About me

General Profile

Welcome to my home page. I am Sunil T T (VU2SWX) aka Sunil Thomas Thonikuzhiyil, a self proclaimed geek and a world famous ham radio operator.(:D) . Currently, I am located in Trivandrum , India. I have been trying to put up these pages for quite some time now and is not complete yet. I am interested in many things, but unfortunately, I am master of none. You may find some write ups  that I wrote  on diverse topics over the past several years  in this blog. Nothing official about it. All the views expressed here are my own and no one else is responsible for them.

I was born and brought up in the beautiful hilly Idukki district of India. I belong to the Thonikuzhiyil family settled around Pala. After finishing my school, I joined Bachelor’s degree program in Electronics and communication Engineering at Mar Athanesius College of Engineering. I  graduated  in 1990 with a First Rank ( academic rank   is a useless thing which I realized afterwords).  Later, I did my M.Tech in Computer and Information Science at Department of Computer Science Cochin University of Science and Technology.. Finally, I  managed  a PhD from Department of Electrical Engineering IIT Bombay. My PhD adviser was Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri .

I have been working with the  Institute of Human Resources Development(IHRD) since 1991. I have held various positions in IHRD until 2001. In 2001, I joined Kerala Legislative Assembly as the head of their computer division. I was instrumental in computerizing the Kerala Legislative assembly. After a 6 year stint, I left Kerala legislative Assembly in August 2007 to take up a teaching job at College of Engineering Attingal Trivandrum.

As to my personal habits, I like vegetarian food, some time drink a peg (if you offer it free as in free beer ), like cool music(mainly Indian classical stuff- I have a good collection:) ), movies , books etc. My political views are mostly liberal left. I was an ardent Pastafarian for long. But, of late, I am a follower of our Lord and Savior DINKAN.

If you need any clarification on any information contained at this site please drop me a mail at vu2swx at gmail dot com .

Articles and Publications
I have written a few of them . Here is my profile on Linux Gazette. You can find some of them there.

You can also look at my google scholar listings.  My PhD thesis was titled,  “Target detection and sensor selection for electronic nose applications”. (At present,I am unable to post it online due to copyright issues  as I have contributed parts of it to a forth coming book.:) ). Please feel free to write to me if you need a copy for academic purposes.  You can order the book in question  from the publisher here.

Academic and Career Journal

My schooling was done in several schools. All of them were ordinary schools as my mother had frequent transfers. I completed my SSLC from CKHS Velliamattom Idukki in 1983. I was the school topper.

My Pre Degree ( Plus 2 now) was at St.Josephs College Moolamattom.

I studied electronics and communication engineering at M A College of Engineering and graduated in 1990 with a University first rank,

I worked briefly at Karunya Institute of Technology Coimbatore ( and fled (?) with in a month Thanks my lord Dinkan ) and then joined Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD) Trivandrum in 1991.

Worked as Lecturer in Electronics at Model polytechnic Vadakara , one of the best Polytechnics in India. Later I became Head of Computer department at Model polytechnic Matakkara Kottayam. I was posted as a special officer to set up a new polytechnic at Painavu Idukki. I worked there for 2 years , setting up the college. This was a tough job , fighting climate ,elephants etc.

In 1998 I joined Cochin university for my M Tech. I graduated in 2000 and was posted at College of Applied Science Calicut as Principal. In 2001, I joined Kerala Legislative Assembly as Consultant (IT). I was instrumental in setting up IT infrastructure, web services and computerization of the legislature.

In 2007, I joined college of Engineering Attingal as Assistant Professor and still working there. I was Principal in charge of College of engineering Attingal from 17th December 2009 on-wards for about a year. . In 2011 I joined Department of Electrical engineering at IIT Bombay as a PhD scholar.  I completed my PhD in 2015 June and currently I am working as  Principal  College of engineering, Attingal Trivandrum.

 

Skills and Capabilities

a) Embeded systems and IOT.

I have worked with 8085 and 8086 extensively. Now my interest is in PIC micro controllers, arduino boards , Raspberry pi, IOT.

b) Open and Free software.

I was hooked to FOSS ever since I started working with Slackware in 1996 . Now I use Ubuntu and Debian. I am system administrator of a few production servers and have the necessary skills.  My current interests are in machine learning software, R etc

c) Amateur Radio

I hold a Grade 1 Amateur License with the call sign VU2SWX. I have VHF and HF equipment at home. The VHF equipment is a Philips SXA handy driven by a DDS VFO. My main HF equipment is a home-brewed bitx 20 built in Manhattan style. I was instrumental in setting up the VU2CLU Club station at Kerala State Science and Technology Museum.Trivandrum. I am trying to learn gnu radio.

d) Networking

I have fairly good knowledge of Internet protocols and have advised several organization on networking , Internet access management , cyber security etc. I am currently interested in Internet of Things(IOT).

e) I think I have fairly good teaching skills and like to teach short , and focused programs.

f) Machine Learning.. I spent around 4 and a half years at IIT Bombay trying to understand this. I am still learning.

Social media

I am fairly active on facebook.   I write about politics, science and technology.  Have a look at my profile here.  You are invited to follow me.

FAQ

Can you  give a talk at my college ?

Yes and no.  I am interested in speaking to small groups who are likely to pursue a career in tech.  I am not interested in things like keynote address, inauguration and other bla bla.   I am particularly averse to long welcome speeches and   introductions.

Short hands on workshops in which I can  talk about a specific topic/subject are  my specialty.

Do you charge for your talks?

Yes and no.  In general, I am not bothered about money if I speak at publicly funded institutes/ colleges.  Please give me a good book  if you  want to  give a present. ( No plastic/glass items please).   For private institutes I charge handsomely:D ( especially if it is free software stuff.  Free software is not free beer).