Dr. Ayon Bhattacharjee is a Professor of Physics at NIT Meghalaya. Prior to joining NIT Meghalaya in 2013, he was a faculty at NIT Silchar. His research includes Soft Matter Physics and Nanotechnology. He has contributed mainly in the field of liquid crystals, the base material for LCD devices and produced more than 70 papers in internationally acclaimed journals and 9 scholars have received their PhD under his supervision. He is currently the Dean (Faculty Welfare) and has held the positions of Dean (Research & Consultancy), Registrar of NIT Meghalaya, Professor in Charge of Placements and TEQIP Coordinator. Prof Bhattacharjee is one of the Directors of a section 8 company by the name NITMFITI ( NITM - FOUNDATION FOR INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY) Apart from his profession, he is passionate about writing and photography.

Dr. Ayon Bhattacherjee Profile

Ques. You have held key positions at education institutes throughout your professional career. What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

"Education Sector’s Challenges keep me connected to it.”

It is the challenge of the education sector that keeps me connected to it. Though teaching and academic administration may look very mundane to an outsider, this sector has a lot of challenges. This is a fast-growing sector, both in terms of numbers and quality, and with the changes that are brought out by modern technology, the challenges are even bigger. Every year we need to address to a new batch of young students who come from very diverse backgrounds, diverse in terms of location, economic and social status, and also in their educational experience. Moreover, with the diversity of India linguistic barriers also need to be overcome as many students come from vernacular mediums. Getting such a diverse collection of students to a system where we get them ready for their professional life is a key aspect of the education sector. Every year, I promise to the parents that they admit ‘boys and girls’ to NIT Meghalaya and after four years of grooming, both in terms of their education and their personality, they get back ‘Gentleman and Ladies’ who are ready to face the challenges of their profession.

Ques. Being with NIT what is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

"Teamwork and Cooperation are the pillars of the philosophy of my leadership.”

It is said that “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” That has been my key philosophy for leadership. Rather than imposing myself on others, I look for solutions that are simple, effective and timely. The students are given the highest priority in my sequence of events as I consider students as the most important stake holder of the academic ecosystem. Instead of enforcing myself as a leader, I have always believed in teamwork, and I try to accomplish the targets taking my team along. I am fortunate that I have received great support from my team members, whether as a Dean, as the Registrar, as the TEQIP Coordinator or in any other role that I have taken up from time to time. Teamwork is very essential in an organization like NIT where the requirements are very diverse. The students we cater to are in very young whereas faculty are spread over a wide range of seniority, and therefore their requirements are poles apart at times. Maintaining a proper balance and keeping the system moving efficiently is one of the primary goals in academic leadership.

Ques. Being with NIT how do you strategize about the key programs and plans for the marketing and administration of your institution?

"Being an autonomous institute, NIT’s ability to develop advanced courses is strategized for marketing NIT.”

Being an NIT, we have the advantages of a brand. ‘Brand NIT’ is undoubtedly advantageous to the students who pass out from it. One advantage that NIT has over other institutions is that it is autonomous, and we use this autonomy to develop our syllabus and course content independently. The vast experience of our faculty with their diverse expertise in the most advanced fields along with our ability to develop and offer advanced courses is strategized for marketing our institution. The excellent choice of courses in advance fields such as robotics, mechatronics, smart materials and electric vehicles etc., attracts students to join for the courses here. As NIT Meghalaya is a relatively new institute, it does not have to carry the hangover of an outdated administrative process that exists in several older institutes. The computer savvy and technologically enabled staff and faculty make the administrative processes at NIT Meghalaya extremely fast.

Ques. The education systems in India and other foreign countries are structured very differently. In your experience, what can an inbound student gain from studying here in your institute/ university/ school?

"Inbound students discover a totally different horizon of diversities by studying in my institute.”

The education system of India is structured differently across different institutions and across different universities and boards. NITs in general have a semester system wherein core subjects and specializations are packed up along with a lot of electives. These electives range from branch specializations, to cross departmental and inter departmental ones, and few industry oriented courses are also there. With the onset of NEP2020 courses based on skills such as foreign languages, business communication as well courses pertaining to Yoga, fine arts, music are being introduced. With its huge basket of electives, NIT Meghalaya gives immense flexibility to its students and that is why they have made a mark in the profession world, both in jobs as well as in start-ups.

Ques. How does the curriculum of NIT ensure the best practice of industry?

"To provide students with industry-oriented internships and trainings at regular intervals.”

