IET NIT Students' Chapter

Increasingly Educational Institutions are facing challenges in proper organised communications to all stakeholders- Students, Parents, Teachers, Staff, Donors and Management. With multiple channels of communications like emails, SMS, portal, Video and telephone, maintaining and tracking unified communications is extremely important to create a thriving ecosystem of the engaged community.

I-SMS enables a school to communicate with parents and create good relationship among parents and school management.
It gives parents right to receive important information at the right time where both notifications and examination results are being posted.

i-SMS

Industrial Security and Risk Management Course held on 21/22 April 2016 at NIT premises. It was a memorable milestone to those nourishing their careers. More than 0.1k attendees participated.
Thank you all for your participation.

10 Career-Limiting Mistakes To Avoid
Career limiting move._Steve Tobak, MoneyWatch.

The problem with career advice is that most of the people who give it shouldn't. This is not a theoretical argument. Most of what I read is either so generic it's obvious or so narrow it's irrelevant. And it's usually self-serving, meaning someone's trying to sell you something.
What makes my brand of career advice so special? I'm not saying it is. That's your call to make. All I know is I lived what I write about. It all comes from experience -- and lots of it. And I'm not selling anything. Maybe that should be a prerequisite for giving advice. Just a thought.
After decades of managing my own career and guiding other's, there's one really important thing you need to understand about your career: there are good mistakes and bad ones. There are some mistakes you should make because you'll learn from them. Unfortunately, that's the type most people write about.
For example: Hitting "reply all" on an email and sending something to someone you shouldn't. Or taking your time with something your boss wants right away. Those are mistakes you make once and never again. You learn from them and move on. They're not career-limiting.
Then there are mistakes that you should avoid like the plague because they are career limiting. They'll forever keep you from fulfilling your potential. They'll make you regretful, bitter, resentful and miserable. This post is about those types of mistakes. Here are my top 10 career-limiting mistakes to avoid:

Sticking with a loser company.
Companies are like airplanes; you're not the pilot and you didn't design or build the plane. You just go where it goes. All too often, that's nowhere. You get complacent and, next thing you know, your career has flat-lined and your time has run out. You need to think of employers as business opportunities; you want as many as possible to be winners.
Not asking tough questions.
When I was a young engineer, I got a mediocre review. I was upset, so I asked my boss and then his boss why. Finally, I was told that nobody knew what I was working on. So I made it my mission to work on high visibility programs that were of great importance to management. That was the key that unlocked all sorts of opportunities. Who knew?

Not putting yourself out there.
The vast majority of people find a comfort zone and settle in there. They don't aggressively manage their careers. That's fine, as long as you don't mind waking up 10 years later in the same job. If you want to get ahead, you need to network, schmooze and open yourself up to opportunities.

Trusting that your employer will take care of you.
There are so many things wrong with that sentence. Don't trust your career to anyone but you. Your employer most likely sees you as an expendable, replaceable, at-will worker. You know, trust is built on two things in corporate America: a pattern of behavior and legal agreements. And I wouldn't trust the former without the latter.

Thinking you're entitled to more.
You're entitled to what you earn. No more, no less. If you expect more than you work for and deserve, you'll get nowhere and end up blaming everyone but the one person who could have done something about it: you. That's just how it is, like it or not.
What's the one thing limiting your success?Irreverent career advice for up-and-comers.

Not taking enough risks.
No risk, no reward. The only real risk is not taking any. The poet Robert Browning said, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp." Pick your phrase and own it. You need to take risks. And if you take more when you're younger, you won't have to take so many when you're older.

Making work about you.
Business is about business; it's not about you. It's not about what you want, what you like, what you think of your boss or your coworkers, or even your principles. If you don't like where you are and what you're doing, quit and go somewhere else. It's a free country. Or start your own business. Then you can do whatever you want.

Thinking it's not about the money.
It's absolutely true that you should do what you're passionate about; that is the best way to achieve success. Just don't make believe money doesn't count. In Facebook's IPO filing, CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks a lot about the company's social mission, but he didn't end up with 28 percent of the stock after all those rounds of funding by ignoring the money.

Getting stuck behind a "going-nowhere" boss.
Maybe your boss doesn't like you. Maybe he's a loser, his boss is a loser, or the whole division is going nowhere. Whatever the reason, don't waste years trapped in a cubicle cage by a loser boss. Find another job where you've got a chance of going somewhere.

