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InternFeel ID: IF15001
InternFeel: Hello Abhishek, pleasure to meet you. Please tell us about yourself. What makes you different?
Abhishek: My name is Abhishek Kalsi. Currently I am in my 3rd year pursuing my B.Tech from IIT Ropar in Electrical Engineering. My research interest lies in Wireless Communication and Telecommunication, Information Processing. I am an unprejudiced guy who loves to explore thing and make friend. Being from Electrical I am more interested in Electronics. I love to play Table Tennis, Cricket. In short I am a sport loving person and also had played inter IIT, regionals, State level for table tennis. I love watching comedy movies and fighting movies and I am found of many TV series.
Some of them are Game of Thrones, How I met your mother etc. had worked for 2 years in Enactus IIT Ropar which is a social non profitable organisation and currently also a working member of our college annual cultural fest “Zeitgeist”.
IF: Which internship you got the chance to take? What is it all about? Stipend, duration, place?
[su_box title=”Details”]For more details on this internship and to apply, visit Indian Academy of Sciences internship on EduInfo click here [/su_box]
Abhishek: They took about 11000 for 2 months as mess and hostel charges. The total expense including fair charges was compensated with the given stipend. This was a Research internship so I worked under the project “Path Selection in Multi Hop Cooperative Wireless Network” . During the Internship one of the Phd students of our prof and other interns worked under the project. The work was assigned to us by the Phd sir who was really a humble and a helping person. There was no as such time bounding but still the working our was from 10am to 5pm with specified lunch time. The temperature was really horrible during summer so I used to sit in the lab even after 5pm under the AC..:D
IF: How you came to know about the internship? To what all sources you kept yourself connected?
Abhishek: To be honest I was well informed with internship, since in my first year only I did an industrial internship at BSNL, But one of my friend Aashish Bhardhwaj who completed his internship at IISC Banglore under IAS, helped me a lot in improving my Cover letter and CV. So I started my hunt for internship from January 2014. Many websites like Internshala.com, InternFeel.com and EduInfo had their Fb pages which also helped me.
IF: Tell us on the procedure to apply for the internship. Who all are eligible to apply for this internship? (Any special requirements?)
Abhishek: For being an intern one need to be self-aware. Student should plan the things very well from the beginning. Many programs has CGPA criteria but there is nothing wrong in mailing a professor, but it should be in a planned and organised way. For applying / mailing to a professor one should have a very good and organised cover letter and CV and also one need to be matured in his vocab and grammar.
IF: Let’s talk about how competitive is the selection process.
Abhishek: The Selection procedure is very competitive. It all depends on your Cover letter and CV, basically how catchy it is. As far as CGPA is concerned it should be fairly good need not to be a 9 pointer of above 8.5 unless you had a good and catchy cover letter and CV. In Cover letter student should be completely able to express his research interest his capabilities and strength
IF: What qualities of yours, you believe helped you in having an edge over the selection process? What key things you feel were looked for by the selectors?
I had worked on my Cover letter and CV a lot by taking guidance from seniors and some of batch mate. The way you are presenting yourself in your Cover letter plays an important role for selection criteria. The main thing is never lose hope, you have to trust yourself and god then surely you will be succeed.
IF: About when you got the news for the selection? How was the celebration?
Abhishek: Approximately in the 3rd week of March I got the news that I am selected in IIT Delhi as an intern, it was quite a happy moment.Intern in Delhi was happy in 2 ways 1st was that it was IIT Delhi and second it was Delhi, many of my childhood friends were in Delhi so it was a chance to meet them too …:D
IF: What all preparations you did (academic/otherwise) after the results in view of the internship?
Abhishek: After I got the news I was in touch with my professor. He told me my Research topic and then I started to read and have an overview of my topic. It is very helpful to be in contact with your professor before your intern start. I would say that one should be well prepared before its intern start because not only he is representing himself but also his college also.
IF: So Abhishek, could you please highlight us with what work/research project you carried out during the internship period? It’s application in near future and your work in it?
Abhishek: I worked under the project “Path Selection in Multi-Hop Cooperative Wireless Networks: Algorithm Design and Hardware implementations “. I worked under the supervision of Prof Manav Bhatnagar and very helping and nice Phd sir Mr.Hemant Sagar. As by name it shows that it was an algorithm designing project. Under the project we were asked to design an algorithm for improving the gain in slow fading wireless networks. The algorithm was like this that it selects the best relay from available X relays and then we use that best relay for cooperation between the source and destination. For selecting the best relay we used distributed method and it was based on local measurements of instantaneous channel condition. The probability of selecting the best available depends on the statistics of wireless channel. The algorithm was distributed among the cooperative wireless terminal and the final decision is based on end to end instantaneous wireless channel condition. Though the project is still under progress but this all was done to improve the gain of channel fading and decreases losses in wireless networks.
IF: What was the best thing about the work culture and the internship? What all things you liked there?
Abhishek: The best thing about internship at IIT Delhi was the work culture, peoples and the fully AC lab in the hot summers. It was not like we have to sit whole day in front of the laptop and do coding, the professor and PhD sir were very flexible. We work from 10 am to 5 pm, even though there were no fixed timings. Even some time after my dinner I used to come in my lab for work and of course to get rid of the high temperature of Delhi since it was very scorching. The lab comprised of PhD students, one lab in charge and Interns. It was five day a week and in the weekends you can roam anywhere in Delhi with your friends. During the duration of internship there were many M.Tech students and Dual Degree students in the campus so you can also make new friends and learn a lot from them, since it happen in my case.
