TitleAuthor

ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS

Higher Engineering Mathematics 42 EditionB. S. Grewal

GATE Engineering Mathematics: Multiple Choice Questions 1st EditionR. K. Kanodia

NETWORKS

Network Analysis 3 EditionM. E. Van Valkenburg

Engineering Circuit Analysis 8th EditionWilliam H. Hayt,Steven M. Durbin,Jack E. Kemmerly

ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Physics of Semiconductor Devices 3 EditionS.M.Sze,Kwok K. Ng

Solid State Electronic Devices 6 EditionBen G. Streetman,Sanjay Banerjee

Integrated Electronics : Analog and Digital Circuits and Systems 2 EditionJacob Millman,Christos Halkias,Chetan Parikh

Microelectronic Circuits : Theory and Applications (With CD) 5 EditionAdel S. Sedra,Kenneth C. Smith

ANALOG CIRCUITS

Integrated Electronics: Analog and Digital Circuits and Systems 2 EditionJacob Millman,Christos Halkias,Chetan Parikh

Electronic Devices and Circuits 5 EditionDavid A. Bell

Electronic Principles 7 EditionAlbert Malvino,David J Bates

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory 10 EditionLouis Nashelsky,Robert L. Boylestad

Op-Amps and Linear Integrated Circuits 4 EditionRamakant A. Gayakwad

Electronic Devices and CircuitsJ. B. Gupta

DIGITAL CIRCUITS

Digital Design (With CD) 4 EditionM. Morris Mano,Michael D. Ciletti

Modern Digital Electronics 4 EditionR P Jain

DIGITAL ELECTRONICS [ANNA] 1st EditionS SALIVAHANAN,ARIVAZHAGAN

Microprocessor Architecture, Programming and Applications with the 8085 6/eGaonkar

SIGNALS & SYSTEMS

Signals and Systems 2 EditionAlan V. Oppenheim,Alan S. Willsky,S. Hamid Nawab

Digital Signal Processing : Principles, Algorithms and Applications 4 EditionJohn G. Proakis,Dimitris G Manolakis

CONTROL SYSTEMS

Control Systems Engineering 5 EditionMadan Gopal,I. J. Nagrath

Automatic Control Systems (With CD) 8 EditionBenjamin C. Kuo,Farid Golnaraghi

COMMUNICATIONS

Communication Systems 5 EditionSimon Haykin,Michael Moher

Principles of Communication Systems 4th EditionHerbert Taub,Goutam Saha,Donald L. Schilling

Communication Systems: Analog And Digital 3rd Edition 3rd EditionR P Singh,S D Sapre

Electronic Communication Systems 5 EditionBernard Davis,S.Rr.M. Prasanna,George Kennedy

ELECTROMAGNETICS

Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating Systems 2 EditionK. G Balmain,E. C Jordan

Microwaves 1st EditionK. C. Gupta

Microwave Devices and Circuits 3 EditionSamuel Y. Liao

Antenna and Wave PropagationK D Prasad

In this article,Careers360 speaks with Prof. Kishore Kashyap, Director of Logic Gate Studies, Raipur. He has also authored ECE for GATE by Mc Graw Hill Publication. Prof. Kashyap did his M.Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 2005.

Careers360:What factors should students consider while taking decision if he should take up a job, prepare forGATEor take some new stream eg. MBA?Prof. Kashyap:While taking any decision about the career student should focus on following factors1. Self-knowledgeStudent must have knowledge or understanding of one's own capabilities, character, feelings, or motivations. The decision of going for job or prepare for GATE or any other competitive exam should be taken on the basis of own capabilities, it should not be influenced by friends decision.2. Knowledge of career optionsIf someone is opting for job then he/she must have the knowledge about work culture, job profile, salary growth plan, income and benefits, location of job, work environment, prospects and advancement etc.If someone is opting for higher studies then he/she must have the knowledge about study culture of Mtech or MBA, pedagogy, colleges, fee structure, stipends and other benefits, campus placement, etc.Click Hereto read an advisory on preparing for GATE with Job or final year studies.

