Exchange Diaries  

Sirish Gambhira | Electronics and Electrical Communication Engg.

University of Montreal, Canada

Research Area: Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence

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

There is no explicit preparation. One of my friends applied through the International Relations Cell, and he said that it was very cool and that he had got the Kyoto university. That's when I thought that I should apply too. My previous summer project was also in neuroscience, so it motivated me to apply in the same field of interest in a project this time as well.

How did you handle your preparation with your academics?

I had my CDC preparation going on along with my other internships preparations, so it was pretty challenging, but you can figure out the things once the work starts. The Deadlines were flexible, and you can distribute them according to your convenience.

What was the role of CG?

It won’t negatively impact your application that’s for sure. So like I won’t say it's a positive boost unless if you say it’s like you have your resume already filled up with multiple different projects then, you are already ought to go yourself. But if you don’t have that, then CGPA would be an excellent positive boost for that.

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

My mentor and guide at the university were really helpful. My mentor was even from IIT Kharagpur, so he was very considerate of the situation I was facing due to the CDC preparation and being available online whenever I needed some doubts and all. So I felt a lot of support from my mentor, and thus I was able to perform in the project.

What were the difficulties you faced during the entire process? Did the current pandemic situation affect you in any way?

Surprisingly it was smooth, right from the selection process to the project continuation. There were no obstacles or anything. Ideally, I could have gone to the University of Montreal and could have done the project. But in such a situation of the pandemic, they even provided the same experience that I would be getting there. In short, it was a relatively right amount of experience.

What are your plans for the future?

After CDC internships I’m just going to try out this internship that I have. I got my internships at Microsoft in the field of machine learning. So if the job is good enough and suits me then I will continue with the job otherwise I’ll go, Masters.