Ajit Kumar Pattanaik – PhD Scholar
For most, the day ends when the sun sets over the Government College of Engineering, Kalahandi. But for Dr. Ajit Kumar Pattanaik, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, a second shift is just beginning. Every night, from 9 PM to 11 PM, long after dinner and the day’s faculty responsibilities are behind him, he returns to the role he loves most: that of a student.
Ajith’s relationship with NPTEL isn’t a recent chapter, it is a 15-year odyssey that predates the very existence of certificates. His journey began in 2007 during his B.Tech days, when he and his roommates sought knowledge beyond their regular lectures, drawn to IIT Kharagpur professors teaching on screen.
“At that time, certification was not provided… we learned just to learn,” he recalls.
It wasn’t until 2018, a full decade after that first video lecture, that he received his first formal NPTEL certificate. To Ajit, the certificate was always just a “piece of paper.” The real currency was knowledge itself.
Despite holding a Ph.D. and multiple degrees, Ajit recognised early that academic credentials and current expertise are two different things. The rapidly evolving world of Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 demanded constant recalibration, and traditional coursework simply hadn’t kept pace. He turned to NPTEL to master subjects like ‘Additive Manufacturing’ and ‘Digital Manufacturing, fields reshaping industries while many classrooms still caught up. One course that left what he calls a “terrific experience” was IIT Bombay’s Innovation by Design, where real-world project examples transformed his understanding of how ideas move from concept to implementation. More than just gaining knowledge, it reshaped his perspective on teaching.
Today, Ajit is a recognized NPTEL Star, with 27 courses completed and 7 star awards to his name. But his dedication doesn’t stop at personal achievement, it ripples outward. As the former NPTEL coordinator at his college, he helped establish the local chapter in one of Odisha’s more rural districts, making structured learning accessible to students who might otherwise never encounter IIT quality instruction!
Ajit’s philosophy is straightforward: he thinks of himself as a permanent student of what he calls “NPTEL University.” He believes the platform’s greatest strength is its ability to take someone with zero prior knowledge and walk them, step by step, toward genuine mastery – something traditional education doesn’t always guarantee.
Geography tests his commitment regularly. For every exam, he travels over 500 kilometers to the center and another 500 kilometers back home. But the distance has never once made him reconsider. If anything, it reflects how seriously he takes the journey. Looking ahead, Ajit plans to pass the light forward: to create his own NPTEL-style video lectures for his students, carrying the pedagogical standards he absorbed from IIT professors into his own classroom walls!
For Ajit, education is a national mission, not a personal milestone.
“Every individual should be a stakeholder of this NPTEL University,” he says.
“Everyone should keep learning and contribute to moving our country forward. “
– written by Elsa Prasad