Careers360:What is ideal time one should start preparation forGATE? How difficult isGATEfor students coming from average rated and state level colleges?Prof. Kashyap:No wrong time to start the right thing. In most of the universities across India GATE syllabus of ECE is covered in 3rd to 6th semester, so it is good to start preparing forGATEfrom 3rd semester. Qualified faculty crisis is a major problem in average rated and state level colleges, and most of the students in these colleges struggle to pass the semester exams,GATEis a far cry for them.Students have to rely on coaching classes and questions banks to fight the semester exams after all these if patience permits then they can think about crackingGATE.If I tell you frankly, there are colleges that are below average. And I am rating them not on the basis of rank of students who got admissions only but quality of faculties that teach them for 4 years. Poor quality of faculty doesnt give them opportunity to prepare for national exams like GATE. Most of the students in such colleges dont really think at all toprepare for GATE.Also, focus of major section remains in campus placement rather than higher education.

Careers360:GATE 2014will see some changes and one crucial isGATE 2014goes online. Will it make any difference to the candidates?Prof. Kashyap:I dont think exam going online should make any difference. The candidates are all engineers should be pretty familiar with computers. Its just that if you give even 2-3 mock papers nothing will be new for them in examination.Change is for all it meansonline GATE examwill affect all GATE aspirants, because all student have the habit of solving the problem of circuits in the given diagram of question paper itself but in online test they have to draw the circuit diagram in paper first then only they can solve it, hence problem with circuit diagram will take extra time. Compared to other branches like Computer Science, students of branches like ECE or Electrical Engineering would be at disadvantage.IIT should provide at least one full sample paper so thatGATE aspirantcan get accustom to the question paper pattern and appearance. If I tell you about my students, they have lot of questions related to the functions that will be provided in online exam. If 1 mock paper is released it will ease up the worries of students.

Careers360:There are approximately 5 months left forGATE 2014. What should be the strategy and focus area for the aspirants at this point?Prof. Kashyap:Ideally, students must try to complete the syllabus of GATE by the end of November and they should keep December reserved for revision. In January and February students should solve previous year questions papers, exercise problems and Mock tests and work on the weak points only.If a student has not started the preparation yet, I assure you, GATE is an achievable target. I have come across students who started preparation in September-October and score very well in GATE. You have around 4 months in hand if you start your preparation now, if you devote 5-6 hours daily the goal is in reach. Ensure you make your study plan according to the syllabus. The syllabus precisely mentions the topics and you should make your plan accordingly. Do solve all the questions from GATEs last 10 year Papers. This will give you clarity on the exam pattern and type of questions that may be asked this year.

Important Topics for GATE 2014 ECE Branch Candidates: Engineering Mathematics Control Systems Signal Theory Circuit Theory Digital Circuits etc.These topics are given comparatively higher weightage so you must give more time and efforts on them. Topics like Digital Communication and Antenna are comparatively tough and needs more time to study. If you have not yet started preparation, you can skip the topics like these and can focus on other important topics as time is very limited.

Careers360:A big percentage ofGATE Aspirantsare also aiming at lucrativePSU Jobs. Also do students opt for research as career after M.Tech?Prof. Kashyap:If you are appearing inGATE for PSU jobsthen competition is very tough because you have to be in top 300 students to get a interview call from PSUs. For admission in Mtech course in IITs you can get call for 1000 rank also.-In PSUs, majority of seats are for Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering candidates. The numbers of seats for Electronics and Communication Engineering candidates are very limited. A rank below 500 can get you into PSU. Based on salary offered,NTPC, ONGC,IOCLcan be considered as best PSUs for ECE candidates.-One can get admission into old IITs at rank upto 1500 for MS courses or in the interdisciplinary courses. MS is a 3 year course whereas M.Tech is 2 year course.Click Hereto read an advisory on what value can an M.Tech from IIT brings!-New IITs like IIT Hyderabad are also offering integrated courses of M.Tech+PhD which can also be considered.-Also, IITs are good and comparable on International platform. The faculties are world class which gives opportunity to learn from best faculties globally.-Not many students opt for research as career majorly because of family pressure and peer pressure. In India we are judged on what we earn but not on what we learn. If I talk about IIT Delhi from where I studied, not many students opted for career in research (Only students with 9+ CGPA opted for PhD majorly).Click Hereto read an analysis on IITians choosing research as career.-You should go into research only and only if thats what your passion is. After investing 4 years of graduation, 2/3 years in masters and 2-4 years in PhD if you find out thats not you wanted to do, that cannot be a good state to be in.

