Dr. Subalalitha C.N is the Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology Chennai. She has completed Ph.D. and M.E. in Computer Science and Engineering. Her areas of research interests are Natural Language Processing and Text Mining and Machine Learning. She is a 3 Times consecutive Gold Medal Winner in the Research Day held at SRM IST in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. She also has several international national publications to her credit.

SRM IST

What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“An advisor, teacher and students counsellor to help students in their academic journey”

My primary role would be to teach B.Tech, M.Tech and PhD students. Guiding projects for students is the other role that branches out from the primary role. We guide students to do projects right from their first year to final year while final year project is a mandatory thing. They learn to add a research component and also to write research papers through these projects. Student counsellor is one of the most interesting roles at SRM through which we get to know the difficulties of the students and their parents.

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

“Being a patient listener and positive advisor for faculty and students”

Towards Students: The best approach would be “being approachable”. I don’t believe in being a strict teacher. Also, I would keep the teaching-learning process bidirectional. I have learnt a lot from my students and that’s how I forced myself to learn to code in Python

Towards Fellow Faculty: I maintain a professional connection with fellow faculty. I get more acquainted with the ones who are in sync with my wavelength and are very much passionate about research. Especially in the domains that can integrate with mine. 

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How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects?

“I believe in learning by doing and motivate students to take up important projects”

I make sure I eliminate paper assignments. I handle mostly elective subjects like, Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning which may not have a lab component. I teach them to code the subject concepts in Python. Also, ask them to submit a project that focuses on the trending aspect of the domain.

How does your department prepare students for Higher education and placement?

“A dedicated pre-placement cell and higher education training experts are present in campus”

Every year, more than 300 companies come for placement interviews for the School of Computing alone and most of the students get placed. If not placed, they opt for higher studies and most of our students get into top-ranked Universities in the U.S and Canada. The department offers students special training organized by the experts. Different training is given for placement interviews and for the students aiming for a high GRE score.

How do you help your student to cope up in this competitive world?

“By giving them insights and citing the happenings relevant to the field”

I try telling them to look beyond the subject and match up with the Industry demand and the recent research trends. I also motivate them to induce innovations in the practical assignments. This way they get a wider knowledge on the subject and allows me to increase my teaching standards.

How does the University enhance the skills of the faculty?

“Motivating faculty to venture into research and make global publications”

The University encourages the faculty to attend online courses, to deliver online courses, and create YouTube channels for the benefit of students. Also, promote them to attend faculty development programs and most importantly to publish research papers in refereed journals. 

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

“Giving the students the freedom to opt for a project assignment for better understanding of subject”

I believe in giving liberty. Especially when liberty to think is given, it pays back in huge. I ask the students to skip a theory question during the internal assessments and in place of that would ask them to submit a project. They would happily comply and get ready to submit a project. I ask them to present their project individually in the class. I have been practising this for the past five years and most of the students like this approach. 

What do you see as the department’s greatest strengths?

“The infrastructure provided by the college and strong curriculum are the biggest strengths”

The strength of the college lies in its modern infrastructure and the diversity of students. At SRM, students from almost all states of India come to study and you can easily spot international students also. This gives any student an excellent ambience to kick start their college life.

What valuable advice would you like to the students for a prosperous career ahead?

“To set a unique path and take both victories and failures as lessons for life”

Students should develop a passion for what they like. I see students getting depressed easily. The stronger minds always will win. I have seen many students starting their startups, pursuing higher studies, taking up corporate or government sector jobs and doing much more. Whatever it is, they should choose what they like and work hard towards success.