Civil Insight: A Technical Magazine Volume 2 | Page 78

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INTERVIEW
I am proud to inform you that I was the structural
designer for the iconic building of Humanities of
Tribhuvan University. Another building with a unique
feature that I feel happy to have designed is the TTL
building in Kathmandu University.
I feel much happy and proud about the structures
I have designed, which even resisted the Gorkha
Earthquake 2015. And I think my student should
feel the same on themselves. Now, I feel more
comfortable as a civil engineering teacher because
my aim is to produce and motivate my students to
have a pollution-free mind along with logical thinking
capacity. I am also glad to have been involved in
several national and international level researches.
Seeing that the engineers of Nepal are not much
behind than the engineers of developed countries is
an awesome feeling.
Q. You have offi cially begun your tenure
as the Head of Department of Civil
Engineering. What changes would you like
to ensure in the department?
Apart from the regular academics, I would also like
to conduct extra-curricular activities like magazine
publication, programs, conferences andworkshops.
Ilike to encourage my students to involve in research-
oriented projects and publish research articles rather
than get politically-oriented. I would also like to
encourage the faculties for logical and applicable
integration of course instead of mugging-up
studies. I advise my students and management team
to maintain a cleaner, fresher and a more secure
environment in the department. Further, I would
like to urge my students to be a good human being
primarily, then only a good engineer.
What is your vision for an ideal civil
engineering department? As the HOD,
how do you ensure that the best teaching
practice is being embedded across your
department?
In my opinion, a good engineer is produced if only
the faculties and students both give their full efforts.
I think the students have realized that I often enter
to their classrooms while other faculties are present,
with their permission. This is to ensure whether the
teachers are taking examinations regularly or if they
are punctual to their respective classes.
HOD chairs the subject committee and we edit our
courses and syllabi as per the society demands. As
the HOD, I ask and collect problems and feedback
from all students, discuss the problems and solve
them. I seek some motivation from faculties for
students in classroom. I think amongst many
engineers produced annually in Nepal, the students
of KU are not just general engineers; they have
CIVIL INSIGHT 2018
something different with them. In addition to the
hydropower specialization, we can also make them
think in logical ways. I opine that our students
must get into critical thinking and do research. So, I
always encourage my faculties to put applicable and
logical questions in the exercise and the examples to
be real-life applicable. This is generally possible if the
teachers have had work experiences.
Q. Why do you think is the enrollment
count in ME in Structural Engineering so
less in Nepal?
Structural engineering is a mathematical subject
requiring more efforts to pass in comparison to
other streams. People having tendency to acquire a
master’s degree just for career development would
not take Structural Engineering. Not only is this
subject diffi cult but also a very responsible course
with high stakes. There is a high demand but a
smaller number of seats for Structural Engineering,
so only the brightest students get to study Structural
Engineering. Hence, a smaller number of applicants,
a few number of seats, and a larger experimental
and research cost structure than that of the other
courses are the main reasons for less students
studying ME in Structural Engineering.
Q. You are the founding member of
Structural Engineers’ Association Nepal
(SEANep). What could be the role of
organizations like that in improving the
quality of structural engineering delivered,
both in academics and practice, in case of
Nepal?
The prime objective of SEANep is to work for the
rights of structural engineers, uplift the status of
structural engineers in Nepal, and function as a
common ground for all structural engineers of
Nepal. They will be updated on the current structural
aspects of the world andcan discuss and participate
in different seminars and conferences around the
world. SEANep provides a good platform for fusing
the experience and knowledge of senior structural
engineers and the strength of young structural
engineers. When in need of some expert structural
engineers, references can be made from SEANep
and we can call on each other for help with this
benefi cial platform.
How different is Earthquake Engineering
from Structural Engineering? Which branch
would have more scope in the context of
Nepal?
Both earthquake and structural engineering have
equal scope in our country as both deal with the