Changing ways of learning to align with the dynamic industry

Dr. Ankur Ganguly is the Principal at the Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology. With multiple publications and patents to his credit, Dr. Ganguly wants to change the conventional culture prevailing in the education industry and give his students what they need to emerge as leaders. 

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“The classroom has always been my place”

The major factor that has kept me connected to education is imparting knowledge to the students. I am very attached to my students and I love teaching. I left the industry just for the love of teaching and I have always wanted to be a teacher. Till today my objective is to keep going to the classroom.

What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

“Democratic leadership ensures harmony and smooth functioning”

My leadership style revolves around getting everybody connected. You cannot work alone, you cannot be an autocratic leader. I always have a democratic way of handling things and that’s why I have been successful throughout my career. Be it, my students, or my faculty, I always take decisions democratically. I believe that if you give respect, you will earn respect. I respect my students definitely and my colleagues also, that has been a crucial part of my success story.

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What do you think your roles and responsibilities to the Institute and the students are?

“Mentoring and counseling the students is my first priority”

Towards the institute, I have two major roles, one is the academic administration and one is the general administration. In the academic administration role I have to look after the rolling of the academics, how outcome-based education is imparted, how are classes going on. On the general administration part, I have to look after everything from recruitment, HR, finance, procurement, etc. In terms of my roles and responsibilities towards the students, I follow a policy of having my doors always open for my students. One of my biggest achievements in the last 20 years of my career is that I have been successful in counseling students who needed my guidance at a given point. I have been able to create a very close bond with my students.

What do you think should be the Institutes’ top priority over the next 10 years, considering the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic?

“Getting the students familiar with real-life experiences”

The pandemic has taught us that we can impart education in an online mode. However, getting a physical touch with students is also important. The main sacrifice we are doing for the technical education of students is mainly the labs. We can teach theory to the students online but we have to focus on imparting technical education in a laboratory setting. Especially for the core branches of engineering students, experience in a lab is essential for them to successfully work in the industry. Every institution must find ways to impart practical knowledge in an efficient manner. 

What do you see as MSIT’s greatest strengths?

“Students and the faculty coexisting to grow together”

The greatest strength of my colleagues is my students and my faculty members. The credit for MSIT’s success goes to my students and faculty members. The environment we have created over the years is the result of the relationship we create and nurture with each other. We have tried our best to not let any communication hamper the functioning of the institution. 

Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?

“Be the best at what you choose to do”

At this point in time, students should focus on developing their skills. I’ll advise my students to develop skills, theoretical knowledge will not help anymore in the post COVID world. Knowing the real-world application of theoretical skills is an absolute necessity. For being an engineer, you have to be a full package, you need to be good at everything, you have to focus on extracurriculars as well.

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