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GATE 2018 was conducted on 3rd Feb 2018 in 2 slots with ME as one of the major diciplines. As like last year ME was conducted in 2 Slots this year as well. The exam went off smoothly with no major issues being reported from students across cities.
As per the usual format of GATE exam, the online exam consisting of questions on Technical Stream-wise Concepts, Engineering Maths & General Aptitude and was to be completed in a total time of 180 minutes. There was no problem reported as such for the functioning of the online portal and the exam interface as everything went on smoothly.
Analysis of the Exam
Question Pattern
A higher proportion of Numerical Questions appeared in ME Stream and it was also observed that there were more Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions in comparison to last year. Both the above factors made the exam slightly tricky as there were lesser number of direct Theoretical questions and Multiple-Choice-Questions(MCQs), which are usually easier to attempt than Fill-in-the-blank questions.
Exam Interface
The exam interface for GATE’18 was similar to last year. With the Virtual Calculator already being put on GATE 2018 website, students who had had sufficient practice of the calculator on the website were at a slight advantage.
Exam Analysis
Mechanical Engg.
(a) Forenoon Slot: The paper was more on conceptual understanding and involved logical reasonings than being formula based. The weightage in Manufacturing Technology was around 13% to 14% which is lesser than that of last year. The questions related to Thermal Engg and Heat Transfer were lesser in number, had same weightage as last year and required conceptual understaning to answer them. The weightage in SOM, Vibrations, TOM and Machine Design was more and had few time consuming questions. Level of questions in Engg. Maths & Aptitude was easy with lesser number of questions in Engg Maths and most of them could be answered within a short time. As like last year the number of questions in NAT were more in number as compared to MCQs
Overall, the paper was easy to moderate as compared to last year.
Distribution of Marks:
| Subject | 1 Mark Q | 2 Mark Q | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Mechanics | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Fluid Mechanics | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| Manufacturing Technology | 6 | 4 | 14 |
| Strength of Materials | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| Theory of Machines | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Heat Transfer | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Industrial Engineering | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Thermodynamics | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Machine Design | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Engineering Mathematics | 5 | 4 | 13 |
| Aptitude | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
(b) Afternoon Slot: The no.of NAT questions were more than that of the MCQs and had more weightage as well. The weightage for Manufacturing Technology was the highest and a lot of questions were lengthy. One mark questions were mostly easy and very few were of medium level. The paper on the whole required more logical thinking and conceptual analysis.
Overall the paper was found to be Easy to Moderate.
Distribution of Marks:
| Subject | 1 Mark Q | 2 Mark Q | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Mechanics | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Fluid Mechanics | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Manufacturing Technology | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| Strength of Materials | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Theory of Machines | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Heat Transfer | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Industrial Engineering | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Thermodynamics | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Machine Design | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Engineering Mathematics | 5 | 6 | 17 |
| Aptitude | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
(a) Session-3, 4th Feb, 2018, Fore Noon Slot, 09:00 AM -12:00 PM: The exam pattern and difficulty level was almost same as that of last year’s with a bit more time consuming in certain questions. There were around 33 Numerical Ability Questions (NAT) and 32 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). There was only one match the following type question in Computer Networks. Questions from Technical Areas were asked from Fundamentals and Concept Building Topics of Computer Science Engineering. In terms of distribution of marks, all subjects were balanced properly.
Overall, Paper was Moderate.
