Exchange Diaries  

Abhinav Japesh | Electrical Engineering

Effat University, Saudi Arabia

Research Area: Machine Learning and Signal Processing

Q.Can you share the details of the project and the Prof. you worked under?
Ans. My topic was to identify sleep stages from EEG signals using Machine Learning and a little bit of Signal processing under Professor Abdulhamit Suabsi. A kind of mixture of both.

Q.How did you apply for FT?
Ans. I applied through the FTP Portal of International Relations Cell, whose web team I was a part of. A good cover letter and resume help a lot in getting shortlisted.

Q.Why do you think FT is essential?
Ans. The research project is significant not only by FT but under any professor.
It helps us to explore how professors work and approach towards discovering new things.

Q.From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start?
Ans. At the starting stages of the pandemic, I had no such work. So, I applied for some projects.FTP was also on during that time. I wanted to see how research work undergoes and explore this area. I was not expecting to come to be part of this project. Many students applied for it, but then it turned up, it was good.

Q.What was the role of CG?
Ans. I would say that CG matters, especially for second years. As in the first year, the college courses are very random, and in the second year, we get the basic knowledge of every subject. So, no professor can judge us based on our classes and would look for either projects or CG. In my case, I didn't have any projects. So, CGPA reflects responsibility on how one can take up things seriously.

Q.How did your university manage everything in this confusion of Covid-19?
Ans. Neither IIT Kharagpur nor Effat University intervened after the project started, but before that IRcell gets the complete credit for contact with that professor. All the communication was between me, my research partner, and the professor himself. He supported a lot and gave us time; in fact, he extended the duration and guided us to undergo all different things inside the project and prepare the research paper.

Q.What were the difficulties you faced during the entire process? Did the current pandemic situation affect you in any way?
Ans. The pandemic affected everyone globally. Online conducting of many things are hectic and entirely unacceptable. You can't understand what the professor wants to say as we have to converse over mail—the mail conversation as there were times when we waited for seven days for the professor to reply. Work quality also degrades, as we don't get as much information and resources as possible if the pandemic was not there. At times, we get demotivated and do whatever we want. If one is highly motivated, then only he can continue. I even left work for some time and did not work, but later the professor helped, and I completed.

Q.How would you describe your overall experience?
Ans. The overall experience was pleasant. The project was exciting, and the professor was supportive; he helped me a lot in learning. It was the first time for me to get a completely new experience of work from home.

Q.What advice would you like to give to our fellow KGPians who aspire for FT?
Ans. I would advise that everyone must at least once in their course time in KGP apply for FT or projects under any professor; research is entirely different from corporate ones. We can explore this area and see if we are interested as it would help us in the future. It would help us a lot if we aspire to go for higher studies at the end of the fourth or fifth year; these things matter at that time.