No takers for course that made Kalam a Missile Man!

Aeronautical Engineering, the stream of engineering that had made President of India A P J Abdul Kalam a “Missile Man”, apparently has no takers in Karnataka, which is not only the headquarters of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), but also state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Even though there are only 14 aeronautical engineering seats available in the entire State, not a single student, who had cleared the Common Entrance Test (CET) this year, had opted for this course even five days after the counselling for admission to engineering colleges began in Karnataka.

Students are vying with each other to secure admission in electronics, computer science, information science, telecommunication, bio-technology and electrical engineering. Aeronautical engineering does not figure in the list of courses most sought after by the students.

CET Cell sources attribute the poor response for aeronautical engineering course in the State to the location of the college offering it. Khwaja Bande Nawaz College of Engineering, which is the only college in the State offering the aeronautical engineering course, is located in the backward district of Gulbarga, about 650 kms from Bangalore.

Most students prefer courses like electronics, information science and computer science as it provides them with a vast scope compared to traditional engineering courses.

The authorities of Khawaja Bande Nawaz College of Engineering have also bemoaned that students were not queuing up for aeronautical engineering course offered by them despite the institution having the best of infrastructure for the course.