Dr. Souradyuti Paul
Dear members and well-wishers of the IIT Bhilai Computer and Data Science communities: It is a great honor and privilege for me to assume the headship of this excellent department, and even more so to succeed Prof. Santosh Biswas. It is also a matter of enormous responsibility to have my departmental colleagues repose faith in me as the head. Our department houses two major engineering disciplines – namely, Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), and Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI), and it is hard to overemphasize these disciplines’ enormous powers in shaping our cultural and civilizational progress: be it installation of a precision camera on a GPS satellite, or detecting gravitational waves, or forecasting weather hazards, the penetration of computer and data science inventions in all parts of our daily lives is deep and permanent. Initially offering academic programs only in the discipline of computer science and engineering, the department has quickly realized the huge importance of data science subjects in terms of industrial and economic productivity, and the necessity of having dedicated academic programs in this discipline. As a result, UG and PG programs in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) were launched in 2020. Since then, even in this short period of existence, DSAI programs have continuously been able to offer diverse sets of new courses to our students, including many advanced ones, thanks to our very energetic breed of faculty members who literally bent over backwards to make it all happen. In sum, well supported by the extremely professional administrative bodies, our departmental growth and output in both quality and quantity is so far admirable, despite of course occasional setbacks. I invite you to visit our faculty profiles to get an idea of the broad spectrum of research and teaching activities we undertake in the CSE department. We carry out research projects and teaching jobs with an ambition to ultimately serve the humanity surrounding us in whichever way possible. Our determined pursuit to do things for the benefit of the society — immediate and broader— is actually ingrained in the cultural chromosome of our institute, and our department only inherits the DNA in a natural way. This is just a matter of time that the ideas generated in the hallways or the seminar rooms of our department will be able to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing the world, and will make it a better living place. If talking of our DNA and of our seriousness to achieve our professional goals begins to scare you a bit, you should also know that the two important things in life that we value greatly are good humor and human kindness; therefore, there is simply no dearth of fun activities that we do to fill up our days. Our department is young in both letter and spirit, and I warn you that this overflow of young energy is extremely contagious. It will be hard for you to not be infected by the positive vibes of the department, when you take a walk down the corridors of the level 4 of ED1, our department’s humble abode. Do not be shocked to discover in a seminar room a faculty member, with a chalk in hand, fighting crazily with the students over small details of an age-old computing problem, or to find yourself completely ignored by a junior researcher engrossed in setting up a novel programming environment to reduce the runtime of her code by just a microsecond! This madness and this flurry of activities compounded with humane interpersonal relationships among the faculty, staff and student members are the bedrock of our steady journey into a bright future. As a student of CSE and DSAI, if you are looking for a place to give a flight to your inner ambitions soaked in passions for serving the society and broadly the country, or if you are looking for a place for honest and proper mentorship that can guide you into achieving your life goals in the most productive and constructive way, look no further, make CSE department your academic home. I am here to help you. Do never hesitate to talk to me. I will feel fortunate, if there is any way I could be of any value to your life. Dr. Souradyuti Paul Department Head, CSE. Date: January 1, 2024.