From classroom to cockpit: An comprehensive review of Aerospace Engineering degree at Chandigarh University

Aerospace is related to space mechanics and aircrafts. The whole focus of the degree is around aerodynamics, propulsion and structures of aircrafts and how it affects the flight. It's a vast study and goes in depth explaining the concepts of physics of flight, designs, how they've evolved and future possibilities. It gives little glimpses behind the R&D, production, maintenance by exposing the students to practical and theoretical subjects and the proving that goes behind it. Although the branch lacks in lab equipments that I've seen industries use in real life like a dye penetrant inspection booth, blue light testing, Webster hardness, etc. The grants access for students is very complicated and they rarely get funded for the projects, university does not like to gamble and usually back out if they see the students are failing and students end up paying for the whole thing themselves. Exams aren't that difficult and 2 monthly tests and final exams are conducted each sem.

Students become eligible for campus placements after the 6th semester. Internships can be done from the 2nd semester itself in the summer and winter breaks but you have to look for them yourself. Companies who have visited for placement are Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Indigo, TCS, Tata Motors, that's all I remember. The only core aerospace industry in all of them is TASL and in aviation is Indigo. The highest package offered was by Indigo in 2019 that was 8 lpa. Average packages are by TCS and TASL that range from 3.5 lacs to 5.5 lacs. Out of 200 students 5 students got offered at TASL for a 5.5 lpa as a GET (General Engineer Trainee) and others as Junior Trainee, etc. Apart from these companies more managerial positions are offered but the job profile of such companies are sales executive, customer care, etc. with very average salaries. My plan is to get a Commercial Pilot Licence after my degree and fly for a regional airliner. The only added advantage is I have a degree.

Tution fees that I paid at my time was 90,000 with a 15% scholarship that did not last long because the university decided to fail me in Apllied Mathematics-III. I might have scored low marks but not that I could have failed, they cancelled my request for rechecking for some reason because they try to cancel the scholarship for each student. Apart from the tuition fees which is now 1,10,000 for a semester, examination fee is to be taken care of each sem which is 2500 and a first time security deposit of 2500 is required in the first semester. So if one loses their scholarship or to assume that one never gets it the whole thing will cost 8,80,000. Hostel fees is around 1,20,000 for a year but that's just a rough figure. Financial aid is available for families having income less than 2.5 lacs, they have lots of paperwork for that and students have to maintain 7.5 CGPA. Campus employment is pathetic. You have to take care of internships and placement your self. They can only guide.

There are regular fests that are held at almost a frequency of 4-5 months. Not that I remember exact months of the fest because I usually never go but a CU fest is held twice for new admissions and they give a taste of campus life aboard CU. Technical Fests are usually kept twice a year with different themes and students are welcome for their inputs and the management itself involves a lot of student involvement which is quite great. For aerospace students the facilities are not as good as for the CSE students, less funding, less research facilities and limited staff. The classroom is a typical CBSE school setup with not so comfortable chairs and a broken projector. Students are encouraged to run clubs and social groups but they usually shut it down if the criterion for minimum no. of students are not met. There are astronomy clubs, stargazing clubs, book reading clubs, astrophotography and astrophysics clubs and students can enroll anytime they want and hold events.

The admission process is quite simple and if you appear for a CUCET (Chandigarh University Common Entrance Test) chances are you'll get atleast a 15% scholarship even if you don't score that well or even cross random answers on the online test they conduct. It's an scholarship cum admission test and the higher you score more scholarship you're awarded. People having JEE score more than 95 get 100% scholarship and people who have scored more than 80% marks in 12th get 15% automatically. Again the criterion remains that you have to maintain 7.50 cgpa overall to hold the scholarship. The difficulty level of the entrance test is a 6/10, very basic questions they ask about aptitude, mathematics, english and general sciences. The exams are conducted for January intake and July intakes a month prior and the dates they usually announce phase wise. The earlier you appear more are the chaces of having a better scholarship. That's nothing but a mere strategy to attract students.

There are fewer admissions in our department hence less investment overall but the faculty student ratio is okay. So for every 50 students there are two mentors divided in two groups so one mentor looks over 25 students. It's very necessary, student- mentor relationship during the course of your degree and the support you get from them especially a few senior professors is invaluable. Helps you in the long run. They're well qualified from IIT's and NIT's etc. most of them have an aerospace or aeronautical or a mechanical background but are qualified enough to take care of your needs. There teaching methods are okay, you cannot expect a "Caltech" approach in their teaching but given the state they are in, they teach just fine. Interaction with teachers is very easy. You can always find them in the staff room at their desks and they always welcome your doubts regarding academics like projects, designs, capstones if you've taken up any.