Visiting ones’s Alma mater is always very special and nostalgic. I graduated from Birla Institute of Technology & Science Pilani popularly known as BITS Pilani in 1985. Pilani is small remote town in the state of Rajasthan India. BITS Pilani campus is spread over 350 acres. It is likean OASIS in the desert. I studied and resided in the campus from 1980 to 1985. I enjoyed every moment of my stay and I have very fond memories. I was very curious to know about latest happenings at Pilani campus e.g. present BITS system of education, students’ life in campus, traditions and activities etc. I was curious to know all of it from the perspective of a current student.

Recently I got an opportunity to visit BITS Pilani campus. Taking advantage of this opportunity I recorded this episode at BITS Pilani on 25th February 2024 with a 3rd year Civil engineering Student Amrit Bahl. Amrit is a very bright student belonging to Mumbai. It was pleasant surprise to note that he is very enthusiastic about core Civil engineering and wish to do master’s degree. This episode is a heart-to-heart conversation with a current student of BITS Pilani. In this episode I tried to relive and relate my time at BITS with Amrit.

Please like, share and subscribe to the podcast if you enjoyed the episode. You can email me your suggestions at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ or follow me on Twitter.

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More About this Podcast Samvad is a podcast focusing on policy and governance aspects on various issues related to profession, society, and culture. Aim is to dig deeper and dissect the issues for better understanding. Usual format of this podcast is long free flowing conversation in the relaxed manner with invited guest. Gradually this podcast will strive to become a repository of rich intellectual content on various issues concerning all of us.

There are some  professions which directly deals with public safety and wellbeing. Structural engineering is one such profession. Structural engineers acquire academic qualification training and experience in the domain of their preference before practice. People trust them with lot of responsibility. Structural engineering is an art and science of conceptualizing, designing, constructing and maintaining all kind of public utility structures Structural engineering is considered one of the very complex and difficult profession. Structural engineers work in a very challenging environment and shoulder tremendous responsibility . Their contribution is of paramount importance but often not adequately recognised and compensated. Despite best of efforts sometime something may go wrong . There are well laid out systems of peer review and proof checking to avoid such omissions. But still, sometime something may go wrong risking the lives of people. 

This episode is focused on this issue. Our aim is not to discuss or investigate  the failure of a structure. Our aim is also not to  point fingers. This episode brings out various serious issues concerning civil & structural engineering through a life story of a structural engineer who faced a structural collapse in one of his projects in 2009. It vividly narrates how his professional & personal life got affected and how he managed it? 

Please like, share and subscribe to the podcast if you enjoyed the episode. You can email me your suggestions at ⁠[email protected]⁠ or follow me on Twitter.

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More About this Podcast Samvad is a podcast focusing on policy and governance aspects on various issues related to profession, society, and culture. Aim is to dig deeper and dissect the issues for better understanding. Usual format of this podcast is long free flowing conversation in the relaxed manner with invited guest. Gradually this podcast will strive to become a repository of rich intellectual content on various issues concerning all of us.

Very few professional engineers and architects understand the structural fire safety the way it should be understood and practiced. Structural Fire safety should be the intrinsic part of design. It is a multi-disciplinary area. Ensuring structural Fire safety is the responsibility of all stakeholders including the occupants and users of built environment. Do we understand fire and how to manage fire? Why Structural fire safety is an important issue? What is the status of fire engineering education in India? What are the key elements of Structural Fire safety? Is following NBC Part 4 sufficient to ensure structural fire safety? What is the role of various stakeholders? Why do we have so many fire incidents and losses despite having fire regulations? What is way out?

In India all of us are aware about ISI mark. We believe if some product is ISI mark it will have superior quality. What is this ISI mark all about? Who issues the ISI marks? Many times, we also talk about specifications, correct way of construction, assembly, manufacturing, design, installation and testing. We often say that the product, process, and services must be as per standards. What do we mean by standards? Why standards are necessary? How and where standardization started? Is it country specific or it is global? Who can make standards? What is the origin of BIS and what are key features of BIS act? Can BIS ensure implementation of standards? What are various types of standards? What is standard formulation process in BIS and other international bodies? Are our standards reliable? What about their quality? Is there any standard for standardization? Are we attracting good people in the process of standardization? What is futuristic scenario of standardization?

