Hello.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

OK. So my name is Doctor Abhishek Chakrabarti. I have completed my. PhD from National Institute of Technology, Durgapur.

OK. So my name is Doctor Abhishek Chakrabarti. I have completed my. PhD from National Institute of Technology, Durgapur. Before that. I have completed my. Aim take master degree. From the Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics. Under University of Calcutta. Before that I have completed my. Btech in electronics and communication engineering. From West Bengal University of Technology. My Btech passing year is. 2011. My intake. Passing year since 2017. And I have completed my PhD in. 2021. I have also completed. A three years DHT ACRP funded research project. Uh, while pursuing my PhD. At the time. Of 2018 to 2021. So this is all about me. In switch and short.

Okay, so you completed your PhD at NIT Durgapur—can you share what your main area of research was during your doctoral studies?

Alright, you mentioned working on a DHT ACRP funded project while doing your PhD from 2018 to 2021. Was that project closely related to your doctoral research, or was it a separate line of inquiry?

Yes, it was closely related to my doctoral research, the same project I have. In in my PhD also.

Dr., since your research and teaching are so closely linked, I'm curious—what's one foundational concept you really enjoy teaching, and why do you think it's important for students to grasp?

OK. So my background is antenna research. And antenna. Technology and antenna design is a very basic subject. And very basic backbone. Of electronics and communication. Because. Without antenna, we cannot transfer signal, we cannot receive signal and electronics and communication is all about. Receiving and transmitting signals. From one point to another, that is what communication is all about. That is why. Antenna analysis and design is. A very, very important and a very basic and core subject. Electronics and communication. Engineering. Umm.

Okay, so antenna analysis and design is central for electronics and communication, since without it you can't transmit or receive signals. When you're teaching this topic, what's your approach for helping students grasp the real-world impact of antenna design—do you use lab experiments, simulations, or something else?

Yes, in my research as well as in my teaching I use. Lab based teaching. Mainly and practical oriented teaching where hands on teach. Training hands on designing of antennas. Hands-on fabrication of antennas. All these things will be covered. Along with the theoretical concept.

Looking at your publications, your paper in IEEE Access on "Optimal Pulse Shifting in Timed Antenna Array for Simultaneous Reduction of Sidelobe and Sideband Level" stands out. Can you describe a moment when you had to simplify the core ideas from that research for your undergraduate students, especially those with less background in signal processing?

Yes.

Yes. So this was my first paper. While I was doing my PhD. It was published in. UH-2020. And it is published in IEEE Access. So. Basically it tells about. How you can reduce the sidelob level and sideband level of an antenna array? Which is very very important for interference rejection. In case of bradders or in case of. Uh, point to point and multipoint companies. System so. Even if we talk about general communication students. Or electronics and communication students. This is very important because they need to understand that. What are the trade-offs? We have. By designing one antenna array. So we have some high. Side lobe labels. That we need to suppress. If we want to. Apply that particular antenna array. For practical purposes. So the. This paper is very important and very fundamental. It details. Gives the basics about how to reduce the cycle level. As well as site build label. So that. The antenna efficiency can be increased.

Yes. So this was my first paper. While I was doing my PhD. It was published in. UH-2020.

Alright, so you use hands-on lab work to help students connect theory to practice in antenna design. For that IEEE Access paper, when you had to break down concepts like pulse shifting and sidelobe reduction for undergrads, what analogy or teaching method did you find most effective in making those ideas accessible?

Right, so that IEEE Access paper was published in 2020 during your PhD. When you were explaining concepts like pulse shifting and sidelobe reduction to students with limited signal processing background, what analogy or teaching strategy did you use to make those ideas accessible?

So you emphasized the importance of trade-offs in antenna array design, especially around sidelobe suppression for interference rejection. When guiding students through lab work on this, how do you ensure they're actually thinking about those trade-offs in their design choices, rather than just following instructions?

Yes. So I can give one practical example. Suppose I want to send some information to my troops. Which is having some soldier troops. In the war field. I want to send the information to. Particular a group of soldiers that belongs to our country. But. If we don't reduce the interference. That signal? May also reach to the other rival countries. So it is very essential. So that we sub. What is the site loop label? And the interference should not interference signals or interference should not go to the. It should. The message should contain. The information and the message should conveyed. To only our troops or our. Soldiers. Not to the enemy's verges.

