Tell us a bit about your background. What you’ve been doing? What you intend to do in the future?

I am an Assistant Professor in Dept. of Design, IIT Guwahati. I teach Ergonomics and Human Factors to UG and PG students. I joined IIT Guwahati in March 2010. Before joining in IIT, I worked as a research fellow in Ergonomics Lab, DIPAS, DRDO, Delhi for five years. During my stay in DIPAS, I acquired research experience in the field of military ergonomics and gained expertise in ergonomic evaluation of products and workstations using digital human modeling softwares.

I received my Ph.D. in Physiology from the Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, T.N., India in Sept’ 2009 for the thesis entitled ‘Ergonomic Studies of Some Basic Human Performance Resources in the Design of Different Indian Military Workstation in Virtual Environment’. I earned M.Sc in Physiology with specialization in Environmental Physiology from University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India in the year 2003. I was awarded with Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management by Pondicherry University in 2008.

Besides regular teaching activity, I am also continuing my research work. Ph.D student and PG students are enrolled under my guidance for their thesis work. In future, I want to strengthen my research in cognitive aspects of automobile design, particularly in information processing (visual, auditory, tactile etc.).

What does design mean to you?

Being a faculty and researcher in ergonomics/human factors, I feel that design is a co-ordinated approach towards better object/facility or service to satisfy human needs (physical and cognitive). There is more consideration of co-ordinate geometry and human perceptions in design.

What’s the scope of automobile design in India?

India is a country with a large population. There’s a big market out here. Indian people vary widely in their anthropometry and morphology due to mixture of various races in the population. There are also huge variations in their culture, religion, economic status, climate etc. All these factors influence the design of vehicle for them. Hence, I believe that there is enough scope of working in the field of automobile design in India.

Tell us a bit about your experience during conducting workshop at DYPDC College?

It was a nice experience to conduct the week long workshop on ‘Human Factors/ Ergonomics in Automobile Design’. I covered basic ergonomic principles in design to applied human factor issues in the automobile sector. Besides power point presentations, different assignments were given to the students for a hands-on experience in applying percentile anthropometric data, strength data, joint mobility values etc. in vehicle design, use of various reference points and standards for automotive packaging, analyzing view fields/visual obstruction, defining reach zone and subsequently positioning various controls, providing clearance spaces, assuring comforts in terms of single/multiple body joint angles etc. Demonstration on application of digital human modeling softwares in ergonomic evaluation of vehicle workspace was given for making the workshop more interesting and understandable.

All the participants were highly enthusiastic and some of them really performed well. I was extremely happy with the feedback from them. I am also thankful to all the faculty members and staff for their cooperation and help. It helped me conduct the workshop successfully. I want to convey my sincere thanks to Director, DYP-DC college for inviting me for conducting the workshop and providing me with all the facilities.

What are your thoughts about DYPDC College? About what it is trying to achieve?

DYP-DC Center for Automotive Research and Studies is a highly specialized and goal oriented institute for automobile design. They are developing sound infrastructure for laboratories/studios. Renowned faculties from premier institutes and experienced designers from industries in India and abroad are engaged here as fulltime or visiting faculty. So, it is becoming a global school. Moreover, partnership with the industry is extending job opportunities for students.

I hope in the near future, this institute will take the leading role in the automobile sector in India.