Born in a middle-class family, I have been in the company of machines since my childhood. I accompanied my grandfather to automobile garages to witness the repairing of our taxis. The dismantling and reassembling of those machine parts ignited a passion for machines within me. In 1997, my father’s ship, on which he was a Marine Engineer had come to Mumbai and we got the opportunity to visit the ship he worked on. As he is a Marine Engineer, he took all of us to see the gigantic ship engine and the control room from where the engine performance is monitored. I still cherish the memory of that day, which sowed the seed in my mind of becoming an Engineer. I put in a lot of efforts to pursue my dream and secured admission in the branch of Mechanical Engineering.

The four years of Engineering were not at all easy for me. I was examined at every juncture from being a good learner to an observer, experimenter, a team member and a leader. All these parameters learnt during this phase of my learning curve were effectively implemented in my Final Year project of designing an engine for Indian Railways. This parameter helped me to gain experience in successfully completing my Master’s degree.

An urge to share the concepts and experiences learnt during my engineering days and while pursuing my industrial career, landed me in the field of teaching. It has provided me a platform to pass on these concepts to the budding millennial engineers, in the field of technology. My real teaching took place while guiding Final Year students. This task was to make a Diesel Engine to be run on Biodiesel, which was successfully achieved by making an oil blend from waste tyres to run the engine. During this phase of my life, I was successful in sharing knowledge with the upcoming technologists for the betterment of environment and society. It was a satisfying experience with my first step taken towards providing cleaner energy solutions to society by guiding upcoming enthusiastic technologists. This first step gave me hope of becoming a good mentor.

At Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, I got the opportunity to sharpen my teaching skills in the courses of Engineering Drawing and Mechanics. The Management and my senior colleagues supported me in this new atmosphere where active use of technology is promoted. Life at VIT enabled me to prioritize, manage and deliver multiple responsibilities with diligence. I handle various Departmental tasks assigned to me, such as data organization and presentations, mentoring students, and being a facilitator during various departmental activities in an efficient manner. Being a member of the Admission Cell is an opportunity to showcase the good rapport that I can build with visitors and engineering aspirants.

My mantra to all budding engineers is: “Practice is the essence of quality survival. Focus on your skills today, so that you are ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”