Careers360:A lot of GATE Aspirants also prepare for IES or vice versa. How should one balance the preparation ofIESandGATE?Prof. Kashyap:In GATE exam all the questions are numerical based, you wont find questions based on theory. In IES technical part objective questions are based on theory and numerical questions are very straight forward. Hence for GATE preparations one has to be good in solving numerical questions, whereas for IES theoretical part should also be strong. Forsubjective paper in IES, student must know the basic theory, derivation and related numerical for almost all the topics.There are about 50-60 seats for ECE candidates in IES (Approx). IES is like elite club of students who studied very well with full dedication. It can be compared to Civil Services (IAS). Now here its not just theory that takes you there, its overall personality and how practical you are about implementing what you have studied.

Careers360:What exams other than GATE student can appear in? How different is preparing for other exams when compared with GATE?Prof. Kashyap:While preparing for GATE students can appear inPSU examslike, SAIL, DRDO, ISRO, HAL , State electricity board etc. State conduct examinations for recruiting for its departments like PWD, State Electricity Board, Prasar Bharti etc that can also be good option for the candidates.Click Hereto know all about PSU Hiring through GATE 2014!There are state level PG exams as well the students can opt but GATE is biggest examination in India and score is accepted nationally. Also MHRD provides stipend to candidates who have GATE scores in IITs/NITs/State Level Govt. colleges as well which is roughly around 8,000 INR.

Careers360:Electronics and Communication Engg. Attracts highest number of GATE registrations. Does it make the competition even difficult?Prof. Kashyap:Now a days, companies are hiring lesser number of Electronics and Communication Engineers, you find more number of jobless Electronics and Communication Engineers as compared to Engineers of other branches. If engineers dont have any option then they go forGATEexams.Since PSU option is limited M.Tech is major option. To get into IIT, a candidate might be facing interview too.The interview at IIT would not be as like of PSUs.PSU interviewwill be intense and they would be looking for your practical and analytical skills along with theoretical knowledge. Only a good GATE score cannot get youPSU job.Generally 4:1 ratio is followed in PSUs so one must ensure he/she is clear about his subject, skills, projects/internships done in graduation and basic interview questions.

Careers360:What should be the time management strategy of aGATE Aspirant? Is it possible for a working professional prepare andcrack GATE?Prof. Kashyap:Student should study in sessions of 3 or 4 hours. One session in morning and another session in night are sufficient. One should try to make a group of 3 to 4 GATE aspirants of same stream because group study is very helpful.

Careers360:How would you rate the importance of Mock Tests? How should a student plan to check his status using mock examinations?Prof. Kashyap:Mock tests are self assessment tests, these tests will help the students to identify the weak areas, and student can improve their performance by rectifying weak points. AlsoGATE 2014candidates must ensure they practice few online mock papers to get habitual to the pattern.

