Four long years that changed my life

I had applied for a mechanical seat in PDEU (earlier known as PDPU), but due to less return on investment in terms of placement (probability of getting a job/satisfactory package), I chose to get admission in Nirma, which was the best engineering college in Gujarat (back in those days). I was able to get admission under the general quota (NRI Sponsored) in Chemical Engineering. Each candidate appearing for admissions were given merit rankings based on the marks attained in JEE+Boards (State board/CBSE/ICSE). As per the merit rank, candidates could get seats under various categories (ACPC for students based in Gujarat, All India - pan India, and NRI/NRI sponsored/Gulf/others). The admission process was smooth, simple and fast. We received admission related notifications through the mail. After this, there was a counselling session arranged for 1 day, to finalise admission and complete formalities (Fee & Documentation). To conclude, 1 week orientation session was planned as well.

One of my relatives recommended me take this course due to the future scope of the blooming chemical industry. Nirma used to have the best faculty in the entire western region, for all the subjects of chemical engineering. For each subject, at least 2 faculties were resources. In some subjects, 3 or more faculties were allotted, exhibiting the rich faculty resources available at ITNU. All faculties/experts were graduates from prestigious Indian universities, and most of them were pursuing/completed higher education in core/non core fields (PhD, M Tech, MBA, LLB, MSc and many more). One faculty was also working as an independent director for Gujarat's top dye manufacturing industry!! So the faculty: student ratio was not even a question due to the above mentioned reasons. One could get the best possible Faculty at Nirma. There was no compromise in quality, strictness, difficulty level (Very high)and standard from University. All the exams were announced, scheduled and completed in time.

Reliance Industries and Jubilant life science were the only two companies that provided internship opportunities with a stipend (close to 10000 per month). The profile offered was vocational trainee/intern. Projects included the practical study of plant and plant engineering related activities, making interns aware of P&IDs, process instruments, industry best practices, converting theoretical knowledge to practical application, making interns aware of the responsibilities and risks related to a particular job and perks and benefits.

Students become eligible for placements after the 6th Semester. A fee of 2,500 was to be paid as a placement fee to the placement council known as III cell. Some students from our batch received pre-placements offers after their summer internships, which also occurs after the 6th Semester. During our batch, the chemical department received a record 90% placement. The top core companies which offered core chemical engineering jobs include:- Reliance, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) Linde, L&T Technology Services, Thermax Galaxy Surfactants, DCM Shriram, Nirma Ltd Yokogawa, Air products, Worley Jacobs H20, Tata Chemicals, GSFC Deepak Group of companies(Deepak Nitrite, Deepak Phenolics) and many more Non core companies included:- TCS, Cognizant, ZS Associates, Byju's, etc. The highest packages were offered by non-tech companies (close to 10LPA) and the average package offered for our batch was just below 4 LPA. Profiles: Associate trainee (GET), business development associate, etc.

For the general ACPC and All India category (Between 70,000 to 80000 per semester), for NRI)/NRI sponsored category (Between 1,60,000 to 1,70,000 per semester) and for the Gulf/other (Between 1,20,000 to 1,30,000 per semester). There was a 10-12% fee hike for consecutive batches(Class of 2020, 2021 and so on). Nevertheless, only a slight variation in fees occurred for a particular semester/year (In my case, class of 2020). Several scholarships were offered by the government, but there was no private scholarship offered by the university. But, Nirma used to fund and help researchers to reach their full potential, hence helping them by providing a platform to display their research worldwide. When it comes down to placement for the chemical engineering field, all of the students (Batch of 2020) who were interested in getting jobs, received reputable positions in top industries in Gujarat as well as India. The highest package received was 10LPA, the lowest being 2.86 LPA and an average of 4LPA

There are a lot of privately sponsored social clubs in Nirma, which offered a wide range of festivals, activities and events. From sports to academics, these clubs provide a good platform for all interesting students to showcase their respective talents. Nirma's official cultural fest is the Vaudeville, which occurs during the odd semesters, mostly in September and October. Apart from this, the famous NU-Tech is one of the country's largest technical symposiums, wherein students from all over India participate to get prestigious rewards. The library amenities provided is premium, books related to core field, literature, research papers as well as magazines and much more, were provided free of cost for 2 weeks. Amenities provided in the classroom were good, but when it comes to the labs, more improvements are required, since most of the equipments available were in a poor state. Nirma had more focus on academics rather than extracurricular activities. Clubs : RCNI, ISTE, iL2, ChESA, MESA, ISA,IEEE