Dr. Tarun Kumar Rajak is currently working as an Assistant Professor and Head, Department of Civil Engineering, Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Professional Management and Technology (SSIPMT) Raipur. He completed his M.Tech from NIT Agartala and Ph.D. from NIT Raipur in the year 2015 and 2020 respectively with the specialization of Geotechnical Engineering. He has published over 10 numbers of research papers in International and National journals including SCIE, ESCI, SCOPUS, and conferences. One published Indian Patent is also in his credit. He is the reviewer of many journals. He is also serving as a Joint Secretary, Indian Geotechnical Society, Raipur Chapter since July 2021. He is a lifetime member of professional bodies like the Indian Geotechnical Society, Indian Road Congress, and The Institutes of Engineers. He has organized various workshops, STTP, webinars, and collaborative events. 

SSIPMT

What keeps you connected with the Education Sector and how has your experience been so far with the institute?

“Continuous enhancement of Knowledge and upskilling kept me connected to the education sector”

Basically, as an educator, it provides a good platform for continuous learning as well as it gives the satisfaction of contributing to your community and future generation. Since completing my Ph.D., I always enjoyed my work, interacting with students, and discussing several new innovative ideas amongst students and faculty. I really feel that this is the best platform where I can continuously enhance my knowledge, upskilling, and research, and innovative ideas. SSIPMT Raipur provides the best facilities for research, teaching, and lab facilities, equipped ICT Tools, infrastructure, and several facilities for teaching, non-teaching staff, and students. Even during this pandemic, the institutes have successfully handled the situations and provided the best knowledge and facilities to the students. 

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“Providing Students with demanding skills and becoming excellent in their field”

“As students are the future of every nation” development of the student’s skill is very much important. Being the Head of Department, my role is not only to guide the students in academics or extracurricular activities but also to develop several skills and mainly to observe and improve the uniqueness of each student. so that they can achieve the highest possible standards of excellence in all fields for their bright future and to be great human beings. 

I always believe in making a strong relationship between students and faculty so that they can comfortably share their thoughts and problems. So basically, I work in all these fields. 

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

“Provide Students with extracurricular programs to expose them to real-world challenges”

Yes, we always believe that along with academic development, extracurricular activities strongly help to enhance the skills and ability of the students. We have an active student chapter of professional bodies and a student association group where students actively participate and conduct several activities. We also offered several value-added courses including advanced software programs, like STAAD-Pro, Revit, 3d Max, certificate course, and various training programs, so that they can stand themselves as per the current and future demands of the industries and jobs. 

Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?

“Youth have to convert our challenges into Opportunities”

I would advise all aspirants and students to not only confront the challenges but also to do their best to observe and capture the opportunity. On behalf of the civil engineering department, SSIPMT Raipur, I would like to invite all aspirants and students to join the civil engineering family at SSIPMT and work together for the benefit of society and the nation.

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How does the curriculum of SSIPMT Raipur ensure that the students are being prepared for the future?

“Encourage students to focus on outcome-based and project-based education”

The SSIPMT teams always encourage and focus on outcome-based education, project-based learning, as well as industry linkage, so that students get benefited and get various opportunities in the job and higher education. The institute has a number of MoUs with industries and companies which regularly provide and monitor the growth of students in all fields. Our institute is also amongst the top institutions of India that have the IDEA Lab where students can develop models, and do research work with their innovative ideas. 

How do you make the Course Curriculum industry-oriented?

“To bridge the gap between the practical and theoretical skills of students”

Practical techniques give you a deeper understanding of what is done in the industry. The industrial experience may be disastrous for you if you do not have the necessary practical expertise. It makes you aware of the standards, norms, and laws that apply in the industrial environment. To achieve this, we train the students and assign and review the projects from each subject, and encourage students to prepare the models. 

What are the interventions you bring in apart from the curriculum to train the students?

“Providing students with the online development program”

Taking the advantage of the online mode classes, during this pandemic situation, we are able to conduct several skill development programs for the students. We have offered a number of workshops and short-term training programs by eminent speakers and scientists to get in-depth innovative ideas in particular fields. We have also conducted webinars for the students to be aware of the current scenario of industries and future demand. We also focus on the strong industry linkage so that students can be benefitted from the internships, field visits, and placement. 

What would you like people to know about your institute they may not know?

“Provide students with various on-campus facilities and amenities”

For the students, it is one of the best institutions with various on-campus facilities and amenities with good infrastructure. The institute provides a wide platform to conduct several student activities. It has the best academic performance record and placement records. It is also the best place to work with freedom and having a good team of experienced faculty and staff. The strength of SSIPMT includes a good placement record, a team of Well trained, research-oriented, experienced, teaching faculty, good infrastructure, and lab facilities. 

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What are some of the biggest challenges both for higher education in general and for SSIPMT Raipur specifically?

“The rapid demand of Digitalization of the academic/ education field is the biggest challenge”

The shift from offline to online classrooms has been one of the most difficult issues we've encountered, as has been the scenario with other institutions. We have a large number of students from all across the country. As a result of the Covid 19 epidemic, we've all had to scramble to find a new way to communicate with students for their education and evaluations. But SSIPMT has handled this situation in an effective manner without compromising in teaching and learning stages. Now, the situation is improving, and we have resumed our session in offline mode.