Mindless Research

I was just browsing the website of my engineering institute and happened to see the “Professional Resume” of one of the professors. He claimed to have 51 technical publications. The document listed the titles of his research thesis, papers published, the lectures delivered at national/international conferences and so on. I started to read the list and it went on and on. My god, such a long list, so many publications, lectures....

While
“Generalized Cell Formation in CMS using Metaheuristic Algorithm”

“Design of Cellular Manufacturing using Neural Network Model”

“A Methodology for Evaluation of Service Quality using Neural Networks”

“Application of Theory of Constraints on Scheduling of Drum-Buffer Rope System”

were some of the titles of his papers almost none made any sense to me.

Then I opened my own “Professional Resume”. It had almost nothing worth mentioning except a B.Tech degree and some 3+ years of experience in an IT services company.
I feel dwarfened. But the logical mind tries to argue.
No, I can not dare to compare my resume with that of my esteemed professor, but I remember Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam saying the universities to stop doing mindless research and do something productive.
I wonder how many people except this prof would have read his research papers. Well, he is just symbolizing the hundreds of research scholars in India who keep publishing technical literature here and there some for getting a better job, promotion, certification etc.

Thousands of people get PhDs from various Indian universities every year in engineering disciplines. So why don’t at least a few exciting technologies come out from India every year. Clearly the researches are directionless (as acknowledged by many including Dr. Kalam). I think the exam oriented mentality in our country has devalued PhD which now is mere another degree or certificate of a course completion rather than being finder of something new.

The heights of Great Britain was fueled by the industrial revolution, that of USA was similarly supported by the pioneering technological innovations. So I think India can not ride high forever by only providing cheap services and labor. Innovations will be needed to sustain the growth and not the hundreds of publications without practical output.