Punjab Engineering College
Punjab Engineering College is a public research & technical institution in Chandigarh. It was founded in 1921 in Lahore, established in Chandigarh in 1953, and focuses on the field of applied sciences, particularly engineering and technology. It is well-known for its undergraduate and graduate programmes in engineering, to which the entry is through the Joint Entrance Examination – Mains and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering. It offers degrees such as Bachelor of Technology, Master of Technology and MBA. It also has a comprehensive graduate program offering doctoral degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
History
PEC was established in 1921 in Mughalpura, a suburb of Lahore, Punjab, erstwhile British India as the Mughalpura Technical College. In 1923, the name was changed to Maclagan Engineering College to honour Sir Edward Maclagan, the then Governor of Punjab. In 1939, the name was again changed to Punjab College of Engineering and Technology.In 1932 the institution became affiliated with the University of Punjab for awarding a bachelor's degree in engineering. After partition in 1947, the college was relocated to Roorkee in India and was renamed East Punjab College of Engineering. In the year 1950, the word East was dropped. Towards the end of December 1953, the college shifted to its present campus in Chandigarh as an affiliated campus of Panjab University. In October 2003, the Government of India recognized the college as a Deemed University and thereafter it became known as Punjab Engineering College.
In 1994 this institution was adjudged the best technical college in India by the National Foundation of Engineers. It occupies an area of 146 acres and offers Bachelor of Engineering degrees in various specializations.
Presently there are twelve post-graduate courses leading to a Master of Engineering degree. Facilities for post-graduate studies exist for regular and part-time students. The college has facilities for research work leading to the award of the PhD degree in engineering in certain selected fields of different disciplines.
Academics
Academic programmes
Institute offers Bachelor of Technology in:- Aerospace Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Computer Science and Engineering
- Computer Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence)
- Computer Science and Engineering (Data Science)
- Electrical Engineering
- Electronics and Communication Engineering
- Electronics Engineering (VLSI)
- Mathematics and Computing
- Mechanical Engineering
- Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
- Production and Industrial Engineering
- Computer Science and Engineering
- Highways, Structures, Hydraulics and Irrigation, Rotodynamic Machines
- Electrical Power Systems
- Environmental Engineering
- Electronics Engineering
- Metallurgical Engineering
- VLSI
- MBA
- Humanities
The institute also awards minor degrees to undergraduates in fields other than their major stream of study.
Collaborations
The college has collaborated with national and international educational institutions for student exchange programs. MoUs have been signed with corporates to attract projects and internships. Some of these collaborations are:- PEC has collaborations with a large number of international companies and universities, to name a few such as:
- * Indian Institute of Science
- * Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
- * Indian Institute of Technology Ropar
- * Indian Institute of Technology Jammu
- * Indian Institute of Technology Mandi
- * National Institute of Technologies
- * SMVDU, Katra
- * PGIMER, Chandigarh
- * NITIE, Mumbai
- * Microsoft
- * Intel
- * IBM
- * Eic Pvt.Ltd., Chandigarh
- * ABB Global Industries & Services Ltd. Bangalore
- * Minda Corporation Ltd Noida
- * Central Tool Room, Ludhiana
- * CONCAVE Research Centre, Concordia University, Canada
- * Central Scientific Instruments Organization, Chandigarh
- * Swaraj Division, Mohali
- * Mohali Industries Association, Mohali
- * Philips India Ltd.PEC-ESIGELEC France collaboration
- *MoA between PEC and Siemens Software to develop a centre of excellence at PEC.
- *Solar tech Park at PEC campus established in support with Bergen Group of Companies
- * PEC-ABB collaboration
- * PEC-UWA collaboration
- * PEC-JCB collaboration initiated
- * PEC-Philips collaboration
- * PEC-CSIO collaboration
- * PEC-PGCIL collaboration
Student life
Cultural and Technical festivals
PECFEST
PECFEST is the annual cultural and technical fest of PEC Chandigarh. The festival started as a cultural event in 2003. It usually runs for three days in the month of November.In 2014, PECFEST merged with VYOM and consequently, now acts as an umbrella festival for both cultural and technical events and competitions. The fest has seen various musical and cultural acts perform on the final day, such as Javed Ali, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan and Asees Kaur.
VYOM
Vyom was the university's annual technical festival that ran from 2008 to 2014. It was discontinued in 2015 and the technical events are now conducted as part of PECFEST.Student organizations
Currently, there are 12 technical societies and 12 clubs active in the college, and these are named as:Technical societies
- - Computer Science Society
- ATS - Aerospace Technical Society
- ASCE - American Society of Civil Engineers
- ASME - American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- ASPS - Astronomy and Space Physics Society
- IEEE - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Student Chapter
- IGS - Indian Geotechnical Society
- IIM - Indian Institute of Metals
- The Robotics Society
- SAE - The Society of Automotive Engineers Student Chapter
- SESI - Solar Energy Society of India
- SME - The Society of Manufacturing Engineers Student Chapter
- SAC- Students Affairs Council
- NCC under 2 Chandigarh battalion.
- NSS
- Projection & Design Club
- Communications Information and Media Cell
- Music Club
- Robotics Club
- Speakers Association And Study Circle
- Dramatics Club
- Art and Photography Club
- Energy and Envirovision Club
- Rotaract Club
- Punjabi Editorial Board
- English Editorial Board
- Hindi Editorial Board
- Images
- Student Counselling Cell
- Entrepreneurship Incubation Cell
- Women Empowerment Cell
Hostels
There are four hostels for boys and two hostels for girls. Each hostel is self-contained with amenities such as a reading room/indoor games/TV room, dining hall and mess. Every hostel has a student chairman for managing and controlling various activities.Girls' hostels:
- Kalpana Chawla Hostel
- Vindhya Hostel
- Aravali Hostel
- Himalaya Hostel
- Kuruksheta Hostel
- Shivalik Hostel
Notable alumni
- Satish Dhawan - known for Indian Space Programme
- Kalpana Chawla - Space Shuttle Columbia astronaut; BE Aeronautical.
- Badshah, Punjabi singer and rapper; BE Civil Engineering
- Sandeep Bakhshi, CEO of ICICI Bank
- Jaspal Bhatti - satirist, comedian, film-maker; BE Electrical.
- Vijay K. Dhir - Dean of the University of California, Los Angeles Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
- Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon - Punjab politician
- Shalabh Kumar - Indian American industrialist and a philanthropist, BS Electronics Engineering
- Vanya Mishra - Model and Miss India 2012
- Sunil Saigal - Dean, Newark College of Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology, BE Civil.
- Steve Sanghi - CEO of Microchip Technology BE Electronics
- K. K. Aggarwal -Chairman National Board of Accreditation., MHRD and founder vice chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
- Vandana Verma - Space Roboticist at NASA
- Tim Guleri - American Venture Capitalist.
- Anup Chandra Pandey - Former Election Commissioner of India.
- Er. VK Luthra-Chief Engineer- MED Jammu & Kashmir. B.E Prod 1976
- IAS Ritu Maheshwari - CEO, Noida Authority
- Deepak Bhatia, CTO of The Hershey Company
- Balbir Dhillon, Head of Audi India