A large steel structure workshop with electrical transformers in various stages of construction scattered on the left, a few minutes walk from the university entrance, resembles a factory. A group of youngsters in similar uniform work with coils and cores as their instructor explains the construction, while a few others are involved in testing the assembled units.
This facility, on the campus of the Centurion University of Technology & Management (CUTM), at Jatni town, about 25 km from Bhubaneswar in Odisha, officials call the action learning and research lab; the youngsters its students and the instructors the teaching faculty.
From this unit — a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-accredited lab — leave 16, 25, 63, 100, 250 and 500 KVA electrical transformers, both repaired and manufactured. Among the biggest buyers was Tata Power which placed an order worth ₹3.5 crore for 352 transformers a couple of years ago. The Gram Tarang Employability Training Services (GTET), the university’s social enterprise, also secured another order for ₹17 crore.
