feb. 3: The corporate sector has finally woken up to the potential of the Assam Engineering College (AEC) in the city, which is reflected in the increasing number of reputed companies coming for campus recruitment.

According to the records of the AEC Training and Placement Cell, over 30 high-fly companies, including multinationals, came for campus interview in 2004, the highest in its 50 years of existence.

With companies like AMDOCS (Israel), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS), Infosys, Tata Indicom (VSNL) and Mahindra British Telecom, among others, making a beeline to the AEC for recruitment, the premier institution is seeking the pride of place among the best engineering colleges of the country.

AEC training and placement officer Arup Kumar Misra said, ?By luring the reputed companies to recruit AEC products in the last few years, we have been able to convince people to believe that the AEC is still one of the best institutions in this part of the country.?

?We are now in the final stages of discussion with Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro to hold campus interviews in 2005,? he said.

?Already about 50 out of 250-odd students in the final semester have their appointments ready, which is a remarkable achievement for the AEC,? Misra added. The placement cell is also catering to the recent pass-outs of the college.

Among the major companies that visited the AEC in 2004, CTS recruited 13 students, four each by Tata Indicom (VSNL), Infosys, Mahindra British Telecom, Futuresoft and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, TVS, three each by Crompton Greaves and Ashok Leyland, five by Reliance Telecom, 19 by Sterling Net Systems and two by AMDOCS.

Besides the reputed companies, the cell has catalysed the recruitment process to a large extent for many small companies in the region, including bottling plants of cola giants, rolling and steel mills, fabrication and building industries and Airports Authority of India.

?The college perhaps did not feel the stick like many other states of the country till 15 years back since the state government sector and the public sector undertakings of Assam used to gladly absorb all engineering graduates. It was after 1990 that the heat increased and suddenly unemployment among technical graduates jacked up beyond imagination,? Misra said.

The training and placement cell was established in the AEC in early 1990.