Turning the wheels

Automobile Engineering has taken off as a separate branch from mechanical engineering.

Work

The work involves the design, manufacture and maintenance of various types of automobiles. Automobile engineers also work on overhauling and dismantling vehicles and designing new models in order to maximise efficiency and performance. While designing vehicles, automobile engineers have to keep in mind their performance, service life and appearance and costs of production and maintenance. They also need to ensure that the vehicles adhere to the standards specified for pollution and fuel efficiency.

Automobile engineers also work on the various processes of automobile development and manufacture, effects of environmental and road conditions on automobile functioning and apply their knowledge in the production of automobiles.

Money

With a Bachelor's degree in Automobile Engineering, you can get a starting salary ranging from Rs. 6,500 to Rs.8,500 or more per month. Diploma holders get around Rs.3,500 to Rs.5,500 a month. 

Attributes

Analytical and numerical skills, creativity, problem solving abilities, teamwork, all these are essential for a successful career in automobile engineering.

Job opportunities

The opening up of the Indian automobile industry to foreign manufacturers has meant an increase in the employment opportunities for automobile engineers. Many of the worlds leading car, two-wheeler and truck manufacturers like Suzuki, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, Volvo, Daewoo and Honda have a presence in India, leading to a boom in the auto industry.

Automobile engineers can find employment opportunities with car manufactures, two-wheeler manufactures and truck manufacturers. They can also work in Research and Development organisations. Car designing is also another well-paying option.

They are also employed by automobile garages and workshops, State Transport Undertakings, Defence Services, insurance companies and technical institutions.

Entry

In order to become a qualified engineer you need to have a graduate degree (B.E/B.Tech) or a diploma. You can either be an Automobile Engineer or a Mechanical engineer in order to enter this field. With a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, you can do a Master's in mechanical engineering with specialisation in Automobile Engineering.

Eligibility:

To apply for a BE/B.Tech degree, you need to have cleared 10+2 or its equivalent examination, with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

Admission to all Engineering courses is on the basis of merit/marks secured in the final exams of 10+2 (with science subjects) or on the basis of entrance exams (joint entrance exam / JEE for the IIT's and separate state level and national level exams for other institutions). Engineering courses are available at two levels.

Courses at the graduate and postgraduate levels are offered by the engineering colleges, Institutes of Technology (IITs), and polytechnics.

The six Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur and Guwahati, and the Institute of Technology (BHU) at Varanasi, conduct the Joint Entrance Examination for admission jointly.

There are also 17 Regional Engineering colleges all over the country which offer admission in various branches of engineering, on the basis of marks obtained in the Class 12 examination.

The duration of the BE/B.Tech course is four years whereas the diploma courses are of 2-3 years' duration.

Educational Institutions

Some of the premier engineering colleges in India are:

Indian Institute of Technology (New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,Guwahati, Kanpur and Kharagpur)

Regional Engineering Colleges (Warangal, Andhra Pradesh; Silchar, Assam ; Jamshedpur, Bihar ; Surat, Gujarat ; Kurukshetra, Haryana; Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir; Surathkal, Karnataka ; Calicut, Kerala ; Visvesvaraya REC, Nagpur, Maharashtra ; Rourkela, Orissa ; Jaipur, Rajasthan ; Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu ; Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh ; Durgapur, West Bengal ; Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh ; Jalandhar, Punjab.)

Birla Institute of Technology (BITS) - (Pilani and Ranchi.)

Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi

University of Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh

Jadavpur University, Calcutta.