Dr. Praveen Agarwal, The Vidya Bharati Alumni Ranked amongst top 2 percent scientists of 2021 in a global list compiled by the prestigious Stanford University

The ancient science and mathematics of India has contributed to the world many ways and one of the most significant one is the number ZERO. Mathematics on the Indian subcontinent has a rich history going back over 3,000 years and thrived for centuries. During 1200 BC, mathematical knowledge was written down as part of a large body of knowledge known as the Vedas. A mathematically enlightened culture flourished in India at a time when Europe was stuck in the dark ages.

Over thousands and thousands of years India has produced great brains to solve world problems. It is the brain that invented zero in the ancient times and it is the brain that practically runs the IT engines of the world today. In the same land Dr. Praveen Agarwal was born to grow up to become a mathematician, research scholar, author and a great teacher.

Dr. Agarwal is an alumnus of Senior Secondary Adarsh Vidya Mandir, Sanganer, Jaipur. From a very young age he was always fond of solving equations. “As a child, solving a mathematical problem would give me more joy than playing”, recalls Dr. Agarwal.

Dr. Agarwal also shared, “I chose mathematics since I got great teachers in my school. When our teachers taught us to solve a problem using different formulas it felt like magic to me.”

After completing his schooling, he joined the Rajasthan University for his undergraduate course in science, followed by Master’s Degree and MPhil in Mathematics. Dr. Agarwal then joined the Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur (MNIT) as a Research Scholar for his PhD in Applied Mathematics.

Post PhD, Dr. Agarwal joined the Global Institute of Technology in Jaipur as an Assistant Professor. Later he moved to the Anand International College of Engineering, where he joined as an Associate Professor to become the Vice Principal and Professor of Mathematics within a few years.

“The young minds are the strength of a nation. So I am contributing through my work and research for the development of engineering program and mathematical science for the young people”, mentioned Dr. Agarwal, who has completed 4 PhDs under his supervision.

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Over 300 published research papers and 10 books are attributed to the name of Dr. Agarwal. His work has taken him to travel over 25 countries including UK, USA, Scotland, Russia, Japan, China, Turkey, and several others to give lectures, attend seminars and present papers on applied mathematics. He has been conferred with several international as well as national research fellowships. Some of the most reputed international fellowships are International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Scotland, and TUBITAK, Turkey.

In India Dr. Agarwal was awarded as the one of top 10 mathematicians of 2018 by the Technical Education Minister of India. He has worked on several research projects of The National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM), India, Department of Science and Technology, India, and Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), India.

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The US-based Stanford University has recently released a list that represents the top 2 per cent of the most-cited scientists in various disciplines. The exhaustive list has 1,59,683 persons with nearly 1,500 scientists, doctors and engineers in India. Dr. Agarwal is ranked in the list for his extraordinary contributions in the field of Mathematical Research.

Under the leadership of Dr. Agarwal, The Anand International College of Engineering has adopted a village near Jaipur. “Through this program we organize several activities like Covid Awareness campaigns through street plays, collecting water samples from all water sources of the village and after testing it in our chemistry lab we inform the Sarpanch which water is safe for consumption and which is not, beti bachao beti padharo campaign, and informing people about various government welfare schemes and how they can avail those”, shared Dr. Agarwal.

Dr. Agarwal’s advice to the students:

Without mathematics there is no computer value in today’s digital world. India is globally known for its IITians. Every subject is directly or indirectly co-related with mathematics, because it is not just a subject. It is an exercise of the mind. If you solve equations every day, at least for some time, your mind will be broadened and develop more.

Today all the fields are directly related to mathematics. Those who are strong in mathematics, have a good career opportunity in fields like machine learning, IOT, software engineering, and robotics.

Dr. Agarwal’s advice to the teachers:

Today’s children have a broad knowledge base due to the availability of mobile phones and internet connectivity. Every information is available in the hands of the students. So, the duty of a teacher is to channelize this knowledge in the right direction. My advice to the all the teachers would be to come out of the orthodox way of teaching and embrace a more progressive way of teaching. In a friendly manner a child should be taught to solve equations. It is our duty to become a guiding light to the children and provide them the knowledge beyond text books.