Chirag Bansal

1.What were your most memorable moments at IIT? Could you describe any moments when you felt low at IIT and what you did to get back to normal?

Most of them were during the third year when I was the BSW General Secretary. All the rush and all the tension at that time used to give me a hard time but then I enjoyed that time a lot. There were several moments when I felt low but there was the ever successful formula that always used to work, chilling out with friends. Whenever you are feeling low, just go out and do random things. It works very well.

2. Do you have any regrets from your time in IIT?

Yes, but I’d rather not mention them.

3. What changes did you notice in your personality before and after IIT? How have your extra-curricular activities and internships been instrumental in causing this change?

IIT helped me grow personally and made me a little bit more professional than I was earlier. Above all, it taught me well how to deal with the administration. Extra curricular activities helped me get to know new people. Earlier, I used to be an introvert but now, I open up more freely. My internship was a great experience for me. It was more like a fun experience as there was more fun and less work. I got to know about the professional culture in the industry thanks to it.

4. What words of advice would you give to your juniors- some things that they should do, some changes in the way of thinking, etc. Any specific advice for students of any particular year? What are some things that you would advise juniors not to do?

They should not be focussed on academics or extracurricular activities alone. They should maintain a balance between the two. The first yearites should try to get a good CGPA because it helps a lot. The best chance of exploring activities is during the first year since during that time all the seniors are helping the juniors and they have sufficient time to try out everything but then they must not neglect academics at the same time. For second yearites, more exploration. Little less focus on academics works. Getting to know more people. A personal suggestion of mine would be : don’t have any grudges or fights with anyone. You will harm yourself more than harming that person. In the third year, try to be more serious about internships. The best companies come in the beginning and even if you are not selected it provides a good experience to prepare for other companies. In the seventh semester, one should focus more on jobs and I advice them to take less hectic courses with lesser number of credits. Eighth semester is party time for all... What not to do? Watching too many movies and tv series and not doing extra curricular activities. The BRCA activities are much better than that. Never get involved in a fight with a professor. Many people think that the semester is over and the professor is not going to teach them and things won’t matter. That sometimes backfires.

5. What projects did you work on during IIT? Any favourite research stream?

My B. Tech project was on Occupancy Detection in Smart Buildings. I have done a project on LHC energy auditing. I like software development and have done 2 projects in the area, namely Non Graded Units Management Portal and Room (& Timetable) Management Portal. Electrical Engineering is great in terms of the opportunities it gives you. But sometimes boring too because of some compulsory courses which might not interest you. Be wise about the efficiency.Choose courses wisely.Choose your sub-branch early enough and do courses accordingly. Also, during add/drop of courses, you can change the courses so attend the classes and get to know what is going on. The juniors should talk to more than one senior for advice and also use his/her own brains.