Being too impatient.
When you're reasonably certain the writing's on the wall and it's time for a change, do it. Otherwise, don't get impatient and expect everything to happen all at once. Success is like a stock market chart. It goes up and down but, over time, the trajectory is hopefully up and to the right. Life is long and so is your career. It's a long distance run, not a sprint. Mixed metaphors, I know, but they're true, nonetheless

“Discipline is remembering what you want_David Campbel”

Brought to you by Phillip M. Lugendagenda
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Whatsapp: +255 67 226 8112

Hi Fellow Giants, here are today's
#10 Tips for Success for Engineering Students

If you're a current engineering student, here are ways to put yourself on the fast track to success.

By Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman Dec 2, 2009
+ More
According to a recent survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, one third of college freshmen plan to major in science and engineering, while about 8 percent of all first-year students intend to concentrate in engineering proper. Some of these engineering students are destined to land major leadership roles in the United States and worldwide, while others are . . . well, every field has its "lesser lights."

We were interested in finding out what current engineering students could do to put themselves on the fast track to career success. We invited visiting blogger Edward Crawley, professor of engineering and director of the Bernard M. Gordon Engineering Leadership Program at MIT, to share with us the advice he gives his own undergraduate engineering students. Here are his best tips, most of which would work for any career-aspiring college student:

1. Identify the people who inspire you, and find out what makes them tick.
If you love Apple products, Steve Jobs may be your idol, or perhaps you love the Segway and its creator, Dean Kamen. You can easily find out a lot of information about Jobs and Kamen—or just about any other prominent person in technology—so use it to look into what's helped these people and their companies become so successful. Then emulate their good traits in your personal, scholastic, and professional life.

2. Develop a portfolio of projects.
Participate in every hands-on, experiential learning opportunity that a balanced schedule allows. This way, you'll have something unique to show a prospective employer (or venture capitalist) when you graduate, while other students will only be able to list their courses. In addition, you'll be far more likely to retain the knowledge you've gained in classes because you'll be applying it and, in the process, boosting your communication and interpersonal skills.

3. Learn the value of networking.
When it comes to being a leader, whom you know is almost as important as what you know. Attend lectures on your campus and introduce yourself to the speakers. Check with your school's alumni association to get a list of alumni from your program who want to connect with undergraduates.

4-Star Tip.
In addition to E-mail, you can use LinkedIn or other social media tools to connect online. But remember: There's no substitute for a traditional, face-to-face meeting, so if you can find a way to meet in person, that's always the best.

[Read How a College Grad Can Get Recruited.]

4. Work in teams as much as you can. Whether it's creating a solar-powered car, participating in a sport, or writing for the school paper, get involved with an organization that requires a team effort to produce great results. Throughout your career, you can be sure you'll work in teams, and the skills you develop in school will help prepare you to lead teams when you graduate.

5. Seek informal leadership roles.
You're always a leader, whether you're officially in charge of a team or not. Sounds counterintuitive, but you can lead from any position in an organization by influencing how people work together and how they make decisions. Usually people think that the leader is the president or the manager, but if you learn how to recognize and deal with various leadership styles from any position in a team, you'll be seen as a leader when you take on your first job or internship.

6. Find your flaws—and fix them.
As with any skill, leadership needs constant improvement. When you are part of a team, try to create a way to get feedback from team members, group leaders, and professors. When you have concrete feedback on how people view you, you can work to improve your skills, including communication and leadership. Plus, you'll learn how to accept—and give—constructive criticism. That's absolutely necessary for your future career.

[Read 5 Things a Younger Worker Should Know.]

7. Take a business class.
As an engineer, it's not enough for you to be technically proficient; you need to have business savvy. If you're going to be a leader, you need to understand what a P&L is (also known as an income statement), read organization charts, know how to negotiate contracts, and be familiar with the myriad other functions that every top engineer needs to know. Otherwise, you won't understand what to do when an accountant, lawyer, or middle manager gets in the way. A business course or two can take you a long way, and these classes are often easier to pass than your calculus course!

8. Take design and other humanities classes. There's a wide world out there beyond problem sets, laboratories, and theory. Take a visual design course so you'll learn to represent ideas graphically. Take a cognitive science course to learn how people interpret the world and understand it. Take a literature course to develop your knowledge and appreciation of the classic books, which will help you write and communicate more effectively.

5-Star Tip.
Tomorrow's leaders will have to communicate effectively across international borders and be familiar with other cultures, so develop some proficiency in another language, travel abroad, or meet students from other cultures. Start "globalizing" right at college.

9. Make your summers productive.
Employers place tremendous value on practical experience. Seek out internship opportunities actively and early in your academic career. Try to demonstrate through your internships a series of evolving leadership experiences, and use the internships to build your portfolio of actual projects/products. New graduates who can show a commitment to using their summer to continue to learn are always viewed more seriously by a prospective employer.

