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Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

Hi, I am Doctor Rohan Prasad. Right now I am working as a assistant professor. In Gitam University.

Okay, so you're currently an Assistant Professor at Gitam University. Anything else you'd like to add about your path in academia before we go further?

In Electronics and Communication department. I. I did my PhD from IIT Bombay. And Mtech from. IIT Guwahati in electronics and communication engineering.

You're in the Electronics and Communication department now, with a strong background from IIT Bombay and IIT Guwahati. Thinking about your current teaching,

And I did my. From the. Yeah. Ah, hence increasing the data rate. Uh, how this uh. Communication happening between the two persons.

So you're drawn to how data rate increases and how two people actually communicate over a system. When you introduce this to students for the first time, what's one analogy or practical example you use to make the concept click for them?

How it is? Two complex system and uh. How we are transferring the? Yeah.

Alright, so you're emphasizing the complexity of the systems and the challenge of transferring information. When you're explaining this to a new class, do you use any real-world scenario—like a postal service, or a conversation on the phone—to help students visualize how data moves between two points?

Yeah, I use the postal services example also.

Dr. Prasad, your PhD research focused on enhancing data rates using temporal and frequency coherence in MIMO multimode fiber links. When you teach advanced communication systems, how do you translate those findings into something tangible for students, especially those seeing multiplexing and fiber for the first time?

Add more number of, huge number of Yeah. Mind research work is mainly focused on enhancing the data rate in optical fiber. Right now, optical fiber is the main. Source of research. And uh. I want to establish the. Live for the. Photonics Lab Which? Will dedicated for the data enhancements in the. In the optical. At which? Which do uh. Due to that, there are new types of. Optical fiber cave which is hollow fiber feedback in the. Optical fiber. These are the very good.

An another example is like a. Traveling by the. Uh, aeroplane? Like we are going to the. Yeah, that means that. In the optical fiber, the speed of the communication is very high. We can send the data rate with the very high speed.

An another example is like a. Traveling by the. Uh, aeroplane? Like we are going to the. Yeah, that means that. In the optical fiber, the speed of the communication is very high.

So the airplane example is a clever way to communicate the speed difference in optical fiber. Thinking back to your own research—say, that work on MIMO multimode fiber links—what's one classroom activity or demo you've used to help students grasp multiplexing or coherence beyond just hearing a lecture?

Alright, Dr. Prasad, let's shift to your research productivity and external funding. Given your focus on high-speed optical communication and MIMO systems, where do you see the most promising, fundable research directions over the next three years? Which grants or funding bodies would you target first?

Research problems which. Yeah, which is very helpful to increase the. Or enhance the data rate in the operator.

You're talking about establishing a Photonics Lab and exploring new hollow fiber designs for better data transmission—sounds ambitious. Based on your plan, which specific funding bodies would you approach first for this lab,

Alright, let's talk teaching for a moment. Suppose you're assigned a large foundational course in Embedded Systems at VIT University, but you can't use traditional lectures or slides. How would you get 200 students actively involved and actually learning the material?

There are two way I can involve every student for the teaching and learning. One is the flip Class 2.

I I told them to prepare some topics. And after that they come and. Give the presentation on. That topic.

So you're thinking about flipped classrooms as one way to get students more involved. Let's dig into that—if you run a flipped class for Embedded Systems,

Alright, let’s talk about your role beyond teaching and research. 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?

Miss if. A student is not involving in the class. They are not. Participating in the class I will. And give some. Attractive problems which is related to the. Real life problem. And they will. Also. Go through. Go through the real life all around. Their society? What type of different type of problems? And according to that I will put some. Uh, special. Uh, prize money or some? Extra marks if they are presenting good or they are relating this. Topic with the. A real life problem.

Imagine this scenario, Dr. Prasad: a student formally complains that your grading is biased, just as your department head puts pressure on you to improve your course's pass rate. How would you handle this situation, balancing student concerns with departmental expectations while maintaining academic integrity?

That then it make the problem more challenging and they will more. Evolve in the frog.

Dr. Prasad, given your background in high-speed optical communications, have you built any connections with industry partners or companies that could help your students access internships or real-world projects?

Yeah, for that. Optical fiber. There are many companies who are working on the optical fiber like a Geo fiber. Airtel fibers are there.

They are working on the optical fiber for transferring the data. Right now also the fiber to home is also.

Okay, let’s verify a few key skills, Dr. Prasad. Imagine you’re leading a project where students have to implement a real-time image processing pipeline for quality inspection on a manufacturing line. What approach would you guide them to use for segmenting and analyzing images in that scenario?

