Prof. Prakash Pandey is the Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Vaishnavi Institute of Technology and Science. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from SAGE University. He is currently doing research on tube transportation and he is having a working experience of 10 years in this industry.

Vaishnavi Institute of Technology

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

As an HOD each & every responsibility, each & every consent is to be done by me from the time of admissions till the student has graduated, I make sure the student gets the best facility related to his stream & he or she gets the utmost care while being on the university premises so that they can focus on their career.

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

I tend to establish healthy relations by becoming familiar with each & every student as well as a faculty member because they come from different states or cities to study & teach the students, so they should not feel uncomfortable studying here or they should feel that they are being left out & I make sure to have friendly conversations as well as healthy relations with the students as well as faculty members as it helps them to express their problems & difficulties so that we can together solve it.

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

As it is my duty to teach students in the best possible way in order to be industry-oriented as the world is changing so should we, as an Institution, make updates in our curriculum & subjects as well in our practical approach because the materials that are being used in the modern world keeps on changing so we have to make changes to our practical approach in order for them to be dynamic in this generation & practical approach is our part of curriculum & we educate our students by doing practicals on a weekly basis so that they will be industry-oriented.

Ques. How do you strategize the curriculum and how often does it get updated to make it befitting for the students?

We strategize the curriculum according to RGPV as we are affiliated with them. Apart from this, we make updates to our curriculum by adding a few additional subjects so that it will remain updated according to this fast-paced world. We make updates to our curriculum on the upcoming demand in the market which is beneficial for the students as well as for the university.

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

Placement is a challenge for us because the market keeps on changing so we have to continuously adapt ourselves so that we can train & educate our students according to the market condition & because of this the students are able to compete in this market & due to this, we are able to provide placements to our students.

How do you help your student cope with the competition being so high on the outside world?

Nowadays you can see that students need motivation, and energy but somewhere the energy is lacking, During COVID-19 you can see that students were demotivated as there was a fire going on in the whole world, and because of this the students were scared whether they would get a job or not. So because of these situations, we create motivational and inspirational seminars so that students can cope up with the world by being positive throughout their college journey.

What are the challenges you faced/ are facing to uplift the quality of education in your department?

The challenge that we are facing is the competition in the market as there are colleges that are ready to offer education at very low fees & which hampers the education quality of the students as it attracts the students but they can’t provide that kind of education to those students which makes them future-ready.

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

The main strength of our institute is friendliness as it removes barriers between the students and teachers & it helps the students express themselves easily without hesitation & we take care of the students like a family because of which students feel comfortable during their studies but apart from that there is a gap between faculty & students as a medium of respect.

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

The valuable advice I want to give to the students is to have a big amount of energy in themselves as it builds inquisitiveness in the students to do something & apart from that I provoke my students to do something or the other but don’t remain calm as it deteriorates your energy as mind, sometimes it’s needed but you have to be energetic as well because it makes you remain active & learn things easily.

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

Yes, there are extracurricular activities in the institute we do various activities as well as seminars on various occasions as well as during our academic years so that it helps students remain active throughout their campus period, we provide guest lectures about the changing world, lectures on entrepreneurship as well as various indoor and outdoor games in order to make students enthusiastic throughout their campus days.