Good day, Dr. R. Rajaprasanna. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

Sorry for the.

Interference, uh, here I'm having some technically just over my uh, Internet. So myself I am a Rajaprasana. So I have done PhD in control Systems and masters in Applied Electronics and a Bachelor's in Electronics and Instrumentation stream. Currently I am working as a faculty at Saskara Dean University Thanjavur and my area of interest are obviously control system and its allied subjects. Uh, addition to that, I'm interested in electrical circuit analysis related subjects, digital signal.

Uh, browsing latest subjects and then the current, uh, technology like machine learning, artificial intelligence and G planning, uh, apart from this, uh, I'm good in Python coding, good at Python coding as well as, uh, MATLAB tool and little bit knowledge in Java as well as good in PALC programming, Labview, et cetera.

Umm, my uh, professional, uh, experiences, uh, coming to my professional experiences, I have 5 years of teaching experiences, including my current working experience. And then I'm here to apply for a faculty role at a VH university. And so here I, I would be more proud if I am become a part of VIT since the teaching is my passion. So that's what I prefer to do PhD. And also I have done, uh, I'm interested.

Uh, in learning, uh, many things apart from teaching, because the teaching is a kind of uh, uh, learning, uh, it is knowledge based learning. So still I am learning and uh, I would be uh.

After some after a decade and I will be expert in control systems. OK, if I am if my feeding my knowledge like this, then if you see me in the future then I would be at the greater heights.

At a greater level, uh.

Yeah.

Yes, I.

Let's begin by discussing your expertise in Power Electronics, Power Systems, or Control Systems. Can you elaborate on your work or research in these areas?

Uh, currently I'm expertise in control systems, uh, because my work is fully based on the designing controller.

As well as part of digital signal processing as well as the system identification and my work is repetitive controller based.

Repetitive control design for Coriolis mass flow meter using priority based course functions. So here I'm taking my physical component as a Coriolis mass flow meter. First of all, I'm going to implement the mathematical model for the Coriolis Moscow meter before proceeding towards the controller design because anyway that is a crucial part and first step in any kind of controller design.

So here my system looks like some kind of resonance system, so that's what I preferred couch function. The couch polynomials are a kind of polynomials that shows the resonant behavior for a given input and which means that it's output is and input is also ideal. Because working principle Korea is Muslim, meter is always work works on the basis of Coriolis force as well as some resonance conditions. Because resonance conditions have been we are getting the maximum power output.

Because that comes under in from a a little bit power electronics concepts. Umm, And then once I have done everything using constant functions, my next step is to I design the controller. Uh, here I'm preferring my repetitive controller because it is a learning based controller. I want to track my signals, sensor signals, which is a embedded in the Coriolis tube. And so for that, I prefer the repetitive controller. The challenge I have faced during my PhD is first of all, during system education process my system. Uh.

May have some Li a little bit non minimum phase behavior. Uh, for that I have to put more control effort since, uh, non minimum phase behavior is a kind of system that always be on the verge of instability. And so for that, I have to make some of the composition technique in my repetitive controller design in addition to its traditional one. And that I have using the B spine filters to do the commutation technique and I have obtained a better results. Uh, with the order of three, I think so in yeah, in the order of three.

Uh, using the commentation technique, using this blind filters, umm, and the one more thing is I have faced, uh, some of the challenges while taking the signals since the sensor signals are very weak as well as it is corrupted over noise. Uh, how to put more effort on this, uh, by taking the signals via Daccard. Apart from this, I have publications regarding this. I have two ACI papers and one Scopus papers from this work. And my work is funded by the SASTRA TR funding as the cost.

4.5 lakhs umm, this is all about my research and uh currently my research work is fully focusing on the machine learning base to control our design and the same work I'm implementing the machinery concepts to over there uh to mitigate the noise from the sensor signals and also to generate the same kind of sensor signals for the future applications.

Thank you, Professor Rajaprasanna, for providing that detailed explanation of your research. Based on what you've shared, I'll move forward to discuss your ability to teach theory and laboratory courses. Could you outline your approach to explaining complex concepts, such as repetitive control systems or system identification, when teaching students in the classroom or lab? How do you ensure students grasp the theoretical and practical aspects effectively?

