Management ensures innovative projects by students are published in international conferences, HOD

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, HOD-Department of Computing, CIT Coimbatore - Coimbatore Institute Of Technology Dr S Suganthi talks about the increasing need for Data Science professionals in the market. With the industry moving towards Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at a fast pace, it has become important to identify user behaviour and plan accordingly. Dr Suganthi is a Ph.D holder with over 24 years of rich experience at CIT and expertise in software architecture and machine learning.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the salient features of the teaching methodology adopted by your college? How does this differ from others?

A: We believe students understand the concepts and techniques by applying them in a realtime scenario. And, this can be accomplished by handling the theory and laboratory sessions for the course in the digital classroom. These digital classrooms act as a foundation to evolve the education system in our institute.

Q: How are you preparing your students to be industry-ready?

A: Apart from just classroom learning, we also focus on:

• Project-based learning that helps students formulate the strategy and understand the technique to solve real-time issues.
• Internships are an important part of the curriculum. Students undergo an internship twice during the programme to understand the current need of the industry and get the exposure of industrial practice.

Q: What are the qualities you are looking for in student applicants? What qualities do they need to do well in your course?

A: We are in search of candidates with good reasoning, mathematical, computational and communication skills. And, more than anything matters is the zeal and enthusiasm to learn.

Q: How do you ensure that your course curriculum is up to date and meets industry requirements?

A: Invoking Industry experts in various academic activities such as the acting board of study members, examiners for project work and viva voice and member of advisory committee helps us understand current industrial requirements and also helps in designing curriculum to meet those requirements.

Also, conducting conferences, workshops, faculty development programmes in collaboration with industry experts keeps our curriculum updated with best practices and techniques.

With an increasing need of Data Analytics professionals in the market, Datalytics club in our institute has also started conducting workshops, seminars, and guest lectures facilitated by prominent speakers and leading industry experts. This bridges the gaps between theoretical and practical learning.

Q: Is your college receptive to innovation, technology, science & entrepreneurship? How? Could you cite some examples of these?

A: Our management makes all possible efforts to get innovative projects by students published in international conferences.

Also, provides infrastructure support to students to encourage the entrepreneurs in them. There are incubation centres, where students collaborate and work on their business idea.