Dr., focusing on your antenna research—where do you see the most promising directions for externally fundable work in the next few years? Which grant agencies or industry partners would you target, and why?

So first of all. The most promising thing in antenna array research is we are in the age of 5G. And we are going. Beyond 5G and towards 6G. As well as satellite communication also demands very high. And efficient antenna design. So for that purpose. This research direction is very, very important. And if we talk about funding? Or external funding. Then if. From Government of India. DST, Acrv. Then ISRO. ISRO. Then Dr. Do. All of them are working. Somewhat towards this kind of communication domain. To solve adverse communication problems related to satellite communication. Mobile communication. As well as radar communication. For the queries related to my research that I can. Answer.

Alright, you mentioned DST, ISRO, and DRDO as key funders, especially with the push towards 5G, 6G, and satellite communication. If you were building a research group around these topics, what strategies would you use to secure sustainable funding and maintain high publication output year over year?

Yes. So if there is an extra. Mural funding. Or external funding. That will be very, very. Helpful to set up. A research lab. That can conduct cutting edge research where? These 5G communication or 6G communication are beyond 5G communication. Can be. Done by. Implementing advanced antenna arrays. As well as controlling the antenna arrays. By implementing. Machine learning algorithms or the cutting edge algorithms of today's time?

Yes. So if there is an extra. Mural funding. Or external funding. That will be very, very. Helpful to set up. A research lab. That can conduct cutting edge research where? These 5G communication or 6G communication are beyond 5G communication. Can be. Done by. Implementing advanced antenna arrays. As well as controlling the antenna arrays. By implementing. Machine learning algorithms or the cutting edge algorithms of today's time? And as these cutting edge technologies, machine learning technology, cutting edge technology or. Quantum inspired technology they can. Be used for antenna redesign. So this will this field is very much open. For research publication as well As for patents as well As for. Funding.

Alright, so you see the value in setting up a lab for advanced antenna array research, using machine learning for control and optimization. What would your plan be for keeping both funding and publication output steady if grant cycles slow down or external funding dries up for a year?

Alright, so you see the field as open for both publications and patents, especially with machine learning and quantum-inspired methods in antenna design. Given the push for funding and institutional impact, how do you plan to balance publishing in high-impact journals with pursuing patents and industry collaboration?

OK. So, publishing. Journal is a part of academia as well as research, but. Funding and all these things, these things taken, it will be. Kind of, uh. Industry. Academia. A collaboration based. So. This will go parallelism. This work will go parallelly. So while we'll we. We will do the research in the lab. Parallelly, we will try to contact the funders. We will try to contact the external funding agencies. For several types of fundings.

Alright, focusing on your teaching—suppose you've got a large foundational course in antenna design, but you can't use slides or traditional lectures. How would you structure a session that keeps 200 students engaged and actively learning the material?

Yes, so I. I will always prefer the chalk and board method. As well as I will bring. Some fabricated prototype of antennas. To demonstrate and. To gain the interest of the students in this sub. So it will be kind of a hands on. As well as practical as well as theoretical. All will be together.

Yes, so I. I will always prefer the chalk and board method. As well as I will bring. Some fabricated prototype of antennas. To demonstrate and. To gain the interest of the students in this sub.

Yes, so I. I will always prefer the chalk and board method. As well as I will bring. Some fabricated prototype of antennas. To demonstrate and. To gain the interest of the students in this sub. So it will be kind of a hands on. As well as practical as well as theoretical. All will be together. And it will be interesting.

You mentioned a strong focus on lab-based teaching and practical design, but let me shift gears. Accreditation cycles can be demanding—if you joined our department and found that outcome assessment data was inconsistent across courses, how would you approach fixing that?

Right, so you’d bring in prototypes and use the chalk-and-board method to keep students engaged. Now, accreditation cycles can be demanding—if you joined our department and found that outcome assessment data was inconsistent across courses, how would you approach fixing that?

Right, so you prefer hands-on teaching and demonstration even in large classes. Let’s say you joined our department and found the outcome assessment data for foundational courses was inconsistent—how would you go about fixing that to meet accreditation standards?

