Badrisha Shah has been working as the Associate Professor at Vivekanand Education Society’s College of Architecture, Mumbai, Maharashtra. She has done Post Graduation in Executive MBA from ITM University, Master’s in Interior Design from M.S. University, Tirunelveli and Govt. full time Diploma in Interior Design from P.V. Polytechnic, SNDT University. She has worked as a freelance designer and executed many projects in residential and commercial segments under her own firm named B. Designers for around 26 years. She has 22 years of association with renowned institutions like VESCOA, TSAP, SPND and INIFD Bandra as a head of Department and ITM, INIFD (Vashi, Andheri, Ghatkopar), Panache, PVP, GSPS and FCCE etc. as a visiting faculty. 

VES College of Architecture

What keeps you connected with the education sector?

"Passion of learning new things while teaching students and interacting with their young minds"

I believe that educating others and making it your profession are two completely different things and today's society demands good quality education for all. And since I have worked in both industries as well as in the education field, my past experiences give me immense opportunities to provide the best facilities to students to fulfill students academic requirements so that they can compete with full confidence in the outside world to fulfil ever changing market demands. Educating students generation by generation and being with young hearts allows me to learn modern technologies, new design statements, new teaching and Learning methodologies, and all these things together keeps me associated with the education sector.

Being the Professor at VESCOA, what are your responsibilities towards the students?

"To educate my students and resolve their queries on time"

Being the professor at VESCOA, I teach Interior design to architecture students to make them understand and learn space designs from macro level to micro level of mm. And our respected Principal of VESCOA uses an incredibly open approach to educate our students and has also given us the platform where we can develop the above concepts to real 1:1 / 1:5 scaled models and understand micro detailing of furniture and interior design spaces. And we are also working to introduce more design and management-based courses to help our students acquire good skills today's profession needs. Lastly, we have multiple industrial collaborations to benefit the students in diverse ways.

Which extracurricular activities are organized in college to enhance the skills of students?

"We organise webinars, PDS and workshops like events on a regular basis"

Our main aim is complete development of our students, hence we conduct different kinds of activities and events like personality development sessions, seminars, webinars and workshops for each subject to enhance their skills and make them industry ready.

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How does the curriculum of your institute ensure the future preparedness of students?

"It is updated after rigorous analysis of industrial demands and consult with professionals"

We use an integrated approach to design and update our curriculum for various subjects. Our faculties start preparing the integrated planner for every subject two months prior to the commencement of each semester. We also encourage our students to focus toward designing a space in the Architecture and Interior Design studio and all other subjects are integrated to develop the same project after specifying environmental design, construction methodology, structural specifications, and drawings, preparing estimation and costing and working drawings etc. for the completion of project.

How do you bring in a practical and industry oriented approach towards subjects?

"By assigning live projects to students and facilitating site visits for them"

To enforce practical approaches in subjects, our core and visiting faculties assign live projects happening in today’s scenario to students in alignment with syllabi described by the University of Mumbai. Students visit the site, measure and prepare the required drawings. And personally visiting the site helps students to have a clear understanding of the look and feel of the site, its environment and requirements of the project at last. 

Which approaches do you bring in apart from curriculum to teach the students?

"We provide different kinds of short term courses to enhance the skills of students"

Our college has introduced Abhivruddhi – CPD programs which consist of a 40 to 90 hours curriculum. And these courses are developed with the support and guidance of industry professionals aligned with architecture and interior design studies, so their expectations get automatically captured. In addition to this, we have created a mix batch of students and professionals to learn new things and promote ambiance of knowledge sharing. VESCOA has also signed MOUs with many companies related to Architectural and Interior design industries to provide latest technical knowledge and training opportunities to students. Lastly, we develop additional opportunities for students to develop themselves in their respective profession and allow them to choose a core area of working with required specialization of learning. These courses are weekend courses, so they do not disturb their regular curriculum learning.

What would you like people to know about your institute? 

"We promote creative learning environment and value based education system"

Our institution strives to promote value-based education, social responsibilities and good citizenry by promoting the value-based education system. Hence the programs which our institute offers are consistent with our goals and objectives. We have a wide range of programs to provide adequate academic flexibility. Feedback from academic peers and employers is used in the initiation, review and redesign of programs. We being an educational institution promote an ambience of creativity and innovation in our campus through different kinds of events, activities and celebrations. 

What do you see as the greatest strengths of VESCOA?

"Our collaborations with reputed organizations, facilities and faculties are our greatest strengths"

VESCOA focuses on holistic development of students. And our core and visiting faculties work really hard to inclusively design various courses which proves to be an allied stream of learning for students. Variety of programs allows students to capture their interest in developing their own liking about the subjects. Hence, in my opinion, our education quality, faculties, infrastructure and finally courses we offer makes us strong.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see for VESCOA specifically?

"Unavailability of time is a major constraint for us as we have plethora of courses for students"

The only issue for VESCOA is unavailability of time. As we have lots of courses ranging from electives and specializations to give the best quality education to students in the fields they are interested in.

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

"Don't stop yourself to take big decisions due to fear of failure"

I would like to advise my students and youths of our society to set some core values for themselves so that they can achieve everything they desire. Carefully prioritise your goals and set clear visions to fulfill them. You will have to face failures multiple times before getting success, but your right attitude in those difficult times will decide your future. Along with this, keep updating yourself by acquiring new skills and believe in yourself.