Experiential Learning – Sharpening the EDGES

School of Management focuses on overall development of a student from the time s/he enters the University. From focusing on bits to giving the student a complete personality transformation is the main idea behind every program at School of Management. The focus of the school is on experiential learning by giving real life projects to students throughout all the years in the form of class projects, minor projects and major projects. Students are given the opportunity to convert their theoretical knowledge to practical in the form of summer internships. Students are exposed to various live industry projects and real-life case studies from the corporate world. Times to time educational industrial visits are organized at the school level to give students an exposure to professional management. Various clubs introduced by the School of Management for Co and Extra-curricular activities viz. Exuberance club, Synergy club, Economic Collective, HRidya – The HR Club etc. keep students engaged through various activities round the year. Other clubs like Finance, Psychology and Marketing etc. impart professional knowledge to students, contemporary understanding of the environment and updating them of the current changes in the VUCA world. These clubs help students to enhance their knowledge and become an achiever in the domain of their choice. The infrastructure and environment offered by School of Management at the NorthCapUniversity is conducive to the overall progress of a student and helps him sharpen his knowledge and offers him the cutting edge to get ahead in the competitive world.

Ms Mahima Anand
School of Management
The Northcap University

Education in Transition – BCom at NorthCap University

In recent years, it has been acknowledged by the education sector that there has been a lot of emphasis on core courses to be taught in undergraduate programs. The vibrant business environment demands the acquirements to be more meaningful and purposeful. Bachelor of Commerce, at The NorthCap University, has come a long way to enhance the learning experience of students. Apart from offering conventional subjects, the program is embracing the interdisciplinary approach to conceive the business world from diverse perspectives. The advent of aspects like critical thinking has enabled students to analyse various challenges of corporate houses more objectively. The current scenario of cashless economy for example has paved way for new businesses that can be operated online. Paperless offices are gaining momentum in our country and posing new challenges for upcoming employments. The university has comprehended the current trends  and integrated courses like E-Commerce in the curriculum to give a boost to the career of students. Moreover, inclusion of Fine Arts in the course would stimulate students to look across disciplinary boundaries and enhance their creative potential. The analytical skills honed by education of fine arts provide a potential to understand the underlying patterns of consumer behaviour. The integration of various courses will enrich the knowledge of students and contribute in their trajectory of success.  

Dr. Deergha Sharma
Assistant Professor (Selection Grade)
The NorthCap University

Proud Moment for the NCU Family!

Ram Karan Singh, Professor Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, The NorthCap University (NCU), India along with multidisciplinary research team published a patent no 202011006274 (The Patent Office Journal No. 09/2020 Dated 28/02/2020), 11139 पेटेंट, IBF-VEHICLE INTELLIGENT BALANCING VEHICLE FRAME, field of invention electrical, ordinary application, dated 28.02.20220, Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India.According to an aspect of this invention, there is provided a self-balancing vehicle Frame that facilitates to adapt to two pedals, two handles, two wheels and two self-balancing electrical systems for automatically controlling rotation of the wheels to maintain the vehicle in a balanced state, the self-balancing vehicle Frame comprising: two side Frame units, each of the side Frame units being adapted to be mounted with a respective wheel and a respective self-balancing electrical system integrated with the pedals allowing the user to stand to tilt forwardly and rearward thus driving synchronously forward and rearward tilt of the respective one self-balancing electrical system to activate rotation of the respective one wheel; and a bearing unit, before being assembled into a complete vehicle and while being under a subassembly condition, interconnecting and located between the side Frame units such that each of the side Frame units can tilt independently against the other of the side Frame units; and after said bearing unit is assembled into a complete self-balancing vehicle and in working status, the rotating axis of the bearing unit being set around the rotating axis of the wheels with an eccentricity.

ISHRAE Installation Ceremony

The Department of Mechanical Engineering invited Mr. Deepak Dhamija, President of ISHRAE Sub-Chapter Gurugram, & Mr. Ravi Shankar, Member ISHRAE Sub-Chapter Gurugram at ISHRAE for Re-Installation of its Student Chapter at NCU on 4th February 2020. 