Yes, uh, coming to system identification, the one thing simpler system identification, uh, people, most of the students consider this as a complex thing, uh, because it has more mathematics as well as it has more equations derivations, but simply system identification is the one in which we are. Uh, representing some physical system without the knowledge of the physical intuition without based on the 1st principal models. Uh, that's why we prefer system identification model. So system identification model is broadly classified into three types. One is, uh, white box model, black box model and Gray box model. OK, white box model as name indicates, uh, you have, you know, all the physical intuition in the system. So with the, using a phosphorus first, you are obtaining a, it's a mathematical representation for any kind of systems.

Because that is the traditional way, traditional one, uh, with most of the peoples are working with are dealing dealt with. And next one is the Gray box modeling, which means that some kind of information is available to us and some kind of information we obtained through the datas. So that kind of, uh, uh, concept is called Gray box modeling. And the third one is a black box modeling, which which means that we don't know about the dynamics of the system. Instead, we are taking the inputs and outputs from that. We built our own model. OK, from students point of view first.

How to ensure that they have to know some basics on matrix especially the matrix mathematics especially matrix. So system education is nothing but we are having some input and output from the input onput how we are going to generate a model? It is the obvious case like a linear algebra. The linear algebra is nothing but we are converting A1 vector into another vector through some operator called a matrix. For instance O is equal to simply A into XR where X is input, Y is your output.

From X&Y, how we are going to get that A, that A is our system dynamics matrix. OK, union algebra plays a vital role in dealing with this system. But the condition is your system should be linear or you have to convert your system into a linear systems. If it is nonlinear system, then you have to put more effort on this. You have to add some of the initial conditions and some of the nonlinearity terms into it. But that is a separate topic, OK, Later the classes, later on, later classes, they come to know all those things. First of all, they should know these things, the algebraic. Linear algebra concepts simply Y equal to X Rs. Simply it is a straight line equation how we obtain 8A matrix from the given inputs or outputs. So obviously if you take some inputs and outputs definitely where input is a vector, output is also a vector and if you want to find A then you have to invert your input. But since input is a vector you can't invert because it is not a square matrix. Then you go for some pseudo invest technique and then you get something. Condition that it should be non singular because if it is singular, singular means determinant shouldn't be shouldn't be 0.

You have to ensure that all of its, uh, dynamics, uh, especially in terms of image planning, we should say, we should say it is, uh, terms of futures. Everything should be in every should be linearly independent. And coming to, uh, laboratory aspect, the same thing I will explain in detail, uh, using MATLAB toolbox. OK, I will take some XI will input and some output Y from real time because I'm having my own data set. Uh, from my PhD. So take the data set and I am supposed to build this a matrix over there.

From that matrix I will find the eigenvalues. The eigenvalue represents a roots of the system. From the eigenvalue they come to know that my system is stable. OK, everything is OK. Then I will go for further analysis, uh, by converting those matrix into the transfer function format or as directly applying some step input how it behaves and how applying some RAM input how it behaves. And from that I come to easily conclude the dynamics of the systems. Once I I know the dynamics, then obviously the next obvious thing is designing controller. Because if I know dynamics then a controller part seems to be very easy.

Uh, this is all about system identification. There are a lot of things available. A lot of techniques are available in the system and education techniques, uh, starting from FIRIAR and move on to some auto regressive moving average, et cetera, et cetera thing. So first of all, students I have, I, I, I how to explain the physical intuition behind the system identification also being a system identification and explain about the metrics. And then slowly I'm moving towards the concepts and, uh, if they.

More familiar? Then I will do everything in a simulation environment and make the students a little bit better and comfortable with the subject. Yeah.

Thank you for that detailed explanation, Professor Rajaprasanna. Let us now examine your experience in student evaluation and exam duties. Can you share examples of how you design assessments or evaluate students both in theoretical and practical contexts? How do you ensure that your evaluations are objective and reflective of the students' understanding and abilities?

Currently, students are evaluated using the CIS and as well as semester examinations because there is a traditional case.

Anyway, students have to do these things in order to get their degree. Apart from this, I will evolve with the students by conducting the surprise quizzes. Sometimes I may come up with some questions, MCQ questions, put it on the PowerPoint presentation and ask the students to say the answer and explain the answer. Under most most of the people's.

Uh, students has a different backgrounds in terms of, uh, technical, OK. Some students have strong knowledge in technical ARN because they're, they're coming from, uh, that background. And some students, they are poor in the technical, uh, uh, arena because they are coming from, uh, uh, their own, that kind of background. So I have to first make all the things clear to the students. And then I'm accessing the students by conducting this kind of surprise quizzes in addition to CAS and other things. And also I periodically give some.

