Engineers of the future need to think differently: Think of DfE

India is celebrating the 50^th Engineers’ Day today, September 15, 2017 to commemorate the birthday of the legendary engineer Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. Considering the theme “Role of Engineers in a developing India” to mark the occasion, Engineers of the future need to think differently, in their approach of planning, designing and executing the projects in the development of the nation. As Sir M Visvesvaraya rightly said "Plan or Perish" is very relevant today. However, an extension to that will be Plan, Design, Execute and sustain based on the principles of sustainable development. To move towards conditions of sustainability, engineers must design and deliver projects that address sustainability holistically (from concept to demolition or reuse).

Traditional Engineering Design Criteria (TEDC) incorporate Function, Cost, and Safety, wherein Sustainable Engineering Design Criteria (SEDC), emphasis about Impact on people (society) and Impact on the planet (environment) in addition to TEDC. Such a design approach to reduce the overall human health and environmental impact of a product, process or service, where impacts are considered across its life cycle is known as Design for the Environment (DfE).

Engineers need to understand the relationships between population, the quantity and availability of resources and the quality of the environment, and interrelated impacts, of Population on resources and Population on the environment. The intensity of consumption of energy, water, land and material and the emission of pollutants and waste. The diverse categories of environmental impacts needing consideration include resource use, human health, and ecological consequences.

Hence, the Sustainable Engineering involves steps such as plan and manage effectively, give sustainability the benefit of the doubt, if polluters are polluting, they must pay, adopt a cradle to grave approach, do things right, having decided the right thing to do. Beware of cost cutting that masquerades as value engineering, practice what you preach.

Sustainable engineering approach derive the benefits like increased material efficiency: reducing raw material inputs and waste outputs, removing hazardous materials for a more acceptable alternative, designing service systems to minimize environmental impacts.

We always keep in mind the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Two Principles of Sustainable Development, listed as follows:

Principle 1- Do the Right Project. A proposed project's economic, environmental and social effects on each of the communities served and affected must be assessed and understood by all stakeholders before there is a decision to proceed with a project. Consider non-structural as well as structural (built) solutions to the needs being addressed and 

Principle 2 - Do the Project Right. The engineer shall actively engage stakeholders and secure public understanding and acceptance of a projects economic, environmental and social costs and benefits.

Qualitative Higher Education: Mantra for New India

Qualitative Higher Education: Mantra for New India

Dear Readers, I have a simple question; however seems very complex to answer, 

What is the Focal Point of today's education: Getting Educated or Graduated?

Education must provide “life-building, human-making and character making” assimilation of ideas to develop an integrated person.

As Swami Vivekananda says “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already present in man”. 

  Every year 5th September, the birth Anniversary  of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Second President  of India, being celebrated as the Teachers day in  India, we the teaching fraternity introspects  asking questions to ourselves to get most reliable  and practical answers: 

Are we really educating? or 

graduating? 

What is my answer?   Why? 

How I can make effort to change this system?

India has been in need of teachers qualitatively educated, imbibed with morals, and professional ethics in higher education sectors to motivate the students to venture into the field to provide solutions to real life problems.

Teaching with basics to higher level generates the curiosity in the students to further their interest in collecting more relevant literature, about the history, mathematics, and statistics of the domain of study. Consistently pursuing this, knowledge gets processed as skills.

The practical’s and field visits aid the students in learning to Apply, to Analyze, to evaluate and to create in real world. There are few teachers silently working in this arena; however, their number is very small. Hence, India require many more such TEACHERS, self-motivated, genuine, determined, polite, unbiased, down to earth, believing one’s own ability, motivator, who can churn out millions of students, those can contribute immensely in building a positive world.

Quality Education: derivative of contact hours of teachers with the students. The qualitative contact hours between students and the teachers tremendously improves learning capabilities of the students. Teachers must invest more time in teaching, counseling first. It is imperative for the teachers to engage the classes qualitatively and the highly qualified teachers of the institute should provide quality time to the students in the class, laboratory and on field visits, during the academic year, imparting them with the knowledge to refine the skills to face challenges ahead.

Quality education to students can be delivered, if students, teachers, governance machinery work in synergy, like three legs of a tripod. If any one of the leg cripples, tripod cannot stand. Parents and local industries / Govt. organizations / NGOs voluntarily joining this movement brings in the transformation changes.

We the Teachers must take to our heart and soul “Teaching-Learning” as a Mission and make all the efforts to realize this mission. This can happen only, if we the teachers rise to the occasion to provide qualitative education which enables the students to learn, unlearn and relearn to acquire more and more Knowledge of the domain and rest in general to face the challenges impeccably.