ISHRAE is an international associate of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers). The Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE), was founded in 1981 at New Delhi by a group of eminent HVAC&R professionals. ISHRAE today has more than 14,000 HVAC&R professionals as members and additionally there are 10,000 Student-members. ISHRAE operates from 41 Chapters and sub Chapters spread all over India, with HQ in Delhi. 

During the Installation Ceremony, Mr. Ravi Shankar identified NCU as a potential partner in Gurgaon Sub-Chapter, amongst other ongoing partnerships with premier institutes. Mr. Shankar then proceeded to call upon each successfully elected student to take the Oath for holding the Office of student President, Secretary, Treasurer and 5 Core Working Committee members. NCU Chapter has 27 student members with the steering committee constituting eight members from final and pre-final year batches. 

Re-Installation of the ISHRAE Chapter is expected to give a boost to the industry-institute interaction in Mechanical Engineering. The event was coordinated by the Society faculty advisor & coordinator, Dr. Akanksha Mathur. (MED2020O005)

Office bearers

R. No.	Nominations for Positions	Name	Enrollment No.
1	PRESIDENT	Abhijit Kumar	16MEU036
2	SECRETARY	Harshit Gupta	17MEU006
3	TREASURER	Jatin Kumar	17MEU009
4	CWC Member	Mihir Inglay	17MEU039
5	CWC Member	Varnit Mittal	17MEU029
6	CWC Member	Himank Taneja	17MEU008
7	CWC Member	Deepanshu	17MEU004
8	CWC Member	Akshit Manocha	17MEU002

The NorthCap University Salutes Nurses, Doctors & Health Workers on World Health Day - 7 April 2020

World Health Day on 7 April 2020 will celebrate the work of nurses and midwives and remind world leaders of the critical role they play in keeping the world healthy. Nurses and other health workers are at the forefront of COVID-19 response - providing high quality, respectful treatment and care, leading community dialogue to address fears and questions and, in some instances, collecting data for clinical studies. Quite simply, without nurses, there would be no response.

The NorthCap University is committed towards the community at large in this hour of crisis and believes in spreading right information. We believe that in these times of lockdown and isolation, onus falls on self as well. Everyone needs to implement the same practices as one would on any other day (before the crisis) – wake up, make bed, shower, shave, eat your breakfast, etc. Each person can devise their own routine or framework based on their own habits.

It is equally important to talk about close relationships. Words such as family, mom, and parent are incredibly helpful to use around this time. This is because on one hand, people are worried about what is going to happen to their family members and those close to them, but speaking about these close relationships also increase the sense of stability for the person experiencing stress or anxiety.

It’s vital that we all practice to normalize anxiety. Make apparent to the individual that they are not alone in feeling the way that they do. Normalizing anxiety and sharing personal experiences can feel very validating to the person in crisis, as this shows them that this feeling is normal, and they are not the only one experiencing them.

While self-isolation may be difficult for us all, some populations are more vulnerable to its potential negative effects, including those experiencing child abuse or domestic violence. Data shows that finances can also serve as a stressor. It is important to look out for those working in the economy or others who are confronted with possible loss of jobs and livelihoods. To help those in need, we can all help share factual information about the crisis and raise awareness about the mental health ramifications and resources.

We can also engage in active listening, which means making a conscious effort to hear out not just the words but the complete communication of the person in crisis. In addition, using words such as “brave," "smart" and "proud” when speaking to someone in crisis can show empathy and lead them to feel empowered to move out of the crisis.

During these times of pandemic, all of us need to pay special attention to children during this time. Children are “very imaginative,” and when they hear adults speaking about the virus in a very distressed way, they are left feeling nervous or can imagine disturbing things which can lead to long-term negative effects on the child’s psyche. There is no need to be secretive; they should have some information, but it is important for parents to not overload a sense of worry or anxiety about an invisible enemy.

