Established in 2004, REVA Group of Institutions was the dream and brainchild of Late. Rukmini Shyama Raju, wife of Hon’ble Chancellor, REVA University, Dr.P. Shyama Raju. With a humble beginning of just 150 students, today, REVA University educates and empowers over 15,000 students. It has large network of over 30,000 alumni and 250 international students from 27 countries. In 2013, the Government of Karnataka granted the institution University status and encouraged them to take forward their mission to empower the youth and give back to society.
When Dr. Shyama Raju founded the university, he intended to create green pastures for academics to bloom, and blossom into a new way to approach education. To this goal, he planned to have the best team in place. REVA University has faculty from all walks of life with vast industry experience who have pursued research in eminent institutions like IITs and IIMs from across the country. They are trained to conduct multi-disciplinary programmes, align workshops and training sessions in line with the demands of the industries, and offer hands-on learning experience.
“We aim to be the top educational destination in India with futuristic specialisations. We offer advanced certification programmes and company-specific, industry-oriented training programmes that mould students to work in the post-pandemic era,” says Dr. Shyama Raju.
Spread over a 45-acre lush green campus, students and alumni at REVA University vouch for the extremely unique academic and physical infrastructure present on the campus. This includes 200 smart classrooms that support blending learning, real industry-like labs that foster on-the-job learning in students, a tech-enabled library with more than 1 lakh books, and most importantly, modern pedagogy. In addition to this, the physical infrastructure includes outdoor classrooms, sports grounds, a professional gym, open study parks for peer learning, and a food court that has counters of popular food chains.
“Our campus is the most student-friendly campus with an open-air theatre spread over 2 acres, an amphitheatre for cultural activities, hostel amenities, and a brand store that’s on a par with international standards,” shares Dr. Shyama Raju.
The 200-odd smart classrooms at REVA are designed to support blended learning and support moodle, and Lecture Capturing systems, and other tech-infrastrcutue. Students find this very beneficial as notes and assignments are populated easily through moodle and ensure timely submissions. The Lecture Capturing system is used by faculty members to beam offline course material to students online, and can be used to learn and relearn the concepts taught in class. “Classroom learning is engaging and interesting as we use ICT-based pedagogy apart from Moodle. Additonally, we have introduced tab-based assessments for students that make assessments a hassle-free process and the evaluation error-free and quick,” Dr. Shyama Raju says.
To get students future-ready, the university has seven centres of excellence that are industry-driven and led by tech giants like Toyota. These centres house the most advanced labs that match industry standards and are set up based on the recommendations of experts from the field. For the benefit of students and to support their learning endeavours, the university also has an extensive library with over 1.5 lakh books and a research centre for quality research, knowledge and theoretical information. With research being recognised as the primary activity to enhance the teaching and learning process, students are inspired to conduct superior quality research that addresses societal issues and applies science and technology to find innovative solutions.
Fostering Innovation
REVA University has established a separate division that aims to continuously liaise with various funding agencies, R&D institutions, industries, and faculty members to facilitate the undertaking of innovative research in cutting-edge areas of application and social relevance.
This helps faculty members at REVA to interact with scientists and experts from different fields and be updated on the developments in their respective fields, and exchange ideas for innovation. This research culture helps students formulate research policies and identify thrust areas of research. It also provides training to young faculty members to prepare research proposals or for writing technical articles and encourages interdisciplinary research.
At the School of Management and School of Commerce at REVA University, Business Labs have been set up to allow students to gain insights about business activities under replicated real-life business scenarios. The state-of-the-art facilities and technology incorporated in the business labs enable the students to study the working methodology of various businesses. “The business lab helps to inculcate knowledge and practical skills in students that help them to prepare for future employment and entrepreneurship. It provides industry-based training in the form of presentations, case studies, industrial visits, internships, and expert interaction,” says Dr. Shyama Raju.
REVA University provides excellent education and is a shortlisted university among major recruiters due to its exclusive internship model and unique skill development courses. The university has done extensive collaborations with leading companies, giving students an opportunity to explore their skills and sharpen them.
One of their most recent collaborations has been with Tech Mahindra Foundation to provide employability training to university students and the community. Another such collaboration is with Vodafone to spread awareness about trending domains such as Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and more. The university has also collaborated with startups that have benefitted the institution. One such startup is Workbench, which helped create Fablabs within the university to help entrepreneurs access equipment required to create market-ready products.
“As many as 31 startups are being incubated within the campus of REVA University with our Technology Business Incubator – REVA NEST. The startups are involved in research discussions with faculty members as well as providing learning opportunities via internships for students,” shares Dr. Shyama Raju.
REVA NEST, a technology business incubator on the campus, is committed to helping explore students’ entrepreneurial ideas, nurturing and assisting them in developing a startup spirit within them. The dedicated workspace is used to obtain practical knowledge and exposure and promote entrepreneurial awareness through various practical lessons and sessions. Collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India has helped reach 500+ students alone in the last couple of years, and REVA NEST has incubated 31 startups thus far. “REVA University has a determined stand to provide the best incubation facilities to our students who wish to begin their entrepreneurial journey and become successful entrepreneurs in their choses fields,” Dr. Shyama Raju shares.
Apart from this, REVA University has also done successful international collaborations with organisations like Japan Information Centre and Toyota Centre of Excellence. “REVA University is proud to have collaborated with leading industries in the fields of engineering and sciences. The industry collaboration has helped our students obtain the best possible exposure, learning experiences that have made them capable of solving real-world problems,” says Dr. Shyama Raju.
Finding Positive Challenges Amid the Pandemic
The Chancellor believes the pandemic posed ‘positives challenges’ and led them to work harder for the welfare of their students. “We shifted to online classes from offline classes within 3 days. REVA was digitally forward to take online attendance, assessments, evaluation, and online examination and maintains strict COVID appropriate behaviour on campus, even when the university has 100% fully vaccinated staff,” he shares.
By assessing the demands of the future job market, this year, REVA has introduced 24 new programmes for the academic year 2021-22 including advanced specialisations like AI, ML, Robotics and Automation, and Data Security. Specialisations in non-engineering courses like Cyber Security, Healthcare Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Criminal Law have been introduced considering the job opportunities of the future market. Students are also being trained in offline and online internships to prepare them for remote work and new work dynamics in the post pandemic era.
REVA strives to be the top education destination in India, offering the country’s most advanced and futuristic education. With the current trends in mind, REVA moulds students to work in a post-pandemic world and adjust to the new ways of work culture.
