Author: Diksha P Gupta
Just
imagine your office and home without instruments! You will get a feel of the Stone
Age as soon as you start thinking of a world without instruments. Instruments
of different nature have become an essential part of our lives, and this is
possible only because of the instrumentation and control engineers around us.
Instrumentation
and control engineering is one of the brightest fields in engineering today. If
you look at the Indian scenario, there are many people who are willing to make
a career in this stream. There are many colleges that provide education in this
field, and to top it all, there are ‘well-paid’ jobs as well.
Sharing
his views on how instrumentation and control engineering is picking up as a
preferred career choice, P.M. Tiwari, assistant professor, Amity University
(Noida), says, “Nowadays almost all the industries are going for automation. So
instrumentation and control engineers have a role to play in all the fields
where there is automation. The industries are switching almost all their
processes to automation. Students are interested in making career in this
stream of engineering because there are job opportunities in this domain.”
Instrumentation
and control engineering is a specialised stream of engineering that deals with
measurement and control of process variables in a production process. This
discipline finds its origin in both electrical and electronics engineering, and
it covers subjects related to electronics, electrical, mechanical, chemical and
computing streams. In short, it deals with measurement, automation and control
processes.
Opportunities
A talented instrumentation and control engineer need not
worry about getting a job because he has a sky full of opportunities to explore.
Ravikant
Sharma, project manager, Honeywell International, says, “Instrumentation and
control engineering is a very vast area. As the trend of automation picks up in
the country, instrumentation and control engineers are finding more and more
opportunities. Right from R&D units to aerospace companies, thermal power
plants, steel plants, fertiliser plants, automobile companies, refineries and
cement plants, these engineers find job opportunities in almost all domains of
the world apart from instrumentation companies of course.”
The
instruments created by instrumentation and control engineers automate the
processes, reducing the involvement of manpower.
Sharma
elaborates, “Gone are the days when managers used to think about deploying
manpower to handle some processes in factories. Things have changed, courtesy
the instrumentation and control engineers. Nowadays companies resort to minimal
manpower as most of the processes are automated. Automation ensures maximum
productivity and accuracy by using minimal manpower resources. It is due to
these engineers and this stream of engineering that dependence on manpower has
reduced, bringing efficiency in the processes. Instrumentation engineers can
find jobs in both hardware and software sectors.”
There
are more number of jobs for instrumentation and control engineers in the
software sector but you should opt for your core area of expertise where you
can make use of your knowledge and skill set.
Instrumentation
and control engineers work with the industries with the goal of improving
productivity, optimization stability, reliability, safety and continuity.
These engineers design, develop, and maintain and manage the instruments and
the instrumentation systems. Instrumentation engineer is the person who takes
call on what kinds of instruments are needed for ensuring efficiency and
quality of the end product.
Nature
of job
An
instrumentation and control engineer is required to:
1. Design and develop control systems
2. Maintain the existing control systems
3. Manage the control systems
4. Collaborate with design engineers, purchasers and
other staff members involved in the production processes
5. Manage projects within the given restraints
including cost and time
6. Troubleshoot
7. Ensure that the instruments comply with health
and safety regulations
8. Ensure that quality standards are maintained
9. Provide consultancy support
Some colleges offering courses in Instrumentation and Control Engineering
|
Nirma Institute of
Technology College of Engineering
IIT Kharagpur
NIT Trichy
Ramrao Adik Institute of
Technology
Andhra University
Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College
of Engineering
Shri Guru Gobind Singhji
Institute of Engineering and Technology
Smt Indira Gandhi College of
Engineering
Dr B.R. Ambedkar National
Institute of Technology
N.M. Institute of
Engineering & Technology
|
Requirement
An instrumentation and control engineer is expected to learn
subjects like industrial instrumentation, system dynamics and process control.
Tiwari
says, “Some basics required for this job include in-depth knowledge of physics
and exceptional logical ability. Those willing to make a successful career in
this domain and find applicability in both software and hardware domains should
master subjects like microcontroller-based instrumentation,
microprocessor-based instrumentation, VLSI, computer architecture and embedded
system design. They should also be thorough with computer languages like
Fortran and ‘C.’ The job requires a lot of precision, so the person should have
a close-to-perfection attitude.”
Like
in the case of all the other engineering domains, instrumentation and control
engineers are expected to be inquisitive by nature. They should have the knack
of finding out the way things are made.
Courses
Almost all the universities (whether general or deemed) offer
a bachelor’s course in this stream. There are a host of private colleges as
well where you can apply to pursue this stream of engineering.
In
courses, you have various options to choose from:
- · BE in instrumentation engineering (four-year programme)
- · ME in instrumentation engineering (two-year programme) after BE
- · Diploma in instrumentation engineering (two-year programme)
Pay
package
Like
any other industry, the instrumentation and control engineers are paid
according to their abilities and norms of the company.
Rohit
Tickoo, director, Tycon Automation, says, “Instrumentation and control
engineers are offered decent pay packages if they are talented enough. But this
depends upon the company and nature of job as well. On an average, these
engineers are offered money varying from Rs 100,000 per annum to Rs 400,000 per
annum. Of course, the payment is comparatively better in private sector.”
Original Report:
The author is an assistant editor at EFY
