Feature

RAJSHAHI UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Glorious 45 Years of Engineering Excellence

Md.Mamun Abdul Kaioum

IF you visit Rajshahi, you can see that Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) is located on the north side of Rajshahi-Natore-Dhaka road at Kazla which is only 5 kilometers east of Rajshahi city. Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) has an objective of achieving excellence in higher education, research, and development in the field of engineering and technology and to contribute for home and abroad. Rajshahi University of engineering and Technology turned 45 in 2009. RUET is the second oldest engineering university across the country. It is the only full-fledged engineering university in the northern part of Bangladesh. The motto of this institution is "Heaven's Light is Our Guide".

The University was established in 1964 as a faculty of engineering under the Rajshahi University to provide four-year Bachelor degree in Civil, Electrical and Electronic and Mechanical Engineering. Initially the institution could not achieve its goal due to a complicated management system. At that time the administration was controlled by the Ministry of Education and academic curriculum was controlled by Rajshahi University. The infrastructural development and maintenance was however taken care of by the Public Works Department of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. To remove these kinds of aforesaid problems several committees and commissions were formed since 1973. On the recommendation of these committees and commissions, the institution took a historical step to give autonomy with other three Engineering Colleges. To implement the motto government formed a fifteen member committee. The then Vice Chancellor of Bangladesh Engineering of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Prof. Dr. Wahid Uddin Ahmed was chief of the commission. Although the consistent effort of this committee ultimately led to the establishment of Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT) in July 1986, due to limited autonomy and some constitutional inadequacies of the BIT ordinance, the expected progress of the Institutions could not be achieved. This ultimately necessitated reframing the Institutes as full-fledged universities. Due to the development of engineering education it was the appropriate steps to convert the 4 BITs to Engineering and Technological Universities. The parliament passed the university bill and that ultimately paved the way to commence the activities of university from September 1, 2002. The name of the institution became Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET). Professor Keramat Ali Molla was the first Vice Chancellor of this university.

Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology is situated on a 150 acres (0.61 km2) land of Rajshahi City corporation. The campus of this institution is well known as green campus with many varieties of trees, picturesque scenery around campus and out of campus. The campus also presents a spectacular harmony of architecture and natural beauty.

RUET attracts attention due to its educational atmosphere free of session jam. The teachers and students here have a very congenial relationship with one another. As a result the academic activities here are also very active and administration is free of corruption. The achievement of a university partially depends on how its students contribute to the country. Graduates from RUET work all around the home and abroad in many renowned companies. Many engineers from this university have internationally recognized papers and many of these thesis papers are actually of very high quality. Many student projects from this university have earned fame for their merit.

The central library is furnished with sufficient number books and journals. Each academic department maintains two separate libraries. Audiovisual system is available for studying audio and video documents. RUET has a total of ten laboratories to perform various experiments and to conduct research work. Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology is a full-fledged residential institution .There are 5 residential halls for the male students and one for female students. Several departments sometimes arrange national and international seminar and symposium related to engineering matters. RUET has an updated public relation office headed by media personality GM Mourtoza .

(Writer is a student of Mass Communication and Journalism of Rajshahi University.)