From Industry to Academia: Meet Prof. Ajay at IIIT-Bangalore
In a brief chat with Naviiina, Prof. Ajay Bakre, Professor of Practice at IIIT-Bangalore and IIITB – COMET Foundation discusses his impressive transition from industry to academia, now teaching Object-Oriented Programming in C++ at IIIT-Bangalore. With a rich and varied background, including a recent MA in Sanskrit from MIT Pune’s Institute of Indic Knowledge and Studies, and a PhD in wireless communication, Prof. Ajay brings a unique perspective to the classroom. He’s also spent time as an adjunct faculty member at IIT Jodhpur.
Prof. Ajay opens up about the challenges of stepping into teaching after a long stint in the industry. He highlights the importance of staying current with programming trends to effectively teach his students. Although he finds the academic world less stressful compared to the fast-paced industry, teaching has its own set of challenges, like keeping a large class engaged and motivated.
Outside the classroom, Prof. Ajay has some interesting hobbies. He is a trained Hindustani classical musician with a Visharad degree, and he loves to travel—he has only got South America and Antarctica left on his bucket list! He also owns a hobby farm and enjoys playing volleyball in his downtime.
At IIIT-Bangalore, his focus is on teaching and contributing to the IIIT-B COMET Foundation, leveraging his wireless communication background. He is particularly interested in research around mobile security, especially in protecting less tech-savvy users from scams. Prof. Ajay is eager to kickstart research projects and inspire students to dive into entrepreneurial ventures.
On the personal front, his wife, Ms. Shoma Bakre, co-founded EmPower Research, which later became part of Genpact. After a successful run in the corporate world, she stepped back to start the Let’s Do Some Good Foundation, an NGO dedicated to empowering underprivileged children and women. Their son is a law graduate from Columbia University, and their daughter has just completed her master’s in organizational and social psychology from the London School of Economics. And let’s not forget Munchkin, the family dog, who Prof. Ajay loves to spend time with.
