About Department of Computer Science & Technology in Nana Bazar, Vallabh Vidyanagar

The Department of Computer Science was established in the year 1986 as an institution offering postgraduate courses in Computer Science. The computing facility, however, was introduced at the Sardar Patel University somewhere in 1973-74 at the University’s computer center with an IBM 1620, a second generation mainframe computer. The University started one-year Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications (PGDCA) course in the academic year 1975, Master of Computer Applications (MCA) in the year 1986, M Sc (Computer Science) in 1988, M. Sc. (Bioinformatics) in 2004, M. Phil. (Computer Science) in the year 2008, Ph. D. (Computer Science) in 1990 and Ph. D. (Bioinformatics) in 2011. Besides these programmes, the University also started offering computer related short-term programmes from time to time. The computing resources were also used by different postgraduate departments of the University for their research work. The institute took lead in establishing links with national and international institutes. The department started a CSI chapter (CSI – the Computer Society of India – is a national professional body having links with various professional bodies in India and abroad) in 1985-86. Various workshops, seminars and symposia have been organized under the CSI banner so far, which have strengthened both the teaching and research activities of the department.
In the year 1988, Late Shree Gordhanbhai Hathibhai Patel donated money to the University for a separate building of the Post Graduate Department of Computer Science. The department was also recognized by the UGC to provide technical training to personnel at various levels of academia and administration. Several PC based systems had been installed and major research work was carried out in the areas of CAI (Computer Aided Instruction), KBS (Knowledge Based Systems) and DSS (Decision Support Systems). In 1992, the M.Sc. in Computer Science programme was terminated and intake of the MCA programme was increased from 30 to 40. Three faculty members were sel ected on the basis of merit for the CICC-Japan training in the years 1992, 1994 and 1995.
Early 2000 was the time when vast technological changes took place in the IT industry all over the world. The department could meet the technological requirements through support from the UGC, AICTE and various bodies of the state. A networked laboratory was established at the department, providing state-of-the-art facilities. The intake to MCA was increased to 100 by introducing self-financed seats in the year 2000, and a separate self-financed batch of MCA was started. The department was recognized and offered ‘Refresher Courses in Computer Science’ for the Computer Science faculty members in India by the University Grants Commission. In the year 2002, a special MCA programme was introduced for providing lateral entry into the second year to computer science graduates. In a short span, the department grew to the extent that a new building was required. With one more generous donation from Late Shree Gordhanbhai Hathibhai Patel, grants fr om the UGC and he state government and the department’s internal sources, a new building of the department with modern infrastructure was constructed. The building was inaugurated on July 22nd, 2002 by H.D.H. Pujya Pramukhswami Maharaj. The name of the department was then changed to G H Patel Post Graduate Department of Computer Science and Technology in the year 2002. Subsequently, new powerful servers and several workstations were added to the laboratory and electives for bioinformatics and wireless networks were added to the syllabus. The MSc (Bioinformatics) programme under the UGC Innovative Programme scheme was introduced in the year 2005.