What is Engineer’s Day?
Engineer’s Day celebrations in India are held every year on September 15 in commemoration of the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Vishveshvarya. He was the most illustrious Indian engineer and, an eminent scholar and statesman. Engineer’s Day was first observed in the year of 1968 and ever since it has been one of the most significant occasions in Indian academia especially observed by engineering communities across India. The year 2018 will mark the 50th anniversary of Engineer’s Day celebrations and the 157th birth anniversary of Sir Vishveshvarya.
Why do we celebrate Engineer’s Day?
Sir Mokshagundam Vishveshvarya, also known as Sir MV is considered as the father of Indian Engineering due to his enormous contributions and innovations in the field of engineering and development of society. To honour and acknowledge his outstanding contributions as well as inspiring and acquainting future generations with his exceptional body of work and achievements, his birth anniversary has been celebrated as Engineer’s Day in India since 1968. Thus, Engineer’s Day is a celebration of role and significance engineers play in nation building and their persistent endeavours towards making this world a better and comfortable place.
Know all about Mokshagundam Vishveshvarya
Sir MV was born on September 15, 1861, in Muddenahalli village, Chikkaballapura district of erstwhile Mysore State. He is best known for his design of Block system of irrigation, flood controlling mechanism, and inventing and patenting an innovative design of automatic floodgates for dams for causing the excess inflow to pass safely without raising the water level amongst myriad others. In 1915, he was honoured with the title of Knight Commander of the Order of Indian Empire by King George V. Post independence. In recognition of his unparalleled contributions, the government of India conferred upon him its highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in 1955. Sir MV took his last breath on April 12, 1962, in Bangalore, India.
Events and celebrations
Engineering communities, societies, forums, public and private sector companies and engineering colleges organize various events to mark the celebrations of Engineer’s Day. Generally, the day begins with paying of tribute and garlanding the statue and portrait of Sir MV in premises and campuses. This is followed by keynote speeches, lectures and seminars delivered by prominent individuals of their respective domain highlighting the significance of Sir MV’s inventions and his various accomplishments in the field of engineering. Workshops and roundtable conferences are also conducted in companies working in the field of civil and other disciplines of engineering.
On college premises, teachers and faculty members enlighten students about the life and endeavours of Sir MV and urge them to instal the dedication and brilliance that he exhibited towards his chosen field and career. Students participate in various competitions in the technical festival and cultural activities organized for accentuating the importance of the day. Students also exhibit technical projects addressing some imminent problem faced by society or country.
Furthermore, Engineer’s Day provides an opportunity to the current generation of engineers to ponder and reflect on the various problems the society and nation face and how to channelize their collective and individual efforts for arriving at the best and most effective solution. Every year Council of the Institutions chooses a theme for the Engineer’s Day celebrations. “Role of Engineering in the Developing India” was the 2017 theme for the Engineer’s Day.
Interesting Facts about Engineering
- India produces around 1.5 million engineering graduates every year. That’s more engineers, annually, than twice the population of Iceland.
- Nearly 16 per cent of startups in Silicon Valley have had an Indian co-founder.
- There are around 10,396 AICTE affiliated engineering institutes in India for the academic year 2017-2018. Maharashtra leading with 1564 institutes followed by Tamil Nadu, 1339. Andaman and Nicobar islands have only one engineering institute.
- College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai, established in 1794 by British Empire is the oldest engineering premises in India.
- In the list of world’s top 200 universities, QS World University Ranking has placed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi at the position of 172, IIT Bombay at 179, IISc at 152 in its 2018 rankings.
Engineers Days in the World and Other Countries
Most countries celebrate Engineer’s Day on different dates as per their local history and significance. Mexico celebrates Engineering Day on 1 July.
Category : Engineer's Day
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