UBC Reports | Vol. 51 | No. 5 | May 5, 2005

Education Grad uses Engineer’s Mind

By Brenda Austin

Reg D’Silva grew up in India and speaks at least five languages. He learned two or three from his parents, as well as English, which was also spoken at home.

“I was raised with seven siblings in an international and bilingual environment, as my father traveled with the military,” says D’Silva, who first studied mechanical design engineering at the University of Mangalore, south of Bombay.

Later, he learned German while working for the Siemens corporation in India, then moved to the Middle East in Dubai. He worked as a marketing engineer there and taught English as well, before deciding to settle in Vancouver.

While earning a computer diploma at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, he was asked to teach a course. It was there he discovered his passion for education and technology, which led him to the UBC Faculty of Education for an MA in the Department of Language and Literacy Education.

“My vision is to be a researcher in education or allied fields,” D’Silva says, “to help bring technology and education together, to find the common ground. This is about people and education techniques for a changing world.”

D’Silva plans to develop a computer-based reading tutor for students in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside when he begins his doctoral work, immediately after graduating with an MA. He has already worked on a Vancouver School Board voice-recognition project with the Faculty of Education to help ESL and Aboriginal students acquire more language skills.

D’Silva believes his engineering mind will be put to good use as technology becomes more advanced. By combining technology, literacy and language education, he hopes to enrich the learning experiences of students at all levels.