As fear and anxiety roam large during these uncertain times, it is important to recognize and be grateful for what we have, stay connected those we love and care for, and lend a helping hand to those who need it.

The NorthCap University Leads in Online Teaching-Learning Amidst COVID-19 Crisis

Realising its social responsibility and due to its concern about the well-being of its various stakeholders in the present-day unprecedented circumstances due to the spread of Covid-19, The NorthCap University proactively responded by playing its part in mitigating the spread of the virus by taking several measures. The University took immediate steps like disinfecting the campus regularly, promoting hygiene and encouraging social distancing etc. as advised by the Govt. and medical experts. Further, as directed by the Govt., the University decided to suspend all regular classes from 16th March, 2020 onwards.

The University understood the gravity of the situation because of this disruption, and as a progressive institution, was the first to take the initiative of keeping the students academically engaged by offering online classes. The University decided that all teaching-learning would be in virtual settings with immediate effect till 31st March, 2020.

Moving from face-to-face classes in classroom settings to virtual instructions was very challenging for both the faculty and the students as everything had to be managed within a very short time frame. The entire university stepped up and joined hands in utilizing the present trying times to provide a satisfying online learning experience to students. Rigorous training sessions using webinars were conducted for all users to equip them with the expertise of working on one of the well-known professional online platform ‘Microsoft Teams’. Instructions and user manuals were shared with all users through several emails and audio/video messages. The technical & IT teams of the university worked round the clock to create virtual class groups and handle queries.

Right from the first day onwards, the live interactive classes are running online just like they were held on any regular working day according to laid down timetable. The students are being informed about all classes through a virtual calendar that has been created for this purpose. A reminder is also being sent to all students using WhatsApp class groups so that the students do not miss out on the scheduled classes.

The response of this remote learning from students has been phenomenal as the attendance of all classes is around 90%, which is at par with that of regular classes. All software-based labs are being conducted very effectively through virtual instructions. Further on, demonstration videos are being planned for hardware-based labs so that even they are also suitably engaged. Students are submitting time-bound assignments to teachers and receiving feedback.

“As a student, I am enjoying the learning experience and I believe no other option could have been better implemented. Students can openly ask questions and introverts are not introverts anymore. Teachers are using different tools to make the class more interactive”, feels Pranav Jain, a third year Computer Science and Engineering student.

The entire experience is emotionally and intellectually fulfilling for the faculty as they continue on this journey of imparting quality education to the students. There has been no shortage of support for each other both from the students and the staff as we navigate through these challenging times. Dr Kavita Khanna, Head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering said "We at NCU don’t just teach technology, we practice it as well, we use it to face the unforeseen challenges that are brought before us from time to time. We have once again proved to be the real digital natives and a proud technologically savvy organization by embracing the change smoothly. In this uncertain situation when organizations struggle to find solutions, we have successfully sailed through.”

This is what Animesh Das, a first year student at The NorthCap University had to say about online learning, “The lecture delivery by faculty, the doubt clearing sessions and assignment submission is smooth, which is where I would like to say that the classroom comes to my home. The classes are also recorded on a daily basis so that we can revisit them in case we miss out on something. The process of online learning during this period of quarantine is helping us maintain our learning curve and hence when the university resumes we won't lag behind in the academic activities of the year.”

According to the experts, the impact of the deadly coronavirus is likely to reverberate across global higher education long after the outbreak is eventually brought under control. At NCU we strongly feel that going online is a very good alternative considering our experience of this smooth glide from face-to-face learning to online-only learning.

