“Age Is Just a Number”: Dr Padmaja Pulicherla’s NPTEL Story

Dr Padmaja Pulicherla

“Age is just a number.” For Dr Padmaja Pulicherla, this is more than a reassuring phrase.

Her journey with NPTEL would change not only how she approached learning, but also how she encouraged her engineering students to approach it.

Having taught programming and technology for years, Padmaja encountered an unexpected lesson through NPTEL: knowing a subject well enough to teach it did not mean she had finished learning it. Her journey with NPTEL would change not only how she approached learning, but also how she encouraged her engineering students to approach it.

While working at Teegala Krishna Reddy College in Hyderabad, where she served as NPTEL’s Single Point of Contact (SPOC), Padmaja initially explored NPTEL courses but could not complete one at the time. After joining the Hyderabad Institute of Technology and Management, she returned to learning and successfully completed her first four-week course, ‘Python for Data Science’, earning an Elite certification. That achievement encouraged her to continue exploring new subjects, and she did not stop there.

Between June 2022 and December 2024, she earned 14 certifications from approximately 18 to 20 courses she attempted. The experience taught her that learning demanded time, practice and the willingness to work through problems independently, most of the time with just a pen and paper. Among her proudest moments was receiving the NPTEL Stars Award at IIT Madras, an unforgettable experience. She also earned six special certificates, making her learning journey even more rewarding.

NPTEL offered her access to IIT faculty, structured learning materials, assignments, and opportunities to interact with instructors without travelling to training centres after college hours. She explored emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science while managing her professional responsibilities.

One course she remembers particularly fondly is ‘The Joy of Computing’, taught by Prof. Sudarshan Iyengar of IIT Ropar. His use of everyday examples made unfamiliar concepts easier to understand and encouraged learners to approach problems with confidence. Another course on ‘Artificial Intelligence: Knowledge Representation and Reasoning’ proved so challenging that she attempted it twice without passing. Yet she continued to value the experience, believing that a course need not end with a certificate to be worthwhile. Consequently, her learning soon extended beyond the classroom.

As Head of the AI&ML Department, Chairman of the Board of Studies, and Head of the Student Project Division at Hyderabad Institute of Technology and Management, Padmaja oversaw problem-based learning (PBL), student projects, and participation in the Smart India Hackathon. Her NPTEL experience influenced how she approached these responsibilities, particularly the gap between theoretical instruction and real-world problem-solving.

While watching lectures, she noted practical problems and examples shared by faculty and incorporated these insights into her institution’s PBL system. Over two and a half years, she helped introduce NPTEL courses as mandatory components within the professional and core elective framework under her department’s Academic regulations. Padmaja also encouraged approximately 240 students across four sections to take NPTEL examinations. Her son, an engineering student, joined her in writing six examinations, making learning a shared pursuit at home.

The journey has not been without challenges. She points to inadequate examination-centre facilities and the cost of travelling to distant cities as barriers for learners. Administrative responsibilities have also interrupted her own regular learning routine, but she has no intention of letting that stop her permanently. She advises pursuing NPTEL for the knowledge, not merely certificates, while  hoping that  the learners will continue to gain opportunities to interact with faculty, explore institutional resources, and apply their learning to practical challenges.

she says, reflecting her commitment to learning.

For Padmaja, learning is an ongoing process that extends beyond the classroom. Through NPTEL, she has put this belief into practice, carrying what she learns through the virtual medium into the classrooms and projects of her own students.

~written by Sania K J