Borrowed from SAMPADA old editions – for the 10th Anniversary Special Issue – Interviews section. This one is of Syed Arif, 1974 Civil.
Team Sampada: Please provide us brief intro about yourself for the readers.
Arif Sir: My name is Syed Hassan Arif. I was born and raised in Hyderabad in my early childhood. Having studied in Rosary Convent and St. George’s Grammar School till fifth grade, after which, I moved to Mysore as my father was serving in Forest Department in Karnataka. I did my schooling, middle school at Nirmala Convent Mysore in 1965 and high school at Sarda Villas High School in 1968. I belong to the 1974 civil engineering batch, having joined UVCE in 1969, after completing PUC at St. Joseph’s college in Bangalore. I did my M. Tech from IIT Delhi in 1977 and joined Maharashtra State Electricity Board on direct recruitment as Deputy Executive Engineer. Was married in April 1981 and soon after marriage, went to the Gulf. I worked in Saudi Arabia for 15 years and for 5 years in the UAE with construction companies and engineering consultants having worked on buildings, roads and pipeline projects in the capacity of Senior Civil/Structural engineer, Resident Engineer and Project Manager in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi and Alain in UAE from 1981 to 2001. In 2002, I migrated to the USA and settled in Chicago. Worked with engineering consultants on roads and bridges projects in the city and private business. Now retired.
Team Sampada: Why did you choose UVCE? What are some of the highlights whilst studying in college during your time?
Arif Sir: I chose UVCE as it was the best engineering college of Bangalore University at that time. Dr. B. K. Ramaiah was the principal, who was quite a strict administrator as well as our professor for soil mechanics and foundation engineering and he was considered to be one of the top experts in this field in India. All our professors were very good and the atmosphere of the college was excellent as our batch of 1974 was a unique batch all disciplines combined – Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics and Architecture. Calculators had just been introduced but we were not allowed to use them in exams, we were only allowed to use slide rules and logarithm tables. The college canteen was a hangout place for class bunkers, and we used to bunk classes for morning shows to see old movies at discounted ticket prices on and around Kempegowda road and Majestic.
Team Sampada: How was your journey as an engineer when compared to the times now where there are more industry opportunities and technological advancements?
Arif Sir: When we graduated in 1974, the job opportunities were not good as such about 50% of my classmates joined master’s degree programs at Indian Institute of Science, UVCE and other institutions. Another 25% joined master’s programs a year later, including me, as I was trying for admission in US universities but did not succeed, hence, I joined IIT Delhi and did my M. Tech in Water Resources Engineering. Most of my classmates and batch mates did well in their professional careers, having reached the top positions in their organizations/companies or departments as chief engineers where they served. Some achievers of my batch are:
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Srinivasan. M. A – Director of Humanobotics Lab and Head of Computer Science Dept, MIT Boston, USA
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Kripanidhi. T. S – Finance Controller/Joint Secretary Indian Defense Accounts Service for NSG Commandos and Central Reserve Police, New Delhi
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Narayan Rao Maanay – Secretary and Treasurer for BNMIT Institute of Technology Bangalore
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Mano Murthy – Music Director and Director of an IT company Bangalore/USA
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G.V. Ramachandra Rao – Vice President Siemens
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Navin C. Hegde – MD and Chairman of Octomec Engineering Group
But now with the advancements in science and technology and the tools like computers and electronic gadgets, the education system has gone to a totally different level and become highly competitive and demanding.
– Syed Arif, Sampada-118
