Interview with Dr. Raghava Gowda (Electrical 1971), Associate Professor of University of Dayton, Ohio
@ Feb 22, 2011
We
are pleased to publish interview with Dr. Raghava Gowda, Associate
professor in the Department of Computer Sciences, University of Dayton,
Ohio, USA.
Dr.
Raghava Gowda obtained his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the
Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in 1971; Master of
Business Management (MBM) from Banaras Hindu University; Diploma in
Numerical Analysis and Automatic Computing from Kurukshetra University
in 1977; Master of Business Information Systems (MBIS) from Georgia
State University, Atlanta in 1981; and PhD in Computer Information
Systems from Georgia State University in 1988. During
his undergraduate study at the Banaras Hindu University he also
received a Post-graduate Diploma in Indian History and Culture and
earned a Diploma in German.
After
completing the course work for PhD at the Georgia State University, he
joined in 1988 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer
Science at the University of Dayton. At present, he is serving as an Associate Professor in the department. Dr. Gowda served as the Director of Graduate Program in Computer Science from 1997 to September 2004.
He
has introduced and developed curriculum for a number of graduate study
programs in Computer Science and Information Systems at University of
Dayton and elsewhere. He is also keen to improve curriculum of
engineering studies at our institute; and he has reviewed curriculum for
one of the departments in IT-BHU.
Yogesh K. Upadhyaya from Chronicle talks to Dr. Raghava Gowda about his academic research career and awards.
Additional links: University of Dayton, Ohio, USA http://www.udayton.edu/
(Prof. Raghava Gowda)
______________________________
Q-1: Welcome Sir. Please tell us about the Department of Computer Science, Dayton University and your teaching work.
The
Computer Science Department at the University of Dayton is one of the
early computer science departments in the country and dates back to
1961. We offer undergraduate programs in Computer Science and Computer
Information Systems. We also offer a Master of Computer Science program. In addition, we offer PhD programs with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the School of Engineering. This makes our department truly unique.
I am excited to say that we have many students from India and China in our graduate program. Personally,
I have taught a wide variety of courses in programming languages such
as BASIC, ALGOL, Pascal, PL/I, FORTRAN, COBOL, C, and C++. My career in
teaching in the USA began as a Teaching Assistant while I was pursuing
my PhD. Currently, I am teaching a new course called User Interface Design using Java for the undergraduate students. However,
majority of the time, I teach Systems Analysis, Systems Design,
Object-Oriented Systems Development and Software Project Management
courses.
Q-2: Please tell us about your research work in computer science and information systems field.
My PhD thesis was entitled “Influence of Individual Characteristics and Group Cohesiveness on Programmer Productivity.” It
involved study of twelve projects from the beginning to the end over a
period of four years. It also required data collection of approximately
80 programmers at the NCR Corporation. For source code analysis, I had developed a code analyzer that produced various metrics. Later on, I worked at other areas such as reverse and re-engineering on some projects from the United States Air Force. I also received an ARPA grant for Incorporating Object-oriented Paradigms in Systems Analysis and Design Courses Using ADA that resulted in developing curriculum modules (5 volumes over 900 pages). I also worked on an Air Force Grant for Product Modeling Technology for Automating Maintenance Instruction. I
have participated multiple times in the United States' Air Force Office
of Scientific Research (AFOSR) summer faculty fellowship program at the
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and worked on various projects. Some
of my research reports for the Air Force are classified in nature and
thus hard to discuss here. I have presented my papers in computer
science conferences in U.S. and abroad. I have
also received equipment grant from NCR Corporation to set up a Software
Engineering Laboratory in my department and software grants from a
number of leading CASE tool vendors. For a number
of years, I used to run Dayton CASE Users Group (DCASE) and organized
periodical meetings and invited speakers to the campus.
At
present, I am interested in studying communication in distributed
software teams specially focusing on software teams of Indian companies
working in US. During my last few visits to
India, I contacted the Department of Computer Science at the University
of Hyderabad, Infosys, Wipro, IISc. Bangalore and IIM Bangalore seeking
collaboration on the project. I did contact the
Department of Computer Engineering at an IIT and the Faculty of
Management Studies at BHU as well and would be very enthusiastic to
collaborate with them. I hope the efforts would pay off and we will have a team to pursue the research.
On
my personal time, I have been a reviewer of Computer Science courses
for the American Council on Education since 1985 and have reviewed
educational programs offered by leading Air Force
bases, Military bases, Naval installations, and training programs
offered by corporations such as CISCO, Microsoft, Sun, Learning Tree and
other organizations. I have also offered in-house training programs for software companies and short programs in the area of software engineering.
