Member profile – Siddartha Khastgir AMIMechE

Siddartha Khastgir is the 2013 Young Member of the Year award winner for the Membership Engagement category. Here we talk to him about his volunteering and his advice for members who would like to be more involved with the Institution’s activities.

How long have you been a volunteer with the Institution and what is your current volunteer role?

I started volunteering as a student (Affiliate member) in October 2008.

I’m the webmaster for both the Southern Asia Region and the India Branch. I am also one of the editors of the quarterly India Branch Newsletter and I maintain the India Branch Facebook page.

What were the activities you undertook which saw you awarded the Member Engagement award?

Prior to my current volunteering activities, I setup the first student chapter of the Institution in India at IIT Kharagpur and conducted the first ever Speak Out for Engineering in India in 2010.

Recently, I introduced the quarterly India Branch Newsletter which includes features from a wide spectrum of activities. Encouraging engineers within my network to contribute to the newsletter makes it more diverse and interesting and gets them more involved with the Branch.

What do you get out of volunteering?

When I started volunteering as a student I was keen to network and understand from senior Institution members more about the requirements and expectations of professional engineers.

After working as a professional engineer for over two years my aim is to help and guide students in India understand the same needs so that they prepare themselves better once they graduate.

There is a big gap between academia and industry especially in India, with our curriculum being too theoretical. There needs to be a gradual shift, both at the university administration level and among the students, in changing the way engineering is taught and perceived. This is essential for India as the country needs to focus on technological innovation to take the next step in progress.

What motivates me is the sense of satisfaction I feel in being able to influence the mind-set of developing engineers, and motivate them to pursue a career in engineering. With the help of the Institution, I am able to bring out a change which I believe is necessary for India.

What are your future volunteering plans?

Currently, I am working on a number of different projects such the mentor program for young engineers in India, engineering in schools, and women in engineering. Some of them have made considerable progress.

Another important focus for the upcoming months is getting senior academics in India to join the Institution. All of these things are a part of my larger goal of improving the engineering culture and education in India and bringing them up to world standards.

What advice would you give to other members who would like to be more involved with the activities of their local Institution group?

I would like to say that ‘any beginning is never too small’. If you believe that there is a way you can contribute to improving engineering and any aspect associated with that, never feel shy to put forth your ideas to volunteer groups of the Institution.

In India especially there are a lot of opportunities where things can be improved and our aim should be to fill those gaps. The Institution is a volunteer driven organization, and contributions of all magnitudes will help us grow.

For more information on the activities of the Southern Asia Region please see the Southern Asia Region Near You site.

Information on the India Branch can be found here.