Practice School

Practice School is an innovative concept in undergraduate engineering education, which creates a bridge between conventional classroom learning and gaining valuable real-life experience in an industry or research organization.

The Practice School (PS) course included in the final year undergraduate engineering curriculum is an initiative to prepare engineering professionals who are ready to face the challenges of the real world. The course augments the core skills of the students with additional competencies. It provides an opportunity for students to develop soft skills in the workplace.

Silicon has designed the course to be a learning experience that enables the students to apply their existing knowledge and skills. Students observe and learn the developments in technology through extensive hands-on practice under the guidance of industry experts or from research organizations.

The Industry Interface Cell anchors the Practice School component at Silicon.

Practice School enables engineering students to graduate as industry-ready with adequate skills on current technologies in demand, develop a professional network and learn communication skills, professionalism, teamwork, and personal development.

Practice School Objectives

The primary objective of the Practice School is to impart learning through experience. Specifically, it aims to enable students to:

  • Get exposure to the practical application of knowledge and skills previously learned through conventional classroom teaching and laboratory experiments.
  • Acquire knowledge and hands-on experience on the latest technologies and research domains beyond the syllabus.
  • Develop the ability to adapt to rapidly changing requirements and challenges of a professional workplace in the real world.
  • Exhibit the acquired professional skills in unfamiliar and open-ended real-life situations that the student is not exposed to in a conventional classroom.
  • Earn valuable work experience by the time they complete their B. Tech. program.
  • Improve their employability and establish a professional network before graduation.

Features of Practice School

The Practice School course provides an opportunity for students to foster and acquire specific professional skills and valuable work experience by practically implementing the concepts in real-world situations.

  • The PS course is an optional component in the B.Tech. curriculum carrying 15 credits.
  • The duration of the course is approximately six months.
  • It is available only to final year B. Tech. students from all branches.
  • A final year student opting for Practice School can indicate her/his preference to undergo it either in the 7th semester from July to December or in the 8th semester from January to June.
  • The PS stations are at host organization sites of an industry or reputed research laboratories.

Practice School Course

The Practice School course is an optional, continuous, and rigorous internship activity for a complete semester of six months. Final year B. Tech. program students can opt for Practice School (PS) either in the 7th or 8th semester.

There are two PS batches in an academic year. One batch of the final year students carries out the PS course from July to December during the 7th semester and the second batch from January to June during the 8th semester.

The Practice School course carries 15 credits in the final year curriculum of the B.Tech. program.

Practice School Station

Practice School Stations are the organization sites that host the practice school. The Practice School Stations are in private or public companies like BARC, TIFR, ISRO, DRDO, etc., or at research organizations like NITs, IITs, or other reputed research laboratories, like the IMMT, CSIR, etc.

Latest from Practice School

27

Mar '2023

Mr. Abhijit Pati, CEO, BALCO felicitates SiliconTech students for their outstanding performance in the Practice School program

SiliconTech collaborated with Bharat Aluminum Company Limited (BALCO), Chhattisgarh to solve their industrial problems by engaging our talents who worked closely with BALCO industry experts. As part of this consultation initiative with SiliconTech, the BALCO team identified four industrial projects associated with a Smelter unit, Potline, Rodding, CHP, and CPP.  These projects were headed by […]
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30

Jul '2022

SiliconTech collaborates with BALCO to work on industry innovation projects

Silicon Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar (SiliconTech) has signed a MoU with BALCO (Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd.), Chhattisgarh on 30 July 2022. The primary objective of this MoU is to leverage the potential of the Institute’s young engineers, research and developmental strength and the academic wisdom, to innovate & solve various industrial bottlenecks collectively with industry […]
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Practice School (PS) is different from Industry Internship. Generally, a student joins an industry internship in the 8th semester with their respective employers only. A placement/ job offer is required for this type of internship. Practice School is an extension of the traditional internship. It allows students to gain practical work experience either in 7th or 8th semester without a binding employee-employer relationship.

