Francis Xavier Engineering College, Tirunelveli

About College:

The Francis Xavier Engineering College (FXEC) is situated in the city of Tirunelveli, the fifth largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu. Tirunelveli has also been dubbed as the “Oxford of South India”, due to its reputation as an accomplished educational hub. This college was founded in the year 2000, just on the start of the new millennium. Its campus covers a total area worth fifteen acres of land. The FXEC is affiliated to the Chennai- based Anna University. This affiliation ensures approval of the UGC (University Grants Commission). The technical courses here, have also been ratified by the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education).

Further, the FXEC has also been accredited by the NBA (National Board of Accreditation). It also belongs to a select list of colleges in India, which have been ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certified. The St. Xavier’s Educational Trust was itself established in the year 1989. It has been behind the setting up of this college. At present, the Tirunelveli- based Francis Xavier Engineering College’s governance is done by the SCAD (Social Change and Development) Group. Dr. S. Cletus Babu has been the main founder. He has been a noted educationist, who has also worked for the downtrodden. One of those key initiatives was also the setting up of colonies for the differently abled and leprosy- affected victims. 

Courses are run, here at this college, at both the UG as well as PG levels. At the undergrad level, B.E. programmes are available with five main specializations. These are in the engineering areas of- Civil, Mechanical, Computer Science, Electronics & Communication and for Electrical & Electronics. Plus, there is also the B. Tech in Information Technology. Likewise, at the master’s level, there is the M. Tech also in Information Technology. At this stage, the courses get more technical. Here, the M.E. may be taken up for the areas of- Industrial Safety Engineering, Network Engineering, Communication Systems, Power Systems, VLSI Design, Power Electronics & Drives and for Computer Science & Engineering. 

In addition to these engineering or tech- based courses, the Francis Xavier Engineering College also offers the MBA and MCA courses at the master’s level. The entire academics at the GCET is run by a cohort of nine departments, each with expertise in its own area. Six of these departments are for the areas in which the B. Tech or B.E. degrees are awarded in. Two more are for the MBA and the MCA. The ninth one is the Department of Science and Humanities. This deals with the English language courses and the fundamental sciences of physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Online learning is another methodology that the college strongly endorses. That is why the FXEC has also signed up for the NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning). The library here is one of the best stocked within the region. Besides the physical books on display, it also provides digital access to en number of international academic journals for research and academic purposes. The library is connected to digital interfaces such as the DELNET (Developing Library Network). The Francis Xavier Engineering College has also taken up memberships of several professional bodies such as the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). 

Research too plays a very important role, here at the FXEC. For this purpose, the college has curated its own detailed research policy. There is a separate research centre within the campus. It has also taken up several third- party consulting projects which are generated by government of industrial bodies. Some of these clients include the likes of- DST (Department of Science and Technology), AICTE, NIESBUD (National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development), TNSCST (Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology), ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), NIMAT (National Implementing and Monitoring Agency for Training) and the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research). 

The Francis Xavier Engineering College from Tamil Nadu, has even filed a number of patents. One of them has even been granted. Several of the students and faculty members from the FXEC have been published on various platforms. A number of seminars and conferences are also held on campus periodically. The industry- academia linkage is also an aspect that the college has driven hard for. There are industry sponsored labs on campus, initiated by several leading corporates. Those companies who have made their presence on campus through these labs are- IBM, EMC2, ICTACT, Texas Instruments, Oracle, Auto Desk, Cisco, Microsoft, National Instruments and CDAC. 

Career development programmes are also conducted to make students more employable. All this has led to healthy placement records here, at the FXEC. Some of the leading recruiters on campus over the recent seasons have been the likes of- TCS, Infosys, Just Dial, CTS, Syntel, Blue Ocean, Centizen, L&T Infotech, Power Tech, Mind Box, FACE, Karvy, ATC Tyres, India Cements, Nissan, IMC, HDFC Bank, Sutherland Global Services and many more, including those with sponsored labs on campus. The college rankings have likewise been positive. The NIRF (National Institutional Rankings Framework) has placed the Francis Xavier Engineering College within the 151- 200 rank band among engineering colleges.