Ajay Jagadeesh

Background

Ajay Jagadeesh is a lecturer of Environmental and Civil Engineering at the department of Engineering Structures (CEG), with a special interest in next-generation pedagogies, the themes of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in engineering education, and addressing the major global challenges such as AI disruption, sustainability, social injustice and climate change. What Ajay finds most important in his education is that students will be empowered to contribute to the demanding global and societal challenges of today. Ajay is convinced that “this requires a safe and inclusive learning environment that strikes the right balance between engineering and social skills”.   

Towards IDEE

Whereas in the past, Ajay used to focus on purely technical topics in the area of pavement engineering, over the past two years he developed a strong interest in the social dimension of engineering. Which is why, when the call for IDEE went out, Ajay instantly knew he wanted to join the Future Engineering Skills theme. “The future is social. Robots can do a much better job than humans when it comes to the engineering part. However, if you don’t consider the people who will use these products – roads, buildings, machines, etc. – then things will become messy.”   

As part of IDEE

There are many reasons as to why Ajay is excited to be a part of IDEE. One of them being that he would love to implement any output of IDEE in his own courses of the MSc Civil Engineering. But first and foremost, with the team Ajay wants to have a positive impact on engineering education, and not just within TU Delft. “No other university in the world is working so closely on engineering education as we do here at TU Delft. If we change the direction, we are not just changing things here, but we are changing the world of engineering education. Like we always say at True U: we are rewriting the rules and breaking stereotypes. I am determined to bring the same kind of energy to IDEE.”   

Call to connect

In addition to his teaching responsibilities and work on IDEE, Ajay is a passionate member of:

• True U: the LGBTIQ+ network for employees at TU Delft that works on the visibility and acceptance of LGBTIQ+ colleagues and students 
• IASP: the international association for suicide prevention

If you are interested in striking up a conversation with Ajay on anything related to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, reach out to him by sending an email to A.Jagadeesh@tudelft.nl. His door is always open.