No. Even if a student is eligible, interested, and has applied for Practice School, s/he has to compete and qualify in the selection tests conducted by the different organizations. Students have the choice to participate in the selection tests depending on their preference of technology domains.

Yes! Depending on the student’s preferred technology domains and the industry requirements, the Industry Interface Cell (II Cell) may allow participation in multiple PS drives. The II Cell will try its best to maximize the benefits to students based on their academic caliber, technical knowledge, preferences, and competencies.

In general, the student has the choice of which PS offers to accept. However, considering various other factors, the II Cell may allocate an organization beneficial for all stakeholders.

A student can indicate her/his preference while applying for Practice School. Whether a student joins in the 7th or 8th semester depends on his/her selection, allocation, and requirements of the host industry/research organization. The Industry Interface Cell would try to find the best match between the needs of the student and the organization.

There are pros and cons involved in both decisions.

If a student joins in the 7th semester, the host organization can use the summer break after the 6th semester for the pre-practice school (Pre-PS) training. If the student performs well during the PS, the host organization would likely offer them remote, part-time work assignments when the student returns to the institute in the 8th semester. This is because the student is already trained. This way, by the time the student graduates from the B.Tech program, she/he would already have about 1-year of work experience, which will help increase their professional value a lot. On the other hand, after working for nearly eight months in an organization site, a student may find it a bit difficult to switch back to regular classroom learning in the 8th semester.

If a student joins the Practice School in the 8th semester, s/he can continue with the usual student life in the 7th semester. Pre-PS training can still happen in the summer break after the 6th semester, but it may not be that effective due to the one-semester gap between the training and the beginning of the PS engagement. The organization may want to offer you the opportunity to work remotely during the 7th semester, but the chances are less. At the end of the B. Tech program, the student will gain at most six months of work experience. Therefore, the professional value-addition would be comparatively less.

Yes, the chances of getting a Pre-Placement Offer (PPO) is high for students from core branches like EEE/ECE/EIE who do not want to join the bandwagon of an IT/ITES company but pursue a career with their core strength in electrical, electronics, communication, instrumentation, VLSI, etc. In most cases, such students can get a high-salary job in the core engineering sectors through their participation in the Practice School.

Nowadays, most of the placement drives are online, so students will rarely miss an opportunity. However, Practice School is for students having high academic caliber and competency. Their skills will get multiplied by the practical work experience gained at the PS Station. Employers always look forward to industry-ready candidates who can be productive from day one. A student opting for Practice School should have higher career goals instead of only depending on traditional campus placement drives offering fresher level salary packages.

No. The student does not have to pay a fee to the Institute or the industry organization (PS Station) to undergo Practice School. The Institute will not provide any financial assistance to the students for the PS stint.

The concerned PS Station usually supports the Practice School stint with a stipend, but the PS Station does not need to pay a stipend, nor does the Institute guarantee it.

No. Practice School is designed for experiential learning by working in an industry under real-life situations with the guidance of working professionals. A continuation of this working relationship after B. Tech. is solely by mutual agreement between the student and the industry. The student has every right to join any other organization after B. Tech. based on the merits and personal preference.

No. A student will undergo a PS stint only in one organization. A student working for any organization other than the one allocated by Industry Interface Cell shall invite disciplinary action. This may lead to termination of the Practice School opportunity.

No. A student may accept the PS Station’s offer to work remotely/part-time during the Non-PS semester provided that s/he is competent and confident to manage the workload along with the academic loads. Such part-time/remote engagement cannot be used as a reason for the shortage of attendance or any other lapses in academics.

No. A job offer depends on a student’s attitude, learning ability, teamwork, and overall performance during their PS stint. It also depends on the requirements and recruitment process of the organization. Though in most cases, the PS Station will offer a job based on the competencies and performance of the student, it is not mandatory on their part to offer a job during/after the Practice School.

As the PS course is a rigorous practical internship, most organizations would prefer that the student is available on site. However, it depends on the type of organization, its rules & regulations, and work culture. The PS Mentor may permit working from home at his/her discretion.

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