Dr. Ajay Kumar Shrivastava has been working as the Head of Computer Science Department at KIET Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh since 2005. He is also heading the skill Development and Finishing School Department of the Institute. He completed his PhD from Dr.H.S.Gour University in May, 2012. He has more than 20 years of teaching experience. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. He has published more than 20 research papers and book chapters in Scopus Indexed Journals and Conferences. He is a life member of multiple bodies including Computer Society of India, Association of Computer, Electronics and Electrical Engineers, International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology and International Association of Engineers.

KIET Ghaziabad

Being the Head of Department, what are your responsibilities for the students and the management? 

"It is to monitor and supervise departmental activities and give a cordial learning ambiance to them"

Being the Head of Department, my prime role is to provide strong academic leadership to students and ensure they receive the finest quality education and amenities. Maintaining discipline among students and enabling them to receive skilled education in the subject and offering them a positive, encouraging and effective learning environment also comes under the scope of my responsibilities.

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

"By including industry experts in curriculum design and development process"

We firmly believe that an institute in order to enforce industry oriented approach towards subjects needs to keep itself updated with the latest trends and developments of the industrial world and by including industry people in college activities, events and curriculum development. Hence, we also follow the same practice in our college and in addition to usual courses, subjects like WebTech, Data Analytics, Software Testing have been integrated in curriculum to educate students on latest technologies. Apart from this, mini-major projects are regularly assigned to students where they can utilize their existing knowledge and learn new technologies like Block-chain, Full stack development, AR/VR etc. Lastly, to strengthen our students' skills and subject knowledge, competitive coding competitions are also arranged by us. 

Which best practices are offered by your department to the students to help them gain necessary skills? 

"Guest sessions, internships in reputed organizations and including latest programs in curriculum are done"

Our department follows an outcome based teaching-learning approach by developing course plans in line with development of the academic and industrial world and as per student needs. And necessary changes are made in value added courses after evaluating students' performance and taking feedback from them. And we have our own Alumni network who helps us a lot by providing their services like assigning them mentors for projects, conducting guest lectures and offering finest internship and placements opportunities. 

How do you strategize and update the curriculum to make it befitting for the students?

"We follow the University designed curriculum and supplement students’ knowledge through value added courses"

We follow the curriculum designed by the Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow, so we don't have to worry about the updates and all. And to fill the gap between our academic practices and industry requirements, we supplement the knowledge of our students by offering them value-added courses as per industry standards and requirements. We also offer the minor specializations to the students in the summer break.

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

"By providing guidance to them about available career scope and enhancing their industrial exposure"

The placement process of our college is centralized through CRPC that drives all on-campus recruitments. And our students undergo rigorous pre-placement training programs in addition to technical mock interviews, aptitude tests and HR mock interviews which we conduct on a regular basis. In addition to this, the Career Guidance Center of our college provides guidance to students for identifying their life and career goals. Also KIET PR and International Relations provides finest career opportunities to students by offering better learning experiences, good industrial exposure and training in foreign languages like German, Japanese and French etc. Last but not the least, TBI-KIET aids entrepreneurship skills in students in areas like IPR, licensing, training and other related requirements.

How do you prepare your students to cope up with this competitive world?

"By assigning them projects, conducting coding competitions and personality development trainings"

Our department conducts coding competitions that educate our students about competitive programming using global coding platforms like Hackerrank, CodeChef and LeetCode etc. and also gives a perfect platform to students to showcase their programming talent and problem-solving abilities. And we monitor the academic progress of our students by allotting a dedicated faculty to a group of 13-14 students who regularly interact with their mentor to tell them their issues and queries. Regular training through additional lab of Data structures and Analysis of algorithms where students practice on HackerRank, CodeChef etc for competitive coding. Lastly, we assign real time projects to students by dividing them into 3-4 groups and ask them to develop a prototype. 

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

"Society clubs of our college conduct best activities and events to enhance student’s talents"

We do organize a wide variety of co-curricular activities at both departmental and college level. And events like fresher’s party, farewell party, felicitation ceremony are conducted by us for students. We also organize the cultural events where students can direct the plays, choreograph the dance and learn different skills. 

What challenges are you facing to uplift the quality of education of your department?

"Implement new teaching methodologies to bring back student’s interest towards studies is a hurdle for us"

The major challenge in front of us currently is to implement new and improved teaching practices for the benefit of students. Due to Covid19, the focus of students shift towards the online learning, it is beneficial also so we are trying to create an environment where students can learn in blended mode. As we are a affiliated college so time management to provide the additional and important activities is a challenge to all of us.

When you joined the KIET College, what was your vision for it? 

"My aim was to give best learning ambiance to students"

I joined the institution in 2005. My vision when I joined the college was to create the most conducive environment for students to ensure they receive the finest quality academic and research-oriented education.

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How does the curriculum of your institute ensure the best practices of industry? 

"It is backed by finest value added and MOOC certification courses and co-curricular activities"

As we are an affiliated college so we cannot design our curriculum but we run some value added courses to cater the need of the industry. To ensure learning beyond the classroom and curriculum, our department regularly consults with subject experts. In addition to this, MOOC certification courses, additional labs, mini and major projects, curricular and extracurricular activities are conducted by us regularly to help students attain full growth. Lastly, we have given full flexibility to students to work on their innovative ideas through projects from second year. 

How does your college enhance the skills of faculty and prepare them as per industry standards? 

"By appreciating their achievements and arranging best research and training facilities to them"

Our institute never leaves any opportunity to recognize and reward the significant contribution made by our highly qualified and experienced faculty members and awards like CV Raman and Dronacharya Award are given to them. This simple practice keeps them motivated to stay updated with the latest trends and developments of the industrial world. An ambitious 24X7 research and development lab is there in our college to promote research oriented teaching-learning approach in students and faculty and also helps them to publish research papers in reputed journals.

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

"We regularly update our curriculum by including new courses and training programs in it"

Our department follows a project-based learning approach since the start of course in order to enhance the skills, knowledge and experience of students so that they can fit themselves easily in the real world. In addition to this, we do follow the syllabus designed by the University and to bridge the gap between our academic practices and industry demands, we regularly include value added courses in minor specializations in addition to summer internship programs.

Any valuable advice which would you like to give to the students to have a prosperous career ahead? 

"Identify your strengths, stay dedicated towards your studies and career goals"

I would advise my students to analyze their strengths as this will help you to discover their enormous potential. Also focus on curriculum, study dedicatedly, participate in department academic and non-academic activities and follow the practices that Department offers to you for your benefit.