Into them some interesting assignments to them and ask them to submit that assignments and I will give some deadline but any anyhow deadline is not important for for me but I will put some deadline and ask the students to submit and evaluate based on their working actually I'm not focusing on how neat they prepare the assignment how well they do the assignment OK that is very very important even though they're handling is poor or as they are doing in an alternately manner but.

I simply saw their assignment. I came to know that, OK, he's he did.

Assignment by his own, uh, not, uh, so get supporting from others. Like we say, I can easily understood the students and this might reflect them, uh, during their interviews and during the highest studies. And it makes them too, uh, stimulate their interest towards their research. Uh, OK, these are things are available because the traditional way of teaching is not only not helpful for the students to, uh, stimulate them into doing research. If you take a control system like subjects, more derivations, more equations.

As well as more mathematics. So students really hate those subjects because they have all those tough stuff they feel the subject of. We make it the more interesting and by giving some practical experience by simulation experience. For example, if you take Aussie circuit, what is the importance of all circuit where we are using? Why the 1st order is very, very important? What what kind of response we obtained from the response? What do you come to know that what are the parameters are important? So these things I have to so I used to learn and then based on this I will give some assignments.

And that is interesting, as I mentioned, not, uh, kind of muck upping things, but they have to understand something, uh, apart from that CAA and, uh, some examples. So this, in this manner, I can, uh, evaluate the students and it will reflect, as I already said, it will reflect them in all kind of their, uh, uh, future activities like placements, higher studies and pursuing results, sorry, pursuing research.

Thank you. That's.

Let us examine your ability to guide student projects and research. Can you provide an example or two where you mentored students in either independent or group research projects? How did you support them in navigating challenges or achieving their objectives?

So far I didn't handle any PhD students because I have completed PhD a year before, but I have. Guided many Btech students as well as M Tech students. First of all, I will ask their area of interest. That is my primary question. OK, Because some of the students, they approached me because because of some of the other reasons, because this guy is so young, so he can easily compromise our work. Likewise, they can believe like this.

But I have to 1st initiate initially say this thing. Are you OK with this subject? Then if they said OK then I will ask if you have any idea. If they have some ideas then I will grasp my ideas. If that idea is idea doesn't know to me, I would refer some books or other materials and I will. Get knowledge from this and anyhow the people approach means then they the the students idea would be related to my area of interest. So there's no problem for me to land new thing. It is not necessary for me to learn new things and that once they get the idea, I will help that idea to build into some useful work. I will see the feasibility of that work, whether the student can do that work. If they are B.Tech then I will see whether this is OK for me or this overburden for me.

And because apart from the interest that time is also there, the stipulated time would be given for B.Tech students and even for M Tech students. Even though the project is only up, I have to give the limited amount of work to them using available resources. And coming to PhD students, any my I have to give some comprehensive work through them because that is their only work. Once I may assign the work, I independently ask them to do the work. I I will not interfere in all those times anyway. Periodic reviews.

Conducted that is let know whether students are moving forward with that work or not or the students are interested or as in updates in that work. Suppose if they are facing challenges, they're definitely I will help them by what what kind of strategies is this? Whether the challenges is to purchasing components or challenges is to build to the physical model or challenge is to get the some useful output from the physical model, interpret in the computer and do some analysis. Any kind of things I'm ready to help from the scratch.

Depending upon the difficulty, uh, level, OK, if it is AB tech anyway, I, I have to be, uh, very, very much focused on this. If there's M tactical, they will, uh, be not very much focused. I will say something, OK, do that because they are more what immature people's and come into PhD students. Obviously, I will give all those things to you and I will guide them, uh, by giving the pay instructions or otherwise I will be in a position supposed if it is, uh, some kind of. Uh, external projects. Anyway I have to be?

More responsible for this thing. I will be, uh, with him, uh, throughout the completion of the work, uh, the, any kind of challenges I would be there. Uh, even though some challenges explain you to me, OK, I can learn from those things. As I said, I told you teaching and research are kind of a learning only. So I will learn many things from that. Umm, and apart from this, I helpful, uh, the students to go for some conference. It is Btech students. I ask them to go for some conference.

