Yes, Sir.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

Good morning, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. To work with this with your organization. And currently I am doing that. That means recently I just completed. National postdoctoral fellowship. At Indian Institute of Science. Bengaluru, which was funded by the. Yeah, another digital Government of India.

Alright, so you recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at IISc Bengaluru, funded by the Government of India. Go on.

Mujra started in 2020. 4 ethyl and it was just distantly. OK. Yes. Yes, yes. And before that I completed my pH D from National Institute of. Technology Mizoram.

Dr., since you've worked in both NIT Mizoram and IISc Bengaluru,

And I computed my master technology. From National Institute of Technology, Agricola. Yeah, actually in the. In Buddha Institute. The faculties are oil. Means oil. Ever. The about the. Student capability. And to engage the students with the real. World scenario. And to perform the experiment, laboratory experiment. To that means. To perform there after completion of their graduation. So that they can join in the various industries and who's working on the real world problem.

Okay, so you emphasized engaging students with real-world scenarios and laboratory experiments to prepare them for industry roles. Can you give me a specific example of a lab activity or real-world project you used to help students connect theory to practice?

So the the institute try to. Make the students. Yes, Sir. Yeah, actually that we. I was engaged with the student to whose work on the solar energy problem because the recent nowadays. The world is going towards the. Alternative energy sources as the crucial fuel energy is in. And there are various due to various geopolitical scenario. The fossil fuel energy is very this is.

Unshaved so. So we engage the student to work on the solar energy. To use the solar thermal energy.

Alright,

You had students working on solar thermal energy projects. What was the main challenge they faced in connecting the theory to practical outcomes on those solar projects?

Yeah, in theory.

You mentioned engaging students with solar thermal energy, but didn't quite get to the main challenge. Was it more about understanding the physics, or was it the hands-on setup and measurement?

During the estimation. Of the solar.

Alright, so during estimation of solar energy, students hit a sticking point. Was it mostly about accurately measuring the energy output, or did they struggle with modeling the theoretical predictions against real-world data?

Yeah, main, main, main challenge is the. And. Yeah, there is various problem occurred due to the. Environmental climatic problem. And because the. Sometimes the solar solar energy is not unpredictable, it's unpredictable.

Yeah, main, main, main challenge is the. And. Yeah, there is various problem occurred due to the. Environmental climatic problem. And because the. Sometimes the solar solar energy is not unpredictable, it's unpredictable. And various environmental issues are there.

So this is the actually real problem between the theory and the Yeah, first of all the the every process or in my. In my project also.

Dr., I noticed your PhD thesis was on drying spices in a solar-assisted fluidized bed dryer integrated with a liquid desiccant air dehumidifier. How did you approach simplifying the core concepts of that research for undergraduate students or a non-specialist audience?

Alright, so unpredictable environmental conditions made it tough for students to estimate solar energy output accurately. Dr., I noticed your PhD thesis was on drying spices in a solar-assisted fluidized bed dryer integrated with a liquid desiccant air dehumidifier. How did you approach simplifying the core concepts of that research so undergraduate students could understand them without getting lost in technical details?

So every process in your project had to be simplified for students. Go ahead — what was your actual strategy to break down the technical parts of the solar-assisted fluidized bed dryer research for undergrads?

The basic engineering subjects are involved. Which are generally taught in the BTEC courses like. Asthma student has to understand the basic. Thermodynamics and the basic theoretical subjects. Which they are usually taught in their under Gujarat courses. Because the basic fundamental is most important. To understand the. Real technical to go for the real technical issues.

Dr.,

So first of all, they have to. Learn the basic fundamental. Subjects. Of their undergraduate courses. Yeah, I have a plan to look for the various funding. Funding for. Implementation of the solar project. In deity. So there are various DHT are there? And emanate at their Minister of New and Renewable Energy Sources. And so, so they used used to fund.

For this. Solar energy project. And there are various another also that's, uh, that is agriculture and food technology. Department of the central government that they also usually. Fund.

Okay, so you’re looking at funding sources like the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for solar projects. Given the competition for grants, what’s your strategy for making your proposals stand out and actually win funding against other applicants?

You mentioned engaging students in solar energy projects and connecting theory to practice, especially with unpredictable environmental factors. Suppose you had to teach a large undergraduate class on solar thermal systems, but you couldn't use slides or a traditional lecture. How would you design a session that keeps students actively involved and helps them really grasp the key concepts?

