Kumaraguru College of Technology: Dr. Pasupathy S Alagirisamy, HOD ECE, KC.AIR

Dr. Pasupathy S Alagirisamy is the Head of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering of Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore. It is one of the premier self-financing engineering colleges in India ranked consistently in the top 100 by NIRF. He holds a Ph.D. in Biomimetics and also received a prestigious European Union scholarship for his Ph.D. He has the right blend of entrepreneurship, industrial and academic experience. He has received a 90 lakhs research grant from the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology to develop autonomous tractors. Apart from these, he has an AICTE MODROB grant of 15 Lakhs to develop a PCB manufacturing facility. He has also established Kumaraguru Center for AI and Robotics (KC.AIR), a research center focusing on providing solutions to AI and Robotics. Through this center, he has been developing products and solutions for industries.

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What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“Continuous learning and lifelong education is the key to stay connected with academia”

There is a famous saying that education never stops at colleges. The openness to learn from all the stakeholders including the students is very necessary. They are more aware of emerging technology. In fact, the technology which I am currently using for my research was introduced to me by my students. I stay relevant to academia through lifelong learning, active research, and industry connections.

How are education systems in other countries different from ours?

“There is a need to focus on practical education and laboratory facilities in our country”

The fundamental difference is that in other countries the student chooses their program of interest for their higher education whereas here it is decided by either parents or friends and sometimes by relatives too. All comfortably forget the interest of young students. Including IITs, the teaching-learning is still largely conventional, and our assessment methods are also not very great. Except for a few premier institutions, opportunities for undergraduate students to work in the laboratories are very limited. So the students should look for curriculum and laboratory facilities and their access.

What are some of the biggest challenges for the higher education sector?

“Switching back to offline mode for teaching-learning is going to be challenging”

Teaching-learning should blend all the forms of learning styles which include auditory, verbal, visual and kinesthetic. Since the pandemic has changed the majority of the student’s preferred style of learning as visual, it is going to be a real challenge when they attend in physical mode. Although teamwork is one of the attributes expected from young people, in the last two years students were isolated. We need to follow different strategies to bring them back to work as a team and also inculcate life skills that are not commonly taught in colleges.

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What do you think should be the University’s top priority over the next 10 years?

“Educational reforms and developing student-centric policies”

As everyone knows, we are in the consolidation phase and many of the institutions will be closed in the next 5-10 years. Therefore, the institutions need to completely reform their teaching-learning process, engagement of industries, sharing of resources, collaboration with peers and quality research will only make the institutions survive.

How do you tend to build an industry connect with the program?

“Building a strong alumni connection is essential to connect with current industries”

Industry won’t come to academia voluntarily. Therefore, it can be easily achieved by the Alumni. Most of our contacts were established through alumni. Secondly, a niche for the department was identified with that niche we attract targeted companies. Volunteering in professional society activities will also bring good industry connections.

What are some valuable insights into the program that you are offering?

“Keysight lab for communication measurements, Texas instrument lab for embedded systems”

As engineering becomes more interdisciplinary, our curriculum is designed to inculcate interdisciplinary knowledge. State-of-the-art laboratories such as Keysight lab for communication measurements, Texas instrument lab for embedded systems, LoRaWAN academy and Kumaraguru Center for AI & robotics are operational. Apart from this, we have a special program for fast learners such as Fantastic-40 which aims to develop students holistically. Innovative teaching-learning practices and strong student association activities make us different from other institutions.

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What are the types of projects that the students are working on through this program?

“Projects that address the environmental issues and interdisciplinary in nature”

There are two types of projects, one that is part of their course of study in an individual semester, and one that is designed to apply their knowledge practically. Dissertation projects can be categorized as :