It is that time of the academic year when convocation at IIITD just got done (Aug 27, 2016), and all graduating students and Research Associates have moved on to the next phase in life (started work, grad school in India, grad school outside India, etc.). Below is the picture from the convocation #IIITDConvo5! Convocation message by the Chief Guest Mr. Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO InMobi, “Do what you love” “Have faith” “Crazy is good”! There are a few reasons why I love my job: (1) majority of the times, I am surrounded by young, energetic, and smart people; (2) most students are successful in doing whatever they are doing,…

I had to select courses to register for in the Winter semester of 2016. One of them, DHCS, caught my eye but I was a bit hesitant to register for it. My friends had to persuade me to take DHCS instead of another course just so that we could form a group to do the course project! When I attended the first lecture of DHCS, I knew I would love the course. I was not proven wrong. The assignments were enjoyable, though challenging. I learned the design process that is followed in order to create usable interfaces. I faced obstacles and jumped high over them. My interest in HCI increased…

Do you remember the last time you rushed or saw any one rush to get an “autograph” of a famous personality? No, right? Because those days are long gone. Today’s generation believes in taking a selfie instead. And why not, digital media is forever, or at least, it can easily outlive a piece of paper with an autograph! There is an explosion of data that is generated on the Online Social Media (OSM), we see 422,340 tweets on Twitter, 3.3 million updates on Facebook, 55,555 pictures uploaded on Instagram every second [1]. In the recent past, with the updates, large fraction of it is images / pictures; one analysis shows…

It is amazing to see IIITD students going places. In the last 3 months I met many students / Alums of IIITD in different parts of Europe. It almost feels like, I can find a IIITD alum in most major cities that I travel. #LovingMyFacultyLife Here I present IIITD ambassadors who are making a difference in the world, listing them in reverse chronological order of meeting with them. Thanks to each one of them for taking time to catch up.  Zurich –  About a week before my visit, I did this search on Facebook, “my friends in zürich” something I do very regularly before I visit a city! Below are 2…

Hi All!,  As I am about to finish my B.Tech in Computer Science. I feel this is the perfect time for me to pen down my story of association with Precog. It’s an experience described in 3 Stages: Stage 1 : Getting Introduced to Precog                      [First year, Second Semester] It was during my second semester in Probability and Statistics(P&S) course when I got introduced to Precog Research Group. P&S was my  first course taken under Dr. PK. I clearly remember, while Dr. PK was  taking our class, I saw Prateek Sir entering lecture hall from the front-right door and he was carrying our quiz…

It was that time of the year again when all students were supposed to register for courses for the approaching semester. Like everyone, I was confused and in a fix about what course to opt for. I wanted to explore and was looking for interesting courses then. I came across “Designing Human Centered Interfaces” course offered by Dr. PK. Everyone in IIIT knows Dr. PK is one of the coolest professors and nobody ever regrets taking his course because he is quite flexible and has bunch of engaging activities. Also, I had heard about this course before and decided to go for it. I never knew this course would contribute…

Hi! A big thank you for landing here. I don’t blog often; when I do, it feels great that someone else took out time to read it and hopefully take away a few things from it as well. If you know me already, you might have read Part 1 and 2 of my journey. If not, take out a few more minutes and read them first. You will be able to connect the dots much better, I promise! From the work I did with Prof. Kristina Lerman at University of Southern California in summer 2015, we ended up writing a research paper. After many hours put in, more than a…

As an undergraduate student there’s always that point when you say to yourself, “it’s time to get your act together and figure out what you want”. For me, it was working on Human-Computer Interaction. If you’re familiar with Randy Pausch, you’d understand when I say Dr. PK was the metaphorical brick wall in the way of that simple desire. In his earlier courses, he was just the cool professor. In Designing Human Centred Systems however, he was the person that would help me prove myself. Like his other courses, DHCS too was light and engaging in terms of lectures, but unlike the others one needs to invest a lot of…

It all began with a mail from PK in November 2014, commending my performance in his courses (CSE 545: Foundations of Computer Security and CSE 51SP: Internet Security and Privacy). It always feels great when a professor pats your back and even more when he offers you to join his research group! Precog is a different place altogether in IIIT Delhi, its not just a Research Lab, it is a “dojo of learning”. Randy Pausch once said “… experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer …”. I was fortunate enough to spend 18 months here and I believe it has been an extremely rewarding experience. The…