OK. So for accreditation purpose the various factors comes into picture. Based on the syllabus, how the syllabus has been framed? How the course outcomes has been framed? How the program outcomes has been framed? All these things will come into the picture as well as the learning of the students. How the students are grasping or learning 1 concept? And how they are. Going to implement that concept in real life. So all these things would be. Very important. To get a accreditation from this subject.

Alright, you covered a lot about program and course outcomes—so in practice, how would you make sure the data collected on student achievement stays consistent and reliable across all faculty members teaching the same course?

Yes. So so antenna. Especially the antenna analysis and design is a very basic and. Four subject and we have some. Very standard books by Balinese. So. We have to follow. Those books as well as we have to. Frame our syllabus. According to those books. And also. We have to. Talk to the. Industry people. And what are the new age requirements from industry that also? We have to align. And that we have to include in our syllabus. So in this way we can. Make a balance. Between. Teaching learning as well as. A research based. Syllabus. And the student will also be very interesting to learn. This kind of subject. And they will be. Performing well. If they understand. This subject properly.

Let’s shift gears, Dr. Imagine a student formally complains that your grading is biased, while at the same time your department head is urging you to improve pass rates. How would you handle this situation without compromising academic integrity?

Yes. So, uh. If the student feels that the grading is biased. So I have to talk. With him or? This particular student. And I have to check. Or I have to? Inquire about. That it in which? Part he's having problem. So in a subject there are. 5 or 6 units should be there. So in which part? In which? Topic he's having problem. So for. But that particular student or that particular batch of students? I can. Can arrange extra classes. I can give special notes. And if. They are not understanding a particular concept I can. Give my time. Separately. So that they can understand the concept and perform well in the examination.

Yes.

You said "yes," but I need you to walk me through what you'd actually do in that situation. How would you respond to the student's complaint and the department head's pressure—what steps would you take, and how would you justify your decisions?

Okay, so you'd offer extra classes and personalized support for students who feel grading was unfair. But if the department head disagreed and pushed you to just raise grades instead, how would you respond?

OK, then I have to make some. Between in the question paper and what type of assessments are. Uh, going on. In this particular subject. So you have to check it again. And we have. Recognize. That where the student strength lies and where the department vision and. Is also. Not compromised. So in a way. We have to balance these two things.

Right, so you'd look at the assessments and try to find balance between student strengths and the department's vision. If you realized the only way to meet the department's demand was to lower standards, would you push back, or try to compromise?

No, in that case I have to push back. Because ultimately, the student must. Understand the basics. Of a force, otherwise when they will pass out after four years of BTEC degree. Then it will be a disadvantage for them if they don't understand the basic things well. So. There will be no compromise. Four basic understanding. Of a subject.

So, you’re clear that you won’t compromise on the basics even if there’s pressure from above. Let’s talk industry alignment for a moment—given your antenna and communication background, do you have existing relationships with industry or government labs that could help your students secure internships or placements?

Yes, certainly I have. I am personally associated with Ledia Research Center which is under. University of Toronto, Italy. I am working with. Two professors there. They are also ipple Pillow. As well as I have associated with NIT Warangal. They are also having. The research based lab as well as. Teaching Pedagogies. As well as. I am also. Engaged with NIT Durgapur. For this kind of reset. So I can ensure. As well as I have some contacts in Astra microwaves.

Yes, certainly I have. I am personally associated with Ledia Research Center which is under. University of Toronto, Italy. I am working with. Two professors there. They are also ipple Pillow. As well as I have associated with NIT Warangal. They are also having. The research based lab as well as. Teaching Pedagogies. As well as. I am also. Engaged with NIT Durgapur. For this kind of reset. So I can ensure. As well as I have some contacts in Astra microwaves. So all these things, all these companies as well as organizations are. Working in this particular domain, that is antenna and antenna arrays. And I can. Help my students to achieve some intern. Odd projects in this.

Alright, you mentioned working with professors at the Ledia Research Center and NIT Warangal, plus connections at Astra microwaves. Can you walk me through how you’d actually leverage those relationships to create internship pipelines or project opportunities for students at VIT?

Alright, you mentioned your connections at Ledia Research Center, NIT Warangal, NIT Durgapur, and Astra microwaves. Walk me through how you’d actually leverage those relationships—what steps would you take to turn those contacts into real internship or project opportunities for your students?