Conference, like I triple E and for impact students, I suggest them to go for conference and then, uh, publishing tap and, uh, channel, uh, and if it is a PC students, I ask them to 1st go for a conference and, uh, uh, some what is standard conference and they get some inputs from the experts and ask them to do that work. And then only I am, uh, I asked him to publishing papers. OK, publishing papers is and all not immediate, uh, uh, response for any kind of assistance. First of all, they should know.

What they are doing there search and what would be their outcome. So if they are clear with the things then only I will go. I will ask them to or instance them to go for publications or go for conference presentation. Anyway, my first difference is conference presentation, standard conference preparation. So I'm then only publications. If the the students has done these two things in a very advanced manner, then I will ask them to go for patent if that is the third case. So in this manner I will guide my PhD students. Anyway. I should give full freedom.

Moving to research, accessing resources, uh, anything is available within my responsibility bound or with is my uh, wanting as authority bound. Everything I have to do, I will give full-fledged freedom for that.

Yes.

Let’s now evaluate your communication effectiveness and structured teaching approach. How do you plan and structure your lectures to ensure clarity and engagement, especially when discussing complex topics like control systems or system identification?

Yes, uh, I have to prepare some materials, uh, because once the subject is assigned to us, the first thing is I have to look at on the syllabus. Anyhow, that is more familiar to me, but I have to, uh, do some preliminary works. First of all, I'm playing myself how to start and which unit I have to start. Even though the subject is in hierarchy manner, but some of the concepts, uh, uh, are, are supposed to be taken in advance than other concepts, but in a syllabus.

Mentioned everything is mentioned in as unit 1 and 2 only three, but sometimes unit 3 would be necessary for students and then unit 2. So I have to prepare a client for that and I am start taking some of the PowerPoints and that PowerPoint I will not show in the classroom. First of all, I have to I will teach everything using blackboard and without I don't increase to a student to take notes. Dirac's notes, Amy, I used to I don't have the Xerox kind of notes I increase.

Students to go for some standard books, reference books especially for control systems. I ask the students to use some of standard books like normalize Okata rather than like Nagur Kani because Nagur can most of the system says control stream means Nagar kani. So Nagar kani is okay that is okay for example. But to get more knowledge but more getting more intuition then you should go for some standard books. I prefer this to I ask the student to go for that books and I will teach every concepts on the blackboard within the crystal clear manner derivations and all those things. First of all, I will.

Tell the physical intuition and apparently I'll give some simulation to them. I will work on the simulation in the real time. Real time means in that live, live manner. And then I will show that thing to students in order to get more interesting on the concepts. And later onwards, I will show the PPTS to the students. I will share the PPT to the students that is better for them to prepare for exams like CAS and for semesters. And I will not give any kind of class notes, even my own nose, handwritten notes because. You.

Every subject is like she is suppose we are making the course materials for a subject for 10 pages or even 50 pages. It is like we can shrink the sheet into a Tumblr. So that is impossible. So I usually ask the students to refer some standard books and also I planned for the time. OK, time is I give more priority to time anyway, I have I am planning to take all the subject within circulated time and I am. Voting and say.

My I am framing my time. I went to complete the unit 1 and went to complete the unit 2 And just just for time for reference, suppose for students has no clarity in the particular unit. I, I I can extend that topic to some time. OK, I have no history SN editor because the time time frame is like that. We have to plan our units and complete every unity with this super time. Suppose the student says the disability, I am not.

Uh, uh, able to cope up with our grasp the concept of this, uh, unit means I'm ready to take that, uh, topic one more time or extend the topic and I will invoke some, uh, input some more inputs and then, uh, uh, make the students more familiar in the subjects. Umm. So for constructive point of view, as I already told you, I used to give some Microsoft Surface quizzes and assignments, uh, to them and ask them to do within that time deadline is a fixed so.

The ways we can attract the students. So getting mark is not alone. Aim for any students okay? They they apart from that, they have to grasp knowledge They have to grasp knowledge and they have to make the subjects more interesting. They have to study the subject in a very interesting OK In this manner only my teaching would be.

Yes.

Yeah, be because, uh, here they am asking expertise in control systems. Anyhow, I am doing, uh, I did my PhD in control systems and system identification and in their curriculum also this kind of subjects are there. And if you take the machine learning, machine learning, it's advancement of the system identification concept. Uh, so teaching this subject is not more challenging for me. And even deep learning also deep planning is subset of machine learning. Anyway, if you know the machine learning, then only it can come through the deep planning concepts that is also there. Curriculum and apart from this reinforcement planning that is more more similar to the control systems because that is a advancement of control systems. I am saying I have to say frankly that is advancement of control systems. So that is also there. So these are the cutting edge technologies and apart through that industry now needs automation. So everywhere automation so PLC that is one of the concepts that is one of the. Technique for automations so programming PLC.