The NorthCap University, Gurugram (formerly ITM Gurgaon)

Innovative Idea Exhibition

Entrepreneurship Development Cell in collaboration with Institution Innovation Cell - TheNorthCap University (IIC-NCU) recognized by MHRD’s Innovation Cell, Government of India organized an Innovative Idea Exhibition in which 56 students have presented their innovative business ideas with the help of charts on March 6, 2020. Mr. Debasish Roy (Vice President Finance at Bertelsmann Marketing Services India Pvt Ltd, Group CFO at Arvato India & Director at Ramyam Intelligence Labs Pvt Ltd), Ms. Shweta Bhatnagar (Innovation Officer at MHRD’s Innovation Cell, Govt. of India) and Prof. Hemant Trivedi (Dean, School of Management, NCU) were the judges of the event. The winning business ideas were Tri-lium Safety, Helpmate and Indian Handicrafts as first, second and third respectively. The business idea of Tri-lium Safety was presented by Priyanka Arora and Parul Bansal; the business idea of Helpmate was presented by Manan Sachdeva and Abhinav Sahu, and business idea of Indian Handicrafts was presented by Ritika Thakur.

The whole event was organized and coordinated by Dr. Esha Jain, Faculty – School of Management, The NorthCap University Gurugram.

Haryana Police create awareness about mobile app ‘Durga Shakti’

During the Road Safety Week organized at NCU from 1-7 Aug 2018, to raise awareness about new safety measures introduced for women, a team from Haryana Police, Gurugram, visited the University on 6 August 2018. They updated girl students and lady staff members about Govt of Haryana’s recently launched mobile app ‘Durga Shakti’ by Haryana Police for the safety of women. They demonstrated the procedure for downloading the app and using it in case of emergency.

Talking about the effectiveness of ‘Durga Shakti’, Inspector Vikram Singh said that the app will connect to the closest police station as well as the Police Headquarters and this will enable women to get immediate help from the police. The aim of this app is to reduce the response time of the police in providing help to women in distress. Through this app the police will receive the distress message in a few seconds and will be able to provide help in a few minutes. Even if the caller is unable to speak, just on receiving the call the police will be able to trace the location of the caller and respond in a few minutes. The app aims to reduce crime against women and ensure their safety.

Republic Day Celebrations at The NorthCap University

On 26 Jan 2018, The NorthCap University, Gurugram, celebrated the 69th Republic Day with pomp and show. The fog and cold weather could not dampen the patriotic fervour and enthusiasm of the faculty, staff, students and children who braved the weather to attend the function. After unfurling the National Flag, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor SB Raghavendra, took the salute as the Security Staff marched past the dais. The Vice-Chancellor felicitated all faculty members, staff and students on the occasion of Republic Day and paid homage to our great Indian freedom fighters Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Lala Lajpat Rai, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, etc. who laid down their lives for 'Purna Swaraj’. 

Speaking at the occasion Prof. Raghavendra said the Year 2017 was an eventful one for India as ISRO created a new milestone when it successfully launched a record 104 satellites aboard its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The recent standoff between India and China at the Doklam plateau turned into the biggest military stand-off between the two armies but the Government resolved it amicably. 

The Vice-Chancellor said that India is making progress at a very fast pace but we should not forget our responsibility towards the society. Along with economic growth, focus should also be on the overall development of the youth of India, who are the torch bearers of tomorrow. Values and morals are very important and we at NCU believe in addition of value through value added programmes in education. With continuous dedicated efforts we can make the vision of the University a reality and be known globally for learning innovations, academic excellence, socially relevant research outcomes. 

The celebrations were followed by refreshments for all.

2D Game Development Workshop

A 2D Game Development workshop was organized by the CSI Student Chapter, NCU from 11-13 Dec 2017. Students learnt about the usage of tools like animation, collision of objects and parallax effect. Platform games like ‘Mario’ and ‘Shoot the Target’ were developed. On the first day students developed their own games using the tools and features learnt. On the second day, concepts like physics, gravity and multiple layouts were discussed and students came up with exemplary games that also covered some concepts that they had explored on their own.

On 13 Dec the students made a final presentation of their games. The event was judged by Ms Shivani and Ms Lakshmi along with the instructors. The winners of the event were Munish Grover and Nikhil Taneja (1st Position), Ayush Bhardwaj and Aniesh Gupta (2nd Position), Abhinav Bhateja and Manas (3rd Position). The trophies and certificates were distributed by Dr Kavita Khanna, Head, Dept of CSE to the winners and the instructors. The workshop was conducted by Aaditya Verma, Ayush Singh Rathore, Bhuvnesh Gupta and Riya Adhlaka, 2nd Year, BTech, CSE under the guidance of Dr. A.Charan Kumari.

