Dr. R.J. Hemalatha has been working as the Head of Biomedical Department at Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She has done Graduation in Biomedical Instrumentation Engineering, Post Graduation in Biomedical Engineering, and PhD in Electronics Engineering as part of her academics. She has an amazing 15 years of teaching experience. She is the Chairperson of the Gender Sensitization Cell (UGC) since 2021 and also the current Assistant Director of Academic Courses at AICTE since May 2022. In addition to this, she has published 43 papers and has presented 23 Papers in numerous International and National Journals and Conferences. She has also written chapters in many books published by Intech open book, Elsiever, IGI and Springer. She is also the best Performer in the National conference on large-scale multi-disciplinary systems of national significance-trends and challenges - LAMSYS- ISRO- Govt of India, 2018. She has given Career Counseling and Guidance to 12th class students through programs like Anna Library and Makkal Television.

Vels Institute of Science Technology and Advanced Studies

Which latest program are you offering in your Vels Institute to help students outperform and stand apart from the crowd?

"We are offering various value based courses in the discipline of Biomedical Engineering"

Our Biomedical Engineering Department offers specialized skill enhancement and value added courses to students. And we also educate our students in the domains of trending technologies including Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in healthcare along with Hospital Management, best Clinical Practices and advanced tools of implementation in virtual environment and reality.

What factors make the programs of your institute a best choice for students?

"The research facilities which we offer makes courses a best fit for them"

We offer such a learning and research environment to our students where they can inculcate their vision and experiment freely with their ideas. And students after successfully finishing their respective courses from our institute proceed in their career with a better understanding of the Biomedical Engineering field. Also, our accreditations define the quality of education which we impart to students. 

What would you say are the best practices of courses your institute is offering to students?

"Our curriculum is designed as per industry standards and by best opportunities for them"

We regularly update the curriculum of our college after rigorous analysis of industrial requirements and academic standards and taking suggestions from all our stakeholders and industry experts. Also, best internship opportunities are ensured for students by us in collaboration with our industry partners and to educate them about current technological innovations, we engage them in collaborative research projects on a regular basis. Apart from this, they are encouraged to participate in conferences and seminars to analyze the present situation of Biomedical Engineering in society. Lastly, projects which we assign to them are split into phases to help them elaborately perform the study of interest.

What are the valuable insights of your college programs?

"Our latest teaching methodologies and MOUs with reputed industries makes every program worth pursuing"

The main objective of our Biomedical Engineering Department is to enhance the practical and research knowledge of our students so that they can meet the current needs of the HealthCare sector by becoming good Biomedical Engineers. Hence we equip our students with modern teaching-learning methodologies and also support them to secure good internship opportunities in reputed companies. Also the MoU we have signed related to Biomedical Engineering with our industry partners enables our students to understand the techniques and ideologies in a better way.

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How do the programs of your institute ensure the future preparedness of students?

"We provide customized placement oriented trainings to them along with coaching for exams"

We organize sessions for students to enhance their soft skills and aptitude skills. Also customized placement specific training programs and personality development sessions are also conducted by us to prepare them for the actual interview process and corporate world. In addition to this, dedicated coaching classes are arranged by us to help students prepare for the competitive entrance exams including GATE, GRE and TANCET. Lastly, we involve our students in research activities on a regular basis to help them pursue higher education and also encourage them to practice programming languages and develop their technical skills through online learning platforms like Swayam, NPTEL and Coursera etc.

How did you train yourself and faculty to deliver the programs to students in the best possible way?

"We train and upskill ourselves through FDPs and online courses on trending technologies"

We as faculty and mentors of the Department of Biomedical Engineering upskill ourselves through Faculty Development Programs and Induction Programs which are organized by our college. These programs help us to deliver our respective courses to students in an easily understandable way. Apart from this, we conduct rigorous research and experiments and pursue a wide variety of online courses to update ourselves with the recent market trends. 

How do you build a connection between your courses and industry demands?

"By organizing industry connect sessions, seminars and professional visits to bridge the gap"

The BE program in Biomedical Engineering of our department is backed by some of the best practices like industry connect sessions, field visits, internships, Industrial/Hospital visits, workshops and seminars, and all of them are conducted by us in collaboration with esteemed organizations and hospitals. Our Department has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with reputed industries to establish a better learning environment for students in accordance with society's needs. Lastly, Consultancy projects are assigned to students so that they can utilize their existing skills and build new ones. 

What challenges have you faced while inculcating the latest programs in your curriculum?

"Ensuring real time hospital exposure and arranging internships for students was a major issue"

As the curriculum of Biomedical Engineering is related to the actual hospital environment, live functioning and application of the instruments in healthcare and real-time experience of handling certain high-indexed equipment, hence simulating the same environment or in other words giving students a real time exposure was definitely a challenge for us in initial stages. Along with this, developing students' personalities and enhancing their industrial exposure through internships and live projects was also another hurdle for us in the initial days. Hence, we regularly organize hospital visits to offer them an exposure of the real-time health environment. 

On what kinds of projects your students are currently working on under these courses?

"They are developing projects on 3D designs of prosthetic arms and Orthotic Devices"

The students are working with multiple technologies analyzing the real-time processing of signals and images. Also they are also analyzing the current scenario of the healthcare system and actively performing projects in 3D designs of prosthetic arms and orthotic devices, processor and embedded-based hardware systems for processing, real-time signal processing through the acquisition devices available in the department, IoT-based devices for healthcare technology and artificial intelligence for prediction of diseases. The ideas and innovations related to virtual reality are being urged among our students.

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What career options would be available for students after pursuing courses from your college?

"They can join various subdivisions of the HealthCare sector and Software industry as well"

Biomedical Engineering plays a vital role in hospitals with respect to equipment maintenance, analysis and implementation. And the programs which we offer to students paves the way for them to various subdivisions in the field of healthcare not only in hospitals but also in industries belonging to Design Engineering, Calibration, Quality Service Engineering and software.