Vidyalankar Steps Into Its Golden Jubilee Year

Founder Late Shri C. S. Deshpande

Chairperson Smt. S. C. Deshpande

'Beautiful hands are those that do

Work that is earnest and brave and true

Moment by moment

The long day through.

- Dr A P J Abdul Kalam

Vidyalankar has just stepped into its fiftieth year, with style. What started in October 1960 as an effort to impart engineering education to needy students, by our founder Shri C S Deshpande, has today attained the status of a widely recognized and respected name among education institutes in Maharashtra. Although, this year Vidyalankar commemorates a 'Golden Jubilee Year', looking back at our five-decade-long history, every year seems to have been as good as a golden year. Vidyalankar has always believed in being a principle-centered and learning oriented organisation. Its excellent results have made the organisation radiate success. Someone has rightly said that continuity gives us roots and change lets us stretch to reach new heights. The consistent and dynamic growth pattern of Vidyalankar bears testimony to this fact.

Initiated with a view to train students for the AMIE courses at Dadar, the institute soon started offering diplomas in engineering. This was followed by consistent growth that was marked by the opening of various centres for teaching at Nerul, Thane, Vashi, Dombivli, Andheri and Borivali and now at Panvel.

Winston Churchill said, "To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often". Its social need and desire for growth prompted Vidyalankar to change and achieve perfection. Towards this end, a Trust was established with one of its main objectives being the spread of education in information technology and engineering. This led to the opening of the Vidyalankar Institute of Technology (VIT), an engineering degree college affiliated to the University of Mumbai, in 1999. The year 2002 saw the establishment of Vidyalankar Polytechnic, a diploma college affiliated to MSBTE, and Vidyalankar School of Information Technology (VSIT), another college offering B. Sc (IT) and BMS. The organisation also started postgraduate MMS and ME courses in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Today, Vidyalankar is not only a leader on the education front but it also creates leaders. In short, Vidyalankar can be described as a journey and not a destination. The institute will continue providing an environment conducive to the pursuit of knowledge and will always encourage its students to achieve their highest potential.

Team Vidyalankar

VIT Completes A Glorious Decade

Incepted in August 1999, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology recently completed its tenth anniversary. Here's what makes the institute exceptional.



The year 2009 saw the Vidyalankar Institute of Technology (VIT) successfully completing 10 eventful years. Incepted in August 1999, the institute has taken great strides in the field of education, keeping in mind the vision and mission of its founding father, Prof CS Deshpande. It has grown in leaps and bounds - expanding from just three lecturers to over a 100 today, from three branches to five now (distributed over seven divisions) in addition to the MMS and the ME, and from an initial intake of a mere 180 students to 498 today.

THE TOP 10 FACTORS MAKING VIT AN EXTRAORDINARY COLLEGE ARE:

1. A dedicated team of teachers, who inspire a quest for knowledge in the minds of students. Together with the proficient administrative staff, everyone at VIT works in perfect tandem to fulfill the institute’s goals.

2. The hugely popular Friday Paathshala - an entertainment event replete with activities like movie screenings, rock shows and jamming sessions that helps students to unwind. Recently, it also earned national recognition by bagging a silver at the first WOW Event and Experiential Awards.


3. The spectacular campus with its huge glass windows, air conditioned classrooms, sparkling clean appearance, well ventilated plaza, chocolate and cookie vending machines, amphitheatre and a man-sized chess board to mention a few. The institute was awarded the prestigious DesignShare Award, New York, USA for its innovatively designed architecture.




4. The annual technical festival ‘Fervor’ and cultural festival ‘Verve’ that provide students the opportunity to organise and participate in a plethora of inter and intra-collegiate events promoting technical and creative talents. The institute is a member of SPICMACAY (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth) and hence, encourages students to uphold the rich Indian traditions in music and dance.


5. In keeping with the times, the institute is exceptionally techsavvy even in its administrative matters. Equipped with more than 60 desktop computers, the computer centre enables students to surf the internet, experience Apple Mac graphics and use SUN Microsystems. Students also enjoy WiFi connectivity and high-speed internet connections while SMS alerts keep them updated on important announcements and schedules.



6. The youthful energy of VIT students finds a healthy outlet in various indoor and outdoor games and sports. The institute has a well-equipped gymnasium, two playgrounds and regular tournaments to encourage an environment of healthy competition. The inter-collegiate S6 cricket championship has proved to be a major attraction.


7. VIT has an excellent record for campus placements, with students being placed in prestigious organisations like L&T Infotech, Infosys, Hexaware, Mastek and Accenture. It also takes special efforts to groom its students as ‘Global Citizens’ by conducting Dale Carnegie training programmes.

8. An array of value-added courses on CAT, GRE and Oracle at the institute are benefiting students by making them industry-ready. Its Infosys Campus Connect Programme trains the students in technical as well as soft skills while the Ekalavya Lecture Series, from IIT professors, that are telecast live in a predetermined schedule, ensure that the students gain exposure to high quality education.

9. Over 30 actively functioning committees give students the opportunity to pursue extracurricular activities. Some of these are the Hobby Club Committee, the Personality Enrichment Committee, Entrepreneurship Committee, Women Development Cell, ITSA, BMSA, CSI etc.

The annual magazine - ‘Expressions’ draws out the literary creativity of students while the ‘Vector’ newsletter released in a tie-up with Mumbai Mirror, provides students a broader perspective on campus, national and international issues.


10. Vidyalankar Volunteering encourages students to take up socially relevant causes that make them responsible citizens. Avishkar counselling sessions and individual mentoring by the teaching faculty assists students in handling stress and effectively facing the challenges of life, under expert guidance.
Academic mentoring also guides them on course offerings, career guidance and placement opportunities.

All these activities are planned and initiated at the institute and every thought is directed towards the welfare and benefit of students at VIT. They encourage students to achieve their highest potential, making the institute one of the most preferred destinations for engineering studies in Mumbai.


Team Vidyalankar