You mentioned real-world companies like Jio and Airtel working on fiber-to-home, but for that image processing pipeline—how would you guide students to handle real-time constraints if the inspection system starts falling behind and can't keep up with the production line speed?

Uh, yeah, 2. Enhance the data rate they can. Use the multi mode fiber. And that's why the special type of modes we are using that is called the principal mode. That is not going to give the. Any. Discharge distorts and dispers. For the transmitting the data and that will increase. The data rate in the optical fiber. That will also help. For the pipelining and the. Increasing the data rate another. Thing is the feedback. We will take the channel estate information and give it the. Give it to the. Optical fiber so that it will. Yeah, enhance the data rate. So these are the things, uh Which will. Which will help with Which will. Which will help with. It Yeah.

Uh, yeah, 2. Enhance the data rate they can. Use the multi mode fiber. And that's why the special type of modes we are using that is called the principal mode. That is not going to give the. Any. Discharge distorts and dispers. For the transmitting the data and that will increase. The data rate in the optical fiber. That will also help. For the pipelining and the. Increasing the data rate another. Thing is the feedback. We will take the channel estate information and give it the. Give it to the. Optical fiber so that it will. Yeah, enhance the data rate.

So you brought up using principal modes in multimode fiber and feeding channel state info back to optimize data rates. Let’s pivot to student assessment for a second. When it comes to evaluating students in your courses,

Alright, so you’re saying those methods would help with fairness. But can you walk me through a specific system you’ve used to calibrate grading across multiple TAs—like rubrics, moderation meetings, or anonymized grading?

Robins, I can take the. Medic charms representations which is related to the. Experiments which are present in the. Class and then the. Digital system, uh. Many digital platforms are there, which are. Helping to. Conduct the quizzes.

Alright, so you use digital platforms and maybe even rubric-based marks allocation for experiment presentations and quizzes. Now, thinking about student projects—if you were supervising an undergraduate research team, how would you help them transition from a vague idea to a well-defined, publication-worthy project?

Online experimental also. They are doing. So it is very important to. To do that. First they have to implement that things to the. Implement the things.

In the real life problem means whatever the. They have thought.

You emphasized the importance of actually implementing ideas before moving forward, especially with online experiments.

So if students have an idea based on a real-life problem, how do you help them refine it into a project that's clear enough to research or publish—what's your process there?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, all.

Alright, sounds like you help students connect their ideas to real-life problems, but I’m looking for a bit more detail. Can you give me a concrete example—maybe from your past experience—where a student started with a broad idea, and you guided them step by step into framing a focused research question that was ready for publication?

Alright.

Yeah, I, uh, in the final year capstone project. One of my group of students came with the. Great idea with the. Electrical EV charging. With the optical fiber, how we can? A smart EV charging so I told you to them to first do the. Literature survey. What happened? Uh, previously. So they did. But there is no smart EV charging. So first, what is the smart EV charging?

Uh, you first put the charging. You can make it wireless charging also.

Alright, so you had a team interested in smart EV charging with optical fiber,

Okay, so you suggested the students could look into wireless charging as well. In a case like that, how do you ensure that students stay focused on a researchable scope instead of getting lost in too many possible directions?

By the literature survey, they are. If. Too many things are there, then I will tell them to. Focus on the what is the technical thing is there. Where means if the EP charging is there and the optical fiber how both the? Uh, topics are related to each other.

That is the. Uh, main thing I will tell. To narrow down there. Just told.

Alright, so you help them use the literature survey to identify where the technical overlap actually is—like how EV charging links up with optical fiber—and then you get them to focus there. Switching gears, when you're teaching a new concept in class,

You emphasized narrowing down the research topic as the main thing you tell students. When you're introducing a complex theoretical concept in class, how do you make sure students actually grasp it and don't just memorize definitions?

At complex, that's the technique. They have to go through the different type of the previous papers and implement that previous papers. And uh, by implementing the basic papers they will know how how they did it. And according to that, they will. They think about the. How to do the complex first analyze? And then?

Okay, so your method is to have students implement basic versions of models from earlier papers, so they get hands-on understanding before tackling something more advanced. When you’re teaching, how do you adjust your explanations if you notice some students are falling behind while others are moving ahead quickly?

Uh, analyze and then. They have to. Uh. I I do, I will I realise I means I relate every topic I relate with the real. What is happening means uh. If I am talking about the communication.

