{"id":1122,"date":"2026-10-26T11:44:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T11:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/?p=1122"},"modified":"2026-10-26T11:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T11:45:22","slug":"learning-runs-in-the-family-dr-r-sivapriyans-journey-with-nptel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/2026\/10\/26\/learning-runs-in-the-family-dr-r-sivapriyans-journey-with-nptel\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Runs in the Family: Dr. R. Sivapriyan\u2019s Journey with NPTEL\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dr R Sivapriyan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the milestones in Dr. R. Sivapriyan\u2019s learning journey, one stands out for a particularly personal reason – completing an NPTEL course alongside his son, Lavan Raj. An educator with 21 years of teaching experience, Dr. Sivapriyan found himself sharing a learning experience with the next generation of his own family. For him, it reinforced a belief that has guided his academic life – learning has no age limit, and it becomes even more meaningful when shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, he has completed 20 NPTEL courses across different disciplines. His achievements include nine NPTEL Star Certificates and Domain Scholar recognition in \u2018Psychology and Faculty-Advanced\u2019. Yet the experience with his son, currently a third-year Electrical and Electronics Engineering student at RV College of Engineering, Bengaluru, gives those accomplishments a different dimension. It is a reminder that a teacher and a student, a parent and a child, can both continue to discover something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He completed his B.E in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Alagappa Chettiar Government College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi, in 2003, followed by an M.Tech in Power Electronics in 2005 and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from VIT. These qualifications established a strong technical path, but he did not see them as limits around what he could study next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Encouraged by his experience with NPTEL, he went on to pursue two additional postgraduate degrees in distinctly different fields: an M.Sc in Psychology from Jain University, Bengaluru, in 2023, and an M.Tech in Augmented and Virtual Reality from IIT Jodhpur, in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These were substantial commitments to learning beyond his original specialisation, reflecting his willingness to become a student again even after years of teaching. For Dr. Sivapriyan, exploring different disciplines is part of a broader educational philosophy. Moving beyond familiar subjects offers opportunities to widen one\u2019s perspective and approach problems with a more varied understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That willingness to cross disciplinary boundaries is also visible in his NPTEL record. His 20 completed courses represent sustained engagement with learning, while the nine Star Certificates acknowledge that commitment. Domain Scholar recognition in both Psychology and Faculty-Advanced reflects interests, extending from technical subjects to the understanding of people and the practice of education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recognitions are meaningful, but Dr. Sivapriyan places them within a larger purpose. He describes education not simply as the accumulation of degrees or certificates, but as a way to nurture curiosity, accept new challenges, and continue developing as a person. In that sense, completing a course is both an achievement and an invitation to consider what else there is to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course he completed with Lavan Raj brought that philosophy into family life. Their shared experience did not depend on being at the same stage of education or having the same years of experience. Both could participate as learners. For a father who has spent more than two decades teaching, it was a memorable expression of the idea that learning can connect generations rather than separate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His commitments extend beyond teaching and research. He served as Treasurer of the IEEE Power & Energy Society, Bangalore Section, in 2025-2026, Secretary of IEEE SIGHT, Karnataka Section, in 2024, and Vice President of the HAL Third Stage Residents\u2019 Association for 2024-2027. These roles extend his contributions beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the centre of these interests is his belief that knowledge should serve a wider human purpose. \u201cA strong foundation in interdisciplinary knowledge enhances humanity,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is about developing the perspective needed to contribute more meaningfully as an educator, a professional, and a member of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What he hopes others take from his experience is not a target number of courses or qualifications, but the willingness to keep exploring. His message to students, educators, and professionals is the same one he continues to follow himself: \u201cKeep Learning. Keep Exploring. Keep Growing. Give Back to Society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~written by Khadija Hussain<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr R Sivapriyan Among the milestones in Dr. R. Sivapriyan\u2019s learning journey, one stands out for a particularly personal reason – completing an NPTEL course alongside his son, Lavan Raj. An educator with 21 years of teaching experience, Dr. Sivapriyan found himself sharing a learning experience with the next generation of his own family. For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nptel-star"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1122"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1127,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions\/1127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}