Faculty Interview : Prof.Sreeram Kalpathy
Dr.Sreeram K Kalpathy joined the department in October 2015. He specializes in the field of interfacial phenomena in soft matter. He completed his dual degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in 2007 from IIT Madras, and went on to complete his PhD at the University of Minnesota in 2012.
Why did you choose Metallurgical and Materials Engineering?
Just like many of you, I came in just by virtue of my JEE rank. However, I could say I understood the branch better after coming here. Over the course of my five years as a student here, I was quite happy with the branch as there were a lot of new things that I learnt. So, when I had a choice to go in a different direction I thought it was best that I stay and do justice to what I studied in my under-graduation and hence continued to do something related to the branch.
What are some of your memorable college moments when you were at IIT Madras as a student?
When I was a student, I was quite serious about my grades and academics. At the end of five years, I had the highest CGPA in my batch. There is an award presented during the convocation for this and receiving it was a memorable moment. In fact, I remember, in one of the semesters I had a GPA of 9.95, with an S in all courses except a lab in which I got an A. Apart from that, I also developed a keen interest in Classical Music, it was a memorable period. I got a lot of exposure to many things other than academics. One of the strong impressions I developed about IIT gradually was that whatever one does here, be it academic or non-academic, excellence is targeted. Also, here you get to meet or at least see and hear from very well known personalities through EMLs and such Guest Lectures. Those things were interesting too.
We can say that you’ve come a full circle as you’ve been a student here and you’ve now moved around the desk being a teacher. What are your thoughts on this?
I’m really happy to be interacting with students again. I can say very confidently that the students here are probably among the most intelligent people around the world. The IIT stamp carries value too. When I first came to IIT, during the orientation, Prof. Seshadri, who was the HoD then, told us that we’d not realise the value of this ‘tag’ for many years to come. And I have experienced that wherever I go, if I say I graduated from IIT, I see that people recognise it. If I had the ability to reverse time and come back here as a student again, I might probably do that. The main reason I have for coming back is that I really like spending time with students of this age group, and being a guide for students, especially because many are coming away from home for the very first time in their lives. It helps if there is someone who is ready to listen to them share their feelings. I also enjoy teaching and I learn a lot by doing so.
There have been changes in both the curriculum as well as opportunities from the time when you were a student and now. What are your thoughts on the dynamic environment here?
One thing that I am really happy to see is that there are a lot of young faculty who have joined the department. Drawing from their exposure to many different universities abroad as well as in India, they have managed to change the system from a very conventional way of working to something more open minded and innovative, being ready to take steps that may seem a little risky but beneficial, like with the curricula, with the addition of new electives that are more relevant now. Just a few days back, I got an email from an alumnus who passed out in 2010 saying that if there had been a course on computational materials in those times, it would have been sought after. Now, I myself am teaching that course. I think the changes that have happened are good and I expect even better changes to happen in the future. It would be nice if there arise opportunities for interaction between the faculty and students in non-academic matters too.
One major decision that any undergraduate or dual degree student faces is whether to pursue academia or industry, could you share any suggestions on how to choose between the two?
If anyone is planning to join academia in the future, then they should be very self-driven and self-motivated, they must not need someone to keep telling them from behind that they should get some work done or that something should be their target for the day. One of the reasons I joined academia is because of the professional freedom that’s available - you can decide your own goals. Of course, one can misuse it by not doing anything, but it’s important that for someone who joins academia, they are happy and excited about the work they do. A self-drive is necessary because in industry you are mostly driven by the companies or organisations you work in. In academia it’s all your decisions and your policies. You should be willing to work in such a system to be in academia. Moreover, things are somewhat theoretical in academia. So, if you are really interested in the fundamentals of the subjects that you’re learning, then it probably would suit you. But if you feel you don’t want to go deep into the fundamentals, and you just want to know the end applications and do some changes there, then you’re probably someone who must be in industry. But having said this, as faculty later in your career, you do have interactions with the industry, so it boils down to what you would prefer.
Could you tell us more about your research interests? What to you are the most exciting fields right now in materials science?
I do research in the field of transport processes in colloids and polymeric materials. It involves a lot of fluid mechanics, especially interfacial fluid mechanics, where we look at very thin liquid films which are at the sub-micron scale and study their stability and evolution characteristics. This is something we are working on here. I’m excited about organic electronics and a lot of aspects of nanotechnology which has led to several new branches evolving from it. I also think welding is a very hot topic, with modelling of welding and solidification having a lot of scope.
There is a whole array of different fields available under the broad spectrum of metallurgy and materials science. What drove you into your field of specialisation?
It’s difficult to choose, I accept that. When I went to Minnesota to do my PhD, the system allowed me one semester, about three months of time, to interact with various, in fact every professor in the department. The department dealt with both Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. We were given sufficient time to read about the kind of work that happens and then narrow down after even second or third meeting with some professors whose work excited you. Gradually, over a period of time, it evolves. Sometimes there’s also some chance that you really like a topic but the professor doesn’t have a vacancy in his group. But that’s how one chooses, it needs some time. However, such interactions may not be possible in all institutes. Hence, attending the seminars and guest lectures here, while pursuing B.Tech., will help one to at least have some idea about whether a field excites him/her or not.
Would you like to share some thoughts for the students among the readers?
One of my heartfelt advice is to use the “IIT Tag” in a proper manner, for being considered the “cream of the country”, the examples set by IIT students are often followed by the rest of the country. Also, I would ask them to pay attention not just to studies and jobs but also concentrate on character development. Becoming a better person, with a better character is something one must do throughout his/her life and it doesn’t stop with high school. The good character and habits that are developed now become very important when you become professionals leading independent lives.
