Mrs. P. Asha has been working as the Head of Civil Engineering Department at Jerusalem College of Engineering, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She has done B.Tech, M.Tech and PhD as part of her academics. And she has an amazing 20 years of experience in industry and the teaching sector. She has published 70 research papers in various journals. In addition to this, she has received the Vishwakarma Award under the best academician category from Construction Industry Development Council , New Delhi in 2017. She has guided 32 BE projects and 40 ME projects. Her areas of interest include earthquake resistant structures, composite materials and use of industrial waste materials in concrete etc. And she has organized 30 national, international conferences, workshops and seminars out of which two are sponsored by DST SERB and one by AICTE. She is also a reviewer of international journals like Structural Engineering and Mechanics, Australian Journal of Structural Engineering. She has 3 published patents on her name.

Jerusalem College Of Engineering

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

"Challenging yet amazing learning opportunities have kept me associated with this sector"

I have been working as the Head of Civil Engineering Department at Jerusalem College of Engineering and before this, I have worked as a Dean of Research Department, Member of Internal Inspection Committee for NBA, Chairperson of Board of Studies, NAAC Coordinator and as NBA Coordinator. All these amazing opportunities have taught me a lot of things and have also changed my personality to a great extent. And factors which have kept me connected with the education sector is the feeling of satisfaction and completeness I get here while educating students and youths and by seeing them succeeding in their career.

Being the Head of the Civil Engineering Department, what is your philosophy of leadership?

"A true leader guides the team in right direction at right time to achieve goals"

According to me, leadership means driving the faculty members and students with positive energy and in the right direction to complete the work. And I use the same practice in my institute. Also I always ensure my support, guidance and availability whenever my team needs me.

How do you strategize the key programs for the marketing and administration of your institute?

"By encouraging students and teachers to stay updated with latest industrial happenings"

In order to enhance our presence in the outside world and among our future potential students, we keep upgrading our teaching-learning methodologies and regularly motivate our students and teachers to do quality research on trending topics. Apart from this, the amazing academic results of our students does the rest of the work.

In your experience, what benefits can students gain from studying here in your college?

"They will get best education and industrial exposure here in our institute"

Students while pursuing courses of their choice from our institute will gain in-depth knowledge of every single subject and finest industrial and practical exposure. And we also inculcate best ethical values through a wide variety of activities and events.

How does the curriculum of your college ensure the best practices of industry?

"It is backed by real time projects, professional visits and best apprenticeships"

We supplement and enhance the knowledge of our students by offering them suitable internships, conducting industrial visits for them and assigning real time projects and professional and open electives courses to them as per their choice. Hence the curriculum which we design and update offers best to students as it involves suggestions of everyone from industry experts to our faculty members and students.

How is your university more welcoming to students of different races or economic backgrounds?

"We treat everyone equally and offers scholarships to needy and meritorious students"

Students of all races and economic backgrounds are treated equally in our institute and we provide them equal opportunities to learn and grow. Apart from this, scholarships are offered to eligible students under different categories as per government norms.

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What are your responsibilities for the University and students?

"It is to educate students, guide faculty members and supervise departmental activities"

My responsibility is to educate my students in the best possible way to transform them into a technically competent Engineer and help them design and implement solutions to real world problems in an economical and ethical way. Along with this, guiding faculty members and supervising departmental activities also comes under the scope of my responsibilities.

What do you think should be the University’s top priority over the next 10 years?

"Improving our teaching techniques and bringing best research facilities in college should be our aim"

In my opinion, we should focus on enhancing our teaching pedagogies in line with educational trends and industrial requirements. Along with this, we should work to improve research facilities in college for the benefit of our students and teachers.

When you joined this college , what was your vision for it and has it evolved over time?

"It was to upgrade overall education quality of department and enhance academic results"

When I joined Jerusalem College of Engineering as a department head, my aim was to improve the overall performance of our Civil Engineering Department and increase research output of the institute. And yes, I have come a long way in achieving them and the academic performance of our department and research output of our college have been improved to a great extent.

What would you like people to know about your college that makes it unique?

"We have best infrastructure facilities and training programs for students"

I would like to inform everyone that our college is one of the best colleges of India in terms of infrastructure, education quality, courses and learning opportunities. We address students' concerns on an individual basis and strive to provide them employment oriented education, finest quality research facilities, best training programs and industrial exposure to transform our students into technically competent Engineers and best human beings.

What do you see as your college’s greatest strengths?

"Our location, placement statistics and faculty members makes us strong"

Our location within the city, autonomous pattern of examinations, placement records are the main pillars of our college strengths. And along with this, our faculty members and students also make us strong.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see for higher education in general?

"Students unattentive attitude and careless behavior towards their studies is main hurdle"

As far as I have observed the education sector, I think lack of interest and dedication among few students towards their studies and future goals is the biggest challenge for us and roadblock for them. Because we need to work more on these kinds of students. And next I think lack of good placement opportunities for students is also an issue we need to address and fix on an early basis.

Any suggestions which you would like to share with the industry people?

"Job opportunities should be increased for students in both public and private sectors"

I firmly believe that placement opportunities shall be increased for graduates in industries as well as in government and public sectors. Because even the deserving candidates suffer sometimes due to less no. of seats for any particular job be it in the corporate sector or government ones.

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What are some plans that you are currently designing for students of your institute?

"Making our students updated with international affairs is our main objective"

Our main objective for the upcoming time is to create awareness among students about international affairs and train them for the same. Hence we are planning to introduce discussion sessions and customized training programs for them very soon.

How do you establish a healthy relationship and environment in your institute?

"By regularly communicating with them and ensuring their issues gets resolved on time"

For the purpose of ensuring a cordial relationship with my students and fellow faculties, I regularly interact with them on a regular basis because transparent and trustworthy communication I believe are the most important elements. And I complete the assigned work on time, try my best to resolve students' doubts on time and always support them whenever they need my help.