Dr. K. Mekala is a Professor of the EEE Department in the VSA Group Of Institutions, Salem, Tamil Nadu. She did BE Electrical and Electronics Engineering in the V.M.K.V. Engineering college, Salem and ME Power Electronics & Drives from Sona College of Technology, Salem. Later, she completed Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from the Anna University, Chennai. She also worked as Professor, Assistant professor and Instructor in various institutes. Her research program deals with condition monitoring of power apparatus and systems, insulation engineering, signal processing and artificial intelligence techniques used for polymeric insulators applications in Electric Power Engineering. She published various papers in National and International Journals. 

VSA Group Of Institutions

Being a faculty of the VSA Group Of Institutions, Salem, what are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“To prepare study resources, interpersonal skills, lesson plans and feedback for pupils”

We inculcate students with proper lesson plans and punctuality. They support the students to improve interpersonal skills and prepare time constraint schedules to manage too much work of subjects. Maintain a regular attendance record, prepare study resources respective to the syllabus and develop presentations like audio/video according to the content. We receive consecutive feedback from the students and are available for a query session. Co-relative real time scenarios with the syllabus assist to understand subject knowledge. We are planning many cycle tests to rectify the mistakes which boost the score and performance. Moreover, communicating the cycle test marks students to the concerned parents. Our campus always maintains a brief record of students manually and on web portals. We prepare students mentally and physically to overcome the challenges which are faced in daily life. 

Explain the importance of engineering courses for job opportunities?

“Help pupils to develop aptitude workouts, workshops and projects within the campus”

We create a platform to post their innovative ideas and support to develop projects. Our faculties make students participate in workshops and paper presentations. It assists to overcome stage fear. We help students to develop speed of aptitude workouts and practice more mock interviews to grab the job opportunities.

How do you tend to establish healthy relations with students and fellow faculty in VSA Group Of Institutions, Salem?

“Award for each achievement, share real time experience and respect everyone on campus”

We polish the way of conversation, talk with an open mind and deliver prompt solutions. Faculties share a real time experience and give some period of time to make a change. We give Awards for each and every improvement and calculate the upcoming events. Our pupils respect everyone with face to face interaction. We support and help each other honestly. 

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

“Industry oriented workshops, projects and training are available to pupils”

We ask the students to develop the working model with simple basic equipment and the result develops with some additional features. Our campus provides industry oriented works with workshops that are conducted by industrial people. It assists students to know about current trending technology. They can get inspired by workshops which result in a good start of developing new generation projects with the latest updating of software. By offering in plant training, students can easily observe how industries are working with new version of software and technology is developed

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

“Lab facilities, industrial visits, project works and more are available to students”

We provide lab facilities, equipment and Wi-Fi connections to all. Our labs are kept open on weekends to enable the students to engage themselves in designing or testing the software circuits in leisure hours. We invite the industrial person to review the designed project and upgrade the projects. Our campus maintains records for students attendance, internal mark, project details, feedback in the form of softcopy and hard copy. Our campus conducts industrial visits to encourage higher education. We support financially for the outcome of project good results on campus. 

How do you strategize the curriculum and gets updated to make it befitting for the Students?

“Assessment tests, industrial practices, theoretical models and more are available for students”

Our curriculum is designed with a detailed plan of technical and non technical courses. It is set with the combination of learning experiences, industrial practices, and student performance assessment tests. All are designed to bring out the talents and evaluate the target learning of students. They are facing challenges and creating a space for future full development. A perfect platform is provided for the students to turning some problems into opportunities and solutions. We publish the students' project as a product at local or national levels at global levels. Our curriculum is fully customized for students to develop their own impression. These developed projects are documented theoretical and practical models for future use.

How do you help your students to cope up with the competition being so high in the outside world?

“Provide assignments, practice beyond classrooms and team activity for pupils”

We encourage the students to compete against themselves and set expectations for each assignment or encourage questions. Our faculties help students learn through their strength And use their brain owner’s manual. We instruct the students to practice beyond the classroom and not compare with others to have healthy competition. Pupils get offered rewards based on work done by team activity or individual activity. Be transparent about competition performance. 

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Do you have any extracurricular activities to enhance the skills of the students or expose them to the real world challenges?

“NSS, NCC communities, sports, and outdoor programs are accessible to students”

We provide world class facilities amenities and coaching on numerous indoor or outdoor Activities. It includes several sports such as cricket, Football, Ball badminton, Table tennis Handball, Valley ball more. On college campuses, extracurricular involvement is a key tool to students personal development gain and improve skills. These activities focus on institutional goals such as building and sustaining community on campus as well as student retention. We provide NSS and NCC communities for pupils. 

What are the challenges you faced to uplift the quality of education of the VSA Group Of Institutions, Salem?

“To organize student heterogeneity, student commitment and tackle professional duties”

We develop student commitment to working and learning. Student heterogeneity and organizing student learning opportunities are great challenges for us. We find difficulty to tackle professional duties and ethical dilemmas for students. 

When you came to college, what was your vision and how are you trying to achieve the same?

“To create a safe, accessible and affordable learning environment for all”

We formulate academic and career success through the development of critical thinking, effective communication, creativity and cultural awareness. My vision is to create a safe, accessible and affordable learning environment. We conduct meetings with students to provide excellent educational opportunities that are responsive and empower them with exceed challenges in shaping the future world.

How does the curriculum of the VSA Group Of Institutions, Salem ensure the best practices of the industry?

“Strong teamwork skills, process assessments, and projects are provided to pupils”

We ensure projects with sufficiently complex that draw an one another’s knowledge and Skills. Our campus emphasizes the practical importance of strong teamwork skills. We foster metacognitive skills and incorporate process assessments.

How does the college enhance the skills of the faculty and prepares them according to the industry standards?

“Update of current technologies, provide research platforms and conferences to students”

We hire a qualified faculty capable of catching their students' attention and able to make the class session both engaging. Students get continuous updation of current technologies and understanding the expectation of corporate industries. Our pupils encourage faculty to do part time higher studies and provide several platforms to publish their research papers in national or international conferences.

What are the interventions and approaches you bring in apart from curriculum to train the Students?

“Provide debates, lab experiments and presentations to students from the campus”

Our campus introduces flipped classroom methods whereas the students learn concepts at home and practice at college. They must work on presentations, debats or lab experiments. We provide VAK teaching v-visual, a-auditory, and k-kinesthetic. 

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What do you see as the greatest strengths of VSA Group Of Institutions, Salem and how it can be enhanced?

“Qualified faculties, research and prolific libraries are our greatest strengths”

Good teaching and learning environment supported by a prolific library is a great strength. Well trained, research oriented, experienced, dedicated and energetic teaching faculty is another benefit of campus. A supportive non-teaching and laboratory staff is a great asset for us. Excellent and well- maintained infrastructure in the form of new buildings, good interface with industries, and research are provided to pupils. 

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

“Stay focused, seek opportunities and stay up to date”

Expand your knowledge and stay up-to-date. You must seek internship opportunities and be focused. Make a schedule that works around when you are the most productive and creative. Always find a balance with your personal life and go to the careers center or speak to a career advisor early on. Take a risk in another way and weight the career growth opportunity carefully.