So during the classes so I can teach the business business. The last volume of students can understand the. Basic fundamental for any real world. Problem called the solar energy, but for the practical applications. For implementation of the project. We I have to make the small small group. Because last. The last. Is very difficult to implement any project. So I have to I have to split the. Students in the small S group. Into dependent tax means dependent element. Can be. Allotted so after that so we can Mars. All the element. Into the Total Coal project. First of all. First of all, I have to organize. And orientation classes.

To make them understand the. Basic fundamental of. Solar energy.

So you’d split a large class into smaller groups for hands-on solar projects, with orientation sessions upfront. If a group’s project work was falling behind or students seemed disengaged,

Yes.

Right,

You said you’d focus on helping them understand the fundamentals of solar energy. Can you give me a specific example of how you’d check whether a student actually understood the basics, not just memorized the theory?

I can miss, I can organize when that means that you to read classes. Because the all the formulas. All the estimations How to estimate the? That is how much solar energy is being. Can be captured in that particular location, in that particular climatic condition. So basic fundamental have to understand. So I can organize, I can test. By the tutorial classes.

So, uh. So by this I if any student is having any problem or any estimating. In his solar energy is a. So I can take another.

Accreditation cycles can be pretty demanding. If you joined our department and found that outcome assessment data was inconsistent across courses, how would you approach fixing that?

So you’d offer extra tutorial sessions to help students struggling with estimating solar energy in specific conditions, and use those to test their grasp of formulas and real-world application. For department-level governance, beyond teaching and research, what role do you see yourself playing in curriculum committees or program reviews at VIT?

So beyond teaching and research. So I can. I can be engaged if the department is instituted. This allows. I can be in the. Funding of the various. Projects for establishing fabrication of the various. Research facilities. In the university. So the dandelion student and master students and even the doctoral students can perform their experiment. Within the Institute. And the basic have to. You always have to establish the. Basic testing facilities. To the dandiger and the students various level of students that can. Yeah, do the experiment within the institute, within the institute. And also in the curriculum. Undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum I can introduce and also the pH D coursework. I I can introduce. If the institute allows. So the basic that is. That fundamental. Horses, which is relevant to the. Current world.

Let’s tackle something a bit more sensitive, Professor. Imagine a student files a formal complaint saying your grading is biased, and at the same time your department head is pressuring you to raise pass rates. How would you handle this kind of ethical tension between academic integrity and institutional expectations?

So that the after the graduation. The student will be will miss before coming into the real world. The student will. Pardon me. Can you please repeat the question?

Sure, here's the question again. Imagine a student files a formal complaint saying your grading is biased, and at the same time your department head is pressuring you to raise pass rates. How would you handle this kind of ethical tension between academic integrity and institutional expectations?

Actually my my target will be. Not to raise. Social. Payant, the student would unders. And if this situation is uh. There is a expectation that this situation can persist. I will try more. So that the student can get the. More passwords I mean, that means you can score the password. So that this kind of situation.

Actually my my target will be. Not to raise. Social. Payant, the student would unders. And if this situation is uh. There is a expectation that this situation can persist. I will try more. So that the student can get the. More passwords I mean, that means you can score the password. So that this kind of situation. Cannot arise.

Okay, so your aim is not just to raise pass rates, but to make sure students actually understand the material before graduation. But let’s say the department head disagrees and insists on higher pass rates, even if it means relaxing your grading standards. How would you respond in that situation?

Okay, so you'd focus on making sure students actually understand the material instead of just raising pass rates, and you'd try to improve their performance to prevent complaints. But if the department head disagreed and insisted on higher pass rates regardless of student learning, what would you do?

So I can propose for the supplementary exam. So after one month. So that student can prepare again. And it can test again.

Now till now I have no means. I did not collaborated with any industry. But during my PhD project, so I did my. Work with the local. Small industry. So. That's Sir No, that is not for any technical help or any support. Actually I visited that. That local industry. Local company. They're small MSN company. That is not any established 1 so I can't name that so. Actually to know about the real problem they are facing.

Given your research background in solar energy and smart manufacturing, do you have any industry connections or past collaborations that could help students with internships or placements in those fields?

Now till now I have no means. I did not collaborated with any industry. But during my PhD project, so I did my. Work with the local. Small industry.

Alright, so during your PhD you worked with a local small industry on your project. Can you name the company or describe the kind of collaboration you had—was it technical support, equipment access, or something else?

Okay, so you visited a local MSME company just to understand their real-world problems, not for technical support or equipment.

So that. That my so that I can. Alleviate the problem they are facing in the. That everyday work. Yeah, registered after visiting that company, the problem they are facing, they are facing. So I, I tried myself. To alleviate that problem in. Using my. Project uh. So suppose they're the industry where I visited. They are facing the difficulties of higher electricity bill.

