Electronics and Communication Engineering Department

About the Department

The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) was established in 1996. The department has highly qualified faculty members with Ph.Ds. in diverse fields. The facultyfocus onmoulding quality engineers who are capable of making great contributions for a better tomorrow. The curriculum and syllabi are designed and periodically updated to meet the societal and technological needs of the times. The department has state-of-the-art research laboratories in addition to the academic labs enabling students to pursue their desire for attaining excellence in research and academics. The facilities encourage students to have hands-on training in modern engineering tools. The department regularly organizes seminars, guest lectures, short-term training programs, workshops, and conferences for the professional development of students and faculty within and beyond the institute. Furthermore, the department strives to develop collaborative research and development linkages with leading organizations in India and abroad.

Vision:

To be in a position of an enhanced national and global reputation as a department offering excellent educational programmes and undertaking internationally recognized research and development activities in electronics and communication engineering

Mission:

• Continued focus on excellence in teaching and learning by investing in faculty and staff development and resources
• Promoting an all-round development of our students through curricular and co-curricular activities that instil a spirit of social responsibility, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship
• Attracting a larger number of the best students at both the graduate and undergraduate level
• Promoting high-quality research leading to publications in reputed journals and patents
• Building partnerships with leading academic institutions and industries
• Nurturing a learning and work environment that makes the department one of the best ECE communities for students, faculty, and staff

Accreditation

The undergraduate programme of the department has been accredited by NBA (National Board of Accreditation) for six years (2021-2027) for the second consecutive time.

Programmes offered

B.E. in Electronics and Communication Engineering

M.E. in Communication Systems

M.E. in VLSI Design

PhD / MS (By Research)

Course Opportunities

The graduates of the ECE Department have been employed in their core areas, including in start-ups, and software companies.  Leading core companies with ECE Department alumni include Robert Bosch, Qualcomm, Aricent Group, Comcast, Tata Elxsi, and Soliton. The leading software companies for placements includeThoughtworks, Infosys, Cognizant Technology Solutions, HCL Technologies, TCS, and IGate.

Students of ECE have gained admission into top-ranked international universities such as Stanford, Georgia Tech, Cornell, University of Texas, and North Carolina State University. In addition, some of the undergraduates also work in Public sector units, such as BSNL, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd, DRDO, ISRO, BHEL, BEL, and IGCAR. The department has also been collaborating with international and national universities such as Brigham Young University, USA, University of Catania, Italy, and Griffith University, Australia. Furthermore, MOUs are also signed with corporates like TATA Elxsi, Alcatel Lucent, BIGCAT Wireless, FORD, Valeo etc., to support student internships, placements and industrial projects.

Teaching Learning Process

The department of ECE adopts several innovative teaching and learning methods to improve the student’s educational experience. To facilitate internet-based access, faculty members upload appropriate learning guidance material on the Learning Management System (LMS) for continuous access anytime and anywhere. To improve conceptual understanding, the department offers theory courses with integrated lab components to practice what they learned in the classroom. With the practical components in the curriculum, students improve their awareness andinclination towards technology constructively. This focus on practical applications is further strengthened by the institution which, offers students with seed money for executing minor projects. In addition, active learning sessions and indirect assessments (such as quizzes, and mini-projects)enhance the student learning experience. To meet the needs of students with higher learning capability, the department also offers an Honors degree in the Internet of Things with aspecific focus on embedded system technologies.

Highlights

• The Department’s annual conference WISPNET technically co-sponsored by IEEE which hosts keynote addresses from eminent researchers and academicians across the globe.
• The Department organizes a National level conference (NCICT) every year, where delegates from various academic and industrial organizations participate to share their experience in the field of electronics and telecommunications.
• TechClub – A student-run forum where senior students help junior students with various cutting-edge technologies such as robotics, IoT, VLSI, etc.
• Periodic reviews by industry / academic reviewers for student academic and internally funded research projects.
• SSN Research Day – incentives/awards for best faculty researchers.
• SSN Doctorate Scholar Day – incentives/awards for best research carried out by research scholars
• SSN Undergraduate Researchers Day – awards for best student researchers to inculcate research spirit in the young minds
• Seminars by faculty members, research scholars, alums, and external eminent personalities for technology and career guidance
• Inplant training and Industrial Internships with stipends for students through MoUs(Tata Elxsi, SETS, SAMEER & INSA to name a few)
• Support for attending summer schools organized by premier research and academic organizations in India.
• Opportunities for International internship in the US, Canada and Europe.
• Enterpreneurship-cell activities such as SYCON, Teach a School, etc.
• Incubation & Innovation Centre

Research

SSN is always committed to quality research. Some of the major research areas within the department include:

• Applied Electromagnetics
• Speech and Image processing
• Cyber-physical systems
• Microelectronics & Nanoelectronics
• Wireless Communication & Networks
• Internet of Things
• Underwater acoustic communication

The ECE department has acquired projects from several national agencies such as DST, MieTY, AICTE, NIOT, BRNS, ISRO, IGCAR, Tamilnadu Forest Department, AICRP, etc. As of 2023, the ECE department has completed 23 projects worth Rs.4.52 crore and is executing eighteen projects worth Rs. 8.54 crore. Some of the labs developed using these funds are

• Speech and Language Technologies Lab
• MEMS & Materials Lab
• RFand Microwave Testing Lab
• Textronics Design & Development Lab
• Underwater Acoustic Research Lab
• EMC Measurements Lab
• IoT System Design and Development Lab
• Radiation Analysis and Satellite Imagery Lab

The outcome of the faculty research is published in major research journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics. The Department has published over 400 international journals in the last five years, includingIEEE Transactions, Magazines, and Letters. In addition, the faculty members with student researchers have presented their findings at the flagship conferences in India and abroad.

