There are two kinds of people in Civil Engineering.
One, who study to score marks.
And other, who don’t study.
Welcome folks to your very own Civil Department! I would prefer you invent a new category for yourself : people who study, but not for marks. At least that’s what I have tried to do in the past 2 years. You’ll find soon, that the practical experience here is worlds apart from the theoretical knowledge you gain.
As you take your first step into this department, allow me to take you through all the courses you will learn and how I studied (read : survived) them.
ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS – III
Faculty : Mr. A Sessappa Rai
This time around, you might find Maths easier than in previous two sems. Specially if you get this faculty, you will feel so. He is exactly what you can expect a good faculty to be : teaches well, isn’t very strict with you, gladly solves every inch of your doubts and doesn’t mind if you use cellphone in class (the last point brought a smile to your face, right? :P). Just try asking a random doubt here and there so that he will feel you’re understanding all that is happening in the class.
His notes aren’t mere notes. They are the Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita. You can expect most of the questions asked in sessionals from his notes itself. So even if you get some other faculty, it will be wise to ask a friend of yours from the class he’s taking to share the notes.
It’s a very standard thing to say, but I would still stress on it : please take assignments seriously. Solve it on your own. 40% of the questions asked in end sems were from the assignments. If you copy, then sure as hell you won’t be able to solve them during that time. Or it may take much more time.
REFERENCES
As discussed earlier, notes are sufficient. Even if required, you might be having B. S. Grewal (I presume so :P). That would be enough.
FLUID MECHANICS
Faculty : Mr. Abhimanyu U and Ms. Gicy Kuvoor
This is a mixed motley of theory, derivations and numericals. There are two parts to the course : Kinematics, taught to us by Abhimanyu sir and Dynamics, taught by Gicy Ma’am. It might take some strain in visualizing the concepts. But it is no “Mission Impossible”. Just be regular in class and you will get past this 4-credit course without much difficulty.
REFERENCES
Though the teachers would recommend P.N. Modi and S.M. Seth, but I would prefer R.K. Bansal. The latter covers most of the concepts and is also explained better than in the other book
MECHANICS OF STRUCTURE
Faculty : B.H.V Pai (Our Joint Director)
By the name, you must have guessed that it is the continuation of your first year’s Mechanics of Solids. You will see courses that deal with analyzing problems as this one in almost every semester from now. So to ensure a smooth flow through the advanced concepts, you need to keep the basics now as strong as you can.
Again, it is a 4-credit armour that will strike you hard if you choose to ignore!
REFERENCES
You can follow your faculty’s recommendation. I went with Basavarajaiah and Mahadevappa. S.G Gupta and Pandit is good if you want some in depth knowledge. Come what may, don’t touch any foreign author books. At least not at this stage.
BUILDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Faculty : Mr. Ganesh Kini
Breathe easy ladies and gentlemen. This should be a smooth ride! It’s all mug-up game. You might have to give a bit more time during exams, considering how vast the portion becomes. But there won’t be much problems as such. You will have notes, you will have slides.
You can imagine how boring the class would be, given the fact that everything is taught on presentation. But fortunately we had Ganesh Sir who never allowed that to happen!
REFERENCES
Teachers might force you to buy M.S. Shetty, but it wasn’t used much. When you have the slides, then why the book!? But keep a soft copy anyways. Just in case.
BASIC SURVEYING
Faculty : Mr. Prasanna Kumar
This course is more faculty-dependent. We were lucky to have Prasanna Sir for us. He is a textbook definition of how a great faculty should be : keeps the class engaging and instills the concept with crystal clarity.
But don’t take his easy-going attitude lightly. Use your phone, enter late in class or cheat during assignments and you will face his wrath!
You will be having the corresponding lab for the course in the next semester.
REFERENCES
B.C. Punmia & S.K. Duggal
You might find Duggal a bit boring, but it is an important book. Not only for this course, but for future references as well. I would suggest you buy it.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
Faculty : Mr. Narayana Shenoy
Most of the topics in this course are pretty standard, which someone with no civil engineering background would also easily answer. No numericals, just general topics like earthquakes, tsunami are taught.
Naturally, this also means that the cut offs go high. If you really want to see a nice A+ in the end, make sure you don’t make even the slightest mistakes in the sessionals. You may tend to write answers longer than required which will eat into your time. Try to be as concise as you can.
Diagrams, figures are of utmost importance. Practice them well and even colour them if you can. That can fetch you some bonus marks.
REFERENCES
You might need Parbin Singh for some topics at the end.
BUILDING DESIGN AND DRAWING LAB
Three Hours. Nothing to do but just draw. Sounds exciting. No, right?
Add to that the fact that you need to stand for the entire time, because a lab made for civil engineers couldn’t make the chairs and tables ergonomic enough to help us sit and draw, you will be completely tired and bored after every lab. You just have to suffer through it.
MATERIAL TESTING LAB
Nothing to worry about this one. Lab assistants are not only helpful, but also friendly and funny! It was a blast actually to be in this lab!
So all said and done, this semester is the easiest to sail through. But, it is also increasingly important that you score your absolute best here! It is like God giving you a second chance if you couldn’t score a decent CGPA in the first year. Take every conceivable advantage of it, don’t take studies for granted and I’m sure you will be smiling a lot on your result day!
If you ask me, I did pretty well, but could have done a lot better. As the GPAs would be falling from here at an alarming rate, I could have gained a better momentum that I have right now.
I regret it, but you shouldn’t! Enjoy your days in Manipal as much as you can. But when it’s study time, do so sincerely and diligently. It is not about how much you study but how you study that matters.
Hope this guide would help you through the sem. Any feedback/doubts, you can leave a comment here and I will answer for sure! 🙂
Goodbye and good luck!
EDITOR’S NOTE
Hey there everyone! Hope you found it all helpful. Thanks a ton for doing this! I had done this for EEE and with the kind of response I got for that, I thought why just EEE should have the fun!? I truly appreciate the efforts you have put in!
You, my dear readers can extend your gratitude by leaving any suggestions or feedback. If you want to see some of my work, just browse on this website, or like the facebook page to get the latest ones first. We will be having a study guide for the 5th sem as well. And if you guys ask for it, maybe we could do this for the 4th sem too!
Thank you again, for reading. And all the best for your journey as a civil engineer ahead!
THE VIKHYATH TIMES 