Computer Science Engineering

In the 21st century, technology is omnipresent in our lives. With a boom in the technology sector, it is proving to be a lucrative career opportunity for students, who are in the juncture to pass out from school and are considering various aspects for their future career option.Computer Science Engineering is the most popular course for the Engineering aspirants. During the counselling of the top engineering colleges, the Computer Science Engineering seats are the fastest filled among different branches.

This article of Careers360 brings to you the overview, career opportunities & scope, top colleges offering the specialization and popular companies, which recruit Computer Science Engineering graduates.

Indian consumers have over the years moved to the online platform for carrying out basic and simple tasks like shopping, booking tickets, etc. According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the year 2014 has seen unprecedented growth in E-commerce sector. Websites like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon have been contributing in the economy of India over the last couple of years. The report mentions, “Since the E-commerce industry is fast rising, changes can be seen over a year. The sector in India has grown by 34% (CAGR) since 2009 to touch 16.4 billion USD in 2014. The sector is expected to be in the range of 22 billion USD in 2015.”

Incidentally, both the founders of Flipkart, one of the biggest E-commerce retail website, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are Computer Science Engineers from IIT Delhi.  Bhavish Agarwal, Co-Founder, Ola Cabs is also a graduate of Computer Science from IIT Bombay.

Computer Science Engineering – An Overview: Over the years, Indian engineers have contributed across the world in the field of
 Computer Science Engineering. From late 19th century, several Indians have been recruited by the IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCL, Cognizant, Accenture etc. They were even recruited in the famous Silicon Valley in USA by top companies like Yahoo!, Adobe, Apple Inc, Google, Intel, etc.

Computer and related services with a share of 3.3 per cent in India’s GDP grew by 14.4 per cent in 2013-14. Information technology and business process outsourcing are among the fastest-growing sectors, having a cumulative growth rate of revenue 33.6% between 1997-1998 and 2002-2003, and contributing to 25% of the country's total exports in 2007–08. The growth in the IT sector is attributed to increased specialisation, and an availability of a large pool of low cost, highly skilled, educated and fluent English-speaking workers, on the supply side, matched with the demand side by increased demand from foreign consumers interested in India's service exports, or those looking to outsource their operations. The share of the Indian IT industry in the country's GDP increased from 4.8% in 2005–06 to 7% in 2008.

What is Computer Science Engineering?

Computer Science engineering deals with design, implementation, and management of information system of both software & hardware processes. A computer scientist specializes in theory of computation and design of computational systems.

Computer engineering or Computer Science engineering integrates several disciplines such as Information Technology, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Software Design, etc. The engineers are mainly involved in the development of software and hardware systems of various aspects of computing. The engineers not only focus on how computers work but also integrate into larger scheme of things.

Amongst all the engineering branches, computer science has been found to be the most popular choice of students. This branch of engineering is perceived to be popular due to its research scopes (bio, mechanics, neuro-science, etc) and is known to be challenging while offering good career opportunities and remuneration. M Balakrishnan, professor (computer science and engineering, IIT-D) says that computer science & engineering has been the most sought after course in the past few years and in the current one too. 

The core courses for Computer Science Engineers are as follows:

• Computer architecture and organization
• Theory of computation
• Database systems
• Electronics
• Operating systems
• Computer Networks
• Foundations of Computer Systems
• Java Programming and Website Design
• E-commerce & ERP and Multimedia Applications
• Principles of Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Compiler Design

What do you do as Computer Science Engineer?

You can work in database management, IT, embedded systems, Telecommunication, computer hardware & software implementation & maintenance, multimedia, web designing, gaming, and almost all other industries in this sector.

It is worthwhile to note that the computer industry has witnessed such phenomenal growth in recent years that IT majors like Infosys & TCS have been the major recruiters across all other branches in engineering colleges of the country.

How to pursue Computer Science Engineering?

Aspirants of Computer Science Engineering must have appeared in 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as core subjects. They have to appear for various Engineering Entrance Exams such as JEE (for IIT, NITs, IIITs, CFTIs and SFTIs), BITSAT (for BITS) and VITEEE (for VIT University) to name a few. On the basis of their performance and counselling, the candidates are allocated the engineering branch.