So you try to relate every topic back to what's happening in the real world, especially in areas like communication. When it comes to evaluating students—like for exams or project presentations—what's your approach to making that process fair and objective?

That first I will relate. How it is related to the real? Yeah.

So connecting everything back to real-world relevance is your starting point. When you’re preparing or grading exams, do you use rubrics, and if so, how do you make sure your criteria are transparent and fair for every student?

My first thing is that basic. Basic calculation. And basic how? They approached the problem how they started to. Solve the problem if the basics. Where the starting of the problem is. Good then. Then I will give them the partial mark. I do not concentrate mainly on the output. What's the process to get that output? If the process is correct and but the output is not correct. That also I'm giving the marks.

My first thing is that basic. Basic calculation. And basic how? They approached the problem how they started to. Solve the problem if the basics. Where the starting of the problem is. Good then. Then I will give them the partial mark. I do not concentrate mainly on the output. What's the process to get that output? If the process is correct and but the output is not correct.

My first thing is that basic. Basic calculation. And basic how? They approached the problem how they started to. Solve the problem if the basics. Where the starting of the problem is. Good then. Then I will give them the partial mark. I do not concentrate mainly on the output. What's the process to get that output?

So if a student’s solution process is solid, you give credit even if the final answer isn’t perfect. Now, thinking about research publications—can you describe one of your papers that was published in a reputed journal, and explain what made that work novel or important in your field?

So you focus on the student's process and understanding, not just the final answer—if their approach is solid, you recognize that with partial marks. Switching topics a bit, can you tell me about a research paper you published in a reputed journal—maybe something that involved image processing—and walk me through the main contribution you made?

Alright, so you focus on how the student approaches solving the problem—the process and the basics—rather than just the final output, and you reward solid thinking even if the answer isn't perfect. Shifting topics, can you walk me through a student project you’ve supervised where you actively guided the research design, data collection, and helped troubleshoot technical challenges along the way?

Yeah, and, uh. Last question project I guided a student for the. Adaptive modulation. Which will increase the data rate in optical fiber.

So you guided a student on adaptive modulation to boost data rates in optical fiber. What was the toughest technical hurdle the student hit during that project,

So, uh. I told them to collect the data.

You asked your students to collect the data as part of their work on adaptive modulation. Once they had the raw data, how did you guide them in analyzing it and drawing the right conclusions for the project?

So I told them to. Collect. Go through the literature survey and what are the things present related to the optic? Adaptive. Adaptive modulation, but the main challenge is the experimental. Yeah, it is working for the. Simulation part but. The experimental There is no lab. Which is the. Situated in the college. It is very difficult to authenticate our results.

Okay, so the main challenge was that the simulation showed promise for adaptive modulation, but you couldn't authenticate results experimentally because your college doesn't have the necessary lab setup. If you were supervising a student project where the experimental resources just aren't available, how do you help the student still produce meaningful and credible research?

Whatever the results we got from the simulation. Whether it is working in the real? Time problem or not? It is. Uh. Research. For the research. Process.

Alright, so you rely on simulation results and compare them to real-world scenarios, recognizing that experimental validation isn't always possible in your context. Switching gears—when it comes to clear communication and structuring your lectures or research presentations, how do you make sure your message is organized and easy for both students and colleagues to follow?

I told them to go through the real life problems, which is. Means I I use the simple English. I do not miss.

I, I if the somebody is not able to. Get my technical things.

Okay, so you make a point to use simple English and connect your lectures to real life problems, which helps with clarity.

So if someone isn't grasping your technical explanation, how do you adapt your delivery to help them catch up without losing the rest of the class?

So I I told them to. I use the simple words. Do not use the very complex words in the. Paper try to explain. So throughout the paper. Do not leave anything. So that there will be no gap between the two process go through the. A line by. And it should be simple, no much technical words, whatever the. Process you are using it should be. Connected to the. Every type of people who is. Who is going to? Study your paper, it should be simple. Uh, and. Yeah, they and always give them some example. Which is related to the real life. For problems.

Which will help everyone to understand. What you are going to? Elder.

Alright, so you make sure your students use simple language and real-life examples in their papers,

Right, so you want your writing to be accessible to everyone, not just specialists. When you're teaching lab courses or hands-on sessions, how do you make sure students understand the underlying theory as well as the practical steps?

The I saw them. Uh, models, Uh. Services related to the. To the to the communication or the lab.

Uh, lab experiments though. They can see and then. They can feel.

