Dr. Mamata Nayak is the Head of the Department of the IT department at DAMITS. With 19 years of work experience in education, she also holds a PhD that adds to her expertise. She also holds an MCA and an M.Tech in CSE from BPUT. Besides DAMITS, she has also worked at Purushottam Institute of Engineering and Technology, Rourkela and has industry experience at Microvision Software Pvt. Ltd. Dr. Nayak is a regular publisher of papers in journals. She has her work published in renowned international and national journals. She has also taken part in numerous software projects.

DAMITS

Being an HOD in your Department, What are your roles and responsibilities towards the students?

My responsibilities include verifying the timely classes as per the schedule. I make sure that all the practical and theory classes are ongoing so that the students can get a proper rundown of the discipline they have opted for. I also get in touch with the students who are having difficulties in classroom thinking and planning out the next steps. My duties also extend to the faculty members of the department and I assist them in any way possible.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and make it industry-oriented?

First, we stand by the theory and we start by giving a brief introduction to the subject. We then start with a small program so they understand how to connect theory with practicality before moving on to purely practical. Thereafter, they go about understanding their mistakes and what they can do by combining different projects together to make something new. It is also important that they experience failure as well as success to understand their problems and work on them.

How does DAMITS enhance the skills of the faculty and prepare them according to the industry standards?

We are constantly doing MPTL programs using the Swayam platform, which not only helps students but also teachers stay in touch with current trends like AI and Deep Learning. The college encourages us to learn more and more. We also have NIT Rourkela next to us and are encouraged to apply for more research-oriented projects in collaboration with them. Most of the teachers are researchers and attend conferences and workshops to network with fellow industry professionals.

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When you first came to DAMITS, what was your vision for the university?

This group of institutions is growing very fast in Rourkela and I wanted to be a part of this uplift. Although the university still requires some refinement regarding the courses and facilities. I believe we are lagging behind in research, which can be improved further and has therefore started research groups within the university to push more students to have a new perspective on different problems.

What do you see as DAMITS’s greatest strengths?

The faculty is the main strength of DAMITS; they are the ones who can make or break students and are the core part of any institution. We have some of the best minds in our institution, but we do require a bit more work on the research end. The campus is also lush and, well maintained and we have a diverse population of students who strive to work with each other.

What valuable advice would you like to give the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead?

First of all, students should be practically sound and well-versed in the basics. The theory classes can make up for a lot, but practicals will fill the gaps between the theory continuum. The students should also have a new perspective on problems and find out all the possible solutions before taking the route everyone walks on. I strongly believe in making new paths rather than following old ones, for experimentation is very important.