Soumyendu Shankar Ray has applied the design approaches he has taught for three decades to two generations of students, in his practice – adventurous juxtaposing of the conventional and the cutting edge, and the conservative and the avant-garde. His work is striking in the exciting departures within disciplined geometries, and radical reinterpretations of the traditional aesthetic in contemporary materials. As former Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Odisha, and now the founding Director of the School of Architecture and Planning, KIIT University he has brought the professional and the academic together at Vastukar, the firm he founded in 1985. Nurtured through the decades when architecture was little-known in the state, Vastukar is now one of the largest and most respected firms in the region for Architecture, Planning and Urban Design. His research interest led to the fruition of 'Vastukar Foundation', a research based non-profit organization on sustainable built environment and conservation studies. He is the author of the book ‘Odisha-an architectural odyssey’, a comprehensive timeline perspective of architectural evolution of the region.