An experiential learning aura is necessary for the holistic development of students

Dr. Santhy Kathirvel is the Associate Professor & Head - Materials & Metallurgical Engineering Department. She is a pragmatic leader who believes in completing what is in hand. Her vision is to create an experiential learning environment. She believes that continuous adaptation towards technological trends will build a prosperous future. Read here what she has to say in her interview.

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

“It is an amazing experience to witness the growth of the students”

It is a fulfilling experience to see students’ progress and be a part of their career development. Besides, working with young minds opens up new opportunities. The educational institute gives us a platform to form social and professional bonds with staff and students that remains eternal, and often it outlasts our fame 

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

“A leader must build amicable relations”

Leadership is all about leading from the front and not just passing orders or forwarding emails to subordinates. Build an amicable work environment via participation where individuals' opinions are respected even if they may be different from my view. I believe in a transparent system where there is no room for a discriminatory mindset. The performance of an individual must outweigh my perception of any staff. A leader is only as good as his/her team. I believe in the collective effort instead of a solo act. 

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How do you strategize about the key programs and plans for the marketing and administration of your school?

“Our students are our ambassadors”

We started organizing alumni meetings to stay connected and grow a strong relationship with our graduates. We plan to tap diploma students in Maharashtra (Kolhapur, Pune, and Nagpur) by visiting their college in Jan-Mar, 2021 and interacting with students, faculty, and parents, and walk them through the future potential of pursuing a UG course from our department. We are academicians, and our expertise is in the technical field. Marketing is not a field where we excel. Therefore, we are dependent on the Indus marketing team to lead this effort. With four faculty members and one technical staff, there is very little room for doing any non-academic marketing. My vision of a robust administration within the department is to streamline all processes so that administration becomes a redundant exercise.

How does the curriculum of your department ensure the best practice of industry?

“We ensure to provide an experiential learning environment to the students”

We regularly conduct Board of Studies (BoS) meetings and upgrade curriculum as per industrial needs and recent developments. We follow the UGC/AICTE/Indus University guideline for the same. We offer hands-on training on the foundry. Few of our trained students have started their own foundry business. With the limited facility, we make it a point to give our students hands-on experience in various fields of materials and metallurgical engineering. Adequate industrial is given to our students via industrial visit and training. We offer our students the opportunity to work in national labs or industry for their project work in the final semester. 

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