Faculty Interview with Dr Sridhar Chimalakonda

“Students that come into our institute are, in fact, brilliant and are advised to aim higher rather than to settle for minimal goals like a good GPA and placement. Take up something you are genuinely interested in and try out exciting things by approaching professors for help. Don’t wait till the third or fourth year to try out all this.” – Dr Sridhar Chimalakonda

Given the online semesters which resulted in reduced student-faculty interactions, the Students’ General Council came up with the initiative of ‘Faculty Interviews’ to help alleviate the situation. Dr. Sridhar Chimalakonda, Assistant Professor at the Computer Science and Engineering Department, IIT Tirupati, was kind enough to be the first guest to be interviewed. Dr. Sridhar is known for his passionate research work in his areas of interest that include Software Engineering, Educational Technologies and Human-Computer Interaction.

Throughout the course of the interview, students posed several questions spanning a wide variety of topics. As an opening question, Dr Sridhar was asked to “Describe himself in one line”. His succinct reply to this question was that he is “enthusiastic and sometimes a little crazy towards solving problems”. Instinctively he was also asked “Why did you choose to become a professor?”. He said, “Let’s say, I produce N ideas each day. I can only solve a few ideas alone. I need an army of passionate people who have a ‘killer instinct’ which is possible with young people like students, so that they can work on these ideas to have a wider impact. This is the only profession where this can happen. Even if I do one problem each day, but these people that I work with become excellent problem solvers, then they in turn will solve N problems every day! Indirectly, the kind of impact you can create through this profession is much more massive!” As a follow-up, he was asked what profession he would have pursued if he wasn’t a professor. He said he probably would have pursued Indian Literature and storytelling as a researcher, as he finds that the imaginative fields have much to explore.

Speaking of research as a career, the next question asked was, “Lots of students don’t consider academia an enticing career prospect. What would you say to change their minds?”

“As a professor, you have some degree of freedom in choosing which kind of problems you want to work on. But in the industry and in other professions, that kind of freedom is difficult to come by. You have to do what the organization says. For example, in one of my projects, we are working on converting YouTube into a development environment, or another one, in which we are making a game on COVID, ‘SurviveCovid-19’, which has nothing to do directly with Software Engineering or Computer Science! If you are passionate about trying out many things, academia is a great option.”

A question often intriguing to students is what their professors were like as students. The next question posed to Prof Sridhar was, “Describe your student life, time management and extra-curricular activities”. He said that if he enrolled in any program, he always tried to fulfil his expectations. He studied the course material even before the classes began so that he would be able to explore other things that intrigued him, simultaneously. In particular, during his Masters and PhD, he would audit multiple classes like Biology and Indian Economy, which had no direct relation to his field, just to explore and gain perspective. He recommended that students try to do the same when on campus because extra-curricular activities are crucial. According to him, one must try to blend their passion with their work. He encouraged students to convince faculty members of their passion and how it can be integrated with their core work. He emphasized the importance of extracurricular activities and regular interaction with friends and colleagues because isolation is often counterproductive.

Dr Sridhar leads the Research in Intelligent Software and Human Analytics (RISHA) Lab, one of the most happening places at IIT Tirupati. Many enthusiastic and ambitious students join the lab to work on Software Engineering and research, focussing on Educational Technologies and Human-Computer Interaction, with a common goal of ultimately being beneficial to society. As Dr Sridhar puts it, RISHA Lab is rooted in the idea that both theoretical and empirical knowledge should be combined to solve a problem with the fundamental aim to push one’s own boundaries. At RISHA Lab, he looks for students who are passionate and persistent. He added that anyone is welcome in the lab irrespective of the branch, year, or CGPA, as long as one is enthusiastic, ambitious, hard-working and excited about doing one’s part. He mentioned a few achievements of the lab in terms of publishing papers in reputed conferences and making inroads for IIT Tirupati in the field of Software Engineering. Undergraduate students are at the core of the lab and multiple publications have undergraduate students as their first authors. The tools produced as part of the research are released as open-source software which helps students make a mark in the field. The lab currently has collaborations with Bosch, Accenture Labs, CodeChef, University of Waterloo (Canada), Richard Lounsbery Foundation (USA).

A challenging question faced by many professors is “How do you cater to students who are not highly motivated?” Dr. Sridhar proposed the idea that when some students break barriers and achieve astonishing heights, it serves as a natural stimulus for everyone. However, he agrees that often while trying to motivate students, he is faced with the dilemma of whether to do ‘what interests students’ or ‘what is in the interest of students’. When these two don’t comply, he chooses to go with the option that is ‘in the interest of students’, because although students might not be happy about it in the short run, he maintains that they will be happier in the long run. He was also asked how he deals with feedback given by students. He said that he tries to incorporate feedback positively. However, oftentimes he receives feedback about how he should lower his expectations from students. He disagrees with this and says that this mentality needs to be changed since current times demand even higher expectations. He feels that students must understand their potential and come out of their comfort zones.

When asked “What is something you would like to bring to IIT Tirupati in the future?”, Dr Sridhar answered with his confidence-inspiring smile that he would like to eventually make IIT Tirupati the first preference for Software Engineering in India. As an excellent kickstart to this goal, he mentioned two papers from his lab that made it to top conferences ICSE 2021 and MSR 2021, earlier this year. He also envisions a more ambitious goal of making IIT Tirupati the best place for Education Technologies and Human-Computer Interaction in the future. He repeatedly emphasised that he wants the students of IIT Tirupati to take research work seriously and take the institute to greater heights. One of his go-to lines is, “We want to be much, much better!”.

