Government Engineering College, Barton Hill: Admissions, Programs, and Campus Life

Government Engineering College, Barton Hill (GEC-BH), located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is a public engineering college established by the Government of Kerala in the academic year 1999-2000. Situated centrally in the city, less than a kilometer from Palayam and beside the Government Law College, Trivandrum, GEC-BH has quickly gained recognition for its academic excellence. The college operates under the administrative control of the Director of Technical Education, Government of Kerala, and is affiliated with the University of Kerala. All admissions are based exclusively on merit and arranged through the Centralized Admission Procedure (CAP) of the government of Kerala. All the students need to pay the fees only at the Government rate. Top rank holders of the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) conducted by government of Kerala opt for this college.

Academic Programs

GECB, Thiruvananthapuram offers five B.Tech. and four M.Tech. programs. The institute has five major departments:

Mechanical Engineering
Information Technology
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Civil Engineering
Electronics and Communication Engineering

B.Tech Programs

A four-year B.Tech course in Electrical and Electronics Engineering was established in the academic year 2007. The four-year engineering degree in Information Technology that is being offered here is considered to be equivalent to Computer Science&Engineering degree since both of them share strikingly similar syllabi which is published by Kerala Technical University. An engineering degree in Information Technology focuses heavily on mathematical foundations of computer science and core computer science subjects like Data Structures, Algorithm Analysis, Compiler Design, Automata Theory, Computer Architecture, Computer Networks, Operating systems etc. Various government orders allow B.Tech IT graduates to claim equivalency with B.Tech. The Department of Civil Engineering was established in 2012 with an annual intake of 60 students.

Eligibility for B.Tech. Information Technology: Pass in Higher Secondary Examination/equivalent with 50% marks in Mathematics and 50% marks in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics put together.

M.Tech Programs

The department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering is planning to start a new M-Tech course in Advanced Power System and Control in the academic year 2012-13 .

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Infrastructure and Facilities

The college is housed in the old seven-storey buildings. The construction of the new eight-storey main block is continuing and construction of the Mechanical Lab Complex is complete.

Laboratories: The college boasts well-equipped laboratories for each department.
- Mechanical Engineering: Mechanical Engineering Laboratory facilities include CNC machines (both lathe and milling machines), Toolmaker's microscope, profile projectors, sine bar and other measuring instruments. PLC programmer and Hydraulic power pack are the new additions in this lab. Programmable Robotic Arm will soon join the list. The Thermal Engineering Laboratory has heat transfer, refrigeration and air conditioning experimental setups. Heat transfer experiments include free convection, forced convection, composite wall, and heat exchanger apparatus. Performance study setup on blowers and multistage compressors are also available. The Strength of Materials Laboratory has a testing machine, spring testing machine, hardness-testing machine and impact test machine. Torsion meter, torsion pendulum and moment of inertia setups are also included. Apart from the mechanical workshop, the college has a Metrology Lab and Heat and Mass Transfer Lab and a high tech CAD Lab . To assist in intra disciplinary studies the institution has an Electrical Lab.
- Information Technology: The department has six lab rooms and a central server room. The department has the software and hardware infrastructure for the conduct of all the eight laboratory/practical subjects in the curriculum. Each laboratory room has networked printers over Ethernet LAN. Although the emphasis is on the use of Linux and open source software, other popular proprietary software platforms are also supported. A 1 Gbit/s internet connection is provided to the campus via a proxy server. The Server Room has five server machines with SCSI/SATAa drives, Raid-5 capability, CD towers, routers, hubs and cable modem, housed within a central rack. Different servers are set apart for managing various activities. The OS platforms provided are Enterprise Linux, Windows Server and Solaris. Web Application Laboratory has 72 Windows based desktops with internet connectivity. The Internet Laboratory runs on thin-client machines running under Enterprise Linux as well as desktops running under Windows. The Network Laboratory has eight cisco routers, switches, high speed modems and 36 dual-boot desktop machines.
Library: The central library of the college houses 8000 books and periodicals including international journals and magazines. The process of fully computerizing the library, undertaken as a joint venture by the library and the IT department of the college using only free software has been completed.
Internet Connectivity: Three 100 MBPS broadband connect the campus to the web. 10 Gbit/s optical fibre network connects the entire campus. Students and faculty are provided access to the Internet through a protected WiFi network.
Hostels: Two hostels are provided for women.

Admissions and Scholarships

All admissions are based exclusively on merit and arranged through the Centralized Admission Procedure (CAP) of the government of Kerala.

Scholarships:

Merit Cum Means Scholarship: Applicable to students belonging to notified minority communities (Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi) studying in India. Scholarship amount varies from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 per annum based on the course.
Post Matric Scholarship: For students belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities studying in India. Covers tuition fee, maintenance allowance, etc.
Central Sector Scholarship: For students scoring above 80% marks in Class 12th with parental income less than Rs. 8 lakh per annum. Rs. 10,000 per annum for undergraduates and Rs. 20,000 per annum for postgraduates.
E-grantz Scholarship: For economically backward sections (EWS) students studying in Kerala with annual family income less than Rs.
Government Engineering College, Barton Hill (GEC-BH) Engineering Fee: ₹34.6 K.

Student Life

The democratically elected college union spearheads academic, cultural and sports activities of the students in the campus.

Aagneya: Aagneya is an annual three-day intercollegiate Techno-cultural festival of the college started in 2008. Aagneya means "Child of the Fire God" in Sanskrit. Aagneya consists of cultural activities involving dance, music, art, literary and quizzing activities, as well as performances from professional artists.
Clubs and Forums: There is a college arts festival and an annual college magazine. There is a student chapter of the IEEE and ASME in the college, which organizes technical seminars and related activities. The college has a team of students working to promote the use of free software among academia. The college has clubs and forums for promoting student interaction which includes a quiz club and a unit of the National Service Scheme(NSS).
Sports: The Physical Education Department students can use the facilities of the Department of Physical Education, University of Kerala and their stadium which is a kilometer from the campus. Arrangements have been made to practice athletics, football, volleyball and weight training equipments there. Students can practice basketball and handball at the Central stadium and ball badminton, and shuttle badminton and table tennis at Jimmy George stadium, which is about two kilometers from the campus.

Faculty and Administration

The faculty members are drawn from the pool of Professors, Assistant Professors and Lecturers under the Department of Technical Education. It is the same pool which provides the faculty to all the nine Government Engineering Colleges in the state. The 50-strong faculty team of the college consists of 7 PhD holders and 28 PG degree holders.

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of the college is concerned with the functioning and development of the college. The PTA provides amenities to the students including the canteen and internet connectivity, and training programs to develop the soft skills of the students. The PTA gives scholarships to financially deprived students and awards to proficient students.

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Additional Programs

Advanced Diploma in Automotive Mechatronics: Candidates who have a Degree/Diploma in Mechanical Engineering / Automobile Engineering / Electrical & Electronics Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering / Mechatronics / Applied Electronics and equivalent disciplines. Final year B.Tech. students with 6.5 CGPA till seventh semester and without live back papers are also eligible. Admission to the course is through entrance test conducted at the college. Advanced Diploma in Automotive Mechatronics is a program initiated by Mercedes-Benz India in collaboration with Government Institutions across India.

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