Leadership is an essential management skill that assists in allocating resources for the achievement of goals and increased effectiveness. Influential leaders are experts at inspiring and directing other people to achieve success in their life.
So how can outstanding leaders, who tend to have backgrounds in engineering, succeed? Well, some would argue that it is a myth, that being a leader requires an intrinsic talent, or that exceptional leaders occasionally come from managerial backgrounds. People with engineering backgrounds, are skilled in technical and analytical work.
However, contrary to the notion, engineers receive rigorous training that empowers them to become adaptable and excellent leaders. In addition to bringing success into people’s lives, the engineering profession also helps develop outstanding leaders who can lead others to success.
Similarly, Prof. A. Govardhan is the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Rector) and Senior Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, India. He is a well-known leader in the field of education, places a strong emphasis on giving pupils a well-rounded education.
He is leading new engineering advancements and putting special emphasis on developing students’ skills so they can become effective leaders and responsible citizens.
Learn more about a powerful leader by digging deeper.
A Tale of an Influential Leader
Prof. A. Govardhan is currently a Senior Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, Rector, Executive Council Member, and Finance Committee Member at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH). He held a number of academic and administrative positions, including Registrar I/c., Nodal Officer, JNTUH CER, Principal (JNTUH CEH), Director (School of Information Technology, JNTUH), Director of Evaluation (JNTUH), Principal (JNTUH CEJ), Head (Dept. of CSE, JNTUH CEH), Student’s Advisor, Chairman and Member of Boards of Studies of Various State & Central Universities.
He completed his 10th grade studies at Z.P.H.S. Choutuppal, his intermediate studies at Andhra Pradesh Residential Junior College (APRJC), Nagarjuna Sagar, his B.E. in computer science and engineering at Osmania University College of Engineering in Hyderabad, his M.Tech at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, his Ph.D. at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, and his Post Graduate Diploma in Leadership (PGDL) from EMERITUS (A Collaborative Program of Tuck Executive Education, Dartmouth, Columbia Business School Executive Education and MIT Management Executive Education), Singapore. He has received training in academic leadership from Wipro Technologies (Mission 10X, 2011) and IIM Kozhikode (2016), as well as professional development (IIM Trichy, 2019).
He has won 40 international and national honours and scholarships, including the Elsevier Lifetime Achievement Award (2022), the Lifetime Achievement Award (2022), the Inspiring Educationist Award (2019), the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Excellency Award (2018), the Best Senior Scientist Award (2018), the Dewang Mehta Academic Leadership Award (2017), the Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan National Award (2012), and the Pride of Asia International Award (2012). He has been and is now serving as the Chairman and Member of numerous Boards of Studies at different Universities.
At different levels at the University, Prof. Govardhan has implemented a number of reforms, innovative solutions, and recommended practice adaptations. He played a significant role in the foundation of JNTUH College of Engineering Jagtial. His innovations in the way university examinations were conducted—center jumbling, the single-set question paper system with watermarking, and VPN—were quickly adopted by numerous universities. He played a key role in bringing the TEQIP-III and the Center of Excellence (CoE) in Disaster Management to the JNTUH College of Engineering in Hyderabad. At the national, state, and university levels, he has served as the chairman or a member of numerous significant committees relating to academia and research.
Sustainable Growth of Values
As an academician, he has consistently espoused the need of implementing engineering education, providing high-quality education, and identifying practical ways to help society thrive sustainably on a global scale.
In addition to his efforts to foster a humane attitude among students, he always urged the students to take on significant social issues and strive to offer engineering solutions in order to better the system.
In addition to this, Prof Govardhan mentored around 97 Ph.D Scholars and all other researchers working to address the key societal problems. He specialises in offering advice to researchers working in the domains of data science, AI, machine learning, healthcare, and health informatics.
The researchers worked under his guidance and supervision to came up with a number of ideas that benefit society, business, and R&D organisations. He is a role model for many students and faculty members because of his humility and approachable demeanour.
Prof. Govardhan Characteristics
He believes that the key to greatness is kindness. He also claims that many organizations and individuals have missions and visions for the future, and that helping others is his life’s purpose. His aim will be for individuals to achieve success in life by following his wise advice.
