Dr. Vidya Chitre

Professor
Information Technology
Member, IETE
Member, CSI
Qualification

PhD (Technology), Mumbai University 2021
M.E. (Computer Engineering), BVDU, Pune 2002
B.E. (Computer Engineering), University of Mumbai 1998

Experience

Teaching Experience: 22 Years
Research/Industrial Experience: 04 years
Administrative and managerial Experience: 08 Years
Technical Papers Published: 25
Masters Projects Guided: 15

Revisiting my childhood’s long-lost lanes, I would say that the journey wasn’t so easy. I emanate from Beed, a small place located in the interiors of Maharashtra. Even though it is a district of Marathwada, opportunities for higher education for girls are rare. Nonetheless, my father -the role model of my life was undoubtedly one of the few unfeigned “feminists” who educated all three of his daughters. He motivated me in several ways to dream and achieve. Being the eldest and brightest in studies in the family, I home tutored my sisters and brother. Home tutoring my siblings would put me to curiosity about certain things, especially science- and-technology-related subjects would fascinate me the most. Coincidentally, that period was considered as the rise of computers in India. During my short visit to Pune in my teens, I first saw a computer in reality, which enthralled me a lot, and I knew that this was it…!

I moved to the city of dreams-Mumbai and took admission in a Bachelor’s Program in Computer Engineering. Watching the IT industry grow, I could feel the existence of massive opportunities. As a result, Computer Science became my profession. In college days, I enjoyed hosting technology-related seminars. I am sure most of you would have that one friend we go to for last minute studies, right? That was me in my friend circle. Moreover, working with industry for my final-year and master’s projects made me conscious of industry requirements and their working patterns, which helped me a lot to understand and apply academic knowledge into practical. This aspect assisted me to take up teaching in a technical institute, and so, I was not only able to shape young minds but also improve my learning curve.

My teaching curve comprises various subjects like Database Management, Data Mining, and Data science amongst others. These subjects form the basis for AI, ML, and analytics in general and we are surrounded by them in today’s world. To cope up with the pace of rapidly changing technology, I organized and attended various FDPs, webinars, and short-term courses. My prime focus was to make students technically sound and make them industry ready. I Encourage students to showcase their ideas, thereby contributing to the community and the world at large. Hand-on sessions with students, participating in project developments, exhibitions, hackathon, publishing research paper and receiving research grant is testimony to that.

The ideology that I follow in teaching involves a commitment to know each student at an individual level while creating a classroom community. I believe in change; so, I include new teaching methodologies experimental learning, flip classroom, etc. thereby making learning interactive and interesting. My experience as the HOD, R&D coordinator, and exam cell coordinator enriched my administrative knowledge.

Life is amazing when you get to work at a place where opportunities to excel come by easy and your colleagues are encouraging and supportive. Vidyalankar is a place that guarantees this and nurtures my passion for teaching. I entirely resonate with the management at Vidyalankar, which believes in building not just a great future workforce but also responsible citizens. Hence, our students not only excel in classrooms but also make their mark on society. My experience at Vidyalankar has helped me to evolve as a teacher and a person.

Apart from the tech-savvy world, I love watching movies, cooking, traveling to places away from concrete jungles, and spending time with nature, which brings positivity in my life.

From posting a trivial video on social media to fighting a pandemic, technology is the greatest tool we have. I feel blessed to be a part of this field and grateful for getting an opportunity to foster young and talented professionals and future innovators.