NCU Student Attends ASQ’s 2nd South Asia Conference

ASQ-NCU chapter chair Shringa Vatas, Final year, BTech CSE, attended ASQ’s 2nd South Asia Conference on Quality and Improvement on the theme ‘Developing Winning Cultures’ held at Vivanta by Taj - Dwarka, New Delhi from 1-2 December 2017.

Renowned quality leaders from across the globe presented their views on the topic. Prof. Prem Vrat, Pro-Chanellor, Prof. Ravindra Ojha, Director, SOET and NCU faculty members attended the conference. Prof. Ojha was also part of the PAN India Team Excellence project evaluation jury. Speaking about the conference Shringa Vatas said,“This conference was an experience in itself. As a student member of ASQ- NCU chapter it felt great coming back to the same platform to meet quality leaders and practitioners from across the globe. I had attended the 1st South Asia Conference in 2016 as well.

I addressed the gathering at the conference as the Student Deputy of The NextGeneration enlightening the attendees about the importance of student membership, how students can be benefitted from ASQ and how they can get engaged with the industry. I also spoke about my journey at ASQ and how the ASQ- NCU chapter has been working to make a difference in the life of its students. The most exciting part of the conference was to address the gathering which included CEO of ASQ Mr Bill Troy with Mr Alexander Tucker, Vice-chair of The NextGeneration from USA about the importance of mentoring in students’ life and also encouraging the attendees to join in with the NextGeneration as mentors.”

Prof. Ravindra Ojha, Director, SOET, NCU Receives International Award for Academic Research and Excellence

It is a matter of great pride for The NorthCap University that Prof. Ravindra Ojha, Director, School of Engineering & Technology, was honoured by the  Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok with the AITAA Distinguished Alumni Award in the category of Academic Research and Excellence during the 46th  Governing Board Meeting held from 3- 6 Nov 2017 in Taipeh, Taiwan.

Incubation Centre at The NorthCap University

The NorthCap University (NCU), Gurugram inaugurated ‘The Master Jagannath Centre for Excellence & Incubation’ (MJCEI) the new start-up incubation platform at the University on 26 April 2017. The Centre was inaugurated by the Pro-Chancellor, Prof Prem Vrat and partners Mrs Snehlata Jhamb and Mr Mayur Jain. The event was graced by the presence of Pro Vice-Chancellor, Brig SK Sharma (Retd), Prof. Ravindra Ojha, Director, School of Engineering & Technology, Mr BK Gupta, Director, School of Professional Attachment and Registrar, Col Bikram Mohanty (Retd).

The Centre’s chief objective is to help create an environment for research and innovation, including software products and apps followed by incubation for commercialization. MJCEI aims to help young minds to transform their innovative ideas into viable business propositions, a platform facilitating a budding entrepreneur to start a business venture with minimum risks. Incubates will have access to technological assistance which will be generated through mentors with multidisciplinary expertise.

Speaking at the occasion the Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Prem Vrat said, “The University encourages young enthusiasts with new ideas and an inherent zeal to be entrepreneurs to take advantage of this novel initiative. We will nurture our faculty and students to innovate and invent, build technical skills and imbibe confidence to be competitive and ready to seize opportunities for the benefit of the society.” 

The incubation centre is an initiative of some of NCU Alumni, Mr Kashish Jhamb, Founder Managing Director of City Innovates Pvt Ltd, Gurugram and Mr Mayur Jain.

NCU Marketing and Admission Team

In April and May on weekends, the Marketing and Admission Team of NCU conducts career guidance seminars for 40- 50 students along with their parents at the NCU campus .

 
Seminars at external venues have been conducted at Dwarka and GK II on 7 May, Laxmi Nagar on 14 May 2017. Each session was attended by over 60 UG and MBA aspirants. Students for UG studies were given an interesting talk on 'Careers after class XII' and PG aspirants about 'Any MBA v/s the next gen MBA' and ‘Importance of entrepreneurial ecosystem around’ followed by an interactive session with both UG and PG aspirants.