OK, so. Lad Research Center in Italy they provides. Some offline online courses. For students particularly. In that courses in those courses they. Teach about. The core and the basic understanding as well as the hands on. Applications. In NIT Warangal also we have research lab. A particularly dis for antenna. So we. You can get some students and we can send them. To do the internship there. I have. Have some contacts. So, so I can send them, I can send my students. There to do the internship. As well as they are having projects. In that projects also. They can work for some time as an intern.

OK, so. Lad Research Center in Italy they provides. Some offline online courses. For students particularly. In that courses in those courses they. Teach about. The core and the basic understanding as well as the hands on. Applications. In NIT Warangal also we have research lab. A particularly dis for antenna. So we. You can get some students and we can send them. To do the internship there. I have. Have some contacts. So, so I can send them, I can send my students. There to do the internship.

OK, so. Lad Research Center in Italy they provides. Some offline online courses. For students particularly. In that courses in those courses they. Teach about. The core and the basic understanding as well as the hands on. Applications. In NIT Warangal also we have research lab. A particularly dis for antenna. So we. You can get some students and we can send them. To do the internship there. I have. Have some contacts. So, so I can send them, I can send my students. There to do the internship. As well as they are having projects.

OK, so. Lad Research Center in Italy they provides. Some offline online courses. For students particularly.

OK, so. Lad Research Center in Italy they provides. Some offline online courses. For students particularly. In that courses in those courses they. Teach about. The core and the basic understanding as well as the hands on. Applications. In NIT Warangal also we have research lab. A particularly dis for antenna. So we. You can get some students and we can send them. To do the internship there. I have. Have some contacts.

Okay so you mentioned the Ledia Research Center offers offline and online courses for students. What about your contacts at Astra microwaves or NIT Durgapur—how would you approach them specifically to secure hands-on internship or project slots for students in antenna design?

Okay, Dr., now I want to verify a few core skills for this role. Let’s start with image processing—can you walk me through a real scenario where you applied image processing techniques to solve a problem, and what tools or algorithms you used?

Okay, so you’re actually sending students to NIT Warangal and connecting them to hands-on experiences. Let’s verify your embedded and communication skills—can you describe a real project where you worked on embedded hardware for antenna control, and what technical challenges you faced?

So you’re actually sending students to NIT Warangal and connecting them to hands-on experiences. Let’s verify your embedded and communication skills—can you describe a real project where you worked directly with embedded systems, maybe for antenna control or signal processing?

Alright, so you’re actually sending students to NIT Warangal and connecting them to hands-on experiences. Let’s verify your embedded and communication skills—can you describe a real project where you worked directly with embedded systems in a communications context, and what your technical role was?

Yes. So so as I. Told before I have worked in a DHT ACRB funded project for three years. It was about. Designing. Of time modulated antenna arrays. Which is also called as. Unconventional faced antenna arrays. So I have worked in this project for three years and in that project. I have worked. With the programming part as well as the fabrication part of an additional design. So it is kind of an embedded. Project. Which requires. The programming knowledge. Programming in Matlab. As well as. Dumping that programming. Dumping the programming results into. Fabrication results fabrication.

Alright, you mentioned using Matlab for programming and working on antenna fabrication as part of your embedded project. Now, can you share a situation where image processing techniques were key in your research or teaching, and what specific methods or tools you used?

OK, so I haven't. Exactly directly I haven't involved in image processing. But. We have some future plans of. Implementing radars. To face their antennas. And in Redders, we can do. And many types of image processing because the radar can capture the image. And the image can be processed through machine learning algorithm. So it is our kind of future. Work that. We want to pursue.

You mentioned your future plans involve radar and machine learning for image processing, but you haven’t worked directly in that area yet. No problem. Let’s check your teaching skills—how do you handle students with very different levels of preparation in your theory and lab courses, especially when some are struggling and others are far ahead?

Yes. So what? We have to do. We have to. Categorize the students based on their level of performance. Some may be weaker students, some may be good students. So. For good students. Only the supplement, only the material. The course material, the regular classes will be enough.

