The Zakir Husain College of Engineering & Technology (ZHCET) is the engineering faculty of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. Named after Dr. Zakir Husain, the third President of India and a former Vice-Chancellor of AMU, the college is one of the oldest engineering institutions in northern India and forms the technical wing of the university's Faculty of Engineering and Technology.
| Key Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Zakir Husain College of Engineering & Technology |
| Common abbreviation | ZHCET |
| Parent institution | Aligarh Muslim University |
| Type | Public engineering college (constituent of a central university) |
| Field | Engineering and Technology |
| Location | Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh |
| Country | India |
| Named after | Dr. Zakir Husain |
| Language of instruction | English |
ZHCET functions as a constituent college within Aligarh Muslim University and operates under the broader administrative umbrella of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology. The college offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes across the principal branches of engineering. Like other AMU constituents, it follows the academic regulations and degree-granting authority of the central university.
The institution traces its origins to early technical instruction at AMU and its predecessor, the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. Over the decades, the engineering programmes were expanded and consolidated into a dedicated college, which was eventually named after Dr. Zakir Husain in recognition of his contributions to education and to AMU.
ZHCET offers a range of programmes structured under departmental lines. The college's academic activities are organised through several engineering departments, which typically include:
The college conducts the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) degree as its principal undergraduate programme, alongside Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) coursework offered through evening or part-time tracks for diploma holders in some streams. Postgraduate offerings include Master of Technology (M.Tech.) specialisations across departments, and the college also supervises doctoral (Ph.D.) research candidates within the AMU framework.
Teaching follows a semester system with internal assessments, end-semester examinations, laboratory work, design projects, seminars, and a final-year project requirement. English is the medium of instruction, in keeping with university norms.
ZHCET is situated within the larger AMU campus in Aligarh, sharing the university's residential, library, sporting, and cultural infrastructure. The college maintains its own departmental laboratories, drawing halls, computing facilities, workshops, and lecture theatres dedicated to engineering instruction.
Students have access to the Maulana Azad Library, one of the major university libraries in India, as well as departmental reading rooms. The wider AMU campus provides hostels (known at AMU as halls of residence), medical facilities through the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, sports grounds, and a range of student societies.
Admission to undergraduate engineering programmes at ZHCET is conducted through entrance examinations administered by Aligarh Muslim University, with seats allocated according to the university's admission policy. Postgraduate admissions consider performance in national-level tests such as GATE, alongside university-level processes. The college operates within the reservation and internal-quota policies that apply to AMU as a whole.
Student activity at ZHCET is organised around departmental societies, technical chapters, and university-wide cultural events. Many departments host student branches affiliated with professional bodies in their respective disciplines, enabling participation in technical pa