| Topics | Marks | Difficulty Level | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mark | 2 Marks | Total | ||
| Digital logic | 2 ( 1 NAT ) | 2 (1 NAT ) | 6 | Moderate |
| Computer organization | 2 | 3 (2 NAT ) | 8 | Difficult |
| Operating system | 2 ( 1 NAT ) | 2 ( 1 NAT ) | 6 | Easy |
| Databases | 3 ( 1 NAT ) | 2 | 7 | Difficult |
| Theory of computation | 2 | 3 | 8 | Moderate |
| Compiler design | 1 | 1 | 3 | Easy |
| Computer network | 3 ( 1 NAT ) | 2 ( 2 NAT ) | 9 | Difficult |
| Algorithms | 1 | 5 ( 2 NAT ) | 11 | Moderate |
| Programming and data structures | 3 ( 2 NAT ) | 5 ( 2 NAT ) | 13 | Moderate |
| Engineering Maths | 6 ( 5 NAT ) | 5 ( 2 NAT ) | 16 | Moderate |
| Aptitude | 5 | 4 | 13 | Moderate |
| TOTAL | 100 | |||
(a) Session-5, EC, 10th Feb, 2017, Fore Noon Slot, 09:00 AM -12:00 PM:
This year more weightage has been given to Digital Logic rather than the Core Subjects like Communication & Analog. Weightage for Analog has been reduced this year, however the weightage for other subjects was more or less same compared to last year. No Numerical Answer Type(NAT) questions were asked in General Aptitude. Most of the questions were conceptual based and one who has a good command on fundamentals and core concepts can answer comfortably.
| Subject | No.of Marks | No.of Q | No.of 1M Q | No.of 2M Q | Difficulty Level | Type of Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Aptitude | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4-E | 4-M | 2-D | 0-NAT | 10-MCQ |
| Engg.Maths | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2-E | 2-M | 6-D | 6-NAT | 4-MCQ |
| Network Analysis | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2-E | 1-M | 1-D | 3-NAT | 1-MCQ |
| Control Systems | 8 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0-E | 2-M | 1-D | 1-NAT | 2-MCQ |
| Digital & MP | 11 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3-E | 3-M | 2-D | 4-NAT | 4-MCQ |
| EDC | 11 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3-E | 1-M | 2-D | 4-NAT | 2-MCQ |
| Analog | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3-E | 2-M | 2-D | 3-NAT | 4-MCQ |
| Signals & Systems | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1-E | 2-M | 3-D | 3-NAT | 3-MCQ |
| EMT | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1-E | 2-M |2-D | 3-NAT | 2-MCQ |
| Communication | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1-E | 2-M | 3-D | 4-NAT | 2-MCQ |
(b) Session-6, EE, 10th Feb, 2017, After Noon Slot, 02:00 PM -05:00 PM:
Unlike every year, good weightage given to core subjects like Machines, Power Systems & Power Electronics. Most of the questions were based on Mathematical Analysis. Questions from Engg.Maths were little difficult. As expected, more no.of NAT Type Questions were given in the exam.
Overall paper was between Moderate to Difficult.
| Subject | No.of Marks | No.of Q | No.of 1M Q | No.of 2M Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Aptitude | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Engg.Maths | 17 | 11 | 5 | 6 |
| Network Analysis | 11 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Control systems | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Digital & MP | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Analog | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Signals & Systems | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| EMT | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Electrical Machines | 12 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Power Systems | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Power Electronics | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| EMI | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 100 |
CE Forenoon Analysis (09:00-12:00 Hrs)
The paper was most concept based and hardly there were many theoretical questions. Weightage was given more to Fluid Mechanics, Geotechnical Engineering and Environmental Engineering. Difficulty level was high in Environmental, Structural Analysis, Transportation Engineering and CMM.
The overall paper was Moderate to Difficult.
| S.No | Subject | No.of 1M Q | No.of 2M Q | Total | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Construction Technology & Management | 1 | 1 | 3 | Difficult |
| 2 | Hydrology and Irrigation | 2 | 3 | 8 | Easy |
| 3 | Geotechnical engineering | 1 | 5 | 11 | Medium |
| 4 | Transportation engineering | 1 | 1 | 3 | Difficult |
| 5 | Environmental engineering | 5 | 4 | 13 | Difficult |
| 6 | Concrete Structures | 1 | 4 | 9 | Medium |
| 7 | Survey | 2 | 1 | 4 | Medium |
| 8 | Steel structures | 0 | 1 | 2 | Difficult |
| 9 | Structure Analysis | 1 | 3 | 7 | Difficult |
| 10 | Strength of Materials | 0 | 1 | 2 | Medium |
| 11 | Fluid Mechanics | 2 | 3 | 8 | Medium |
| 12 | Engg Mathematics | 9 | 3 | 15 | Easy |
| 13 | General Aptitude | 5 | 5 | 15 | Medium |
| TOTAL | 30 | 35 | 100 |