The questions didn’t stop here, as students took the opportunity to ask a question they had long wanted to. “What is the opinion you hold of the students of IIT Tirupati, and what is your advice in particular to them?”

Dr Sridhar said that the students that come into our institute are, in fact, excellent, brilliant and highly capable. He advised them to aim higher rather than to settle for minimal goals like a good GPA and placement. He encouraged them to be interested in their fields and try out exciting things by approaching the professors for help and not waiting till the third or fourth year to start off on these. Furthermore, he also mentioned that students should not be of the impression that being in a third-generation IIT makes them inferior intellectually. He also dropped a slightly surprising bit of advice to students, recommending that students be cautious of advice given by seniors. He said its a good idea to look up a senior’s profile before following their advice, especially if they tell you to “Chill for the first two years”.

Dr Sridhar said that academic research definitely helps a lot in the long run. However, he feels that we should focus on problems that are the need of the current situation. Sharing his experience from his PhD work related to Adult Illiteracy, he was enthralled by interacting with people in remote villages, mostly adult women learners, who could speak but not read/write their language. He said he cannot express in words the excitement he felt when he saw his work in the Software Engineering Lab come to life and make a difference in the lives of so many people who genuinely needed it.

Dr Sridhar was asked to shed some light on the professors perspective on the online mode of teaching due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. He said that the experience made him realize how crucial physical interaction and teaching was. He said that although he tries to meet often with the students of his lab through virtual meets, everyone is somehow, unfortunately, missing out on some things. He hopes the pandemic will end soon and with it bring an end to the online semesters.

By this time students were, of course, interested to know how to improve their work ethic. When asked “What makes you work the extra hour in the lab instead of binge-watching your favourite show or spending your time elsewhere?”, Dr Sridhar said that the excitement of seeing something that you worked for late into the night, getting accepted at prestigious places, keeps him going. Another major motivating factor for him is when he notices few publications from India in renowned conferences or journals of his field. He feels that we need to work in the direction of putting India on the global map of research.

The next exciting question posed before Dr Sridhar was “What is your favourite hobby?”. He said that was a difficult question to answer because he likes so many things. He mentioned that he loves nature, music, movies, travelling, story-telling and much more! He said his work allows him to explore the world which is something he enjoys as well.

Dr Sridhar completed his MS and PhD at IIIT-H(International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad). Next up in the interview, he was asked to “reveal his journey to, and experiences at IIIT Hyderabad”. He said that he chose IIIT Hyderabad over IIT Kanpur because he liked the challenging and ambition oriented environment that it provided. He mentioned spending days on end working in the lab during his time there, sometimes even sitting under trees with his laptop, engrossed in work. He added that working long hours is not a drudge if the work is something you enjoy which is why he recommends blending work with your passion, and the same is one of the core values of the RISHA Lab. He emphasized again that he wants the work produced from the RISHA lab to be at par with the world as well as be beneficial to society at the same time.

Dr Sridhar was asked to mention anything inspiring that he observed in various institutes throughout his career. In response to this, he mentioned the story of a student in IIIT Sri City who dropped out for an internship in Cisco for a year and later went on to do his MS at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He believes that such incredible things can happen by developing a hard-working, inspiring culture, which can be achieved in IIT Tirupati. He reiterated his point on how we must create such a culture by making sure some students make inroads and serve as inspiring examples for everyone, essentially catalyzing the process of developing an incredible culture at IIT Tirupati.

The lively interview concluded with the Student’s General Secretary thanking Dr Sridhar Chimalakonda for always supporting students with their activities, academics and interests, as well as for taking time out of his busy schedule for the interview session. Dr Chimalakonda is friendly, enthusiastic and ever-ready to interact with students and provide guidance. We hope to see IIT Tirupati reach greater heights every day under his able guidance and infectious enthusiasm!

Here are a few special post-interview questions posed to Dr Sridhar regarding the online semesters

How was your experience in transitioning to an electronic mode of communication?

It was positive from the sense that some students who usually did not speak during face-to-face interaction have opened up and asked questions, but on the other hand, it is extremely difficult to know the response of students given the lack of video feed, even though I used Zoom visual cues sometimes!

What were your thoughts on modifying the course content in the online mode?

I have modified the content, focusing especially on the core concepts of the course, rather than providing all low level details that are provided in the course material.

What were the challenges you faced in designing ways to assess the students?

It’s hard! It’s really hard! There are genuine concerns by some students, so I feel it is harsh on my part to assess, but on the other hand, I should be fair. So, I took it on case by case basis.

Is there anything from the instructors’ perspective that you feel students should be better informed about?

I think all of us should have empathy towards each other. I wish that students who do not have any concerns would be proactive in the class, help other students, and also take lead in projects rather than skip them despite having the opportunity. Finally, the students should interact with faculty when facing problems, rather than being silent.

Is there anything you would like to tell the students in conclusion?

“Students, relax and do what your passion says! and ask ‘Is this the best that you can do?’, if not, keep pushing your own boundaries!”

Edited -
Debeshee Das

Initial Transcript summarized by -
Anu Anand Annu
Tejaswini Hotkar