This episode is also focused on education . This is second episode on this theme. Education by itself has many dimensions and different meanings for different persons looking at it from different perspectives. But one thing is sure it is important for development and sustenance of humanity. It propels one to dig deep in the abundant sea of knowledge. Prompts people to explore new things and do experiments to satisfy curiosity and validate various natural and social phenomenon. Education helps one to do comprehensive and critical thinking. Education also leads individuals to appreciate coexistence with nature. It also teaches the importance of society, culture, values, nature , sustainability and their interrelationships. In a way it makes us a good human being.

In my previous episode on education with Dr Sanjay Goel it emerged that only formal education is not enough to achieve these goals of education. Informal education at home and in society are also important. Education is also not a fixed time activity. It is a life long process. However formal education may be for some fixed years. It also emerged that in recent past education has not got due importance and priority in many countries including India. It is one of the reasons for overall degradation of our societal priorities and values. Dr Goel is an Indian academic administrator and according to him government’s priorities and lack of funds are generally main reasons for our poor education system. However new education policy NEP 2020 is quite promising and forward looking.

In this episode we will learn more about our education system from the perspective of an Indian student who was born and brought up in India and did all his schooling and bachelor’s degree from India before coming to USA for pursuing masters and doctorate. Rohan is at present a doctorate student at department of computer sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, USA. His research is focused on autonomous driving and he is likely to graduate this year.

This episode discusses all such issues in detail.

All of us believe that we must be educated. General perception is that by education one can get decent job and can earn more money to lead a good life. What is the actual purpose of education? Is it to acquire knowledge in some domain? Is it about being literate? Is it to acquire some skill to be able to enhance job opportunities? Is it something more?

India is a large country with large population. Population of younger lot is around 60%. It is believed that India was once called Vishwa Guru. It has produced some legendary scholars whose path breaking research, philosophy & fundamental principles laid the foundation of modern world.

What has gone wrong over the years? Why our literacy rate is so low? Why enrolment rate is low? Why dropout rate is high? Why are students coming out of schools and colleges do not meet our expectations? Are our teachers knowledgeable enough and equipped with skills to teach and train students? Are they motivated?

Government has announced a National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. It outlines the overall vision and replaces earlier policy of 1986. What is this policy? What are its key features? Will it make India education system comparable with international standards? Is target of 6% (of GDP) state expenditure on education achievable? Will we become Vishwa Guru once again?

This episode discusses all such issues in detail.

We frequently use the term ethics in our day-to-day life. It is the most important, little less understood and least implemented concept. Why it is important for us? Can my ethics be different from ethics of my organization or my society? What are moral values? Is it same as ethics? Do moral values and ethics have any relation with religion, culture, organisztion, profession, society, or country? Are they time dependent or permanent in nature? It is important to get deeper into it to understand the issue.

Sometimes we also question who decides what is morally right or wrong? We ourselves, family, society, or God? Do following ethics makes us better? Is it mandatory to follow ethical behaviour? Is following laws of land same as being ethical? If we are following laws, then why should ethics bother one? 

How do moral values, personal beliefs and ethics affect our decision making? Why ethics is important for engineering profession?

In this episode we will explore these and many more issues concerning ethics.

Please like, share and subscribe to the podcast if you enjoyed the episode. You can email me your suggestions at [email protected] or follow me on Twitter.

More About this Podcast

Samvad is a podcast focusing on policy and governance aspects on various issues related to profession, society, and culture. Aim is to dig deeper and dissect the issues for better understanding. Usual format of this podcast is long free flowing conversation in the relaxed manner with invited guest.

Gradually this podcast will strive to become a repository of rich intellectual content on various issues concerning all of us.

Sneak peak in to the podcast.