10. Recruit and develop your personal board of directors.
As an undergraduate, you might feel alone when confronted with hard decisions about the courses to take, jobs to apply for, or even balancing school work and your personal life. You won't feel alone if you develop a personal board of directors just for you. Just as a company has a board that guides the organization, you can stock your board with professionals from organizations and companies, as well as former teachers and knowledgeable family friends.

Extra Pointer. Be sure to "nurture" your board of directors: Keep in touch with them, provide them regular updates, ask them for guidance, and be sure to thank them for any help they provide. And don't be afraid of conflicting advice. If members offer different suggestions, you'll have the occasion to balance off one idea against another and make your own decision—just like at a real company.

tomorrow is the real reflection of your today's .

Shared by Lugendagenda.

5 tips for young engineers (from the experienced engineers)

Don’t you wish you could turn back the clock and apply the lessons you’ve learned later in life to the decision you made earlier in your career?
Well, if you’re a new engineer, here’s your chance.
We collected advice from experienced engineers, asking what they wish they knew when they just starting an engineering career. Interestingly, much of the advice was not about technical skills or specific projects. It’s primarily around the need for lifelong learning.

Today’s workforce looks very different than it did a few decades ago.
Young professionals no longer stay at one job for 30 or more years – the average tenure in 2012 was closer to five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Young engineers come into the workforce with a broad set of skills, but there is always something new to learn, and it’s wise to value the advice of senior colleagues.

Here’s what we learned:

1. Find a Mentor
It may seem obvious, especially in an advice article, but having a more experienced role model available to support career development was a theme among the advice we received. As in all industries, having someone who inspires you to do better and who pushes you to be your best will keep your career on the right path.

“Look at your superiors and how they exercise leadership. Consider engineers that you admire and add their strengths to your own portfolio. (For) those engineers you do not admire, note their weaknesses and avoid repeating them.”– Ian Shields, Group Captain, Royal Air Force, retired

2. Learn How to Manage People
Building an arsenal of professional skills outside the boundaries of engineering programs can significantly increase an engineer’s value to the organization. At the top of the list of skills is managing people – especially other engineers.

“The underlying technology and science for engineering solutions is evolving so quickly that very few people can keep current, but there will always be people coming forward with new skills, understanding and enthusiasm. The secret is to recognize your duty as a successful young engineer and develop your skills as a manager in an engineering business so you can create the conditions for the next generation of engineers.”– Systems engineer with 30+ years of experience in the defense industry

3. Ask Questions
Remember the saying that “it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt?” Don’t believe it. It’s dangerous, especially for engineers. Asking questions forces us to consider all the options. It extends our comfort zone and helps us to grow.

“There is no such thing as a stupid question.I’ve sat in meetings where the most senior directors of a company have picked holes in engineering designs by asking the most basic of questions. They’ve taken things right back to the start and made sure the whole design fits together. Through simple, seemingly stupid questions, I’ve witnessed them uncover major issues with designs. The power of simple questions is amazing. If something isn’t clear, ask about it.” – Chris Walker, a Systems Engineer in the defense industry

4. Don’t Stop Learning
Smart young engineers recognize that a diploma is just the first step in a career that will require constant education and a fair amount of re-education. A continual stream of learning for young engineers is required for success.

“University education was the beginning. You now have the study tools and confidence to continue learning as a professional.” – James Latty, PhD, PE, Chief Engineer, JAL Engineering

5. Keep Up on Other Engineering Disciplines
Innovation in engineering can often come from unexpected quarters. While the trend toward specialization is not likely to let up, the need for cross-pollination of engineering disciplines is critical. Innovations in oil and gas engineering can directly impact aerospace engineering, for instance, and new materials used in one industry can benefit others. Young engineers need to keep up-to-date on as many industries as they can.

“Not only keep up with trends in your own discipline, but also in adjacent disciplines. Engineering disciplines cross pollinate each other more than ever before and being on top of that gives you a strong edge in your career growth.” – Venu Venugopal, VP of Product Management and Engineering, Knovel

Now more than ever, young engineers have access to overwhelming amounts of data that can enhance their careers. They are expected to sift through mounds of information to learn and obtain the best possible answer to their query, while still addressing their daily responsibilities.

With younger generations of engineers’ access to a significant amount of information, the way they research may be quite differently than those nearing retirement. Multiple information search engine platforms are available at their disposal to search for anything from basic equations to advanced technical material. While having 30+ years of experience in the field is a definite advantage, having a good role model, an expanded skillset, fearless question asking abilities, and continual education doesn’t hurt much either.


By Lugendagenda P. M