Let us count on #GNH instead of #GDP

Let us count on #GNH instead of #GDP

Why? How? and for What?

The goal of any nation must be contentment of the people, and the development should enable human beings to unfold their potential to become better human beings socially, economically and morally. The progressive development of the country must follow the holistic, inclusive, equitable and sustainable approach.

1. TRUST:

     'Trust' is the most beautiful building block for lasting relationships including friendship

2. PATRIOTISM:

    “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.” - Mark Twain
     “Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” -  
       Adlai Stevenson

3. SELF DISCIPLINE: 

       "If we don't discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us."- William Feather
      "Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power"-Lao Tzu

4. RIGHT INTENT:

Right intention is the intention and resolve to give up the causes of suffering, to give up ill-will and to adopt harmlessness.

“The deeds of the light are goodness, righteousness and faithfulness” - Lailah Gifty Akita

5. POSITIVE ATTITUDE:

An attitude, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary website, "is a mental position with regard to a fact or state; a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state." The dictionary goes on to state that the word "positive" can be used as "having a good effect; favorable; marked by optimism." When you demonstrate a positive attitude, therefore, you are optimistic and expect favorable outcomes.

Your life is your garden,
Your thoughts are the seeds.
If your life isn't awesome,
You've been watering the weeds.
~Author Unknown

6. STRONG WILL:

A strong-willed person is determined. Your will is your desire or drive to do something, so a strong-willed person is someone with a powerful will.  

“Never give up.

Never give up on your hopes.

Never give up on your dreams.

Never give up on your visions.- Lailah Gifty Akita

We, the Citizens wholeheartedly INCULCATE and IMBIBE the aforesaid six attributes, it provides IMPETUS in developing the HAPPY, QUALITY CONSCIOUS AND HARMONIOUS NATION

Wherein, we can overcome the threats of climate change, environmental pollution, cultural disintegration, corruption, and political instability in coming years.

Imperative for Engineer’s to Emulate Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya to Provide Impetus to the Nation Building Process

The pace of transformation of nation can only be accelerated, if Engineers are allowed to function in engineering way.  An Engineer using tools of science and technology as well as of a number of other fields converts the resources available in nature into actual goods and services needed by the society. 

As engineers contribute in solving the increasingly complex problems facing our society, there is a growing need for the engineers graduating from undergraduate programs to understand deeply the context within which they are solving problems. Shortage of required skills has been one of the major constraints for the passing out engineering graduates for continuing economical growth of India. This knowledge gap has to be addressed on priority to develop the imperative skills for the improved productivity. There is a particular need of engineers who can recognise the complexities of global and local issues to challenge them with desired solutions.

The worth and potentialities of a nation get evaluated in and through the work of an engineer. In this context, Dr. Sir M Visvesvaraya firmly believed    “there can be no salvation for the people of the country except judicious use of the technological innovations”.  It is, therefore, very important today, being ENGINEER’S DAY, let us recall the infrastructures/industries/water resources projects being implemented for the intended use; which have been planned and executed by Sir M Visvesvaraya  throughout India have become monumental and also meeting the purpose till date. This has become possible due to the immense dedication, commitment, insight and total involvement of a selfless engineer considered as an epitome of knowledge, statesman having untiring attitude imbibed with meticulous planning, execution and also monitoring the work to the highest quality by adhering to the on-site specifications (with transparent, ethically clean and responsive machinery).

The engineers can contribute in nation building only if they acquire and inculcate the following skills necessary to succeed as an engineer.

        1)      Meticulous and Upright: Projects in engineering are extraordinarily complex,           requiring meticulous planning and execution and  also uprightness.

     2)   Communication Skills: Even though Engineering is very technical, however, concise and firm communication is essential throughout the task process which can provide the intended service throughout the designed period with minimum running, operation and maintainance (ROM) cost. 

3)      Basic Knowledge: The clear understanding about the concepts of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) provides a strong foundation to engineering career. An inadequate concept of these courses is one of the major constraints for the engineering aspirants/graduates for continuing to excel and learn the skill sets considering it as knowledge gap which becomes stumbling block in their career advancement.

4)      Enterprising Skills: Engineering is a constantly evolving field. Updating with the latest trends in technology to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability.

5)      Managerial Skills and Leadership Qualities: managerial skills help in successful completion of the task fulfilling the mandatory requirements. However, if an engineer led from the front by delegating power, motivating the colleagues and employees by exhibiting leadership qualities provides positive aspects to the ongoing works.

The metamorphism in the planning and execution of any task/assignment/project for the development of the nation depends upon how genuinely/effectively/efficiently the engineers provide the inputs required/ execute in transforming the specifications of the paper on to the ground in case of civil works/ to products in industries or qualitative services in service sector. However, the upright engineers have to be given an environment of non interference to discharge their duties effectively and efficiently to meet the desired outcome with pre-set requirements and conditions.

