Exchange Diaries
Tuhin Bandhopadhyay | Aerospace Engineering
Ph.D. in Particle Laden Flows, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), USA
When did you appear for GRE and TOEFL?
I started preparing for GRE and TOEFL during my fourth-year summer internship and then appeared for them in August and September.
From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start?
I was very interested in Aerospace Engineering from the second year when I got my department change from Metallurgical Engineering to Aerospace Engineering. I completed 3-4 projects with different professors in my department, and I found the work I did in all those projects very interesting. This interest which I developed gave me the motivation to study in-depth the subject areas I had worked on, and thus, I decided to go for further studies.
How important do you think is the role of CG?
CGPA matters a lot. The first screening is based on your CGPA, and the second screening is based on your experience, knowledge, and projects you have already done. Though I have a few batchmates who will also pursue research in foreign universities with not a very high CGPA, they had good knowledge of the field. They were successfully able to apply to good universities.
Before your BTP and MTP, did you go for any internships?
I did my third-year internship at IIT Kanpur under the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellowship. That was a project I worked on for three months. Apart from that, I did a few projects in IIT Kharagpur itself in my department.
If a student doesn’t have any prior research experience but is interested in pursuing it, how should he start?
Initially, it is best to approach a professor in your department. Professors understand that you don't have any experience initially, so the projects you will start with will be fundamental. You will be allotted projects to learn, understand your subject area, explore it, and then move on towards some advanced/serious projects. They will give you exposure to the various subdomains of your department. The initial projects which I did gave me motivation in my subject area, after which I did some serious work in my BTP, MTP, and internship.
The institute only offers industrial internships. How can you apply for a research internship outside of IIT Kharagpur?
If you want to go for a research internship, you will have to apply on your own. Several governmental and non-governmental organizations offer you funded opportunities for pursuing research. For example, the Indian Academy of Sciences fellowship and also several IITs have their summer research internships.
How has the COVID-19 situation affected the process? How are you dealing with it?
This is a big problem for all of us going to foreign, especially the US. I can do online classes for the current semester and join physically in the spring semester. The second option is that I can defer to the next fall semester. I will be given the required assistance for the same. However, I haven't decided yet between the two.