K J Somaiya College of Engineering (KJSCE) was founded in
1983 and is located at Somaiya Vidyavihar, Mumbai. Dr Shubha Pandit joined as Principal
in 2012 after teaching for about 27 years at Sardar Patel College of
Engineering, Mumbai. Thought it has been only three years for her, she has been
successful in trying to bridge the gap between industry and academia. Under
her leadership, KJSCE became the first self-financed engineering college
affiliated to University of Mumbai to be conferred academic autonomy.  

After completing her graduation from Pune University in
1982, Dr Shubha Pandit worked with Tata Consulting Engineers for a brief period.
She switched to teaching in 1985 and has been inspiring students since then.  

PaGaLGuY spoke to Dr Pandit in an exclusive interview.
Excerpts from the interview:

Is there
anything that you see missing in today’s generation of students? What do you
like about them?

It is difficult for academic administrators or
parents to ask students to concentrate on topics in which they are not
interested or which require academic rigor. Today’s generation can work for
hours together in subjects which are close to their heart, be it engineering or
otherwise. They can go to any extent to get success in these fields.

What are
some projects that students of KJSCE have been working on?

No new projects have been added but all the mega
projects of the college are continuing with the same zest that they started
with.

Team Onyx, founded in 2011, is a team of enthusiastic
mechanical engineering students dedicated to the hobby of aeromodelling. It was
established to design and manufacture radio controlled heavy lifting aircraft
models. Red Shift Racing, founded in 2009, is a team of students who design and
manufacture All-Terrain Vehicles. Both teams participate in various
competitions across the country, representing the college.

What is
the importance of extra-curricular activities at KJSCE?

Most of the extra-curricular activities of our students can
also be treated as co-curricular activities because they involve a lot of technology
driven inputs. For example, the Robocon team designed their Robots to play
badminton as if in real life, where they employed latest technology
innovatively.  The Orion Racing team has won
in national events. The ETA Racing team was successful in making a car which runs
in an energy efficient way, as desired by competition rules.

What has changed from
your time as a student to now?

I was a fairly sincere student, but it was not easy back
then. Engineering was a male dominated stream during the late 1970s. Today,
enrolment of female students has definitely increased. I have faced many
challenges while I was a student but today here I am. My role is to say it’s
possible because when it comes to education, the possibilities are endless.

Speaking about you, do
you get time to follow your hobbies?

I love gardening, it is one of my favourite hobbies. I
maintain a terrace garden. Even though my days are packed with appointments and
schedules, I make sure I keep aside some time for the terrace garden in my
daily routine.

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