I was born in a village in Kerala to a family of farmers and I used to help in farming as a child. I was encouraged in studies by my high school teachers who made me realize my passion towards Mathematics. I used to keenly observe my father fixing things like a diesel engine used in the water pump, wrist watches and umbrellas. Even though I was interested in technical things, a girl pursuing Engineering was very rare in those days and the financial condition at our home was also not encouraging for me to pursue a professional degree. The National Merit Scholarship I received after my 10th Board exams gave me the confidence to study Engineering and I joined a college in a nearby town. Due to my interest in studies, during my final year I appeared for GATE and pursued M.Tech.

As my schooling was in vernacular medium, I was quite hesitant to speak in English initially. When I came to Mumbai, with a little fear I took up teaching, as I loved to be with the young crowd. The first subject assigned was Basic Electrical Engineering in 1993. After teaching for a few days, I realized that to become a good teacher, one’s confidence in the subject and how one connects with students is more important than language. I have taught around 20 different subjects including VHDL and FPGA, Electrical Networks, and Industrial Automation for different branches of Engineering. I strongly believe that Engineering can be taught only in laboratories, and I have designed innovative and problem-based experiments in the subjects of Digital Design, Robotics Simulation Tools, Control Systems and VLSI in recent years which are enjoyed by students and give hands on experience to them.

As a Project Coordinator, I encourage students to take up innovative projects. Through my contacts in L&T Automation, students have taken up industrial projects like Mobile Application for Data Reading, IoT based system for Mine applications and Electronic Stethoscope with Bluetooth technology and completed them under my guidance. Many other BE and ME projects like IoT-based smart walking stick, Virtual Tongue, Online Real Time Health Monitoring of Patient using intra-body Communication, Smart Mattress for reducing bed sores, are guided by me. I encourage students to write and publish technical papers in conferences including IEEE. Many of my research publications in various conferences and journals include student projects guided by me. Trying new techniques in teaching methodology is my passion and I have published papers related to education.

As a Nodal Centre Coordinator of Virtual Lab project, I have recommended students for internships at IITB. I am coordinating and participating in a development team of Virtual Labs from VIT. I have given talks on virtual lab usage and am actively involved in the community. I have organized many training programs and conferences at our institute and I am also the process owner of our Institute’s technical journal. I believe in constantly updating knowledge by attending courses and make it a point to attend Faculty Development Programs every semester. Through contacts in TIFR I could bring an eminent speaker like Dr. Roop Mallik of Biological Science Department, to VIT.

I am interested in traditional dance and have also participated in competitions. I am also fond of music and cooking. I still love farming, and later in my life, I would like to return to my village and do farming with modern technology and help villagers in improving their livelihood.