Careers360:Please suggest books for Electronics and Communication Engg Aspirants of GATE.Prof. Kashyap:Other than the book I have authoredECE for GATE (Mc Graw Hill Publication), students should follow: Network Schaums Series for Electric Circuit Signals and Systems Schaums Series for Signals and Systems Control Systems - Linear Control System by B.S. Manke Electronic Devices Semiconductor physics and Devices by Donald Neamen Analog Circuits Electronic Circuits by Donald Neamen Digital Circuits Digital Fundamentals by Thomas L. Floyd Electromagnetics Elements of Electromagnetics by M.E. Sadiku Engineering Maths B.S. Grewal Communication System Schaums Series for Analog and Digital Communication

Careers360:Any other message you would like to share with theGATE 2014 aspirants?Prof. Kashyap:Solve more and more number of numerical questions and solve previous 10 to 15 years GATE questions.Student this its all technical and keeps on working on books and questions.GATEhas specified syllabus clearly and planning should be done accordingly. Previous year question is a must. There is section of aptitude of 15 marks and its not tough at all. So English part should be worked a bit to score well. I am sure if students give regular effort from now on itself they can do well in this yearsGATE. I wish good luck to all theGATE 2014 aspirants

ESE OBJECTIVE and CONVENTIONAL PAPERSSince both papers have common syllabus so it is advisable to prepare for both together, one subject at a time. First categorise subjects as GATE and Non-GATE subjects and take one standard book per subject. I have mentioned books I referred to during my preparation. GATE Subjects must be focused upon most for technical section. Booklist is mentioned below:1.NETWORK THEORY: SADIKU (or) VALKENBURG + SCHAUMs SERIES2. EDC : MILLMAN, HALIKAS + STREETMAN +SCHAUMs SERIES3. ANALOG ELECTRONICS : MILLMAN, HALKIAS + SEDRA SMITH (or DONALD NEAMEN)+SCHAUMs SERIES4. DIGITAL ELECTRONICS : MORRIS MANO5. EMT : SADIKU6. SIGNALS & SYSTEMS : OPPENHEIM + SCHAUMs SERIES7. COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING : SIMON HAYKINS (or) BP LATHI + P SRI HARI (for Digital Modulation) + SCHAUMs SERIES8. CONTROL SYSTEMS : BS MANKE + SCHAUMs SERIES9. MICROPROCESSORSR. GAONKAR For non-GATE subjects, books are not recommended as the syllabus is selective and books are vast. Still some topics are important, so the list is as follows:10. MATERIAL SCIENCES.P. SETH11. MEASUREMENTSA.K. SAWHNEY12. OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONSENIOR13. SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONPRATT & BOSTIAN14. COMPUTER ENGINEERINGSTALLING15. MICROWAVE ENGINEERINGSAMUEL L. LIAO But I had mostly used different coaching institutes class notes for these non-GATE subjects available in market and selected numericals from books. All GATE subjectsare core ones must not be ignored and prepared thoroughly forboth Objective and Conventional. Non-GATE subjects must be prepared for conventional. Focus more on important derivations and numerical questions must be thoroughly studied. For example Microwave by Samuel Liao has many solved examples that come as it is in ESE conventional. But for Objective papers too-much in depth knowledge may be required which may not be feasible in an 8 to 10 months preparation time, so it can be left out. Anyways, if conventional concepts are strong one can expect to score above average marks in Objective questions from these Non-GATE subjects. How to prepare?12 months of preparation for 12 hours of exam. Go one subject at a time. Preferably start with GATE subjects. Theorder of the subjectswhich I felt most comfortable with isthe sameas mentioned in the above list. Mark the relevant chapters/topics from syllabus. Read the theory first from book. Make point wise notes and mark the points you are not comfortable with. Read and solve solved examples and objective questions first from book. Then go for past years question banks of ESE,first Objective then Conventional. Mark the questions you are not comfortable with and whenever possible discuss with friends or teachers. None of the notes available from various sources arecomprehensive. Mostly they are made keeping view of past 5 years questions. I have seen cases where after reading notes you can solve past years questions but not unseen questions. So notes arenot exhaustive. And if everybody is reading from same notes,where is your advantage?Remember that there is no absolute cut-off. So, reading books is a much better option. Coaching classes arenot absolutely requiredif you can prepare from books. Self developed style of answering adds weightage to your answers and may even get bonus marks. But if you feel you must join any coaching institute,do not always go by their published results. First enquire about the who is going to teach you. As many coaching institutes falsely claim famous faculties. Also inquire aboutstudent-to-faculty ratiobecause if you dont getdoubt sessions and personal attentionfrom faculty, then you are wasting yourtimeand money. Also it is better to have faculty who have themselves cleared exams like GATE, ESE with good ranks because they are better at understanding your doubts and problems. One subject after the other is the best strategy. Roughly, 3 to 4 weeks is sufficient for any subject.Do not mix up.After having finished one subject, make a short summary of your notes whichmust include marked points, marked questions and any silly mistakes if done. This will serve as a ready-to-revise and time-saving content in the last phase of preparation. It is highly recommended toNOTstudy the whole book butselectivelydeal with topics. About 6 to 7 hours dedicated to one technical subject per day, apart from 2 to 3 hours for GS + English, will suffice in a 12 month preparation time. It is not required to study all the time. But mind should be always with your notes and questions and doubts.Do not doubt your doubts, they are always legit.A friends circle with like-minded aspirants where you can put your doubts and discuss is highly recommended.Keep asking. If possible upload them onFacebook, we will be more than happy to help if we could. How to practice? First finish books and solved examples. Since objective papers lay more emphasis on speed than accuracy, so practise accordingly.45 seconds per questionis sufficient. Try finishing 120 questions within1h 30minutes. Conventional papers must be practised with good-writing on plain white sheets. In fact,choose one penand use it till exam for lasting grip. Write legit answers. Roughly 5 marks questions require th of space on one page surface and in that proportion. Always write point wise. Mark questions not answered and note them in your summary sheet.Revision Keep at leastlast 2 to 3 monthsfor revision. First revise your entire notes and then reviseonly your short summaryprepared earlier. Textbooksshould nothave any role in revision. The more you revise, better you get at recalling concepts in the exam. Now no needto see more practice question. Focus more on past years questions bank. Ideally, 10 or 15 years questions bank is more than sufficient. Identify your strong and weak areas during preparation. Revise weak areas more than stronger ones. It is highly recommended to join sometest seriesto gauge your preparation. Treat it asreal test. The more the number of aspirants in a given test series, the better you will realize where you stand. For example I consistently got within top 5 in every test I gave at M.E.Dos and Donts during exam

