Dr. K.M. Manikandan is a Professor and Head of the Department at Dr. SNS Rajalakshmi College of Arts and Science. He has 21 years of experience teaching at the undergraduate level and 11 years of research experience. Dr. Manikandan holds a B.Sc., M.Sc., M.Phil., PGDCA and PhD degree. He has published three books on Mathematics and 18 papers published in different journals. Besides guiding undergraduate and postgraduate student projects, he has also presented six papers at numerous conferences and workshops. He received the “MAN OF IMPLICITY” Award in the SNS Leadership Award function held on March 14, 2020, and the “CUSTOMER SUCCESS CHAMPION ” in the SNS Colours event held on September 28, 2022. He has also been a part of over 30 conferences.

Dr. SNS Rajalakshmi College of Arts and Science

Being a Faculty of the Mathematics Department, what are your roles and responsibilities towards the students? 

My main responsibility is to make students get well-educated in the Mathematics domain. I need to contribute towards creating job opportunities in the core and interdisciplinary fields in different companies like in IT. I also make sure the PG students are completing their summer internships and projects.

How do you tend to establish healthy relations with the students and fellow faculty? 

We prioritise healthy relations with our students by frequent interaction with faculties through department meetings for faculties on academic and personal issues. We also have students class meetings, mentor–mentee collaborations, and organizing Industrial visits for students.

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

We organize several activities and events to help bring in a practical approach to students. We do this by organizing industry oriented seminars, workshops, and guest lectures among others.

What are the best practices offered by the department to the students which help them gain necessary skills? 

All of our second year undergraduate students and first year postgraduate students attend summer training programs. They attend programs in Mathematics at top universities like Anna university, IIT Madras, Ramanujan Institute etc.

How do you strategize the curriculum and how often it gets updated to make it befitting for the students? 

Updating our curriculum is a concreted and collaborative effort from many stakeholders. We include our alumni working in the industry to get their viewpoint on what the syllabus is lacking. We also talk with experts in the industry and get their feedback on what to include our course curriculum.

What are your views on the placements and higher education of the students from your department or How does your department prepare students for Higher education? 

We prepare our students for placements or higher education by offering skill based training and equipping them by offering professional training. This will let them learn essential personal and technical skills and build their confidence level to face the placement process. We also focus on the students for higher education by conducting various workshops and seminars in their specialization. 

Do you have any extracurricular activities/ programs to enhance the skills of the students or expose them to the real world challenges? 

Our Mathematics students are talented in extracurricular activities. They take part in activities like especially miming. Our students have become qualified and taken part in many national level competitions as well.

When you came to the college, what was your vision and how are you trying to achieve the same? 

Our vision is to enrich the analytical skill of the students through innovative technical approach for the development of application of theoretical mathematics for the betterment of the society. We also wish to offer skill-based training for the students and equip them with professional training and building their confidence level.

How does the department/ college/University enhances the skills of the faculty and prepares them according to the industry standards? 

All our faculties get NPTEL certificate from IIT for each semester. This helps them to meet industry demands, trends and current needs like Data Science and AI. They also complete various MOOC courses to enhance their skills. 

What do you see the department’s/ college’s greatest strengths and how it can be enhanced? 

All of our postgraduate students are active participants in research. They have gone on to publish their work in national and international journals. Our teachers are also another of our strengths. Their experience and qualifications are als another of our strengths.

How does the program ensure that students are being prepared for the future?

In our B.Sc. and M.Sc. Mathematics programmes, courses like differential equations, geometry, classical algebra, and differential equations help the students to appear for government examinations like TNSPC and UPSC. Additionally, courses like linear algebra, real analysis, complex analysis, and abstract algebra will help the students to appear for UGB, CSIR, SET and NET examinations. Moreover, courses like number theory, fuzzy logic, and graph theory lead the students to peruse their research exposure in the field of mathematics.