Q-3:
You are also involved in improving curriculum and introducing new ones
at a number of institutes. What is your thought on revamping education
in Computer Science and related fields at our institute?
I
would like to share with you some of my thoughts on updating the
curriculum; enhancing teaching and learning; and strengthening the BHU
Information Technology infrastructure.
Curriculum
I think there is a need to update the curriculum of the various programs
offered in the area of computer science at BHU - such as B. Tech., and
M. Tech. programs offered by the Department of Computer Engineering in
the Institute of Technology; and B.Sc., M.Sc., and M.C.A. programs
offered by the Department of Computer Science in the Faculty of Science
as these programs have some courses in common. Proper coordination among the programs may result in better use of the resources and standardization of the curriculum. Almost all the universities use the ACM guidelines in revising the curriculum.
The
University could also explore the possibility of introducing a Master
of Software Engineering program (MSE) that would specialize both in the
technical and managerial aspects software development. It would build on
the current B. Tech. or B.Sc. programs in computer engineering or
computer science.
As
technology pervades every walk of life, most of the universities offer
at least one course on computer literacy for all the programs in the
university – including arts and humanities. In addition, every department in the university needs some courses in Information Technology. Planning and offering these courses could be centralized with the active participation of the recipient units.
As
the demand for IT courses is growing, the university administration may
explore the possibilities of offering certificate, diploma, or other
professional development courses in close consultation with the
industry.
Teaching and Learning Environment
There are lots of opportunities to enhance quality of teaching and engage students in problem solving and project work. Our
experience with the Indian students in our graduate program suggests
that they are good in theory but need more practice in programming and
projects.
We
offer lots of programming exercises in introductory programming classes
(at least one assignment per week) and projects or research papers in
all the upper level courses. For the courses in
the area of Software Engineering (such as Systems Analysis, Systems
Design and Object-oriented Systems Development courses) all the students
- both undergraduate and graduate - need to complete a team project. They will be presenting their projects in the class at least in three phases. I have been using leading IDE and CASE tools from Sun/Oracle, and IBM in my classes which students need to use in the projects. This makes students comfortable and competent when they go to the industry.
It takes some effort on the part of faculty members to plan the assignments and projects for the courses they teach. The
department and the university should support acquisition and
maintenance of appropriate hardware, software and providing laboratory
facilities. Students can be employed as lab monitors under the supervision of a System Administrator. Now-a-days
it is easy to get the software by the faculty members through the
Academic Initiative Programs from the software companies.
The university can support course management systems that would help the faculty in developing and delivering course materials. For
this the university has to invest on the infrastructure and modernize
class rooms with the projectors, screens, PCs and networks.
At the University of Dayton, we have a centrally managed course management system. Previously
we used to use proprietary software WebCT and now we have switched to
open source software Isidore. We also have a Learning Teaching Center
(LTC) for the faculty that provides the latest tools and techniques for
experimenting with course design and delivery.
The doctoral level seminars could be very effective in exploring a topic and discuss its feasibility. One
of the emphasis in my doctoral seminars was to convince the faculty
that the topic was worth a PhD thesis even if the findings may not be
positive. I have been external examiner for a number of PhD theses in
Management and Computer Science and topics were somewhat general. It is essential to focus on specific topics than being a generalist.
BHU Information Infrastructure
All the universities do have continuous plans for enhancing the network infrastructure, administrative, and academic computing. For
BHU it is crucial to integrate both the campuses through IT and
maintain a balance in the work load between the staff members and
automation in the Central Office. Mahamana built
the temple of learning with the superb infrastructure and now we have
to build a sturdy cyber infrastructure to embrace it. It is a must for excelling in the new millennium. I would be glad to be associated in such efforts.
Q-4: Please tell us about your professional career in India prior to joining University of Dayton.
Soon
after my M.B.M. at BHU I joined Industrial Cables (India) Ltd in 1973
at Rajpura, Punjab as an Area Sales Manager looking after their power
cable sales in the Northern Region. I was offered the job during my training program in the MBM final year. I think the General Manager was impressed with my report on Inventory Management. Later I was transferred to the company’s Delhi Office.
I got married in 1974 and my wife Shail was teaching at BHU at that time. In July 1974, I accepted a job at the Department of Management at Kurukshetra University, Haryana. Shail also joined Kurukshetra University in 1974 in the Dept of History. I used to teach Production Management, Management Information Systems courses for MBA students at Kururkshetra. I got interested in computers at that time. Then
I completed a two-years Diploma in Numerical Analysis and Automatic
Computing (later known as MCA) while being a full-time faculty. I attended a program at IIM Ahmedabad and that motivated me to do PhD in information systems. I joined the PhD program at the Georgia State University in the fall of 1979.