Externship at FIS Global, Gurugram

Charu Rana of the Dept of EECE did a three day externship at FIS Global, Gurugram. FIS is the world’s largest global provider dedicated to banking and payments technologies. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 35,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing and banking solutions, providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that drives financial institutions.

Technical Lead Mr. Vishal Nagil, (Custom applications development) gave her an overview about business consultants handle and implement the project from start to end in which a Project manager plays a big role in dealing, providing solution to clients according to their requirements. 

A meeting with Cloud Services Manager was held to discuss opportunities in Cloud computing and services for our students, who listed the prerequisites for any intern or freshers applying for jobs at FIS Global. She was also briefed about the SaaS(software as a service) services which are fast, scalable and cost efficient , provided to the clients partnering with Google cloud platform. FIS Global creates the database for the client applications and apply algorithms to analyze the data to meet the requirements. The data is stored on cloud provided by Google.

Based on our students taking IBM run courses FIS Global may take students for internship in summer-2017. The only prerequisite for students is good software language skills such as Java, scripting language etc. 

Special Lecture by Dr. Gulshan Rai, Chief Information Security Officer, Prime Minister Office, India; Conducted by CSE & IT Dept. at NCU Auditorium

Department of CSE & IT, The NorthCap University through the courtesy of Prof. Amitava Sen Gupta invited Dr Gulshan Rai, the first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Prime Minister Office, India on 17 November 2016 to deliver a special lecture. Prior to this, he was working as Director General, CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) and Group Coordinator of E-Security and Cyber Law Division in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Dr Rai addressed the faculty and students about the Digital Revolution and its impact on Internet and Cyber Security. Dr Rai explained the Indian Cyber Space, what it constitutes and importance of Cyber Security in Cyber Space. He also discussed how criminals use malware (customize software in order to perform malicious activities) to hack systems and commit various frauds. Further, hestressed upon the importance of preparing the student’s workforce in the field of Cyber Security to caterto the ever increasing demand of Cyber Security Experts in our country and aboard. 

Dr Rai appreciated the University’s efforts for running an MTech programme with specialization in Cyber Security but suggested that more needs to be done in this direction by collaborating with industries and Government organizations. The faculty and students actively participated in the interactive session with Dr Rai who promised to make a second longer visit sometime in the near future. 

Alumni Interaction

The Department of CSE&IT organized an expert talk and interactive session on ‘Basic Organizational Ethics’ by Mr Pranav Bhardwaj (CSE Alumni, 2006-2010) on 6 October 2016. Mr Bhardwaj is currently working as an Instructional Designer and Business Developer at Genpact. He has expertise in Business Analytics and Content Management. During the interactive lecture, Mr Bhardwaj shared his professional journey and struggles with the students. The students were inspired by his words and raised many queries which were aptly answered. The event was coordinated by Ms Jyotsna, Asst professor, Dept of CSE&IT.

Bust your stress

Ms Shaveta Arora

Asst Professor

Dept of EECE

The NorthCap University, Gurgaon 

Experience, live and enjoy your student life by overcoming ‘stress’ and be successful.

Stressful situations usually occur when we constantly think about a bad past experience or about a possible threat in the future and create an image in our mind about something which hasn’t even occurred yet. It may also occur when we have plenty of tasks to complete within limited time. In all these scenarios our body releases certain hormones which cause the body to take some immediate action and usually the actions taken in these circumstances do not bring fruitful results.

We already know prevention is better than cure as it is better to stop something in the first place than to repair the damage after it has happened. We also know that many diseases occur in human body only because we do not pay attention towards our health at the time when it is important. When you ask your doctor about it, he/she often tells us that ‘stress’ is the root cause or an important reason for any disease in our body.

