Most students post their 12th class are in a quandary. They are faced with the challenge of choosing a branch of interest for their 4 year gauntlet of engineering. Some may not be so lucky as to pick and choose the branch of their choice and maybe forced into choosing a branch that the herd generally does not go for. Most of us would love to spend 4 years coding away, playing with wires or working with engines. But there is a world beyond all this. Stupidsid gives an in-depth analysis of some offbeat engineering branches and restores some respect showing you the scope and what’s really in store if you play your cards right.

1. Bio-Technology / Biomedical Engineering

Most students shun away from it by just reading the word “bio”. However biotechnology is THE BIG THING of the future. The course relates to the application of technology to the field of genetics, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products and probably enhancing aspects of living things from plants to animals via humans.

An allied branch like biomedical electronics is involved with providing hardware and support services to the medical world to enhance life-saving skills while bioinformatics is involved withusage of software, algorithms and data mining to generate useful biological knowledge.

Research prospects abroad are rich, especially in European countries like Netherlands and Germany. Research is fast growing and cutting edge. In India NCBS is a reputed college for higher education and research. Job prospects are plenty in pharmaceutical and chemical companies.

Colleges Offering Biotechnology/Biomedical Engineering

• Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Mumbai (TSEC) - Biomedical
• Delhi Technological University, Delhi (DTU/DCE)- Biotechnology
• PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore (PESIT) - Biotechnology

2. Production / Industrial Engineering (PIE)

Firstly one must STOP taking this as a second tier branch to mechanical. There is a lot of scope in Production & Industrial Engineering by itself. Manufacturing and production units will never go out of work because of the sheer demand by industry and masses for products.

Typically a Production & Industrial studies operations research, quality control, product design, planning inventory control among others. All of these find large scale application. Research in the aforementioned areas is always on the move since the industry will always be looking to improve efficiency which will be your main job. The curriculum taught in top colleges will also expose you to certain MBA style courses like supply chain management and thus improve you managerial skills. So if you’re looking for a managerial career this is your golden goose.

Colleges Offering Production Engineering

• Veermata JijabaiTechnological Institute(VJTI)
• College of Engineering, Pune (COEP)
• BMS College of Engineering (BMSCE), Bangalore

3. Aeronautical / Aerospace Engineering

Almost evreybody nowadays is seduced by aircrafts, space crafts and the aura of visual & technical grandeur associated with it. However, aeronautical engineering is not offered by many except top engineering colleges in India it is difficult to land up with this course.

You will have to study concepts like fluid mechanics to courses like aerospace structures, aircraft stability, propulsion etc. However, DO NOT EXPECT TO COME CLOSE TO AN AIRCRAFT ANYTIME SOON IN YOUR CAREER AND THINK WELL BEFORE CHOOSING AERO.

 Giants like HAL, DRDO and ISRO offer challenging work and few foreign companies with smaller units have also opened in India. Also cutting edge research goes on across the globe and prospects do exist largely in Japan, Germany and Taiwan.

Colleges Offering Aeronautical Engineering

• Top IITs (IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur)
• MVJ College of Engineering (Bangalore)
• NITTE Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore

4. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering(MME)

Metallurgical & Materials Engineering has the reputation of being the most “chilled out” branch in any college and students spend free time in Extra -curricular activities.

A Metallurgical & Materials student typically studies metals and materials (obviously) in great depth. He understands their pros and cons and applications for various purposes. The course is especially for someone who enjoys chemistry since some courses have fundamental concepts from chemistry itself.

Scope for research is vast in USA, Japan and Germany. IISc in Bangalore is reputed for its research work in the field. Major PSUs like NALCO, Hindustan Zinc and Coal India are large scale recruiters of Metallurgical &Materials  graduates for which one will have to clear GATE( relatively simpler for meta) and also private sector giants like Tata Steel, Essar and Bharat Forge are known to pick up students.

So if you want to study lighter courses and enjoy the 4 years of engineering to the fullest then “meta” as it is fondly called is your gig.

Colleges Offering Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

• College of Engineering, Pune (COEP)
• Top IITs (IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur)
• Top NITs (NITK Surathkal, NIT Trichy)

5. Automobile / Automotive Engineering

The dream of almost every child is to design his own car. There is something about automobiles as the engine revs that drives everyone crazy.

An automobile engineer studies a lot of courses which intersect with the curriculum of mechanical engineering. Greater stress will be on designing parts of automobiles like suspension, chassis, drivetrain & automobile electronics. Fuel economics and energy efficiency is an upcoming field especially with the on-going Green Revolution.

Not many colleges offer this branch and hence getting admission is rare. Job prospects will never be a problem in India or abroad due to the evergreen nature of the automobile industry.

Colleges Offering Automobile Engineering

• MH Saboo Siddik College of Engineering (Mumbai)
• SRM University- College of Engineering (Chennai)
• Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering (Bangalore)