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Interview of Prof. Sham Tickoo, Pro Vice Chancellor Galgotias University
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams Every student must have a dream or dreams. A student without dreams is like a bird without wings. The dreams act like a catalytic agent to drive the desire to achieve something in life, says Prof. Sham Tickoo in an interview with The G-Post , who has recently taken over as the Pro Vice Chancellor of the Galgotias University.
On behalf of the entire team of The G-Post, I welcome you to Galgotias University. Tell us something about yourself? I am currently a Professor at Purdue University Calumet, USA. Before joining Purdue University in 1987, I have worked as a Design Engineer, Quality Control Engineer, and Software Developer I have authored/coauthored textbooks on several major CAD/ CAE/Animation software packages like ANYSYS, SolidWorks, CATIA, Pro/Engineer, NX, AutoCAD, Customizing AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, Solid Edge, 3ds Max, 3ds Max Design, Autodesk Inventor, Mechanical Desktop, and VIZ. In addition to North America, my textbooks have been translated and published in Russia, Japan, India, South Korea, and Serbia. I was able to obtain over $24 Million software grant from ANSYS, IBM, and Siemens. I have also developed a web site that provides free teaching and learning resources to faculty and students. Since 1992, over half a million users have visited this web site and are using the resources on a regular basis. I am also the founder and president of CADCIM Technologies, USA and CADSoft Technologies, India. These companies was established in 1992 and are involved with publishing, engineering consulting, software development, and training. In 2003, I was awarded a US patent for one of my inventions “Self Adjusting Cargo Organizer for Vehicles”. I am currently working on the design and fabrication of two new wind turbines that will significantly increase their power output and can be used to charge the batteries of an automobile. Purdue University has filed a provisional patent application for one of them “Wind Turbine for Automobiles”. I am actively involved in consulting and have served as a consultant to over fifty companies in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Canada. In 1988-90, I developed a software package "SMLayout" that has been registered by Autodesk Inc. as a Third Party Software Product. This software package is currently being used by various companies in Canada and United States. Regarding the educational philosophy, I believe that the educational institutions are the most important organizations in
any civilized society and the teachers play the most important role in this venture. To enable the teachers to perform their job, we have to make sure that the faculty members are provided the latest tools and facilities that they need in teaching, research, and other related activities. I also believe that we should have a national incubator program that will nurture and train the aspiring university faculty to meet the challenges of teaching, research, and service. Also, the universities should be the major learning and research centers where value education is an important part of the curriculum. Each student is unique and the teacher’s role is to guide the students to achieve their educational and career goals. Besides academics, it is very important that the faculty members involve their students in research, product design and development, service, extracurricular and team building activities. I enjoy the nature and farming related activities. My hobbies include yoga, walking, running, camping, and hiking. What has motivated you to join Galgotias University? I know Suneel Galgotia for a long time, about 20 years. He has a strong desire and a dream to make GU one of the best universities in the world. I want to work with Suneel, Dhruv, and the GU faculty and administration to make it happen and make a defining contribution in making GU a world class university. What is the status of technical and management education in the USA? In general, the quality of education in USA has gone down, especially in engineering and science fields. However, various measures are underway that will make American educational institutions more competitive. What are your future plans? For a long time, since 2001, I have been thinking about starting an Engineering and Management college based on the ancient philosophy of Indian education. An education system that emphasizes the overall development of a student, in terms of body, mind, and spirit. This time tested Indian educational philosophy is extremely important to develop the overall personality of a student. I want to work with a university/college that has similar believes.