Read the instructions carefully. Objective papersrequire more speed than accuracy. Limited number of calculated risks can be taken. While attempting objective paper,turning pages for rough workwill consumeunnecessary time. Prefer doing rough work withpencilon the side of the question and then if required with ared penover the pencil.Do notencircle bubblesimmediately. Mark answers in question paper with red pen for visibility and before the end of exam encircle sequentially. Mark questions you think you can answer later. Try finishing all known answers in 1h30min (45 seconds per question) keeping 20 minutes for attempting marked questions and 10 minutes for encircling. Do not look at watch frequently. Conventional papersrequire in-depth knowledge, style of presentation and relevant content in answering.a)Write answers serially as per question numbers. Usually, 1stquestion is compulsory. Attempt all parts. Then read the rest of questions and mark the questions you wish to attempt. No need to show calculations in detail or irrelevant knowledge.b)Write answers with question numbers sequentially. Random answering is annoying for the person who checks your sheet.c)It is always better to write answers point wise. Draw neat diagrams, preferably with pencil, with proper labels. Derivations or results if used must be mentioned. Draw a pencil line after every question to demarcate answers.d)Rough work must be crossed out.e)Try to make your answer sheet error free.f)Make index on the front sheet with question and page numbers.My marks were:PaperMarks

General Studies +English117/200

Objective 1112/200

Objective 2111/200

Conventional 1132/200

Conventional 2122/200

Interview122/200

Sum total715/1200