Interview: Prof. (Dr.) K.K. Paliwal, Director of PIET|Collegedunia

Interview by Sakshi Aggarwal

Dr. (Capt.) K.K. Paliwal is a Retired Army Captain. He is the Director of Panipat Institute of Engineering and Technology. His academic qualification includes B. Tech and M. Tech in the field of Electronics and Communication. He has also completed his Ph.D. in the same field.

Collegedunia takes immense pride in being a platform to convey his thoughtful insights with the youth.

Experience in the education industry

It has been a tremendous experience. I graduated from Malviya Regional Engineering College, Jaipur and then joined very elite forces i.e. core of signals, Indian Army. There I got a varied experience of tackling the communication equipment’s to the need of catering to the entire Indian Army as a whole, providing them safe and secure communication. And then switching over to this teaching field, to this education industry and you know interacting with the students and making this coming generation imparting knowledge, technical skills and updating their knowledge base has been a very wonderful experience to summarize with and yes just to cater for the Project based Learning because the scenario is changing on day to day basis so yes one has to keep pace with the ongoing system and you have to change the Education policies also, so that way I think we are going in the right direction with a positive attitude and positive approach.

Prof. (Dr.) K.K. Paliwal’s philosophy of leadership

A leader always leads from the front. And yes, being a Director of PIET, I think there are a lot many challenges regarding students and their concerns, giving them practical hands on experience and of course you can say that training your students means conducting their training in various Industrial setup and calling experts from the industry and to bridge up the gap between the academia and the Industry both. What are their present demands and how do you make your students more employable and to get them placed in some reputed companies. So, we are working in this direction and we hope for some good results in the time to come.

Significant challenges faced as a Director of PIET

Challenges are always there. You know it is shouldering your responsibilities, tasks are assigned to you. So, in order to fulfil that I’ve got a team of my Head of Departments and yes, I must say, in PIET we have got an excellent team and being the head of the entire team, I must share that our HODs’ are doing excellent on whatever task is being assigned to them or whatever responsibilities assigned to them, they do that job with full commitment and yes they produce the desired result.

Placement opportunities available at PIET

PIET is always known for Placements. P in PIET stands for Placements and yes, that is our USP. We have got so many awards; these awards speak of themselves that we are No. 1. So, these awards are given by different agencies and they speak of our success. So, no need to elaborate on that part.

Check out the list of top recruiting companies at PIET here.

Relationship with the students

Yeah, our first and foremost priority area is to listen to the students, their needs and my office is always open for the students, always and every time. Whatever are their genuine requirements we try to fulfil those requirements we try to fulfil those requirements, those needs, whether it is in a form of providing extra classes also. Yes, if they are weak in a particular subject we just arrange for their extra classes for those particular subjects and yes our faculty members and our HODs’ never say NO to such type of demands from the students. Whether it is on any front like sports and extra cultural activities as well. We want to groom the students and make them overall balanced person. We want to sharpen their skills and their all-round personality development.

Know more about the faculty at PIET here.

Ideal school environment according to Prof. (Dr.) K.K. Paliwal

Cool environment. Recently we have bagged clean campus award from AICTE. So, our main moto is CLEAN PIET, GREEN PIET and of course COOL Environment. So, we cater these needs for cool environment. Yes, where we can make the stay of our students more comfortable and where the teaching-learning atmosphere aim is fulfilled.

Top qualities that an aspiring engineer must possess

In present day scenario, where there is a shift specially from the engineering side more towards other streams. But, I must say the students those who have got bend towards engineering or towards technology and have got a good PCM percentage which makes them inclined towards engineering. Mathematics is mother of all engineering sciences without that you cannot do or cannot think of completing engineering course. So, the basic fact remains the same and yes, we want them to be more practical oriented rather than only being a book worm. Practical orientation is the need of the hour and that is why we are always talking about the Project based Learning.

Goals in mind for PIET for the next few years

For our University, we want to keep the momentum going and for the students to be more participative and to be more interactive and once you focus on these things I think we will be in a position to answer all their queries. The first and foremost thing is their adaptability because the situation is changing you cannot be static, you have to be adaptable. You have to keep those things in mind. With that approach, whatever comes in our way we will be able to fulfil them.

Suggestion for the current youth and the aspiring students

Yeah, first thing is being positive minded and have a positive attitude towards life. Never say NO and give in your 100%. So, these are the basic key points to success, to achieve a good degree and to get a better Placement. YES PIET!