This has been a long-standing issue with many educational institutions. At NIT Meghalaya, we have nominated members from the industry into our curriculum development committees. These members are senior executives from very reputed government PSU’s as well as from the private sector. They present the requirements of the industry to the committees of NIT Meghalaya who in turn develop the course content. At the same time the institute sends students to the industry for long term internships so that the students familiarize themselves with the requirements of the industry and are prepared for the industry work-culture. We have also taken up a lot of industrial projects and consultancies to further intensify the academia-industry bonding.

Ques. Any insights into how your institution could be more welcoming to students of different races or economic backgrounds?

"To promote cultural and economic diversities by organising various events. ”

The institute promotes diversity and welcomes students from different backgrounds, as it believes that diversity is not a challenge, diversity is an opportunity, an opportunity to learn, to assimilate and the bond. Cultural diversities are fully respected and they are promoted in the different institute events. Economic diversity is addressed through several initiatives of the government of India whereby scholarships and fellowships are facilitated so that the learning process for students are not hampered by economic hardships. At the same time, the institute has Merit-cum-means scholarships to help the economically weaker bright students. Fellowships are also initiated through different schemes like TEQIP when the students are not able to obtain any assistance from the government. 

Ques. What do you think your roles and responsibilities to the institution and the students are?

"Teaching Students and doing research are my roles and responsibilities.”

Primarily every faculty joins a institute like NIT for teaching and research, and these remain the primary duties at all times. However, as we gather experience, we are given non-academic responsibilities that are targeted for the betterment of the students in particular and the institute as a whole. Academic administration leads us to making the environment safe and conducive for studying, make the hostels life lively, ensure the best medical facilities for the students and counsel them when it is needed. Personally, I do not restrict my responsibilities towards administration and teaching, I make efforts to connect to my students and help them whenever they need. Many times even the parents get connected and that helps us to build a very healthy learning ecosystem at NIT Meghalaya. 

Ques. What do you think should be the Institution’s top priority over the next 10 years?

"To be among top 20 engineering colleges in India is NIT Meghalaya’s Top Priority.”

Over the next 10 years, the priorities of NIT Meghalaya should be (in order of preference):

  1. Be among the top 20 engineering colleges in India (IITs included)
  2. Shift to its permanent campus that is coming up at Sohra (Cherrapunji)
  3. Open up specializations in all the modern and upcoming fields such as AI, ML etc. 
  4. Be a centre for excellence with international repute for teaching, research and innovation. 

Ques. When you first came to NIT what was your vision for the institution? Has it evolved over time, and how far along in implementing that vision are you?

"To provide students with quality education with high-quality research.”

When I joined the NIT system, I looked at it like any other engineering college that imparts technical education to its students and hands them a B. Tech degree. In the past 20 years I have grown up along with this NIT system, and now I believe that NIT Meghalaya not only produces good engineers, it produces good human beings who are capable of taking up engineering, technical, administrative and humanitarian projects and are able to execute them with the finesse of an artist and the meticulousness of a scientist. The vision of NIT Meghalaya is to provide quality education, to ensure high quality research and at the same time be a conduit for the regional and local aspirations of the community in general.

Ques. What do you see as NIT’s greatest strengths?

"Our greatest strength is our human resource.”

I am a firm believer that any organizations greatest strength is its human resource. The faculty of NIT Meghalaya are its greatest strength along with the support it receives from the non-teaching staff and the students. The academic endeavours and the administrative acumen are reflected in the fact that we have achieved the top rank among all new NITs and surpassed a few older ones in the NIRF rankings, consistently over the last five years. 

Ques. What are some of the biggest challenges you see, both for higher education in general and for NIT?

"Fast Evaluation is the biggest challenge for the higher education in general. ”

With the advancement of technology at such a vast pace, challenges for the higher education are to evolve very fast. NIT Meghalaya has certain minor challenges like its location, or the constraints of space in its temporary campus, but these challenges are look upon as opportunities to evolve. That is why our students could develop a go-kart that can mitigate the challenges of terrain, a system that helps to use the excessive rain water to drive small turbines and generate electricity. Adversities and challenges cannot be wishes away, they are always there in every system, but they are used as opportunities at NIT Meghalaya.

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

"Current youths should strengthen themselves mentally for coping success as well as a failure with grace.”

The current youth are the brightest resource for our country. Today’s generation of youth are very focussed regarding their career, and they are very hard working and smart. In spite of all these qualities, I also find them very vulnerable to small failures. If the youth can further strengthen themselves mentally so that they can cope up with both success and failure with the same grace, then this will be the best generation that the world has ever had. For students aspiring to join NIT Meghalaya, please be serious about your career and make a mark for yourself, for the only person that you compete with is yourself.