Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering, Mumbai

Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering (CRCE), (popularly known as Fr. Agnel Bandra) is an engineering college in Mumbai, India. It is located at Bandstand in Bandra (West). Fr.CRCE is an un-aided, minority, non-autonomous institute accredited by All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE) and affiliated to the University of Mumbai, which offers a four year course culminating in the Bachelor of Engineering degree conferred by the university.Directorate of Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra State (DTE) awarded an "A" grade to the college among various engineering colleges.

History

The college was started in 1984 with a single course of Production engineering with an intake capacity of 60 students. In 1987 the course in Electronics engineering was started with an intake capacity of 60 students. In 1991, the course in Computer engineering was started with an intake capacity of 60 students. In 2001, the course in Information technology was started with an intake capacity of 30 students.

The institute is named after the late Rev. Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues.[1] Under the inspiration of its founder, the Agnel Charities (the trustees of the Society of St. Francis Xavier, Pilar) realized that their contribution to the process of nation building would be through the spread of facilities for technical education. They founded technical education facilities in Bandra (Mumbai), Vashi (Navi Mumbai), Verna (Goa), New Delhi, Noida, Pune, and Ambarnath (Thane).

Though Fr. Rodrigues did not live long enough to see his dream come true in the form of the College of Engineering at Bandra, the clearance for this college had just been obtained days before his sudden death in 1984.

Accreditation and affiliation

Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering (CRCE) is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Directorate of Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra State (DTE) awarded an "A" grade to the college among various engineering colleges. In the social community it is regarded as one of the finest engineering colleges in Mumbai on account of its dedicated & disciplined academic approach, staff, infrastructure, research facilities, a strong alumni network & above all, excellent campus placements.[2]

Academic departments

Department of Production Engineering

The Production Engineering Department was the first department to be started with a 4 year undergraduate course. The course offers a limited intake capacity of 60 students and caters to the need for career growth of working professionals including faculty members of engineering colleges. The full-time Master's degree Program in Mechanical Engineering was introduced in 2005 with specialization in CAD/CAM and Robotics and with an intake capacity of 18 students. This course caters to the need of technical professionals who aspire to augment their career in computer-related applications of industrial design and manufacturing management.

Department of Computer Engineering

The Department of Computer Engineering was established in 1991. The first course started was B.E. in computer Engineering with intake 60. The student to faculty ratio for computer engineering is 16.

Department of Electronics Engineering

The Department of Electronics Engineering was established in 1987. The department conduct 4 year undergraduate course - B.E. (Electronics) and 2 year postgraduate course - M.E. (Electronics).

Department of Information Technology

The Program in Information Technology was started in 2001 with a sanctioned intake of 30. Then the program was run and administered by the Department of Computer Engineering. In 2009 the Program of Information Technology was separated out from the Department of Computer Engineering and a separate department was established. The department has five computer labs with a total strength of 130 terminals.

Campus

The campus houses Fr.CRCE (Engineering College), Bal Vidya Bhavan(school) and The Trust's Offices. A 9-storeyed building is the principal academic block of the institution. It houses lecture halls, laboratories of all departments, computer centres, a library with more than 25,000 books and journals, internet centre for students, gymnasium, auditorium, and canteen. The campus is Wifi enabled and the students are provided with specialized bar coded ID cards.Students can get access to IEEE papers,journals and other resources from the college WiFi.

The college has purchased flats measuring 3,200 sq ft 3,200 sq ft (300 m2), at Kalina, Santacruz(East), Mumbai to provide hostel facilities to the outside students. The hostel facility is only for boys and has a capacity of 18.

Extracurricular and student activities

The college hosts two festivals each academic year. The technical festival,"CResCEndo" is held in the odd semester.It attracts participants from various engineering colleges in Mumbai.

The cultural festival, "Euphoria" (in the even semester) is an intra-college event only for the CRCEites.[3] The annual cultural fest Euphoria is the most awaited event of the year.

Apart from this the college also hosts the Annual National-level Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues Memorial Debate.

Governing body

• Rev. Fr. Saturnino Almeida, Chairman- The Society of St. Francis Xavier, Pilar. Chairman

Placement

The training and placement department of the institute arranges for companies to conduct on-campus interviews to recruit students from college.Over 50-70 companies participate in the placement process every year. Companies like JPMorgan Chase , Morgan Stanley , Microsoft, Amdocs,Tata Consultancy Services[disambiguation needed] , IGATE , Directi and so on...

Alumni

• Mihir Joshi - Radio jockey, singer and television host

• Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering
• Computer Society of India - CRCE Student Chapter
• IEEE-CRCE Student Chapter

Editors