India has several public and private Engineering colleges. Annually, these colleges produce some of the best engineering graduates in the country. As per online reports, India has the most number of engineering institutes in the entire world. Competition is tough and students go through intense preparations for a chance to enrol into an engineering college.
While the IITs are the gold standard in engineering, there are many top-ranking private engineering colleges in India. One such college is GSFC University in Vadodara. It is one of the best engineering colleges in Vadodara that provides eight different concentrations like Cyber Security, IoT, Robotics and Automation, AI and Machine Learning, etc.
Due to the nature of the competition, Indian Engineering colleges go on to work as various international and national organizations. Many also go on to make a mark in their fields. Stated below are some Engineering graduates from non-IIT colleges whose names will be etched in history.
Famous People From Non-IIT Engineering Colleges
1. Rajeev Suri: Nokia and India are synonymous with Rajeev Suri. An alumnus of Manipal Institute of Technology, he completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Communication Engineering in 1986. After graduation, he worked at companies like Calcom and ICL. Rajeev Suri then went on to work in Nokia in the year 1995. Ultimately, in May 2014, he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Nokia and he worked in this position for seven years. He stepped down from his position in July 2020 and is currently working as CEO of Inmarsat, a British Telecom company.
2. Prithviraj Chauhan: Prithviraj Chauhan was the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Born and raised in Indore, Prithviraj Chauhan enrolled at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani. His bachelor’s degree was in Mechanical Engineering. Soon after, he won a scholarship and chose to earn an M.Sc degree at the University of California. For a brief period of time, he worked as a Design Engineer in the US before returning to India to pursue a political career.
3. Kalpana Chawala: Kalpana Chawala was an astronaut and engineer of American citizenship but of Indian descent. After spending her childhood in Karnal, Haryana, Kalpana chose to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College. She then migrated to the United States and completed an M.Sc degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas, Arlington, and also a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. Soon after she started working at NASA and was chosen to be part of the fated crew ST-107 in 2001.
4. C Vijayakumar: C Vijayakumar or CVK, is the CEO and also MD of HCL Technologies. Hailing from South India, Mr. Vijayakumar completed his bachelor of Engineering in Electronical and Electronics Engineering from PSG College of Technology. He joined HCL in the year 1994 and held many leadership positions in the organization. He has worked in sales, operations, and also service delivery. In July 2016, he took on the title of COO, and a couple of months later in October 2016, he became the CEO.
5. Shantanu Narayen: Shantanu Narayen is the CEO of Adobe Inc. Born in Hyderabad, he got his bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication. He is an alumnus of Osmania University’s engineering department. Soon after graduation, he moved to the United States to get his master’s degree in Computer Science and MBA soon after. After working in Measurex Automation System and Apple, he co-founded Pictra Inc. In 1998, he joined Adobe and was given the position of CEO in December 2007.
6. Anil Kumble: Anil Kumble needs no introduction to Indians. He gained popularity as a Cricketer, Cricket Coach, and also captain. Anil Kumble has had an illustrious career in the sport but not many people know that he has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering or RCVE. Debuting in 1989 in Cricket and graduating in 1991, Anil Kumble might not have worked in Mechanical Engineering but has made a mark in Cricket.
7. Vinod Dham: Vinod Dham handles many different hats but popularly he is known as the ‘Father of Pentium Chip’. He is an Engineer and an Entrepreneur who was the brain behind Intel’s Pentium processor chip. Vinod Dham was born in Pune. He got his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering in the year 1971. After working in a silicon startup in Delhi, after graduation, he went on to earn an MS from the University of Cincinnati. Soon, he started working in Intel, where he went on to make the Pentium chip.
8. Satya Nadella: Another well-known alumnus of the Manipal Institute of Technology is Satya Nadella. Satya Nadella is working as the CEO of Microsoft. He spent most of his childhood in Hyderabad from where he earned his BE degree in Electrical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology. Mr. Nadella then moved to the United States for higher education. He completed his Masters’s degree in Computer Science. After working in Sun Microsystems for a brief period of time, he earned his MBA degree. Thereafter, he entered Microsoft where he worked in cloud computing before taking on the role of CEO.
9. Bhawana Kanth: Bhawana Kanth is the first female fighter pilot of India. She and two other female pilots together are the first female combat pilots in the country. Daughter of an engineer father, Bhawana also went to get an Engineering degree too. She entered the BMS College of Engineering in Bengaluru and earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Medical Electronics. She graduated in 2014 and then joined TCS. With a dream to fly, she took the Air Force Common Admission Test. After undergoing multiple training sessions, she was inducted into the Air Force fighter squad in 2016.
10. A. Sivathanu Pillai: A. Sivathanu Pillai has another name, Father of Brahmos Aerospace. He is an Indian scientist in the field of Nuclear Science, Aerospace, and Electrical Engineering from the state of Tamil Nadu. A. Sivathanu Pillai earned his bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the Thiagarajar College of Engineering. Over a career span of 40 years he has worked at ISRO and DRDO in Research and Development, ultimately founding the BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. He is currently working as an Honorary Distinguished Professor at ISRO and also IIT Delhi.
