In 1995, ACE Engineering Academy started with just a few students in Hyderabad. Today, they have several centres across India, like Delhi, Bhopal, Pune, Bhubaneswar and Bengaluru. This academy offers coaching in the fields of ESE, GATE, PSU and more, and they have engineering branches as well. When we get in touch with Prof YV Gopala Krishna Murthy, the force behind ACE Engineering Academy, he talked about how their focus remains on quality and always will be, though expansions are always on the horizon. So, in a conversation with the professor, we try to decode the mantra behind the success of the academy. Excerpts:
How did the journey of establishing ACE Engineering Academy begin?
I quit my government job in 2003 and decided to follow my passion, teaching. For anyone who is starting out, the basic problem is the trust factor. Second is the fee structure because both parents and students treat it as an investment and are always thinking about Return of Investment. So apart from keeping the fee structure reasonable, we started giving free demo classes to build that trust. Students and parents started believing in us. Year by year, the number of students grew. We started with Civil engineering, then expanded to different branches. At the end of the day, efforts are not rewarded, results are. We have shown very good results since day one.
And when did you start expanding?
We got some requests from different parts of India like New Delhi and Pune. But the question wasn't about expansion, it was about delivering as per requirement. So, we worked on a dedicated pool of quality faculty members, and among them are authors and toppers for the new centres.
Tell us about how you chose your faculty.
We chose faculty who are well-qualified and those how have been exposed to competitive exams. After choosing them, we train them in Hyderabad for one year no matter where they are from. We verify their presentation style, communication, content delivery, whether he/she is able to reach out to the present generation of students and more. Only then do we send them to other centres. This way, we maintain quality throughout India.
What do you think sets ACE apart?
Various institutes are mushrooming everywhere, but we are able to maintain quality. We are able to perform well because we believe in quality teaching and material. We meet the requirements of students in the present world. We treat our students like our children. We interact with them about different aspects of life and motivate them when they encounter failure.
What about digital education in the academy?
For over six months, we are working on procuring technology. In another one and a half years, we will come up with products. Without quality we don't want to enter the market, we will help the student community with quality products. And our role model in this quest is Khan Academy.
Any advice for students?
Every student must try to clearly understand what they want to become. In the process of reaching the goal, they might have to take a step back, but they shouldn't stop. Never lose hope and have faith in yourself. Also, don't blame society or your parents for your failures.
For more on them, click on, aceenggacademy.com