Right, so you saw their high electricity bill was a real problem, and you tried to address it through your project work. If you had students tackle a similar issue, how would you guide them to connect classroom theory with practical solutions for that industry challenge?

That is actually dying industry. Of the local spices. So they're facing the higher electricity bill. And due to. Yeah, that's why in my project I tried to implement the solar energy completely solar based. Set up. So, uh. Accordingly, I estimated how the total comprehensive complete industry can be run by using the solar energy.

So you designed a solar-based setup to address the electricity costs at that dying local spice industry.

And also in my project I used the. That is the solar based air humidization project. So. The place where I. Yes.

Alright, so your project was a solar-based air humidification setup for that spice industry. When guiding students on something like this, what would you do to make sure their designs work not just on paper, but actually solve the real operational problems those industries face?

First of all, the students have to, that is for. Making any the spectacle experiment. First of all have to understand the. What the industries or what the that is the. Working in any industrial project or anything. Who have what the problem they are facing? So first of all have to identify the problem.

First of all, the students have to, that is for. Making any the spectacle experiment. First of all have to understand the. What the industries or what the that is the. Working in any industrial project or anything. Who have what the problem they are facing? So first of all have to identify the problem. And what are the?

They are there so. Then we have to that is thinking about that. How to alleviate this problem? Suppose?

Right, so you’d make sure students first identify the real industrial problem, just like you did with the spice industry’s electricity costs. What steps would you take to ensure their proposed solutions are feasible given the resources and constraints of a small local business?

Alright, so you'd start by having students identify the real operational problems, just like you did with the spice industry's high electricity costs. Once they've figured out the issue,

Alright, Dr., let's talk about your core skills for this role. When you're teaching a lab course on smart manufacturing, how do you make sure students actually understand the theory behind what they're doing in the lab?

Yeah, actually the. The thing is that. The the all the theory and the practical and the. Smart manufacturing or whatever the all are interrelated. So we nothing is that is standalone that suppose. That is the without the theories about. The theory is that practical cannot.

Complete and without the without the practical theory is useless. So all are interrelated.

Okay, so you see theory and practice as totally connected—practical work doesn’t make sense without understanding the theory behind it.

Alright, you’re saying theory and practical are interdependent—neither is useful on its own. When you notice a student is just following lab steps without grasping the underlying concepts, how do you intervene?

I will advise the students to 1st that is the. Side by side while they are doing the. Practical side-by-side, they have to clear about the theory.

Okay, so you tell students to make sure they're clear on the theory as they do the practical work. If a student still can't connect the dots,

They when each and every steps.

Alright, so you emphasize checking theory at every step during practical work. How do you handle student evaluation in lab courses—do you focus more on their process, their results, or something else?

In Lepkus evaluation, that is the that is the as usual. I have to check that that is the tutorial would be there. So, so that the people, students can do that, that is the. Problem solving.

By using that, that is the practical. Theoretical knowledge. And also there will be some.

Okay, you mentioned tutorials help students with problem-solving during lab evaluation. When you're guiding student research projects, how do you help them choose a topic that's both ambitious and realistically doable within their resources?

Alright, so you combine practical and theoretical knowledge to help students pick research topics. When you're teaching, how do you structure your communication so even students without a strong background can follow your lectures and actually learn the material?

So I will try to, I will try to give the lecture as much as simple. Simple, yeah. So that the students also he is having the poor. Background also can easily lie. So the first of all the I I have to give. So I'll give the. The. Practical example. So that the student if there is some language issue or anything. Anything problem, not any background, poor background that can easily run. Supposing that thermodynamics problem also I can give. Who is a example? Which we can see. In our everyday lives. So that the student can easily get it. That means I will in the lecture classes or in any classes. I will try to grip the. A British example. Which we are facing. In our day-to-day life.

So I will try to, I will try to give the lecture as much as simple. Simple, yeah. So that the students also he is having the poor. Background also can easily lie. So the first of all the I I have to give. So I'll give the. The. Practical example. So that the student if there is some language issue or anything. Anything problem, not any background, poor background that can easily run. Supposing that thermodynamics problem also I can give. Who is a example? Which we can see. In our everyday lives. So that the student can easily get it. That means I will in the lecture classes or in any classes. I will try to grip the. A British example. Which we are facing. In our day-to-day life. So that student. Grab it easily. If anyone is having poor background. Sorry, can you repeat please?

Okay, so you use practical examples from everyday life to make complex topics like thermodynamics easier for students with weaker backgrounds. When it comes to guiding student projects,

Right, you try to simplify your lectures and use practical, everyday examples so students with weaker backgrounds can catch on. When it comes to evaluating students—say, for an exam or end-of-semester project—how do you make sure your assessment is fair and accurately reflects both their theoretical understanding and practical skills?

