By Beverly Melton | @KyKernel

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According to Dr. Vijay Singh, engineering and poetry are more similar than most would think.

Dr. Singh is a UK professor of electrical and computer engineering, Earl Robinson Parkinson Chair of the College of Engineering and director of the UK Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CeNSE).

He is also a pioneer in the world of Indie publishing, having written three books, including his latest, “Waves of Light and Being: A Collection of Poems on Being and Loving.”

Engineering and poetry are just different sides of the creative process, Singh said.

“The brain is in the head, but it is not the mind,” Singh said, touching upon the Zen Buddhism and Hinduism spirituality which are the underpinnings of his life and philosophy.

Dr. Singh, who grew up in India, wrote his first poetry when he was a teenager and began filling his mind with science and technology when he entered university there.

“We contend that designing a new device, system or process is every bit as creative as writing a poem or composing a song,” Richard Sweigard, UK associate dean of engineering for administration and academic affairs, said in an email to the Kernel.

To support this idea, UK offers EGR201: Literature, Technology and Culture, which satisfies UK Core requirements and allows students to write everything from poetry to technical writing.

Singh moved from Texas to take a job at UK in 2000.

“Kentucky is the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived,” Singh said.

Carolyn Singh, Vijay’s wife and a professional artist, has produced the covers for all three of his books.

“He is really heavily influenced by nature. He would live outside, if it wasn’t so cold here,” Carolyn Singh said.

Dr. Singh has published two previous books, “Light in the Morning: A Collection of Poems on Loving, Living and Being” and “River of Light: A Collection of Poems on Living, Loving and Being.” These books may be purchased at the Morris Book Shop in Chevy Chase and at Amazon.com.

Dr. Singh already has close to 100 poems ready for his fourth book.

“I have no choice but to write the poems,” Singh said. “Writing poetry is a matter of grace; they are given to me.”