Bagging the top slot in the Private Institutions category in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA 2020) announced today is a major feat, but what is a bigger achievement is being from a Tier-III city while doing so. S R Engineering College, Warangal, has managed to achieve this accolade. S R University, an educational institution with a legacy of 45 years, has A Varadha Reddy as its Chancellor. Working in the field of education since 1976, the educationist says, "We are elated as we have been declared number one. This is a collective effort of all our faculty members, non-teaching staff, parents and students since the inception of S R Engineering College. We have always strived to better ourselves over the years and will continue doing so."
When it comes to the factors contributing to their success, Sreedevi Devireddy, who is Governing Board Member, S R Engineering College, highlights that, "Since the beginning, we wanted to focus on every aspect of innovation instead of clubbing it all into one incubator-like model." Surely, credit goes to NEST (Nest for Entrepreneurship in Science and Technology) that was established seven years ago to promote both entrepreneurship and innovation. Then there is SR Innovation Exchange (SRiX), which Devireddy is the CEO of, which was launched just last year with the help of Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and eventually, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and AICTE supported it as well. "This was started to ensure that innovation is not a brainchild of metro kids alone, everyone is capable of it. It was started to provide equal opportunity to all," says the National Entrepreneurship Award winner. There are start-ups from Gurugram, Bengaluru and even Hyderabad incubated at SR Innovation Exchange. She says that these two have been game-changers for the university.
"Going forward, we realise that no educational institution can grow in silos. We will be looking forward to more collaborations with corporates and research institutions too. We will also be coming up with more industry-relevant programmes and collaborating with corporates for this as well to nurture an industry-ready workforce," says Devireddy.
Before we sign off, Devireddy leaves us with a heart-warming premonition of sorts that the Chancellor had. "Ten years ago, our Chancellor placed a plaque in his office stating his Vision 2020. It was that we should be in the top 20 institutions of the country. We used to see it everyday and today, it has come true. It is not about chance or luck, it takes investment in faculty and belief in innovation to come this far. That's why he wanted a 140-acre campus for an Engineering college in the first place, he had a vision for the university and he knew he wanted to develop it. Otherwise, back in those days, 15 years ago, a 30-ace campus would have sufficed for an Engineering college. It is is the Chancellor's vision which has made this possible," she asserts.