So you show students models and services related to communication or lab work to help them understand. When it comes to evaluating students in exams or labs,

So your students can see and feel the lab experiments, which helps make things tangible for them. When you’re grading those lab reports or practicals, what’s the main thing you focus on to assess whether they truly understood the concepts?

I want them to. Basic of that. Whatever the happening. Whether they are following the basics. If the circuit connection is there if they are. Able to uh. Draw the model graph and what is the process? For doing that experiment if that process is correct. OK, they are following the process. And they are understanding the process to how to do the. Experiment. Then it is very good and. I mainly focus on how to. Process the. How the process is happening to do the experiment? So that is the my main focus. Further.

Alright, so you’re mainly watching whether students stick to the right process and really understand the steps behind the experiment,

And and after that. Whether they are getting the result or not. Right now. My students not published but they are submitted in the conference. The result are coming soon.

Okay, so your students have submitted work to conferences but not yet published in journals. For someone in your position, holding a PhD in a relevant field, what was the specific focus of your doctoral research,

So there is AI told you in a EV. EV charging with the Smart. So I guide them to. So that means the real problem. Whatever I am working on the research problem. I separate it out in the smaller parts and given to the. Students and whatever the updated problems right now, whatever the. Problems are there. I given that problem to the student for doing the research so that. They can. They can apply for the project or the paper. I cannot. I are not using the outdated problems for the student, whatever the new type of problems are there. I've given to them.

So your PhD research centered on AI for smart EV charging, and you break down real, current problems into smaller research components for your students, making sure they're always working on up-to-date topics. Thinking about image processing—can you walk me through a time you either designed an image processing experiment or taught those concepts in class?

And the interdisciplinary. Projects which two or three?

So you’re talking about interdisciplinary projects that involve two or three areas. Can you give me a specific example of an image processing experiment or project—maybe one that also involved another field—and tell me what your role was in designing or guiding it?

Yeah, I waste on the. I work on the biomedical image processing in where the. Radiant Therapy. Where the I. Eye of the human beings is got the. Uh, black spots due to the diabetes, so it will be involved in both.

Alright,

Uh medical field image processing and rule based system with the. AI, artificial intelligence, also involving. So all these three areas are involving in the image processing. So what we do? We did the segmentation and image processing from that. We are getting the data. Uh, we are using the segmentation. Segmentation Powder. Detecting the black spots. And based on the black after detecting the black spots using the artificial intelligence.

To segment them. Whether the black exports are present? If it is present then. What is the stage of the disease?

Okay, so you combined medical image processing,

So after segmenting the images to detect black spots, you determine the stage of the disease based on those findings. When you’re presenting this kind of complex process to students, how do you make sure your explanation is clear and structured so that everyone can follow along?

So, uh, we have live where have the. Oct is there. Where we can take the retinal image.

So, uh, we have live where have the. Oct is there. Where we can take the retinal image. Directly from the. So I take the students. To the that lab and I take in the image of retinal. Of a few.

So, uh, we have live where have the. Oct is there. Where we can take the retinal image. Directly from the. So I take the students. To the that lab and I take in the image of retinal. Of a few. And and I compare both the. Images.

Okay, so you use live OCT scans to take retinal images as part of your teaching and research. Switching gears just a bit, when you’re structuring a lecture or a workshop, how do you make sure your delivery is clear and organized enough for students at different levels to stay engaged and actually learn?

UH-1 is the. Healthy image and one is uh. Whatever the. Digit remove.

Okay, so you actually bring students into the lab to capture retinal images using OCT, making it hands-on. Switching gears for a moment, how do you approach communicating complex or interdisciplinary research findings to an audience that might not have your technical background—say, during a conference presentation or a talk to non-specialist faculty?

Okay, so you bring students to the lab to capture and compare retinal images directly—really hands-on. Switching gears, Professor, let's talk about your research publications. Imagine you're aiming to get a paper accepted in a highly reputed journal. What steps do you take to ensure the quality and originality of the research before submitting?

Okay, noted.

OK, so far originality and. That's why we are doing the literature survey. When I do the restless survey. A lot of. I will focus on the broad area.

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

Yeah, and brought to. I will go through the. Uh, prayer. Recent papers and the previous.

Right, so you make it a point to review both recent and prior papers during your literature survey—that's really important for staying current and ensuring originality. If you have any final questions about the Assistant Professor (Research) role or the team, feel free to ask now. Otherwise, I'll wrap things up.

So I want to ask what about the? Assistant Professor Research. So I don't have any questions. If you want, you can.