REVA University, Director: Dr. Y.Ramalinga Reddy Interview

Dr.Y.Ramalinga Reddy is presently working as the Director at REVA University, Bangalore. With 30 years of teaching and 05 years of industry experience, he has published research papers 46 in National and International Journals, Published 5 Patents and has attended 18 conferences worldwide. Also, he has been awarded with Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Life Time Award for Research and Teaching, IISER Bangalore – 2017 and Best Director and Best Teacher award in 2018. Moreover, he has published a book on Engineering Hydrology as well. 

How do you strategize the key plans for the administration of your University?

“Planning appropriately and wisely for all groups of students”

In our education system, we keep our focus on the teaching and learning of the students. We plan our courses in such a way that all the students level up at the same pace; the below average students also level at par with the above average students. We have courses lined up with new trends as per the industry requirements and at the same time provide learnings with industry interface. Also, across the state there are students from different places and diversity in language exists between the student groups. Therefore, for the first 2 years we are providing courses for language development. We also use project based learning. Also we have Faculty development programs like ICT usage, innovations and Research & Development related programs. 

What can an inbound student gain from studying here in your University? 

“Quality approaches for learning and guidance”

REVA, being a private University, has the freedom to frame its own curriculum and course structure. REVA University has adopted industry-oriented curriculum to ensure that the students are Industry ready. The students here have good industry exposure with their involvement in Projects, Seminars, field visits, project visits and other extracurricular activities, ensuring the students are equipped with industry standard skills. The students have the flexibility to choose the core subjects and study what is interesting to them in the form of electives enabling multi-disciplinary learning. 

How does the curriculum of REVA ensure best practice of the industry? 

“The Board of studies members having Industrial exposure, practical thinking , research and innovation”

In REVA University the Board of Study is the highest authority to decide the curriculum. We have a mixture of academicians as well as industry experts who supervise and evaluate the course structure thoroughly. Therefore, we have a blend of research oriented as well as industry related courses in the curriculum. Over that we have faculties, Alumni and the parents who provide inputs on the curriculum and we assess the possibility to update and improve the curriculum. It is our core responsibility to offer the best curriculum with strong fundamentals, academics, research, innovation and industry interface to the students. 

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

“Making a way forward for their bright career and future”

As the Director, it is my responsibility to guide and mentor the students in their career path and overall personality development . I interact with my students on a regular basis and give inputs as a mentor to help them choose and excel in their career. Every week we have technical talks from Industry professionals and Research Scientists to interact with the students. This will helps the students to learn and know about the latest trends and advancements in the industry. 

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

“More focus on research and innovation along with better outcomes”

For self-financing universities like ours, there should be a balance between the inflow and outflow of the revenue and at the same time, give out maximum career opportunities to students. The universities in India should be able to provide new unique courses to boost the industry requirements. Therefore, we are looking to create programs and courses which will be able to sustain itself and not die in the next 5 to 10 years. We are focused on offering industry oriented and fundamentally strong courses at the same time should not lose the revenue. Also, in this competitive world it is of utmost importance to focus more on research, innovation and patents, creating a healthy link with players of the industry so that we can maintain a sustainable progress in the next 10 years. 

What do you see as the University’s greatest strengths?

“Ensured quality in academic education and industrial exposure”

The greatest strengths of REVA University are of course its Infrastructure and its Faculty. We tend to provide strong knowledge and learnings of Industry and course fundamentals to the students. Every faculty at REVA University has industry linkage of at least 10 -15 industry sources. We at Reva university focus seriously on the industry exposure of the students and therefore we have a schematic program in our course where we have linked with major industries and set up industry training, courses, lectures, and programs for the students. We have a classroom dedicated at the industry site where the students and faculty visit every week and are taught lectures at project site itself and made aware of the industry trends and new innovation through live projects. 

What is the placement statistics of your University?

“Placements in core branches and IT firms based on categories”

Placements at REVA University can be categorized in 3 categories. The first category being the IT branches, the second being the Core branches like civil and mechanical and the third category being the other engineering branches like the electronic and electrical. The first category i.e the IT branch has a placement record of 90 to 95 % with companies mostly visiting from the IT industry. A student with a proper Positive attitude, Academic records and good Technical and analytical qualities are easily placed. If you see the second category i.e the Core engineering branches like the civil engineering and Mechanical engineering there is a placement record of 60 to 75 % of the students, in the third category i.e the electrical and electronic engineering branches the placement record is about 85 to 90 %. Some students also opt for higher studies or have their own career objectives like startups or owned family business to join.

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What are the major challenges you face being the Director of the University?

“Managing and taking forward for better development”

The major challenge as a Director for me is to balance the Management, staff and the students. As the Director of the REVA University, I take care of every need of the Students, Faculties and the staff of the university. One more major challenge for the Director in the global scenario is that we have to lead from the front with academics and research and also at the same time mentoring and sharing inputs with the faculty and the students. At the same time, to link the school with the outside world; universities and industry is quite challenging as well.