The engineers have to work fearlessly with exemplary attitude to innovate new methods, new material, and new technology that being cost effective, long lasting, ease in implementation, which can also provide visible sustaining qualitative changes in the development of the nation. There have been many live examples how our own (Indian) engineers those are working abroad contributing positively in the country of their present residence. Keeping this in view, the time has arrived to devise a system and modus operandi for its implementation wherein a healthy working environment enables the upright and honest engineers to contribute in the progressive development of the nation.

Standup Teachers to Stand out and be remembered! Don’t be lost in the Crowd

The worth and potentialities of a country get evaluated in and through the work of a teacher. In this context, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan said beautifully, “You cannot make or build the nation by just bricks, you have to establish the minds of young people, and then alone can the nation building take place.”

The simple question the teachers of engineering institutes to ask themselves, why only 10 to 15% of engineering graduates passing out every year are employable. Today (5^th September 2016) being Teachers Day, on this auspicious day, we the Teachers connected with teaching at engineering institutes to rededicate for the cause of all round development of students in particular and for the metamorphic changes in education system.

India being one of the largest democracy with over billions of people and 60% of its population being youth, eagerly waiting to excel in their chosen career. The scientific temper plays a very important role in the progressive development of citizens in particular and the nation in general. According to the Constitution of India, developing scientific temper is one of the fundamental duties of Indian citizens. In order to develop scientific temper in students there is a need to refine and strengthen the three components such as Knowledge, Skill (Skills: too difficult to master by the students on their own, however that can be done with the guidance and encouragement from the knowledgeable teacher) and Creativity in students. 

Traditional engineering instruction is deductive, beginning with theories and progressing to the applications of those theories. Alternative teaching approaches are more inductive, including inquiry learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching. Topics are introduced by presenting specific observations, case studies or problems, and theories are taught or the students are helped to discover them only after the need to know them. However we need to impart the knowledge:

• Firstly, functional knowledge like teaching basic concepts of science and application of these concepts in real sense, i.e., ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability.
• Secondly, emphasis must be on behavioural knowledge, like inculcating professional ethics, moral values, protecting the environment and public property and strive towards excellence in all spheres of life. 
• In addition to these, the need of the hour is to ignite the curiosity in young minds, i.e., to ask questions like Whys & Hows to themselves and also to the educators.  This is possible only if the explicit connection of engineering concepts with cognitive levels suggested in table 1of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (BRT) in the implementation of course materials. Subsequently transforming tradition classroom spaces by promoting active and collaborative learning, both learner centered approaches that foster adoptive expertise (i.e., Creatively utilizing available resources in various situations) and effective self-learning habits’ (i.e., connecting concepts from previous courses and other disciplines) in students.

Table 1. BRT steps and process descriptors

S No.	Step	Process Descriptor
1	Remembering	Can the student recall or remember the information?
2.	Understanding	Can the student explain ideas or concepts?
3.	Applying	Can the student use information in a new way?
4.	Analyzing	Can the student distinguish between two parts?
5.	Evaluating	Can the student justify a stand or decision?
6.	Creating	Can the student create a new product or point of view?

To assess the knowledge gained by the students during the academic sessions, we need to shift from conventional methods such as standard examinations or credit system, to examine the qualitative changes in students’ thinking process, problem solving approaches. This can be achieved by providing exposure to higher level of experimentation setups; effective contact hours with subject teachers; interactive sessions with the experts, and eminent personalities. The knowledge and skills of the students have to be tested frequently at various platforms to ascertain the desired transformational changes contributing to the creativity in them.  

The metamorphic changes in the education system solely depends upon how genuinely the teachers (however, the support of the authorities concerned and students wholehearted cooperation will definitely accelerate this process) provide inputs required in transforming the engineering students to acquire the knowledge to the level needed in order to transfer this knowledge to create innovative prototypes of technology.

“Teaching is not a profession; it's a passion. Without passion for your subject and a desire for your students to learn and be the best in the world, then we have failed as a teacher and failure is not an option." -John F. Podojil

CARE: Creating Engineers for tomorrow

CARE: Creating Engineers for tomorrow

Imparting engineering education be based on CARE concept to make engineers imbibed with Attitude and equipped with requisite Knowledge, Skills for employability/ entrepreneurship.

My message to all the graduating engineers has been, “Let us take CARE of CARE now so that CARE will take CARE of us in future". Here CARE means, 

C: Culture of Learning, creating an interactive, healthy learning environment by knowing, understanding, involving one another in enrichment of life skills, becoming more perceptive towards sustaining a learning environment for the progressive development.

