Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology Shibpur (IIEST Shibpur) is the second oldest engineering college in India. It offers 45 courses in Engineering, Management, Science, and Architecture. Admissions are conducted through central exams conducted by UGC like JEE, XAM, etc. IIEST has over 250 faculty members including regular guest faculty. It hosts 4000 students every year for their higher education. Even though the institute is engaged in a number of fields, it is most famous for its B.Tech and M.Tech course of Engineering.

Civil Engineering Department:

The Department of Civil Engineering is one of the oldest departments at IIEST Shibpur. The Civil Engineering course mainly deals with Structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, water resource engineering, environmental engineering, and transportation engineering.

Mining Engineering Department:

The Department of Mining Engineering at IIEST, Shibpur was the pioneer in imparting Mining Engineering education in the country. Today, it stands as one of the most diverse and vibrant departments encompassing all disciplines within Mining Engineering and associates areas.

Opportunities:

• The Department of Civil Engineering is one of the Government of India recognized Quality Improved Programme Centres associated with research and development activities. The Department undertakes sponsored research from the AICTE, MHRD, UGO, CSIR etc.
• The Department of Mechanical Engineering has regular intense interactions with the industries, which help the students to get abreast of the latest developments.

Courses and Duration:

• The Department of Civil Engineering offers the normal 4-semester daytime course. It also runs a 6-semester self-financed course in Structural, Geotechnical, and Environmental Engineering for those currently working. These courses are conducted in the evening.
• The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers a regular 4-semester course. However, there are a number of other courses provided by the college for students who wish to pursue further studies.

Faculty:

• The faculty at the Department of Civil Engineering is exceptional in the terms that they provide students with the knowledge and opportunities required for their career. Many professors have published research papers or are pursuing further research.
• The faculty of Mining Engineering as well is known for its multidisciplinary research skills. They have conducted research in Geometrics, gas extraction, Ergonomics, Remote Sensing, and Mineral Beneficiation. They have also secured research grants over the last few years and look to expand their research by involving students as well.

The table given below gives a brief overview of both the institutes:

Thus it depends entirely upon the student and their interest in Civil or Mechanical Engineering that will help them choose a course. While it is important to mark these differences, any course or college can be the best for the student if he/she knows how to utilize the opportunity completely.

Ceramic Engineering Department :

• About the Department: The Department is pursuing research in the emerging areas of glass, glass ceramics, refractories, electronic ceramic, cement, pottery, and porcelain. Research papers are published in reputed national and international journals. Many R&D projects of this department were sponsored by AICTE, DST, CSIR, and UGC.
• Course Structure:Some specific properties of ceramic materials lay the foundation for many applications in electrical, chemical, and mechanical engineering.
• Placements:Placements are good as the average package is nearly 10 lakhs. Apart from core jobs, students go for jobs in non-core fields like analytics, Management, and Consultancy too. In the 2019 placement drive 43 students from the Ceramic department got placed.

Mining Engineering :

• About the Department:It is one of the oldest and comprehensive mining engineering departments in the country. It came into existence in 1923, as a section of the Department of Geology, Mining, and Metallurgy. This department was one of the first few departments in the country to receive UGC Assistance under COSIST and SAP Programme in 1984.
• Course Structure:The course structure of mining is a combination of courses from mechanical, electrical, electronics, earth sciences, and even computer science departments. Physics and machine knowledge is involved.
• Placements: Placements are usually good. Students are offered both core and non-core jobs. The non-core jobs are usually from finance, marketing, analyst, coding. 85 students got placement from Mining last year.

Pharmaceuticals :

• About the Department:The courses are designed to impart knowledge on various aspects of drug design, development, testing, and safe and effective use of drugs/medicines, including drug delivery systems.
• Course Structure:This program includes subjects like medical chemistry, biology, microbiology, biochemistry, jurisprudence, management, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, technology. The course is pervasive and makes one ready for advancing in the field of medicine despite being an engineer.
• Placements:Top recruiters from this branch include Dr.Reddy's laboratories, Matrix Laboratories, United Health, Evaluserve are regular visitors. Apart from that, students have a lot of options for non-core employment in marketing, finance, coding, analytic, etc. A total of 39 students got placed from Pharmaceutical Engineering.

The placements in Mining are moderate with a decent number of students securing placements.

Even though it is the responsibility of the individual to decide as per what they want to opt for, yet in terms of statistics for a particular year is as briefed below:

1. The Average LPA is as mentioned: 4.27, while in terms of the total LPA of IIEST for all the departments of a singular year was 4.38 LPA
2.  Yet, you should not always go as per the average. Some of the students of this institute got placed in Coal India Limited at good packages as well. There were specific 5–6 students who got packages that almost were ranging from 9–10 LPA.
3. The total number of students placed from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology Shibpur in certain years were: 18 out of 28.
4. The few other noteworthy companies where students had been seen to get placed, especially in the Mining Department, were: Accenture, Deloitte, Infosys, CTS, Wipro.

