Prof. R Prakasam is currently the head of the Mechanical Department at the Global Institute of Engineering & Technology. He obtained his Master's degree from MIT. He has 28 years of experience in the teaching and research field. He is interested in the design, modeling, and analysis of CAD/CAM.

Global Institute of Engineering & Technology

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

"To promote World-class technical expertise by following the way of Modern Methodology"

My roles and responsibilities towards the students are as follows:-

  • Being Punctual and respectful to meet the academic expectations of the students and prepare them periodically towards their academic goals.
  • To foster the scientific temper in promoting world-class professional and technical expertise by the way of Modern Methodology.

How do you tend to establish healthy relations with the students and fellow faculty? 

"By following the principles of constructivism and understanding the values of students"

I establish healthy relationships with the students and faculty in the following ways:

  • The relationship between teacher and student was redefined with the advent of cognitive psychology. Following the principles of constructivism, teachers and students were said to construct knowledge jointly.
  • By understanding the value of the student's sense of belonging can be of greater value to the overall development of the students in all aspects irrespective of the racial confrontations.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and make it industry-oriented?

"By organizing various industry-oriented programs, training, and internships for the students"

Students are educated with competing technologies by conducting competitions by having different SAE clubs, CADD program, robotics club, design, in-plant training, and internship approaches.

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What are the best practices offered by the department to the students which help them gain necessary skills?

"Providing students with the early exposure to technologies in real life"

  • Exposing students to technology early on in life helps build essential skills like self-reliance, group and teamwork, peer learning, interpersonal skills, and decisive decision making.
  • Students are educated with co-curricular subjects, such as personality development, career guidance, health, and physical education, information and communication technology (ICT), NCC, and work experience that will enhance students’ skill set.

How do you strategize and update the curriculum for the students?

"Providing students with the recent and updated information by designing the curriculum"

When writing a curriculum, it helps to remember that it's not about writing the best lesson plans or developing a perfect set of in-class projects and assignments. Instead, it's about meeting the needs of the students in a way that ensures the material is understood, maintained, and applied in and out of the classroom. Seek out seasoned professors and ask for their input regarding your curriculum. It's important to schedule planning sessions and blocks of time to work on the curriculum. Learning how to manage that time is also important. Don't forget to build in assessments and time for feedback when upgrading your curriculum. You will need to be able to measure how well students are doing.

What are your views upon the placements and higher education about the students from your department?

"Knowledge, skills, and the ability to adapt to a work environment are necessary to survive the real world"

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This world-famous quote by Confucius holds a lot of veracity to date. When you indulge in something that you enjoy, you do not see it as an obligation. But the problem arises when you are oblivious to career prospects and you start questioning your potential. In these dubious instances, our college’s career services center or placement cell proves to be of great use for shaping your career path. Most people strive to get into numerous colleges and universities in the hopes of obtaining a college degree. They say that the key to a successful career or life, in general, is a quality education. However, life outside the walls of a college or university is different. Adapting to a new environment is important.

How do you help your student to cope up with the competition?

"Encourage students to learn and enjoy the education with the help of positive competition"

Encouraging our students to learn and enjoy education is one of the most important roles as a teacher, although it can also be one of the hardest. Here we take a look at the top 8 ways to motivate your students to help them achieve the most from your time in class with them.

  • Positive Competition: Creating healthy competition in a lesson is a great way to motivate your students and can encourage them to try harder.
  • Create Varied Lesson Plans: It can be hard to show enthusiasm in a lesson if students are only ever doing the same thing as it becomes boring and predictable.
  • Offer Rewards: Rewards can be given to your students to provide a sense of achievement and help them work harder in class. 
  • Set Goals: Setting your students an attainable goal to reach will give them something to work towards which can be a good way to get them to work harder.
  • Be Enthusiastic: It is important to be enthusiastic about your lessons, after all, if you don’t get excited about lessons then how can you expect your students to as well? Showing you are eager and ready to start the lesson with positive energy will give your whole class a boost and help them have more focus and motivation.
  • Know Your Students: Take the time to get to know all of your students, not just their names but their characters, strengths, and weaknesses. 
  • Teamwork: Having students work in teams will help encourage a sense of camaraderie and competitive spirit which can increase motivation.
  • Mix Fun into the Lesson: Try to plan 15-20 minute periods of learning mixed up with fun activities, this way students with a short attention span won’t get distracted and disturb the rest of the class.

Do you have any extracurricular programs to enhance the skills of the students?

"Providing students with extracurricular activities to expose them to real-world challenges"

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, many colleges and universities had a broad educational mission: to develop the "whole student." On college campuses, extracurricular involvement is a key tool in this personal development. Concentration is the key to excel in academics. However, a student cannot maintain a steady concentration for a prolonged period. He/she needs a break to restore the ability to concentrate and to retain knowledge. Furthermore, the sole focus on academics leads to boredom and may even burden the students. Here, extracurricular activities come into play. The activities act as a breather for the students and give them the much-needed break from the monotonous schedule.

What are the challenges you are facing to uplift the quality of education of your department?

"Encourage students to spend more time on their course work"

College students today seem to be spending much less time on their course work than their predecessors did 50 years ago, and evidence of their abilities suggests that they are probably learning less than students once did and quite possibly less than their counterparts in many other advanced industrial countries.

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What would be your advice to students aspiring to get into this field of study?

"Believe in yourself, focus on career building during the college days"

Though college is a great opportunity to learn life skills, it's also a time when you're surrounded by several resources and individuals ready to help you advance in your field. As a college student, taking career advice, in particular, can help you feel more equipped upon graduation. It can also help you become more confident in your skills and ensure you've chosen the right field as well as guide you toward making helpful career decisions.