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IIT Kanpur Chemistry: At leading engineering institutes such as IIT Kanpur, fundamental concepts of chemistry tend to be perceived by many incoming students not as exciting sciences to explore but rather as something necessary for obtaining good grades. Fortunately, Prof. Sankar Prasad Rath of the Department of Chemistry has managed to spend more than two decades changing this attitude toward the discipline. The outstanding winner of the National Teachers Award has made lessons of fundamentals of chemistry interesting and inspiring enough to change lives of his students forever. Coming from humble origins in East Midnapore, West Bengal, he possesses strong motivation to teach the subject. He does not use conventional techniques of memorizing and formulas but applies creative methods that help his students make connection between complicated theories of chemistry and their application in everyday physical world.
He fosters development of independent analytical thinking by encouraging his students to solve difficult problems without providing them with direct answers, thus turning them into valuable opportunities to learn something new. In addition, although recognizing the significance of digital tools and artificial intelligence in modern education, he constantly stresses the importance of problem-solving skills and curiosity.
Background & Key Milestones
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Early Years: Born in the flood-susceptible village of Mirzapur of East Midnapore district in West Bengal.
Educational Background: Graduated from Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira (Belur Math), University of Calcutta, and completed his PhD from IACS Kolkata before embarking on his post-doctoral fellowship at UC Davis.
Career at IIT Kanpur: Began teaching at IIT Kanpur from December 2004, where he specialized in bioinorganic chemistry and studied the role of iron in natural biological reactions.
Teaching Philosophy
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Relating to Real-life Scenarios: Incorporates practical challenges faced in chemistry along with day-to-day observation and experimentation to make the discipline easy to understand, rather than just a bunch of formulas to remember.
Encouraging Independence of Mind: Avoids giving ready answers, prompting students to grapple with tough questions and think analytically in the long run.
Equal Opportunities Mentoring: Has the philosophy of identifying the latent talent in a student despite the background of the individual.
Views on Artificial Intelligence: Regards technology and AI as helpful tools, but cautions against the use of such technologies as a shortcut to problem solving.
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