The Mining Department of IIEST, Shibpur is nominated by the Government of India as one of the Govt. Agencies, mainly out of five, for verification of Mine Closure Activity. The institute has been the first DST FIST sponsored department as well.

IIEST Shibpur holds rank #21 in India by NIRF Rankings in 2020. In all courses, 50% of the seats are reserved for students from other states and 50% are reserved for the students of West Bengal. Admission is based on the results of JEE Mainand for admission in M.Tech, a valid score in GATE is required.

National Institute of Technology, Rourkela holds #16 rank nationally according to NIRF rankings for 2020. The total seats reserved for B-tech mining is 42. One must have secured 75% marks in 12th standard along with a valid score in JEE Main.

Admission process:

IIEST Shibpur

• The admissionprocess is fully based on the results of JEE Main.With this, students are also required to complete 12th with at least 75%.
• The application fee for general is 1,500 and for reserved students, it is 1,000 INR.
• 3% seats are reserved for physically challenged students and 3 seats are also reserved under defense quota.
• This Institute conducts a separate entrance test and interview for Ph.D. students.

NITRourkela

• The application process is fully online. The application fee is 1,000 INR.
• Same as in IIEST Shibpur, admission eligibility for NIT Rourkela is also fully based on the JEE Main.
• With this, at least 75% marks are also required in 10+2 withMaths, Physics and Chemistry are required as compulsory subjects.

Placements:

IIEST Shibpur

• The highest package offered to the students is 39.12 lakhs while the average package is 6.5 lakhs.
• Last year, this Institute break its own record in terms of placements. A total of462 offers were made to students and out of them, about 311 got placements.
• Companies like Microsoft, Maruti, HSBC Technologies, TCS, and so on visit campus every year.

NIT Rourkela

• The highest package offered to students in the mining department was 18 Lakhs by TATA whereas, the average package was 7 lakhs.
• Various big companies like Microsoft, Tata Steel, Myntra, Bajaj, and so on visitsthe Institute every year for placements.
• Last year about 206 companies visited the campus and almost more than 700 students got placements.

Both the Institutes are good for mining with excellentfacilities like Wi-Fi, air-conditioned classrooms, laboratory facilities. Faculty members are also best, almost all the teachers are holding a Ph.D.So in short, the education facility as a whole is quite amazing and satisfactory for both the Institute.

Choosing one of the NITs can be really tricky sometimes considering the excellent education they provide across the country. However, a few things should be taken into consideration while making a decision. Some of the major elements are listed below.

Ranking: Ranking is a major thing for many students when it comes to choosing the proper college for your future.

• NIT Nagaland ranked 91st among the top engineering colleges in 2019 across the country.

• NIT Manipur ranked 89th among the top engineering colleges in 2019.

• NIT Mizoram ranked 90th in 2020 and NIT Raipur ranked 67th among the top most engineering colleges in 2020 by NIRF.

Placement:

• Top recruiters of NIT Nagaland are BSNL, BPCL, Wipro, Amazon, and so on. The highest and the average salary package for NIT Nagaland students remains to be around 9 LPA and 4.5 LPA.

• The highest package for NIT Mizoram students remains around 17 LPA and 17.5 LPA for NIT Manipur students. Top recruiters are IBM, BEL, Infosys, and more.

• For NIT Raipur students, the highest package is around 36 LPA and the average package is 9 LPA. Top recruiters are Capgemini, Cognizant, Infoedge, Reliance, and more.

• More than 90% of students get placed every year by these companies according to the reports.

Fees and eligibility

• Students who are aiming at enrolling themselves for a B. Tech in Mining Engineering in NIT Raipur have to qualify in the JEE Main examination. \

• In order to pursue B. Tech in NIT Nagaland, students have to pass the same examination as well.

• However, in order to pursue an M. Tech, students must qualify the GATE exam before applying. The same criteria apply for both NIT Manipur and NIT Mizoram as well.

Other facilities:

Apart from these factors, all the NITs have good infrastructure and the quality of education is unquestionable in all the NITs. All faculty members are extremely well educated and helpful. Hostel facilities are also available at reasonable rates inside all the campuses.

No matter how difficult it gets while choosing your proper engineering stream and the perfect college for your higher studies, make no mistake to do sufficient research about it beforehand. Your passion and expertise should be taken into consideration while choosing your stream since it will help you evolve as an expert in your field in the future.

The mining branch in IIT BHU is one of the ancillary branches(along with ceramics and Pharmaceutical Engineering) which most students often refrain from. Students often opt for the branch just with the hope of getting a better branch through branch change. Besides, the curriculum is very tough and it requires a humongous effort to get a decent CGPA in the mining branch. 
Also, the branch doesn’t attract noteworthy companies for placements. Students are thus left with the sole option of getting acquainted with the coding culture for securing placements. Furthermore, the branch of Mining Engineering in India is not fully in consonance with the curriculum taught in foreign universities. However, it is pertinent to note that the branch does have considerable scope in many Coal and Mining companies.
So, if you have a profound interest in the branch, only then you should opt for it in IIT BHU Mining. Don’t just go for the IIT tag and choose a branch that offers ample opportunities, both in jobs as well as in further studies.