Here are some tips and simple tricks which can free you from stress in your life:

• Discipline – Well planned and disciplined life can completely prevent stress from emerging at the initial stages. 
• Prioritization – Most of us try to complete multiple tasks at the same time which creates confusion and slows down the functioning of our brain and we do not get results as per our expectations. To overcome this, we can easily identify important tasks out of our pending jobs and write them in a notepad. We can finish our work faster and without taking stress.
• Yoga/Exercise – Yoga is one of the powerful tools to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and lower your heart rate. It is better to practice it early in the morning however it can be practiced at other time of the day as per convenience. But it should be practiced regularly. Light exercises, jogging and brisk walking are some add on tools to beat stress. Staying physically active and mentally calm is the need of the hour and even our Prime Minister is a firm believer of this formula.
• Meditation – As performing yoga brings control over your bodies, meditation brings control and calmness to your mind. The art of controlling your mind will bring infinite peace within you.
• Healthy diet – Students these days have back-to-back tuition classes and they sometimes skip meals or take fast foods from outside. Parents need to guide their children by giving them alternative of fast foods. Students also need to be self-motivated for following a healthy diet and eat all meals on time which will ultimately boost immunity levels and will make body and brain ready to fight any kind of upcoming stress.

Certain things to follow while overcoming stress: 

• Do not compare yourself with other students or your friends.
• Read newspaper every day, preferably in the morning.
• Avoid keeping television/ laptop/ mobile in your bedroom.
• Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol.
• Take a sleep of 7 hours every day.
• Last but not the least, avoid spending too much time on social networking websites and digital media.

Remember, life is moving really fast and we are flowing with it. Everyone needs to take a break and check within, whether you are flowing in the right direction. We are all blessed with technology and with help of it we can complete our tasks in minutes which used to take hours and days earlier, but still 24 hours seem slightly less. To be successful in life you do not have to score 100% or be No.1 in studies. If you simply give 100% of your own capabilities, there is plenty of room for success for each one of us. Hope you identify and find a way which is right for you.

Enjoy your student life! It is of the best part of an individual life.

Altercation: The Great Debate

To focus on Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies, The NorthCap University, Gurgaon (NCU) organized a debating event on the theme of his vision of a secular state  where religious values are cherished and respected in all spheres of life, public as well as private and no religion is allowed to dominate the other.Abhivyakt, the Speech and Debating Club, NCU, under Centre for Languages Learning (CLL), organized ‘Altercation: The Great Debate’, an inter-collegiate debate competition on ‘Interpretation of secularism works in opposition to freedom of religion which undermines its constitutional validity’ on 7 October 2016. Students from colleges across the country participated in the event. 

The debate consisted of two rounds in which participants from fifteen teams from colleges all over the country enthusiastically participated and argued their stand.  Six teams were selected for the final round. Hans Raj College;  Jamia Millia Islamia; MSIT, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi; Aligarh Muslim University; Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow; Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida were the finalists. The debate brimmed with intellectual arguments on the constitution and freedom to practice various rituals in India.

The thought provoking topic for debate was also highlighted by the comments of a young, eminent Prof. (Dr) Gnyana Gurunathan, the Chief Guest and Special judge for the evening. After a vibrant session of arguments, which flew back and forth, Anuj Bansal and Sahil Yadav of DrRam Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow emerged as winners while Sidharth Arora and Rajat Bawaniwal, Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia were declared as the runners-up. The faculty coordinator for the event was Dr Divyabha Vashisth.

In conversation with the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Brig. SK Sharma (Retd)

Brig. SK Sharma (Retd)

Pro Vice-Chancellor

The NorthCap University, 

Gurugram

The NorthCap University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Officiating Vice-Chancellor & Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Brig. SK Sharma, shares his views regarding the present and the future of the University with Ms Rekha Mathur, Sr Editor, NCU.

Sir, what are the key issues before NCU?

Quality is the single mantra to excellenceand is therefore the key issue on which The NorthCap University focuses all its endeavours. NCU strives towards having quality students with the best faculty. The key therefore is to have a quality intake of both students and faculty and nurture our students to achieve quality in all their endeavours.

