21 September, 2026
What does the world beyond college actually look like? For students, the answer often remains limited to classrooms, laboratories and textbooks until they enter the professional world themselves. An industrial visit to Electrotherm(India) Limited allowed students of the Power Electronics Department of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College (VGEC) to experience that world first-hand with the kind permission of Dr. V. S. Purani, Principal, VGEC Chandkheda and motivation from Dr I. N. Trivedi, Head, Power Electronics, VGEC Chandkheda.
The visit was organised with a broader objective than simply introducing students to industrial equipment. It was aimed at giving them a realistic understanding of how an industry functions, how engineering knowledge is applied in practice and what it means to work in a professional environment.
During the visit, students were introduced to the industrial systems and panels involved in supplying and managing power for induction furnaces, giving them a first-hand understanding of how power electronics plays a role in such high-power industrial applications. They also gained insight into how induction furnaces are used to melt iron, a material that holds significant importance for the industrial development of a growing country like India. Experiencing the process and the supporting power systems first-hand helped students connect their classroom learning with a real industrial operation.
An important aspect of the visit was the interaction with experienced industry professionals. Direct conversations with people working in the field gave students an opportunity to understand the realities of professional life beyond what can be conveyed through textbooks. Students could ask questions, understand how engineers approach practical situations and gain insights into the expectations of an industrial workplace.
The exposure also helped address an often-overlooked aspect of engineering education the hesitation students may feel before entering the industry for the first time. For many students, the professional workplace can seem unfamiliar simply because they have never experienced its environment. By stepping into an actual industrial facility while still in college, students were able to become familiar with the atmosphere, working practices, professional interactions and discipline that form part of everyday industrial life.
For students accustomed to studying power electronics through lectures, diagrams and laboratory experiments, observing such systems in operation offered a different perspective. Concepts that are usually encountered as part of the syllabus could now be understood in terms of their purpose and contribution to a larger industrial process. The experience helped students see that engineering is not merely about understanding individual components or theories, but about applying that knowledge to make real systems work safely, reliably and efficiently.
The visit therefore served as a bridge between two stages of a student's journey: learning engineering in college and eventually practising it as a professional. Experiencing the workplace beforehand can help students approach their future careers with greater awareness and less uncertainty.