Q-5:
What advise will you give to any engineer interested in having a career
as a research scientist while working in academic field?
The
faculty members in Indian Universities can take the advantage of the
collaboration that they may have with the US universities. Globalization
in education is the new trend, no doubt. Our University has MOU with
two institutions in India and about five universities in China and we
get opportunities to visit those universities in the faculty exchange
program. For an engineer to avail research opportunities, one has to look for people doing similar research and funding possibilities.
Q-6: Please describe your college days
My college days were busy! Most of the time, I was studying. However,
I did have my share of good times with many friends. I remember leading
trips to different cities with my friends and generally roaming around
hearing music and eating great food around Banaras. I have very fond memories of BHU. I am a very proud alumnus. I also met my wife Shail at BHU as she was also studying there as well. That was definitely one of the highlights of my social life at BHU, of course. I
have remained close to friends that I met at BHU during my engineering
days and from my MBA days. I met a number of my classmates during the
last Alumni Meet in 2009.
BHU is one of the greatest institutions of learning with abundance of resources. I wanted to get the most out of it. That is why I took a two-year diploma in German and a post-graduate Diploma in Indian History and Culture. Both of these were taken as evening courses. That was also a great decision as I learned so much and impressed my future wife! The BENCO annual day celebrations (later IT day) were also great fun. I used to participate in some cultural programs with my seniors. I remember lots of song/dance and even dressing up in costumes. I
had been a class leader in the fourth year of Engineering and organized
the one-month long practical tour with Dr. M. Bhattacharyya. He was truly one of my mentors and I think of him often.
I
had great Professors – Professor M. Bhattacharyya, Professor V. V.
Chalam, Professor Raj Shekar, Professor Narayana Swamy and Professor Sen
Sharma at IT. I still remember Professor Sen Sharma’s words in the last day of class: “It does not matter what you become! It is just for yourself. What is important is to respect others! “I have since recited these words to my own children many times. I
remember how Professor S. K. R. Bhandary one of the founding members of
the Faculty of Management Studies was always interested in his
students’ welfare. When I was working at Delhi immediately after my MBA, he used to give surprise visits to my office to inquire how I was doing. These
professors motivated their students, instilled values and are always
remembered. BHU has a long tradition of mentorship which is instilled
early on and the goal is that we pay what we have gotten from our
mentors forward to the next generations!
Q-8: Please tell us about your personal and family life.
My wife Shail is a History Professor at the Wilberforce University which is near to the University of Dayton. She is a native of Banaras and completed her B.A., M.A., and PhD at BHU. I have two children. My oldest child is my daughter Alpana. She is a medical doctor (MD) in the field of Pain Management. She is trained in Ohio and at Stanford University in California. She is currently a physician at Stanford University Hospital. She has recently published a book on Pain Relief with Penguin Publishers. My
son Abhishek completed his MD recently and like his sister is pursuing
his specialty training in Rehab Medicine/Pain Management at Stanford
University Hospital as well. Though born and raised in the USA, they have both visited BHU many times and really like the campus and the environment.
We have a very active community organization, India Club of Greater Dayton. I
served the organization for a number of years as a Cultural secretary
and the President and have been honored by community service awards. I also enjoy acting in plays. A good friend of mine Mr. Harish Trivedi is the Chair of India Foundation, Dayton. We have staged a Hindi play Khoj (written by Shail – a translation of Pirandelo’s Six Characters in Search of an Author). In 2008, I acted in the lead role in an English play Exit-stance
-story of an Indian immigrant who is in his 90’s and living in a
nursing home in this country. I also had lead roles in Hindi and
Gujarati plays over the years. Shail is a story writer, Alpana is a very good Indian semi-classical/folk dance, and my son Abhishek is a devotee of Sufi music! Occasionally, I write poems in Hindi (Shail corrects them) and in my mother tongue Kannada. Though, in the US for over three decades, we definitely have strong roots in India and are very proud of our culture.
Sir, it was nice talking to you.
Yogesh – I really enjoyed talking to you! Thanks!!
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(Prof. Raghava Gowda with wife Shail)
(Prof. Raghava Gowda with family)
___________________________________________________________________________
Office Address:
Dr. Raghava Gowda
Associate Professor
University of Dayton
Department of Computer Science
Office: Anderson Center Room 142
Phone: 937-229-3808
Email: gowda@udayton.edu