Yeah, there would be number of assessment tests that is the monthly test or weekly test. So if it does not mean if one student is fails in a. Weekly test or monthly test but also his skill is poor or he is a poor student. So there will be the multiple. Assessment test. Would be there. In a semester. So that we can assess.

The student the. That he is actually learning. Or whether you're serious or not.

Alright, so you use multiple assessments—monthly,

Right, you’re saying the assessments help you figure out whether students are actually learning and taking things seriously. Dr., how do you guide student research so they’re able to publish in reputed journals and not just complete a project for the sake of it?

Yeah, from the starting day itself. I will. I will guide the student and motivate the student to first of all. Selection of the topic research topic is very important. That which the world is currently facing, which is the burning issue. And who's the real? So that the. There will be a chance high chance of publishing paper in the reputed journal.

So. From the starting day of the research project itself.

Alright,

Okay, so from day one you’re focused on guiding students toward relevant research topics. When you’re working with smart manufacturing or semiconductor projects, how do you make sure students get hands-on exposure to industry-standard tools and processes, not just theory?

Actually, till now I did not work on smart manufacturing or anything. So my PhD and the positive chandelier. So if I have any such manufacturing smart manufacturing projects in the future or in bit so I will try to explore the. About it.

Okay, thanks for clarifying that you haven't worked on smart manufacturing yet, but you’d be open to exploring it if projects come up in the future. Can you tell me how you’d approach teaching a lab course for a topic that’s new to you—what steps would you take to make sure you’re delivering both accurate theory and effective hands-on experience?

Yeah, for approaching the any teaching or lab course subjects. So it's I'm comfortable with any subjects of the any. According to my domain of mechanical engineering. So all the subjects I already taught, I already learned in. My Twitter. Undergraduate and master courses.

Alright, you've taught most subjects in your domain and feel comfortable with them from your undergraduate and master's experience. Can you share how you evaluate student performance during lab exams—what criteria do you use to make your grading fair and consistent?

And also. I taught Vidyasagar as a. Teaching Duty. In lab process they have to perform that is a lab experiment. So if the if the results is. The result? Nearer to that, that is the actual. Which is the correct result? So that the the. That is their process of doing experiment. And that accuracy of measurement. Would be correct.

Okay, so you look for accuracy in their experimental results as part of the grading.

So by performing the lab experiment. So I can evaluate them. So first of all, they have to do a lot of literature work. So that they have to study, they have to read the, read the. Good research papers.

Ah, based on that is related to is. The proposed recession. So that they can get the idea.

Alright, so you start by having students do a lot of literature review and read strong research papers before they write their own. How do you teach students to organize their findings and arguments so their papers meet the expectations of top journals?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, for getting the. For publishing the. Research paper in the Good journal.

Alright, so you focus on literature review and help students get ideas from existing research. When it comes to communicating complex concepts in the classroom, how do you make sure your teaching is structured and clear for students who might struggle with the material?

The paper shooted. The manuscript should have the lot of. Have you tried to make the material? As simple as possible. So that Udta. A British example. So that the student will get. Easily understand.

Right, you make the manuscript as simple as possible and use practical examples so students can understand easily. When you’re guiding student projects, how do you help them connect their research to industry applications or consultancy work?

Yeah, from the starting day itself and people choosing the topic of the research is very important thing.

Okay, so for you, picking the right research topic from the start is important for connecting to industry. Since you hold a PhD and have experience with student evaluation and teaching labs, can you tell me about one research publication you worked on—what was your role, and how did you ensure it met journal standards?

So that if their topic. Is related to the. Current that is banding issue. Most of the companies and the startup companies are working. Yeah, publishing A publishing a paper in good China will have the higher reputation in the in his future and also. It will be easier for them to get. And the connecting with the industry. And will get the job in the industry. So the target should be. To publish in the good Journal. And how to go so that? That they have to before that they have to read it the. Papers research paper who is already published in the channel. So how the how the other resources wrote? Peppers and. What are the contents that must into that paper? So that only that small small few parameters. Evaluation. Published in a. Big channel or they put a channel. So have to. Do a lot of experiment. And UDA means the any. Accurate result. The accurate result means the. Whose results is.

Technically possible. It's not like that that. I have a, even a. I got a. Very good.

Alright, we're wrapping up. Is there anything you'd like to ask about the role or the team?

Okay, I hear you’ve got a strong background and you’re proud of your achievements. If you have any questions about the Assistant Professor role, the team, or the environment, feel free to ask now.

No, I have no question.