Life in an IIT: Journey from Mumbai to IIT Madras and beyond

Even aft graduating arsenic the topper of my Mechanical Engineering batch astatine Mumbai University successful 2018, I faced important challenges. Despite my stellar world grounds and a imagination to prosecute a Master’s grade abroad, fiscal constraints held maine back. Watching that imagination gaffe distant was a immense setback—it near maine disheartened and questioning my adjacent steps.

Struggling to find a bully occupation aft graduation, I began moving astatine a Material Testing Laboratory, TCR Engineering Services, successful Navi Mumbai. While the acquisition was valuable, my aspirations were higher. I wanted to lend to cutting-edge exertion and marque a meaningful impact, but the way seemed unclear.

A turning constituent came erstwhile a prof during my undergraduate studies inspired maine to look inward and purpose for India’s premier institutions. Encouraged, I decided to hole for the GATE. Without entree to ceremonial coaching, I relied connected self-study, scouring notation books, YouTube lectures, and my ain notes. It was a challenging period, but the effort paid off—I secured admittance to IIT Madras successful 2021 for an MS successful Engineering Design.

At IIT Madras, my travel took a transformative turn. I immersed myself successful Soft Robotics research, focusing connected processing a Soft Bioinspired Gripper for Horticulture Applications. Under the guidance of Professor Asokan Thondiyath, I worked connected this innovative task and recovered it thrilling to spot my ideas instrumentality shape. It was adjacent much rewarding to person designation for my work. This effort earned maine the prestigious IIT Madras-Samsung Pravartak Fellowship for probe successful Cyber-Physical Systems, and I was honored to contiguous my findings astatine the All India Research Scholar Summit (AIRSS) 2024.

I besides participated successful the ‘Engineering: The Environment Mentorship Program’, wherever I was mentored by Rajesh Kumar, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forests, Arunachal Pradesh. Together, we discussed assorted aspects of biology topics, sustainability, wildlife conservation, and clime change.

Beyond academics, IIT Madras became a abstraction wherever I could turn arsenic a person and mentor. As the Student Head of MiTR, I led initiatives to enactment the affectional well-being of students. I mentored aspiring innovators done the iBOT Club, contributed to catastrophe preparedness arsenic a Coordinator successful the Disaster Management Committee, and strengthened alumni-student connections arsenic a Strategist astatine the Alumni Relations Cell.

These experiences shaped not lone my skills but besides my vision. Coming from a inheritance wherever guidance was scarce, I understood the struggles of students from underserved communities. This inspired maine to make CareerlyMate, an online mentorship level that helps students from agrarian and Tier 2/3/4 colleges entree postgraduate opportunities. Starting arsenic a grassroots inaugural during the pandemic, it has present grown into a level that connects students with mentors, organizes guidance sessions, and provides invaluable resources.

The entrepreneurial tone I discovered astatine IIT Madras was further nurtured during my clip successful the UPSCALE startup accelerator program. Through intensive workshops and networking opportunities, I refined CareerlyMate to marque an adjacent larger impact.

As I hole to postgraduate this December, I americium looking up with renewed anticipation and determination. My aboriginal plans see scaling CareerlyMate to scope much students and creating a broader ecosystem of acquisition and mentorship opportunities. I besides purpose to research collaborative probe successful Soft Robotics and interdisciplinary exertion that addresses real-world problems.

My travel from a worldly investigating laboratory successful Navi Mumbai to the vibrant field of IIT Madras is simply a testament to resilience, ambition, and the transformative powerfulness of education. Each setback has shaped me, and each accidental has strengthened my resoluteness to empower others.

From being the archetypal postgraduate successful my household to stepping into the satellite of entrepreneurship, my communicative proves that the way to occurrence whitethorn not ever beryllium straightforward, but with persistence and purpose, it tin beryllium profoundly rewarding. I americium excited for what lies up and acceptable to instrumentality the adjacent leap, driven by the aforesaid passionateness and aspirations that person brought maine here.