Mr. Ashwani Kumar Tewari is the Associate Professor and Deputy Dean at School of Computer Application, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, Punjab. He has 35+ years of experience as senior/top management in diverse industries like the high tech aircraft manufacturing (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) and IT industry. He headed the product development center of MASTEK limited credited with India’s first ERP, MAMIS and led the teams for IFS ERP for implementation in complex and large organizations. He has travelled and served in many countries including USA, UK, Sweden, Romania, Malaysia, Singapore for consultancy/ account management and program Management. His achievements include being associated as technical coordinator with eMMS, one of the most prestigious projects of the Indian Air force for implementation of a total solution for the Airforce and mission critical software development for Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) UK. He has done several speaker sessions in management institutions and has written a few articles on capability Maturity Model (CMM), human resource development and organization building. He is an exceptional communicator focused on building strong client relationships. He has filed three patents and published a few research papers, book chapter and article in the areas of management and computer science.

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What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

“Ensuring a regular and consistent learning environment”

As Head of the School of Computer Application, I am responsible for setting performance objectives for students and teachers based on national curricula, timely and quality conduct of classes and for reviewing program schemes. Also, structure the syllabus to meet the needs of students and industry. We have defined a moto “Campus to Corporate”. We strive to ensure every student enrolled must have job in hand before passing out. Professional enhancement program and mock drives are conducted regularly towards achieving the moto.

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

“Field projects, internships and short term on-job training are offered to students”

Students are encouraged to undertake live projects, which are offered by the industry to address challenges being faced by them. Students and faculty also take up freelancing projects, which are available online. These practices enable them to keep abreast of the trends in the industry. Every year the Board of studies is conducted, wherein not less than two experts are invited from the IT industry for their valuable inputs on curricula, content and delivery. 80% of courses in the curriculum have a focus on employability/entrepreneurship and skill development.

How do you strategize the curriculum and how often it gets updated?

“The scheme and syllabi are reviewed every year for all the programmes”

  • The strategic plan underpinned by our vision and mission, supports our commitment to being a premier IT school, recognized globally for its contribution to industry and society. 
  • Curriculum updation is initiated through comprehensive stakeholder feedback including recommendations of course coordination meetings, semester-end review by faculty and students. 
  • Courses in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Business Analytics, Cyber security, UI/UX, Data Science etc. have been introduced. 

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How does the curriculum of your department ensure the best practice of the industry?

“External experts deliver special workshops to students for better learning”

  • A board of studies (BoS) that consists of industry representatives, alumni, prominent academicians from reputed institutions and existing students ensures that the curriculum is current and futuristic. Some of the practices adopted during the academic year are shared with the BoS.
  • In the current year, we have introduced UG programs in tie-up with IBM and CompTIA. The courses designed will be taught by industry experts.
  • Students are mentored to participate in hackathons, skill development workshops and technical symposiums. The capstone projects are evaluated by industry and academia.

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

“Student-centric programs, feedback and academic innovative projects”

A broad range of tasks and projects related to application-oriented academics has been included. It includes blog writing, design problems, documentaries, logbooks, and live projects. Some courses also use peer rating, where students rate each other's performance, providing a student-centric learning environment. A number of value added courses are offered outside the curricula. Recently we have established a Robotics lab (eYantra) in collaboration with IIT Mumbai. Students from any programmes are encouraged to do hands on practices on robotics kit available in the eYantra lab.

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

“Dynamic infrastructure and excellent facilities for self - learning environment”

Infrastructure and learning resources of the highest level, including hi-tech classrooms, teaching labs, and libraries. There is Wi-Fi connectivity in all classrooms, lecture halls, and conference rooms as well as CTVs, microphones, smart boards, and other facilities that make teaching easier. We are fortunate to have a dedicated, highly qualified and experienced faculty at our school. We have consistently maintained faculty student ration of 1:15.

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What valuable advice would you like to give the students?

“Flexibility and adaptability are essential”

To my students, I advise them to focus on knowledge rather than degrees. As the saying goes, ‘Change is constant’. In the absence of change, you may go extinct. Adaptation and flexibility are therefore keys to managing change when it occurs. Learn something new as often as you can.