Exchange Diaries  

Abhinav Gupta | Mechanical Engineering

Carnegie Mellon University, USA

From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start?

For me, I had excellent research experience. I was part of the research group KRSSG. From there, I developed an interest in robotics. I did a project under a professor related to prosthetics development. I enjoyed it a lot and following that I took part in many robotics-related competitions which gave me good exposure to this field. From there on, I got interested in pursuing higher studies in this field.

What is the process of interdisciplinary studies? How easy was the switch? What motivated you for the switch?

Interdisciplinary study is one thing that excites me the most. I always loved to explore a lot of things. One benefit of choosing an interdisciplinary subject such as robotics is that you will get good at different things, not just your core branch. I particularly felt great after trying my hands-on coding or building some basic DIY electronics. It was a little challenging early on to get myself comfortable with both software and electronics but slowly things shaped up well for me.

Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes, can you please elaborate on the differences in the selection process of the universities? In universities in which you were not selected can you please share what you felt you lacked, what you could have done better?

Yes, I applied to multiple universities. I applied to 6 programs, including Master of Science in Robotics System Development at Carnegie Mellon University, Masters of Science in Robotics at Johns Hopkins University, Intelligent Systems, and Control at UC, San Diego, and in January, I applied to three more universities. One was at the University of Michigan, and I also applied to the mechanical engineering program at Carnegie Mellon University because their MechE program is also very well aligned with robotics. At last, I applied to the University of Pennsylvania as well, in the robotics program. In the application for any university in general, you need a statement of purpose(SOP), CV, and letter of recommendation. For SOP, guidelines do vary from program to program. In general, you need to write about how you can contribute to robotics in the future, your plans and career goals should be coherent to the program requirement.

My application to the University of Michigan and UPenn was rejected. In particular, I felt like their programs were extremely research-oriented and my SOP was not very streamlined with the core requirements of the program.

How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships? What were their procedures?

For finances, I will be taking an educational loan from an Indian bank. Some of the finance will be covered by my parents as well. In the US, educational loans are cheap, and interests are low compared to India, but you need to have some of your relatives as a cosigner to avail of loans there. The total cost of the entire master’s program in the US should be somewhere close to 70-80 lacs. For MS, scholarships are very rare and people mostly rely on loans. To stand a chance, you should have an excellent research profile (1-2 good first author papers) and a great academic record. Research assistantships (RAships) and teaching assistantships (TAships) are a good alternative though, and a lot of people cover a significant part of their tuition fees through them. Almost all institutions offer such roles for graduate students.

Role of your CGPA?

My CGPA is 9.07. If your goal is research, then a CGPA of 8.7+ should be safe. Also, CGPA is not the only factor. Research papers, overall profile (CV) and SOP matters a lot as well. In my opinion, a high CGPA is not mandatory, but it's a good thing to have. These programs are competitive so a low CGPA sometimes tends to make things challenging but can be easily compensated if you have a great profile overall.

How is your university going to manage everything in this confusion of Covid-19?

Carnegie Mellon University has handled the situation pretty well as classes are currently going on in offline mode. Some universities are still going on, in online mode. Maybe in August, when I join, all universities will start offline classes if the situation improves.

How did IIT Kharagpur benefit you in your journey?

For something like robotics, IIT Kharagpur is excellent. There are a lot of research groups such as KRSSG, AGV, ARK, etc, which are doing great in robotics. I learned a great deal from being a member of KRSSG. Competitions in the GC such as Hardware Modelling and Product Design and participation in the Inter IIT Tech Meet also gave me many experiences in working as a team and building things in a small time frame. I was privileged to have great seniors as my mentors, who guided me throughout my UG life.

What difficulties do you think the pandemic will bring(or has brought already) in the process?

COVID-19 has hit hard on the research community. For me, my last year's internship plan in Canada was scrapped and I had to do it in the online mode which is simply not worth much in terms of the overall experience and the output of the program. In online mode, you don't learn much and miss lab work where progression and failures allow one to understand concepts. But this year, things are getting restarted. I am hopeful with the adept vaccination drive going on that things will soon come to normalcy.

What are the opportunities after the M.S course?

In courses like robotics after doing MS, generally, people either do a job for 2 years to recover the loan or if they are financially strong, some also opt for a Ph.D. After your master’s, you will be paid well in the US. If you love research you could go for a Ph.D. Some people also opt to work in research labs for a few years and then join the industry later. Chances of getting good seed funding are also great for a booming field like robotics in case you wish to begin a start-up. There are plenty of options to choose from.

What message do you want to give the juniors today who are interested in pursuing similar courses?

Start a little early by exploring and doing a couple of courses and experimenting with Robotics. You can also take part in the winter school of robotics conducted by the Technology Robotix Society and get a feel of robotics. I’ve always believed in working as a team so I’d strongly suggest people join research groups of their choice and participate in exciting competitions. Online learning is your friend so feel free to browse some great courses online relevant to your interests. Doing small self-projects can also be a good way to get started in robotics. Once you figure out your interests you can also join some projects under the guidance of a supervisor and plan your future internships accordingly.