vishnu-era-13
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
2<br />
FACE<br />
FACE<br />
to<br />
A QUARTERLY NEWS PUBLICATION FROM SRI VISHNU EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY<br />
Dr. Srinivasan Sundarrajan<br />
Director,<br />
Sri Vishnu Educational Society<br />
Int<strong>era</strong>ction with A.L.Kishore, Associate Professor<br />
(BVRIT N), Mr. Arun Kumar (3 ECE), Ms Caroline (3<br />
EEE) & K Anuraag Kaushik (3 ECE) at VEDIC Campus.<br />
Sri Vishnu Educational Society has the privilege to have Dr. Srinivasan Sundarrajan as<br />
its Director. It is really an honour to have someone of his stature to be at the helm of<br />
affairs at Sri Vishnu Educational Society whose leadership acumen will definitely take<br />
SVES to the next level. His most endearing quality is his humility and his genuine good<br />
nature. His illustrious contributions to the nation and humanity have made him a role<br />
model who has inspired vast multitudes of our present day gen<strong>era</strong>tion.<br />
Dr. Srinivasan Sundarrajan was an outstanding missile scientist with Defence<br />
Research and Development Laboratory, Hyd<strong>era</strong>bad between 1974 and 2011. Prior to<br />
joining NIT in 2011, Dr. Sundarrajan was with Missile Programme of Defence Research<br />
and Development Organization for over thirty years and received mentoring by<br />
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.<br />
He was the Director of National Institute of Technology – Tiruchirappalli (NIT-T) from<br />
2011 – 2016, a prestigious Institute that is rated consistently among top ten institutions<br />
in India. He was actively engaged in transforming this Institute to the future<br />
requirements through strategies and initiatives, adopting disruptive technology<br />
route.<br />
Dr.Sundarrajan completed Mechanical Engineering from Thiagarajar College of<br />
Engineering, Madurai, and did his post graduation and doctorate degrees at the Indian<br />
Institute of Technology, Madras, in Industrial Metallurgy. He also has a PG certificate<br />
from Indian Statistical Institute. As an INAE (Indian National Academy of Engineering)<br />
– AICTE Distinguished Professor, Dr.Sundarrajan made significant contribution in<br />
integrating curriculum development and emerging areas of technology.<br />
The recognitions he won include UNESCO Fellowship (1988), Best Metallurgist of the<br />
Year Award from the Govt. of India (1992), Vishwa Bharathi Award for Professional<br />
Excellence (1999), Performing Team Award (2004), and Best JV Management Award<br />
(2008). Madras Management Association awarded Professional Excellence Award<br />
(20<strong>13</strong>) in the category of Best Managed Education Institution.<br />
Do all successful people realise their dreams? What was your dream when you<br />
were young?<br />
For me, dreams keep on changing with time. As a high school student my dream was to<br />
become a Loco Engine Driver. After finishing engineering, I wanted to become a great<br />
technologist. Then, at a later stage, when I started handling major projects as a part of<br />
missile programs my dream was to become the head of a very major missile program.<br />
After having successful and satisfying stint at the best of defence organizations, I<br />
changed over to academic line. I joined NIT as Director and then my strong dream was to<br />
bring out transformation in Higher Education. I pursue my dream at SVES now.<br />
When I have relooked of the path I have travelled so far, the very first stage was all<br />
oriented to skill (Locomotive driver). The second stage was oriented to knowledge and<br />
research (Head of the technology). The third stage was aligned with Management (Head<br />
of Missile Programme). During the current stage, my orientation is towards society at<br />
large (Transformation of Higher Education).<br />
Do you think the curriculum we follow today is a bit out-of-date considering the<br />
amount of advancement witnessed in Science and Technology?<br />
As on now, academic curriculum is related to books .It takes consid<strong>era</strong>ble period of time<br />
to compile and publish a book. Technology is changing very fast and it is very difficult to<br />
keep up pace with the technology. So, there will always be a gap between curriculum and<br />
technology. In this age of internet, knowledge is disseminated expeditiously and books<br />
are slowly becoming obsolete to us. However books on Mathematics, Physics and other<br />
basic concepts will always remain significant but books on technology will always lag<br />
the actual advancements and breakthroughs. Keeping this in mind, one should not give<br />
much prominence to the old technologies in textbooks and be open to replace those by<br />
the relevant technology. Only then we will be able to fill the gap between our curriculum<br />
and present day scenario.<br />
How crucial is it to network R&D institutes and laboratories to educational<br />
institutions?<br />
The national R&D laboratories have state of art facilities. Government has invested