Yes. So what? We have to do. We have to. Categorize the students based on their level of performance. Some may be weaker students, some may be good students. So. For good students. Only the supplement, only the material. The course material, the regular classes will be enough. But for. The weaker students. We have to. Think about. That what area? In which area they are struggling? Accordingly, I have to provide some extra support to them. Some extra supplementary material to them. Some extra assessment. So that. That they can build up their potential or build up their. Core understanding about that subject.

Yes. So what? We have to do. We have to. Categorize the students based on their level of performance.

Yes. So what? We have to do. We have to. Categorize the students based on their level of performance. Some may be weaker students, some may be good students. So. For good students. Only the supplement, only the material. The course material, the regular classes will be enough. But for. The weaker students. We have to. Think about. That what area? In which area they are struggling?

So you’d separate students by their preparation and performance levels. Can you give a concrete example—say you have a lab where half the students finish early and the other half struggle to get started—what exactly do you do in that situation?

So you’d split them up based on performance and focus your efforts where needed. Say you have a lab session where half the group finishes early and the other half is stuck at the first step—how do you keep both groups engaged and learning without leaving anyone behind?

Okay, so you separate students by ability and focus on the weaker ones to help with their trouble spots. Let’s talk about guiding student projects—how do you handle a case where a student’s proposed research idea is outside your technical expertise, but you’re still expected to supervise?

Okay, so you’d categorize students by ability and give extra support to those who need it. Let’s check your ability to guide student projects—imagine a student proposes a research project that’s ambitious but probably too complex for their current skill level. How would you help them scope it realistically without discouraging their enthusiasm?

OK, so. If the project. That the student has taken is very complex. What we? You can do as a guide. We can break. This project into step-by-step. Procedure. So once. The first step is completed and once the. Requirement of the first step. Whatever the requirement is, the student learns. Then they can go to. Or move on to Step 2. So in this way I can encourage my students. That first. You just break down one problem into step by step process. Then you solve the first step. Gather the knowledge. Gather the core understanding. Then you move. To the second step. Like that? In a step by step process you can complete the project. In a long time period.

You’d break the project down step by step and guide the student through each phase—sounds like a solid approach to mentoring. Now, let’s talk about research publications. Can you name one of your recent papers published in a reputed journal, and explain what made it significant in your field?

Yes. So. Lately I have published 1. Paper which is called as quantum inspired beam scanner and beam steering applications. Which is published in. Physical communication. It is published under Elsevier. So in this particular paper, what we have done. We have. Implemented beam steering and beamforming. Applications. Two antenna arrays. By using quantum inspired. Nature inspired algorithms like. Quantum inspired PSO algorithm. So. What we have done. We have. Optimized. Our amplitude. And. Phases to. Uh, to propose. The beams theory. And the beam forming. In this particular paper.

Alright, Dr., you described your quantum inspired beam scanner paper and how you used PSO algorithms for beamforming. Let’s shift to clear communication and structured delivery—when you’re teaching a complex concept like quantum-inspired algorithms to undergraduates, how do you break it down so everyone can grasp the essentials?

So first you need to understand what. And algorithm is. And what kind of algorithm we are talking about here? So basically. It is a nature inspired algorithm. So we are using. The very, very basic. Nature inspired algorithm which is called as. Particle Swarm optimization or. Now to reduce. A complexity or the computational? Complexity in PSO. We have incorporated the quantum. Nature. Or a quantum inspiring. Method so. That we can get the results. Optimized results in a very short time. Rather than. Uh, normal PSO or general PSO? So. Again, we have to. Breakdown this problem into step-by-step process. For students first. We need to discuss what this algorithm is about. Then we have to discuss about the. Core idea behind the nature inspired algorithm. Then what is the? Problem we have. We are facing. With nature inspired algorithm. Then how this quantum inspiration or the quantum? Uh, delta potential will actually. Are helping this PSO. To achieve. That target in a. Short period of time. Are there anything else that I can? Help out with.

Okay, so you’d start by breaking down the concept and walk students through the basics, then build up to the quantum-inspired aspects step by step. Now, for student evaluation and exam responsibilities—can you give me a real example of how you’ve designed an exam or assessment to test both theoretical understanding and practical skills in your subject?

Yes.

