Exchange Diaries  

Adarsh Patnaik | Mechanical Engineering

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

While you were in college, what was your motivation to go for higher studies and in
which year did you get that motivation? How did you manage your academics with
your preparation?

It didn’t suddenly come into my mind. From the very first year, I decided that I would
go for research. I was interested in Mechanical Engineering. I joined the AGV
research group and by my 2nd year, I realized my keen interest in Robotics.
Realizing the opportunities outside India, I decided that I’ll go abroad for my higher
studies

What are the factors that you considered for selecting the universities you are going
to apply for?

What I wanted to pursue was an MS in Robotics. There are quite a few universities
which offer a program, solely based on robotics. This narrowed down the list to a
great extent. I always wanted to get into a university with ample research facilities.
Based on that, I noted down all the projects undergoing and shortlisted those which I
wanted to work on. After knowing about professors and universities, I listed them into
three categories.
1. Ambitious: Where I wanted to go but it’s quite difficult to get into.
2. Moderate: I’ve fairly good chances of selection and the facilities are also quite
good.
3. Safe: Decent universities where there’s a surety of selection of mine, but not
sure if I’ll join or not.

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, and what could you
have done better?

I applied to a total of 9 universities out of which I got selected in 7 universities. I
couldn’t get selected for MIT and Caltech. Those universities require a great research
background, excellence in academia as well as a LOR from a renowned professor
working in that field. KGP doesn’t provide enough exposure to robotics. Moreover,
due to the COVID times, I couldn’t go for any foreign project. My research also got
hampered as most of the robotics research requires the physical presence.

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

At ETH Zurich, they provide an Excellence Scholarship to the students without a
master’s degree. I can’t avail it due to my dual degree. The total expense for 2 years
is around Rs. 30 Lakhs. I would be mainly relying on my savings which have been made due to
various scholarships I got at the UG level. Also, the education loans there are quite cheaper
than those in the US.

Is CGPA a factor while considering higher studies at foreign universities?

I had a CGPA of 9.47. I believe that the CGPA plays a very important role when
considering higher studies. ETH Zurich relies quite a lot on the CGPA as they believe
that at the UG level, people don’t have that much research experience. Moreover, the
department rank also matters as they tend to see your stand among your peers. My
department rank-1 at the time of application also helped me a lot in this procedure.

Have you taken up any research project at your bachelor/master's level under any
professor here at IIT KGP? How did you manage your college studies and worked for
your research?

I was a member of the AGV research group, so was closely connected with research.
I worked under Prof. Aditya Bandopadhyaya from the Mechanical Engineering Department at MN
Farooqi Innovation Center and did my bachelor thesis under Prof. Ashish Ranjan Hota from
the Electrical Engineering Department.

What were the other difficulties you faced on taking this path and how to overcome
them?

I encountered two major difficulties while taking this path.
1. KGP lacks in providing exposure when it comes to Robotics. The professors,
involved in robotics too are not that renowned. It decreases the push which is
given by the LORs while applying.
2. The COVID pandemic affected my robotics research severely. It’s not
possible to work on Robotics in an online mode. You need to do the things
physically, which ain’t possible outside the lab.

How did IIT KGP benefit you in your journey?

IIT KGP has provided me with tons of opportunities.
1. Excellent spread of seniors all over the world. Interaction with them provides
a lot of help.
2. AGV and department seniors helped me a lot. The Research Group culture at
IIT KGP is exceptionally good. The peers are quite helping and help a lot in
improving the quality of research we do.
3. The professors are great. Many of them are internationally renowned. They
give great support and help us to revive from failures. They make us
understand that failures are an inseparable part of researcher life and help us
to fight them back.

What are the suggestions that you would give your juniors who want to pursue higher
studies? Could you please give a rough roadmap to ease their journey?

I would mainly divide my suggestions into the groups for different students:
1. For 1st and 2nd years: I would suggest they should explore more and more.
They should take up online courses and additionals to find out their interests
and try to take up a small project if possible.
2. 3rd year: They should dig deeper into their interests and get research
internships and projects based on that. They should also try to read as many
technical papers as possible, to increase their domain of knowledge.
3. 4th and 5th years: They should focus on the preparations for getting into the
desired universities if they’re not willing to sit for CDC placements.