NAAC A++ is the highest ranking awarded by NAAC, an autonomous body of the University Grants Commission, to a higher education institution for demonstrating high standards of professionalism and academic excellence.

A team of academicians and education administrators, nominated by NAAC, evaluated Curriculum Aspects, Teaching, Learning and Evaluation; Research, Innovation and Extension; Infrastructure and Learning Resources; Student Support and Progression; Governance, Leadership and Management; and Institutional Values and Best Practices of the Sona College of Technology before awarding this grade.

“The NAAC++ ranking assigned to an institution serves to guide the potential students and their parents to gain holistic understanding of the ‘Quality Status’ of the institution,” said Principal Dr SRR Senthilkumar.

“The score of 3.65 assigned to Sona College represents a significant improvement since the previous evaluation done five years ago,” he added. To put the score in perspective, an institute of the eminence of the Indian Institute of Science has a NAAC++ score of 3.69 while the Manipal Institute of Technology too has the same score as Sona of 3.65.

During their visit to the Sona College, the evaluation team were apprised of the progress made by the College by way of induction of new courses. The NAAC A++ ranking is applicable for 14 undergraduate engineering programs and 10 postgraduate engineering programs, including MBA and MCA offered by the Sona College.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Mr C Valliappa said, “We are proud of the contribution made by the College in taking forward the 67-year-old legacy of preparing the much-sought after engineering talent in Salem and beyond. Sona students are demonstrating their strong engineering prowess within India as well as in countries as far as Japan, among others.”

Mr Chocko Valliappa, Vice Chairman, Sona College of Technology added that the Sona faculty had in the past five years made 130 patent applications, out of which 28 patents have already been received. “The NAAC A++ accreditation will propel Principal SRR Senthilkumar and heads of 36 R&D laboratories to further enhance their research effort towards commercialisation.”

It may be recalled that last year Sona College’s SonaSPEED lab supplied the permanent magnet simplex stepper motor used in mixture ratio control at the launch stage of ISRO’s Chandrayan-3 mission. The researchers also supplied the 25KW Quadruplex BLDC Motor used in the helicopter hoist for lifting the Reusable Launch Vehicle to 4.5 km altitude and releasing it for autonomous landing on the runway at Chitradurga.

Talking about the strong industry-academia connection, Mr. Thyagu Valliappa, Vice Chairman, said, “The 300-strong and committed faculty team, in addition to building strong foundations in engineering disciplines among students encourages them to engage in research projects during their internships to hone their application skills to prepare them for the world of work upon graduation.”

The evaluation team also met with the parents, alumni, faculty and employers recruiting Sona graduates during the visit. Taking cognizance of the contributions made by the institution in academics, research, innovation, infrastructure improvement the NAAC team has awarded its highest grade of A++ with a score of 3.65 out of a maximum of 4.00.

Dr P Suresh, Coordinator, Sona Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) thanked faculty, staff, students, parents, employers and alumni for their valuable contribution in the successful conduct of assessment process and positive outcome.