Over 130 engineering graduates from a village college make it to Japanese companies in four years

Over 130 engineering graduates, mainly from rural and semi-urban areas of Karnataka’s coastal belt, of Nitte Mahalinga Adyantaya Memorial Institute of Technology (NMAMIT) have been recruited by Japanese companies in the last four years.

Owing to Nitte’s (Deemed-to-be University) collaborations with Japanese companies and universities, the demand for its graduates is growing. NMAMIT situated in Nitte village, near Karkala in Udupi district, is a wing of the university.

Of those hired by over 20 companies, 30% are women. Of the total graduates employed, 70% are from the coastal belt, Harikrishna Bhat, director, International Collaborations (Asia -Pacific Region) of the university, told The Hindu.

“Except about 10% of graduates who are working with the Indian entities of the companies, the remaining are working in Japan,” he said.

In April, 2020, three companies hired 10 graduates from the campus for the first time. Of them, two companies employed four students each.

The placements continued thereafter, said Mr. Bhat, who has been living in Japan for over four decades and who hops between Nitte and Japan co-ordinating the collaborations.

The graduates are mainly working in IT, mechanical, electrical, eectronics, manufacturing, robotics and artificial intelligence. “We are gearing up to send another 80 to 100 graduates from Nitte to Japan by June, 2025,” Mr. Bhat said.

Among the companies who recruited included Shibuya Corporation and Takao Kogyo (TKE Co. Ltd.). The eight graduates of the 2024 batch recruited by Shibuya Corporation left for Japan this October 16, he said.

“Japanese companies are impressed with the sincerity and hard work of the graduates,” Mr. Bhat said.

Japanese class

Mr. Bhat, who also teaches Japanese at Nitte with his wife Yasuko Sato, executive assistant at Nitte, said that students are taught Japanese for 40 hours (20 lessons) in the seventh or eighth semester at 50 students per batch.

“So far, 500 students have learnt Japanese,” he said, adding that Japanese will be taught either in sixth or seventh semester from next year. Since students are engaged in internship, training, and writing thesis in the eighth semester, Japanese will be taught early, he said.

“We teach students how to live in Japan and about the discipline, etiquette, punctuality, besides the language,” he said.

Collaborations

Mr. Bhat said the university has collaborated with 10 companies, and signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with six universities of Japan for the exchange of students and faculty, joint research, students’ training and employment.

Gopal Mogeraya, vice-president (Technical Education), Nitte, said that Indian students will have more avenues in Japan.

“Japan offers better quality of life. Indian students have better communication skills and are hard working. Their fundamental knowledge in mathematics, physics and chemistry and analytical abilities are better than many European students. Indian students work very hard outside India. Indians have an exponential learning attitude,” Mr. Mogeraya, a former director of National Institutes of Technology of Agartala and Goa, said.

Published - October 18, 2024 07:00 am IST