The department encouragesnational and international internships in reputed universities and industries. Students have acceptedinternshipsnot only from India but also from countries such as Italy, Japan, and the USA. The ECE students receive internship offers from PSUs of the Government of India and several other institutes of national importance.

Test, Consultancy, and Patents

The department has generated revenue of Rs. 32.41 Lakh through test and consultancy services offered to government and private organizations. The areas of consultancy include Speech Signal Processing, RF and microwave measurements, Underwater acoustics testing,and MEMS devices. The faculty members in the department have filed 20 Indian patents with 2 patents granted to date.

Student Achievements

Our students, under faculty mentorship, actively participate in competitions organized by the state and central government organizations. The students are constantly motivated to involve in product development which has enabled them to provide innovative solutions to the research problems of industries. Some of the achievements are:

• Mr R. Sriram, UG-ECE 2018 – 2022 batch, qualified GATE 2023 with All India Rank 2.
• Ms Shwetha S and Ms Nethraa Sivasukumar, UG-ECE 2018-2022 batch acquired job opportunities in Adobe following the summer internship with an annual package of 84 Lakh and 41 Lakh respectively.
• Ms V. Krishi DivyaDharshini and Mr R. Manjunathan, UG-ECE 2019-2023 Batch students, were part of the winning team who bagged the first prize at the Smart India Hackathon Hardware edition conducted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India at the Forge Accelerator, Coimbatore during August 25-29, 2022 and were awarded a cash prize of 1 Lakh rupees.
• Ms Ananya Prabhu and Ms Tejaswi, UG-ECE 2019-2023 Batch students, bagged Third place under the “Green and Clean Technology” theme in the ACM Women Hackathon held at Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Goa, November 14-15, 2022.
• Ms Ananya Prabhu, UG-ECE 2020-2024 Batch has participated in the SSN IEEE Ideate for Women’s Entrepreneurship Day with MERAKI on November 28, 2022, and presented an IoT-based project “Smart Glucose Door Handle” to combat diabetes.
• Mr R. Shreyas Sai, UG-ECE 2021-2025 Batch and three members from SSN CE and Shiv Nadar IoE, Noida, won Third place at the UNLEASH Hacks for their Idea, “RECONNECT” and were awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000. The three days national event was conducted during November 04-06, 2022, at the Shiv Nadar IoE, Noida.
• A. Ramkarthick, UG-ECE 2018-2022 Batch, has been selected for the 2021 IEEE AP-S Eugene F. Knott Memorial Pre-Doctoral Research Grant Award on 07.01.2022. This grant is awarded to encourage students to pursue careers in electromagnetics.
• Mr G. Bharath Vishal, Ms H. Kamya, and Ms R. Kruthi, UG-ECE 2019-2023 batch students, won the Second prize in Ingenium, an inter-collegiate technical exhibition and competition conducted by Pragyan’22, the international techno-managerial organization of National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli on 19.03.2022.

Focus on sports

The department is proud of its medal-winning National level players in indoor and outdoor games. Some winning moments are:

• Ms M. Benasir, UG-ECE 2020-2024 batch, secured 4^th position in the South Zonal Inter University chess championship and got selected to represent Anna University in the All India interzonal University chess championship and finally, got 6^th place in the All-India Interzonal University chess tournament held during April 19-22, 2022, at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur.
• Mr M. Pranav, UG-ECE 2020-2024 batch, has secured first place in the Table Tennis-Men event in the 8^th LICET Tournament 2022, held at Loyola ICAM College of Engineering and Technology during March 14-18, 2022.
• Ms R. Soundarya, UG-ECE 2020-2024 Batch, has represented the Anna University Table Tennis team (women) and has participated in the AIU zonal inter-university table tennis tournament (women) 2021-2022 championship of South zone organized at the Academy of Maritime Education and Training (AMET) during January 06-09, 2022. Her team has secured the 4^th position and will play Khelo India nationals.
• Ms S. Balambal, UG-ECE 2019-2023 Batch, has become a published author in addition to her position as a compiler through her book, “This is Querencia”, published by Verses Kindler Publication on 16.04.2022.

Placements& Higher Education

Ninety per cent of eligible students in the ECE department have received job offers from reputed companies such as Paypal, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, Amazon, Soliton, Mckinsey, Citibank, etc in the past fifteen years. The department conducts a yearly programme, “A Day with Alumni with Future Alumni”, to create awareness about placements and higher education. The resource persons for this programme are our alumni working in various reputed core and IT companies. They provide valuable insights regarding preparation for job interviews, expectations of the companies and work etiquette required during the job. Furthermore, the final-year students share their experience of placement activities with third-year students. In addition, the students have excelled in higher studies by regularly obtaining admission from Ivy League universities and renowned universities in India.

Newsletter

The department publishes the biannual newsletter “Impulse” showcasing its activities. The newsletter captures activities and achievements of the faculty and students for effective dissemination of information across the various stakeholders.