In India, engineering is one of the preferred choices for good students ready to undertake the undergraduate education after 12 years high school/junior college education. Rapid economic growth (8-9%) in past several years has fuelled a demand for engineering graduates. The enrolment of undergraduates in chemical engineering in India has steadily increased and currently about 150 colleges produce 8000 graduates year. In globalized market place, the engineering education should not only address the local demands but also prepare graduates to compete internationally for gainful employment. There is a considerable debate and discussion in chemical engineering community world-wide about the challenges faced in the globalized market place and the need to reform the chemical engineering education. Indeed, several concrete steps such as redrafting the curriculum with focus on molecular sciences, new teaching methodologies and their assessment the effectiveness of teaching, and imparting self-learning skills to the students have been implemented in several countries. This presentation will address these issues as they relate in particular to India. Government funded institutes and programs are growing in number but the rate of increase is not commensurate with the demand for enrolment in engineering programs. As a result, the participation of private sector in undergraduate education has increased several folds. The growth in the number and size of such programs has led to the growing demand for appropriate engineering educators. This has also led to a certain degree of heterogeneity in quality of the chemical engineering education in India.

This presentation analyzes the current trends in chemical engineering education in India and discusses some strategies that needs to be adopted, and compares several aspects with the situation in the US, which is quite different, and where well established Departments and Institutes are accommodating the changes in various ways.