Now turning to your PhD in System Identification and Control Systems. Could you briefly elaborate on how your doctoral research aligns with the job requirements for this role and how it positions you to contribute effectively to an academic institution?

Is similar to like a programming the control uh, uh, what you can say, umm, algorithms like things. So everything is aligning appa to the CL circuit analysis and all other subjects, uh, like, uh, DSP. So everything is related to the control systems. Only if you take uh, a particular problem, all things will come. You need even my PhD, I come across the DSP, I have come across the electronic circuit designs, uh, for clipping and clapping purposes. And I come to the industry lic like.

Amplifier I'm using for common session and that is the impedance matching kind of things. So all the subjects will come I even a power system the power told you I have designed.

Uh, that one that makes an end to apply for this job. Uh yeah. And they will helpful. And also I'm good at Python coding. Uh, so the, that might helpful for the students, especially, uh, this electrical background students to get more coding knowledge, uh, in their classroom as well as in the if they are going for some kind of hackathons, some kind of competitions, yeah, it would be very helpful for them and also do for doing projects.

The the results kind of things that comes in the article circular analysis and even power electronics. So if you take a subject, the subject itself is not unique, it is a like anyway the subjects stresses would be that in remaining all other subjects so.

Yes.

Your explanation demonstrates a strong alignment between your academic expertise and the job requirements. One final question: Could you highlight a few key research publications that stand out in your profile and explain their significance in advancing the field or in addressing practical challenges?

Yeah. So publications come to publications. As I told you, I have two Acas. One is from Caribbean Journal of Science and one is from I triple Access. Caribbean Journal of Science is the most standard multidisciplinary journal even though it is not focused only on control systems. But I published the one paper that is fully focused on the distance in the processing kind of things. So here I am. Placing some innovative things and find out the harmonics of the signals.

And that is like using orthogonal property and using some concepts of Hilbert transforms. So that that paper attracted many researchers and one of the key researcher Korea 1. He also made comment on my paper, I think a couple of years before, three years before. And then one more paper is I should be accessed. So there I have published a system identification, my system identification work that also that also be interested because I have compared my work with the remaining system education concepts.

Uh, both in case of tabular format and both in formographic format. So people got impressed on this. And in the first item, they, uh, published my paper. And, uh, currently my, I'm having on a conference standard IEEE conference that I have published my repetitive controller. And since why I'm not going directly going for journal means because I have some kind of non clarity in my conversation techniques. So that's why I published my other paper in a conference, but that also I gained more inputs and I actually tuned my papers. And this paper is now ready for the conference publications and.

Apart from this, in my current research for areas fully focused on the deep planning, especially the generative AI concepts like auto encoders, I'm going to design. I am going to mitigate the noises from the sensors. Corresponds to meter sensors using auto encoder concepts and then that course is fully completed that is ready for the publications. Still it is evaluation with one of my experts. So once it comes that is then I will also going go for some publications.

Umm, apart from this, yeah, I, uh, I'm planning to apply for some external funding. My current job is I'm, uh, taking classes for the industry, industrial peoples or as people who see training after B.Tech. Uh, so it is not fully aligned with academics. So that's what I have more hectic teaching jobs there. Uh, so frankly saying 2525 hours per week. So anyway, I want to be more. Focused on research that I have.

I struggled even I I have only less time to sporadic time to for for me to focus for research. So that's what I have to change the change change my career and move towards fully teaching and fully research based institution. And AVAT is so such institution anyway it will helpful me to boost my research as well as my publications and patents and informational fundings. Yeah.

Thank you for providing these insights into your publications and the direction of your research. This gives a strong sense of your contributions to the field and your academic aspirations.

Thank you.

You're welcome, Professor. To begin, could you share which foundational course in your discipline you find most rewarding to teach and why?

Sorry, please repeat one second. Still your voice is breaking.

And yeah, the problem is with my, because I have some technical issues oriented Internet. I understood, yeah.

Understood, Professor. Let me repeat. Could you share which foundational course in your discipline you find most rewarding to teach and why?

Time is up! Ending the interview now.