Please give a brief introduction of yourself

I am a civil and structural engineer and have been teaching UG and PG students for the past 25 years. I am currently Professor of Civil Engineering at BVB College of Engg. & Tech., Hubli. I also guide research students in topics related to earthquake engineering.


What are your contributions to FOSS projects ?

I am not a contributor to FOSS projects. But I am an advocate of the use of FOSS in education in general, and in engineering education in particular. I conduct workshops for faculty and students to spread the use of FOSS in engineering education.


What will your workshop be, exactly ?

The workshop is meant for both students and faculty. It aims to give a beginner a hands-on introduction to the basic features of Scilab (an open source numerical computation platform) and demonstrate its potential for use in education and research.


What do you hope to accomplish by conducting this talk? What do you expect ?

My goals will be achieved if:

  • Faculty who attend the workshop decide to use it in teaching their subjects.
  • Students who attend decide to use it in their studies and/or projects.
  • At least a few who attend the workshop upload a library of functions/documentation to the Scilab website.


How do you use FOSS tools in your day to day work ?

I use a number of FOSS tools in my teaching and research. Following is a partial list: gnuplot, Scilab, Octave, and MinGW and CodeBlocks for numerical intensive C++ programs.


Why did you choose Scilab over other scientific computing packages ?

There are two serious FOSS contenders if you want to do matrix computations – GNU Octave and Scilab. While they are similar in many ways, each has its merits and demerits. Octave is closest to Matlab but lacks a simulation tool (such as SimuLink of Matlab). It also does not have the ability to build GUI applications. Scilab is not a Matlab clone but has the Xcos simulation tool (which a colleague of mine is showcasing at gnunify ‘10). It can build simple GUI applications. Further, Scilab has recently adopted a license that is compatible with the GNU GPL and seems to be gathering momentum in its development, adding new features and is gaining support from industry, especially in Europe. It appears to be headed in the right direction.


What advice will you give to users moving from other scientific package(s) to Scilab ?

Make sure that Scilab is the right tool for you. Having said that, if you use C/C++ for your scientific computing, Scilab is way simpler. It can interface with C/C++/Fortran code – if performance is an issue. Its data visualization capabilities are a boon. It can interface with hardware. If you are into research, where performance/speed may not be a prime requirement, you can focus on solving the problem instead of becoming a computer scientist. It is fairly straight forward to learn. So, the time you invest in learning Scilab will pay you back in no time.


Have you enjoyed previous editions of gnunify ?

This is my first time at gnunify, and I am looking forward to enjoying it. I have already short listed the talks and workshops which I am keen to attend.