Yes. Generally in our. Curriculum. Theory subject and practical subject. Are separately assessed. So for theoretical subjects. Theoretical questions as well as. The numerical problems based on the theoretical fundamentals will be. Essence and. Separately for the practical exam. Their practical skills or hands-on skills like designing how they are designing an. If I'm giving some. Frequency. How they're designing an antenna. Which can work in that particular frequency. So this kind of hands on skills can be assessed. For practical exam.

You said yes, but I need a bit more detail. Can you walk me through how you designed an exam or practical assessment that tested both theory and hands-on skills—maybe include what topics you covered and how you structured the evaluation?

Right, so you separate theory and practical assessments—students get numerical problems for theory, and hands-on tasks like antenna design for practical. Now, shifting to your PhD—can you briefly explain your dissertation topic and why you chose it?

You said yes, but I need a bit more detail. What was your dissertation topic about, and what drew you to that particular area of research?

Yes. So. My research topic was optimization of time modulated antenna arrays in both transmission and reception. So basically. Time modulated antenna array is an unconventional. Face Dentina array. Where? We include. A separate control. Called time.

Okay, so your dissertation focused on optimizing time-modulated antenna arrays and included a separate time control. What was the main challenge you faced during that research, and how did you address it?

Yes. So. My research topic was optimization of time modulated antenna arrays in both transmission and reception. So basically. Time modulated antenna array is an unconventional. Face Dentina array. Where? We include. A separate control. Called time. Along with amplitude. Phase and inter element spacing. So in case of conventional arrays. We can control the antenna array radiation pattern by controlling the amplitude. Faced and interrelated spacing. But in our case, in our proposal. We can control the amplitude. Phase and the entire limit spacing. By using only the time. So. How we can? Control the time. Suppose I have a. Ten element engine array. That how much time the first element will be on, how much time the second element will be on. In that way. We can generate it tapering. Which can be used to reduce the sidelob level as well as the. Increasing the. Efficiency of the Internet. So. Our research project. What we have? Completed while pursuing the. Any further queries?

Okay so your dissertation focused on time-modulated antenna arrays and controlling their radiation pattern with timing instead of just amplitude and phase. That’s pretty technical. Now, can you give an example of how you’ve taught or structured a lab course so students could directly experiment with these concepts in practice?

Yes. The two students can directly implement this kind of antenna arrays. In lab. They can design one antenna array in simulation shop. Software. And they can implement the optimized. Tapering. In that particular simulation software. So the simulation softwares can be HSS, can be CST Studio. So they can use these kind of softwares and they can implement. And if they want to do the practice. Hands on session. They can fabricate the antenna. And they can just use one signal processing port. And they can implement. This kind of antenna arrays.

Yes. The two students can directly implement this kind of antenna arrays. In lab. They can design one antenna array in simulation shop. Software. And they can implement the optimized. Tapering. In that particular simulation software. So the simulation softwares can be HSS, can be CST Studio. So they can use these kind of softwares and they can implement. And if they want to do the practice. Hands on session. They can fabricate the antenna. And they can just use one signal processing port. And they can implement. This kind of antenna arrays. And for measurement. They can use any quick chamber if the facility is there with the institution.

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

Alright, so you’d have students use simulation tools like CST or HSS, and then possibly fabricate antennas and measure them in an anechoic chamber if the facilities exist. We’re wrapping up, Dr.—is there anything you’d like to ask about the role or the team before we finish?

Uh. About the role. I know that it is a research faculty. And I have applied for this research faculty because I have. Published a. A good number of papers in the last five years, which is 23 journals. 2 conference papers. To patents and two book chapters. And and I want to know more about this role. That how I can help. In the research as well as. In this particular.

Uh. About the role. I know that it is a research faculty. And I have applied for this research faculty because I have. Published a. A good number of papers in the last five years, which is 23 journals. 2 conference papers. To patents and two book chapters.

You’ve published quite a bit in the last five years—23 journal papers, 2 conference papers, patents, and book chapters—that’s impressive. Is there anything else you’d like to know about the role or the department, Dr.?

You’d like to know more about how you can contribute in this research faculty role. The position focuses on teaching, mentoring, guiding student projects, supporting research activities, and handling academic responsibilities like curriculum delivery and evaluation. There’s also an expectation to contribute to publications and participate in departmental admin tasks. Anything else you’d like to ask about the team or the environment?

No, the role is uh. Clear to me. And I think that I will be a perfect candidate for this role.