Along with his vision and objective, he also communicates his core principles, which include kindness, time management, and integrity. These qualities help students succeed in the future.
He fundamentally believes in living in harmony and successfully with others. With the aid of his mission, he hopes to develop a top-notch workforce and human resource that will take the same course and construct a long lasting group that upholds these principles in both the current and future generations.
In addition to emphasizing the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Prof. Govardhan places a strong emphasis on delivering holistic development. His primary goal is to implement all 17 SDGs by 2030, or within the next 10 years, in every field.
Dodging a Bullet
Being a young educator, he had many colleagues who were older and had more experience than he did in the specific sector. As a result, many seniors did not believe in his skills and abilities and occasionally tried to control him. But he never entertained negative thoughts; instead, he lived by the maxim, “If you can help people, help them; if not, be calm and do no harm.”
He is inspired by this mantra to take on all of his professional obstacles and to implement numerous changes at his place of employment.
Inspiring Students – By Leaps and Bounds
To alleviate pupils’ worries, Prof. Govardhan makes sure that students should take part in a range of conferences, workshops and international conferences to address their problems.
In those workshops and worldwide conferences, it aids the students in learning a variety of new skills and abilities. And whenever his former pupils ran into him, they share that how the ethics and values he instilled in them helped them to achieve success in their life.
Global Exposure
At the undergraduate, graduate, and research levels, the JNTU does offer some quota places for international students. The university also has dual degree programmes available to its students, and it is affiliated with an Australian university.
The courses that normally take five years to complete can now be accomplished in three and a half years due to these dual programmes. Additionally, graduates of the institution who have achieved success on a global scale aid the university to provide young generations with global possibilities. This benefits both the students and their exposure to the world.
Words of Wisdom
Prof. Govardhan is a proponent of lifelong learning. To stay current with market trends, especially in the fields of science, engineering, and technology, he constantly encourages professionals and students to adopt new technologies.
Therefore, it is their obligation and responsibility as engineers and scientists to safeguard the environment. They must employ the proper technology in the appropriate manner in order to carry out their duties.
He also encourages the next generation to use every opportunity they have to help others and the community. Additionally, Prof. Govardhan says, “Connection of the powers of good, absence of mistrust and jealously, and assistance to those who are all attempting to be good and do good, brings enormous inner happiness in life.”
Further he says, “Like good food is the key to a man’s heart. Similarly, implies to the student’s good academic engagement, activities are the key to their heart.”
Envisaging the Future
Although it serves the entire state, Telangana premier institute is located at this University, according to Prof. Govardhan. It is the most coveted university and the only other technology university in the nation outside IATS and NITs. The MSIT, a state-level common admission exam, is used to accept students. Additionally, it competes with national institutions like IATs and NITs. The university, including the IATs and NITs, is ranked in the 63rd position in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). In addition, the university is strengthening its facilities and a variety of other components of education in accordance with modern trends, especially the national education policy 2020.
In addition to theory classes, university students also participate in practical work, internships, and projects. For their projects and internships, the students travel to various R&D businesses and industries. Additionally, they learn about the start-up ecosystem within the university.
Prof. Govardhan claims, “We have developed the start-up ecosystem in our campus itself,” while predicting the university’s future. “The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad Innovation Hub, or J-Hub, is where we aim to provide our students more industry exposure before they leave university in order to prepare them for better jobs. We are also providing such flavours for people who desire to pursue R&D programmes like MSR and PhD,” he continues.
“Therefore, in the next one to two years, we also have our own university perspective plan to ensure that our education provides all students with a holistic education and that we also train them to demonstrate their skill set depending on the situation. Additionally, we are preparing them for both industry and R&D. As a result, that is how we instruct our students. We are similarly focused on our faculty members to ensure that they are informed on the newest trends and technologies. Additionally, we have been offering new courses in areas like as robotics, automation, IoT, cyber security, and artificial intelligence. Quantum computing classes have been developed, and we are also educating our professors in these areas,” Prof. Govardhan came to a conclusion.
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