A: Academic Excellence; Being Engineering/Technical institutes, academic excellence is soul of the institute, hence students have to shift their setting while in class room/laboratory from silent mode to enquiry mode, so that they will inch closure to acquiring more and more knowledge of the domain to get the desired skill set inculcated & imbibed transforming them as competent and capable of taking up the live challenges and providing the requisite solutions.

R: Research Attributes; Student studying in professional courses to inculcate and imbibe an attitude to think differently, laterally, out of box, so that they can contribute scientifically, technically, meaningfully with innovative & productive approach in the roles/services of the employment and also in national development initiatives like Make in India, Digital India, Smart Cities, Affordable housing, New education policy, New Electronic policy, Swatch Bharat abhiyan. This is possible only when the students undergo qualitative research oriented teaching learning; hands on training, undergoing in-plant training, summer/winter internships in industries/R&D organizations, institutes of national importancebeing additional mode of getting relevant and updated knowledge.

E: Environment, Energy & Economy; Environment doesn't have infinite capacity to assimilate any type of waste/refuse/flue gases discharged/ released into it. Hence, we need to understand the self sustaining capacity; relation to the anthropogenic activities those have made maximum impact on environment. The stabilisation to be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.  The need of the hour is opting for Green Technology; and continuously refining Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Increasing demand of energy, lead to urgencyto search for a new knowledge in energy conservation, generation and distribution, a challenging arena for the engineers. Sustainable development is often defined as “development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable development as applied to energy and environment should consider the following:

1. Inputs - such as fuels and energy sources, land and raw materials - are nonrenewable they should be used up only as far as they can be substituted in future. Where they are renewable they should be used up at a rate, within which they can be renewed,

2. Outputs - in production and consumption - should not overstrain ecosystems or the assimilation capacity of the biosphere.

Case studies on these lines have been taken up by the final year students of MIT Aurangabad to correlate environment, energy and economy as indicators to their domain related projects and aligning the short term and long term benefits derived to achieve the sustainable development.

Teacher: Shaping future generation

Teacher’s day is celebrated on 5th September every year throughout the country, to mark the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvapalli RadhaKrishnan, the second president of India, a profound philosopher, statesman and educationalist of exceptional stature.

A teacher’s role is a torch bearer and pivot of any educational system of younger students. On him rests the failure or the success of the system. If the teachers are well educated and intellectually alive and take keen interest in the responsibility, then only the success is ensured. Teaching, in fact, is not a job, it is an attitude. We being Teachers must be a source of information, a guide, a mentor, a motivator, all at the same time. Today, while interacting with many youngsters, it is observed that they want to do something different, and also they think differently and the parents are ready to back their dreams. Let me tell that like anyone who has gone through this grind, you need to be hard-working, disciplined, and willing to work relentlessly, but you also must think differently, to become an excellent teacher imbibed with Attributes like,

1. Teacher teaching the Professional courses in particular and other courses in general  shall maintain high ethical standards, integrity and honesty" as well as political neutrality.

2. Every teacher shall maintain promoting of principles of merit, fairness and impartiality in the discharge of duties, accountability and transparency, responsiveness to the student community - particularly to the students weaker in studies

3 Every teacher shall maintain courtesy and good behaviour with the students, parents and colleagues.

4. Every teacher should not misuse his position and not take decisions in order to derive financial or material benefits for himself, his friends or family.

5. It is expected from every teacher not to discriminate against anyone, particularly the poor and under-privileged sections of society and refrain from doing anything which is contrary to law or established practices.

6. Every teacher shall performs and discharge his duties with the highest degree of professionalism and dedication to the best of his/her abilities.

The Teacher being the role model of students, there is yet another great responsibility bestowed with their position- Acquiring, maintaining and demonstrating highest ethical values and character. Teacher’s day reminds us of responsibilities and commitments towards shaping the future generations in taking up the challenges and making the country, a most advanced and developed nation with sensitivity towards society and human beings.   “If you are teacher in whatever capacity you have a very special role to play because more than anybody else, it is you who are shaping the future generations” Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, former president of India mention in his book, India 2020 A vision for the new millennium.

The worth and potentialities of a country get evaluated in and through the work of a teacher. They are the nation builders. In this context, Dr. Radhakrishnan said beautifully, “You cannot make or build the nation by just bricks, you have to establish the minds of young people, and then alone can the nation building take place.”

On this auspicious day, we Teachers connected with this noble profession to rededicate for the cause of all round development of students and supporting the nation in transforming as a Secured, Clean, Green, Healthy and Prospers Nation.