Alok Koirala joined Deerwalk Institute of Technology as Associate Director of R&D on 1st March, 2014.  He is a specialist in virtualization and has spent almost seven years working for VMWare. He gave up his job at VMWare and joined DWIT to accomplish his passion of doing something remarkable in Nepal, helping the students to come up with their own commendable software products. He is an open and direct person with good leadership qualities. First, I would like to congratulate you for being promoted to the position of Director of R&D at DWIT in a very short interval of time. Thanks Ankit! How do you feel being promoted in such a short interval of time though it mayn’t be a new thing for you to be promoted in a very short interval of time? For me a promotion is a milestone not a finish line, it’s just the first step of many. It always feels great about being promoted as your ability is being recognized and with the promotion there is a much bigger responsibility ahead. What was the thing that pushed you to work at DWIT as you were previously working in VMware, which is one of the biggest company in world? I began my career as an Assistant Lecturer in a University prior to Joining VMware. Probably because of this I have developed a strong passion for sharing knowledge, I had conducted various Workshops and Seminars across various engineering colleges in South India along with a couple of the NITs and IITs. I realized my passion when I was in VMware. I used to conduct various training programs within VMware as well. Last December when I was in Nepal for my vacation, I went on to visit DWIT to deliver a public lecture program, during my interaction with the students I experienced a strong desire to do something for my brothers and sisters and my land. Hence, I decided to join DWIT which was different from other colleges in Nepal to pursue my passion and to make DWIT the best college in Nepal for Computer Science. What are your responsibilities now as you have been promoted and what are the initiative that you will take to prove you deserved this? My primary responsibility is to Lead DWIT's all R&D efforts.Here are the few initiatives I want to start: 1. Grow R&D team inside DWIT and motivate students to solve real world issues. Foster Project-Based learning environment. 2. Make DWIT products ready for the job market.Perform various research and development works so as to sustain the state production capability. 3. With the growth in number of smartphone users in the state, in that respect there is a vast scope for mobile app marketplace. I want to develop mobile apps that would solve real world issues using student programmers. (E.g. developing apps to help poor farmers in Nepal). What do you like about DWIT? DWIT is unique in itself as it is first of its kind where an academic institution and the software company share the same building. Also, providing ample internship opportunities to capable students. DWIT aims to bridge the skills gap between what students have and what the IT industry requires, thereby enhancing the employability and increase industry-readiness. What is your best experience in DWIT until now? During my initial days at DWIT When I interacted with students, I remember hearing from students that software development means coding. But I am glad that now students understand development is not merely coding, but many phases of software development process. Now they are capable of writing use cases and designing a system, which is a huge progress in a short time. I am delighted to see the craze about coding among the students inside DWIT. What was your dream as a child and do you think in one way or other you have fulfill your dream? From a young age I have always had a passion for technology. I was very curios to understand how things work. I remember taking things apart and attempt to put them back together again although I wasn't successful always.Machines always fascinated me. Probably this fascination led me to desire a career in the IT industry. I later got an opportunity to work in VMware, industry-leading virtualization Software Company, where I was a part of the next generation of technology advances (Virtualization and Cloud Computing). This job had furthered my knowledge of the technology. My goal doesn't stop there. Now I am back to my country and hope to utilize my knowledge for giving something back to the community. What is your expectation from the students of DWIT as Director of R&D? DWIT students should contribute to real world projects and we should come out with assorted products from college. Currently, we have partnered with a Hospital to develop their Hospital Management System. In this project there are six interns from DWIT contributing in the development efforts. We have many other projects in the pipeline. We want to set up an autonomous development unit within DWIT using student programmers. I would encourage all the students to be a part of this initiative. What do you want to do to make this college one of the best college? My long-term goal is to make DWIT a center of excellence in computer science education and foster entrepreneurship among students leveraging their theoretical (course related) and practical knowledge (projects). I expect to achieve this goal by bringing synergy in the following manner:Learn->Explore->Innovate Learn: Foster an environment in which DWIT students develop problem-solving skills by mastering the theories of programming languages. Explore: Emphasize hands-on aspects of computer science, the students should be able to do a number of interesting projects. Mentor students and help them come up with project ideas.Explore! Brainstorm! Creative thinking! Innovate: Unleash entrepreneurship potential of the DWIT students by encouraging them to innovate their project ideas. Form an entrepreneurship club. Commercialize by seeing the underlying value. I want to see R&D unit of DWIT the strongest in the nation. What is the striking point (mantra) that makes you keep going every day or that boosts you? “My positive attitude and my responsibility towards Life.” If you want to have something you have never had, then you have to do something you have never done. Doing nothing and being idle will not get you anything. Also, we are the biggest competitors of ourselves, and I think, if we start competing with our own self to be better, we would not need any role model. Every day I “start over” with a confident and grateful mind.