IF: Were there any special events during the internships?
Abhishek: There was no as such academic events but yes none academically we (bunch of interns) and students of IIT Delhi some time plans for a movie or to roam in Delhi. Even some time I go out with PhD sir for some evening snacks or dinner that feels really good.
IF: What was the guidance provided by your guide? What all support you received from IIT Delhi’s administration.
Abhishek: My guide was Prof Manav Bhatnagar, who is a very humble and down to earth man. The professor had told me about my project and its details post to my internship which helped me in a good amount. Since I was having time to explore about my project and its details thus ultimately helped me in giving my best during the internship. The Profs, PhD and Staff of IIT Delhi are really very helping and nice. A very true incidence is from my internship duration is that I had to submit my stipend form three days prior to my last day but due to some reason the form wasn’t accepted that day which would ultimately take about 10-15 days more to send the stipend via DD but on the penultimate day prof told me to enquire from IRD section. My flight was about 2:30 pm and I go to the IRD section about 11:30 am and told them I had a flight at 2:30 pm so within 15 minutes the mam signed and verified the form from every one on her own and I was able to get my stipend with 15 minutes which was 3-5 day process.
IF: Let’s now talk about some negatives.
What problems you or your friends faced, regards to the internship, which your juniors may be able to avoid?
Abhishek: There were no as such a big issue regarding accommodation or food, since once selected he/she will be able to get the hostel + mess facilities easily, but you have to consult any student of that institute about the procedure of applying for a hostel which will surely help you upto a good extent. Many of the students apply via email so they should ensure to have a good catchy cover letter and should organise in a proper manner sending of emails.
IF: Was this your first internship?
Abhishek: This was my first Research Internship but prior to this I had gained an experienced of an Industrial Internship in my 1st year at BSNL ( Indian State owned Telecommunication ) under the project “Network Communication Systems with specialization in Mobile and Data communication“. The experience of working as a research intern was totally different from that of an industrial internship. In fact it depends on one’s own choice to go for industrial or research internship, so I will not say much about this since all have their own perception.
IF: It would help the readers if you could bring a comparison among your two different experiences.
Abhishek: The experience in Industrial internship was totally different than that of Research internship. Since in industry our main focus is only to learn how to operate machines and different equipment’s but in research internship one’s focus is on practical issues and how to overcome, how to make it more efficient. In research internship we think on our own and implement it, this boost our confidence and brings a great positive change in our personality. This kind of research is surely a kind of morale booster and very helpful for those who are planning to peruse their high studies as MS.
IF: To which all people you would, like to thank in context of this internship?
First and foremost, I want to thank my Guide/ advisor Prof Manav Bhatnagar for believing in me and giving this valuable opportunity to work as an intern in there esteemed project. Secondly I want to thank my PhD sir Mr. Hemant Sagar who is really a nice and helping guy, during the research period he helped me and encouraged me in efficient manner. I would also like to thank my lab mate Miss Chakshu Gupta, Mr Sachin Bhatia with whom I was able to share and discuss my problems and also my batch mate and friend Mr. Amit Goyal (was also doing his intern from IIT Delhi under different prof.) who also helped me in solving my problems whenever I was stuck on something. Most importantly it’s understood without my saying that a big and special thanks goes to my parents for supporting and being with me whenever I needed them.
IF: How much difference this period of 2 months made in your intellectual capabilities and mindset. In broad terms what are your gains from this?
This research intern had endorsed many things in me. It has improved my confidence level of handling different situations. This internship had given me an overview of the working of a Research student. In short internship teaches me how to overcome my weakness and to bring out the best from me. It’s basically fun working as an intern if worked in a proper manner.
IF: Advice for juniors? Which can help them in getting internships in their future college life and also advice for making the best out of it.
Abhishek: The main and most important thing is to find your Area of Interest i.e. in which subject you are interested at most. Second is to have a good idea of the subject or field for which you are applying to a professor, not like you should have the whole world knowledge of that project but just the basic ideas of that project. One should have a basic idea of some skills like Matlab and MS-PowerPoint (since you may have to present your work on the penultimate day). These Internship will be surely helpful to you in your upcoming years (if you are in 2nd Year student) so it’s better to gain an experience and utilize it for your 3rd Internship.
IF: What are your future plans after this internship and how much impact this internship will have on it?
Abhishek: I am planning to do MS after my B.Tech. Till now I would love to do my research in Wireless Communication and Information Processing. This kind of internship had given me an overview of working style and the life of a research student and also improved my confidence up to a good extent.
IF: Any views about this initiative of InternFeel, and how beneficial it would be? Any suggestions for improvement?
Abhishek: This is simply an awesome initiative by InternFeel, since one can easily get answers of almost all his queries from this interview and will also help other aspirants to apply in a more efficient and a proper manner. Good job InternFeel….Keep going in this Kind work….!!
IF: So Abhishek, we are at the end of the interview. From the entire team of InternFeel, we thank you for sharing your experiences with us, for everyone and we wish you best of luck for all your future endeavours.
Abhishek: It was totally my pleasure if I could be able to help anyone in any manner, Thanks you very much..!!
