Pursuing Msc in Computer Science - My Best Opportunity (northeastern)

In fourth grade, I represented my school in the National Mathematics Olympiad and achieved the 7th position all over India. Mathematics being my subject of interest, it naturally became my central focus of study. I consistently achieved exceptional scores in examinations, earning the nickname of “mathematics prodigy.” As soon as I had access to computer in the middle school, I became enchanted with the computer programs that possessed equal logical beauty as the mathematics vocabulary and language. I got the same adrenaline rush writing small code snippets as I got while solving tough algebra problems. During my schooling, my keen interest in logically oriented subjects led me to take up Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry as my major subjects. Subsequently, I topped my school in high school (Class 10th) and in senior secondary grade (Class 12th) by scoring a perfect 10.0 CGPA and 94.6% respectively. I also secured an All India Rank 5608 in IIT-JEE Mains among 1.4 million candidates. Owing to my interest and prestige of choosing the subject of my choice, I selected Computer Science as my major at the prestigious Punjab Engineering College.

Initially, in my first year of engineering I was introduced to competitive coding by one of my peers. The joy of seeing the green tick after solving a hard problem motivated me to try another. My continuous participation in online coding events helped me gain an in-depth knowledge on how to interpret and formulate a problem better and secure a rank among the top coders on HackerEarth. In an effort to find the most efficient searching algorithm, I developed a generic N-ary search and compared their performance with increasing number of elements. Throughout my undergraduate study, this inquisitiveness has helped me grow my knowledge base both theoretically and practically. I have developed keen interests in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Neural Networks and Reinforcement Learning. In order to pursue my interests, I have enrolled as well as completed various MOOCs, one of them being Data Science Specialization on Coursera. Simultaneously, I also try to keep myself updated about the emerging cutting edge technologies and participating in workshops. Under my professor’s guidance, I have authored two research papers namely: “Artificial Intelligence in context with Autonomous Cars” and “Rapid Capture: Reading through a Closed Book” that have been published in renowned journals. I have also been ranked among the top 100 in the IT Olympiad 2016. I believe that being a computer science engineer, I must specialize in a specific domain but significant knowledge about various topics in the vast world of computer science, always gives one an edge over the other in this ever growing field.

My inquisitiveness and logical problem solving ability helped me secure a six-month internship at McKinsey & Company. I was fortunate enough that the interviewers were able to identify with my interests and aligned me with the Data Analytics Team. During my internship, I built an end to end product for the team, which I am extremely proud of as I single handedly built the entire tool under the guidance of my mentor. The tool, called DESK, short for Discrete Event Simulation Kit is an off the shelf solution, fully deployable at client site. The main objective of the project was to create a generic algorithm which can be used for simulating processes of any kind of industry, in which further additions were made to support it with a friendly and intuitive user interface. In comparison to its competitors like ARENA, it is much more customizable and efficient. It was further enhanced by a Decision Support System which helps the user to understand the possible optimizations and improvements in the system. Earlier it was not considered feasible to run simulations due to time and money constraints but with the advent of DESK, the team has been able to gain insights into various industries much faster, efficiently and without any expense. DESK has become highly viable commercially for the company. The major learning that the project gave me was that one learns from doing. In order to learn something, one needs to dive deeper and deeper. I also got the opportunity to work on short term projects with people from different geographies and learnt new approaches and perspectives towards a certain target. The projects carried out by me added great value to the team. The whole internship program was extremely helpful in developing technical as well as professional skills.

Projects undertaken during my undergraduate program served to broaden my domain knowledge through application of classroom concepts. Owing to them, I was selected to be a part of the team for a prestigious research project “Facies Mapping of Gangotri Glacier using AWiFS Data: A Super Resolution Approach” under the able guidance of the former director of Punjab Engineering College funded by the Department of Science and Technology India. I have worked on various projects as a part of my course curriculum namely an AI agent that teaches basic arithmetic, Automated Attendance System using Face recognition, Wi-Fi Direct based Communication App. Currently, I am also exploring the Smart Floating Farms technology on which I am writing a research paper. As a part of my capstone project, I have worked on Smart Parking Ticketing System, which will be presented to the U.T. (Chandigarh, my hometown) administration for implementation.

I have also been associated with the National Service Scheme (NSS) and been part of the Organ Donation Awareness project. Being a national level chess player, it is my passion for chess because of which I have been a part of my university’s team continuously since freshman year. My diligence and activeness in the IEEE society helped me bag the position of IEEEXtreme Ambassador of my college for two consecutive years.

My goal is to pursue a career in research and development, either in industry or in academia. I believe building software solutions for humanity, for people, is what I aim to do and for honing my skills further, I find Master of Science in Computer Science at Northeastern University my best opportunity. I am really impressed with the Master of Science in Computer Science program at the College of Computer and Information Science because of its reputation, flexibility and expansive curriculum. After exploring the research works of the highly eminent faculty in the Department of Computer Science at Northeastern University, I feel that I will be fortunate if I get an opportunity to study and have focussed learning under their guidance to grow and achieve my goals.

The joy of developing a software backed up with solid research and seeing it being deployed motivates me a lot. I feel conquered from within when I am working and discussing with people from similar domain because it not only enhances my domain knowledge but also takes the project to a next level. To be able to learn more and gain more knowledge, I intend to pursue my Master’s from Northeastern University. With the right blend of expert guidance that I will get at the university and my self-motivation, I am confident of achieving my life’s goal.