Secondly, employers are the ultimate stakeholders of our services and their feedback is of utmost importance to us. Their inputs help us evaluate and gauge our course content, our strengths and weaknesses and take necessary action to empower our students for a lifetime of personal and professional fulfillment.

The key therefore is to continuously strive towards improving ourselves in every sphere and all our decisions aretherefore merit based.In pursuit of academic excellence the University upgradesits physical, academic, information infrastructure and support facilities.In short, the focal point of the mission of the University is to provide quality of learning and innovation in all our programmes, consider new areas of learning and do this with all rigour and relevance.

How do you cope with so many important positions you are holding at present?

Most of the issues one faces are the same or are correlated.Therefore in my official capacity, I have the added advantage of getting a 360º view of the interrelated issues and seeing it from different perspectives. This guides me towards a holistic approach to them.

How do you plan to encourage multidisciplinary teamwork at the University?

Some of the first steps to multidisciplinary teamwork have been initiated. As problems are multifaceted their solutions need to be holistichaving engineering, management and legal aspects to their solutions.To begin with we have proposed that some of the major projects of BTech 4th Year students shouldhave multidisciplinary teams working on them.

Similarly for multidisciplinary sponsored projects we have invited proposals from the faculties of different departments. Prof. A Sen Gupta, Mentor RDIL,iscurrently finalizingprojects involving various groups of faculties from the Departments of CSE & IT, EECE, Mechanical and APS.

Lastly,there is higher flexibility in thecourse structure in a ratio of60:40 for Core and Elective. 20% credit for Open Electives give a boost to interdisciplinary courses. A student can choose courses according to his/her interest which leads tomultipleinterdisciplinary courses insay, the four year BTech programme.

How do you propose to enhance benefits of collaboration with foreign universities?

We have collaborations for BTech student exchange programme with ITB Ireland. Many students have benefited through the scholarships offered by them. For the first time for MTech students NCU has collaborated with the University of Regina, Canada.Under this agreement MTech students fromthe Departments of ECE and CSE can study at the University of Regina in the second year, after successfully completing their first two semesters at NCU. The students get the advantage of earning a Canadian MEngg degree in the same period, i.e. a total of two years, thus reducing the expenses for a foreign degree.

NCU has collaborated withthe Michigan Technological University, USA regarding 3+1+1 programme in Computer Science. Under this agreement, undergraduate students of Computer Science at NCU can go to study at Michigan Technological University in the 4th Year, after successfully completing three years at NCU. Successful completion of this programme by NCU students will lead to a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering, conferred by NCU, and a Master’s of Science degree conferred by Michigan Technological University, if the master’s degree requirements are satisfied.

Where do you wish to see NCU after five years?

The field of higher education is dynamic, ever evolving so we have to keep reinventing ourselves to remain relevant and contemporary. We have to gauge future requirements today and be prepared to face the challenges. Some of the issues for the next five years in this regard are:

• We have to keep introducing more inter-disciplinary courses, courses at the courses at the boundaries of intersecting disciplines.
• Our Post Graduate courses require to be substantially restructured and improved.
• To have an edge over others we have to impart to our students Smart Skills such as Machine Learning, Robotics, Business Analytics, Big Data Analytics, Gaming Skills, Critical Analysis skills and more.
• We must offer more opportunities for the learning of the Liberal Arts as a separate area of study or as Minor area for other programmes.
• We have to supplement the teaching learning process for encouraging Entrepreneurship in a big way.
• Learning rather than teaching is the guiding principle for tomorrow in a 24x7 e-learning environment.
• We have to offeran immersive learningenvironment that simulates realistic scenarios.

One Army work culture you would like to introduce in the civilian way of functioning?

The value system of the Army which is synonymous with sincerity, discipline, integrity, teamwork, being self-driven, ethical and formational moral values are crucial in the functioning of any organization. So are they in the field of education.

Please tell us about your hobbies.

I am fond of reading and I like to read on a multitude of subjects. On weekends I choose to play golf. I am passionate about travelling particularly exploring less frequented places, with my family.