Revant Soni

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?

There were quite a few such moments.

Few Highs:
Getting to the semifinals of the Freshers’ Robotics competition.
Elocution at the Dogra stage for Kavyalaya in Literati.
Launching an e-zine “Yuva” in my first year itself, taking the Director’s interview in the process.
Almost all the events conducted during my 3 years in NSS have been very memorable and close to heart.
Low moments:
Juggling between multiple positions of responsibility and other commitments, I started feeling burned out during my second year. Finally cutting down on the number of activities I could handle by a good amount made me able to sustain the things I really loved most.
Quitting of some individuals from the NSS team in my final year as the General Secretary made me really sad. Concentrating on keeping the NSS activities going as well as possible to help interested students and beneficiaries helped me fulfil the responsibility I had undertaken.

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

I maybe got too engrossed with my responsibilities for a large part at IIT – would have loved to take a bit extra time off and spend with friends.
I would have loved if I were able to spend time with a project to get it implemented at the ground level in order to effect real change.

3. How was your overall experience at IIT?

I met some of the most exceptional people, and keep sharing my learnings with them.
I gained a platform to hone my skills across different platforms I loved and take up managerial positions with room to fail and learn as much as possible.

4. What changes did you notice in your personality before and after IIT?

I was an introvert before coming to IIT; now it I have transformed by a great extent and the environment has given me a lot of confidence while interacting with people.
I can convey my thoughts a lot more clearly, and understand the future implications of any decision.

5. What things did you learn in IIT that helped a lot in the years after graduating?

The ability to present my ideas clearly to people.
Stretching yourself to work long hours continuously whenever needed.

6. How has your life changed after graduating from IIT and how do you feel about this change?

There are no long holidays and a 6-day working week – challenging to get used to.
For the first time in life you get money, or so to say start worrying about money which just came from your parents erstwhile – it makes you feel important and responsible.

7.What words of advice would you give to your juniors- some things that they should do, some changes in the way of thinking,etc. ?

Explore:Do what you like, try what you would like to. Stay pumped up and explore as much as you can, the experience would help you in the long run.
Persevere:Give time to whatever you like, don’t do things as a mere formality. Giving time to anything makes you slowly like it, and the results will always show up soon enough!

8.What are some things that you would advise juniors not to do?

Following your friends blindly:You are a unique individual and different from others, respect yourself.
Self-doubt:As Henry Ford said, “Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.” Believe in yourself and don’t lose heart.

9. What activities were you involved in and how have they helped you?

NSS:Helped me become more humble and understand the importance of just sharing a smile with someone. It taught me how to manage events, lead people and of course understand their needs.
AINA:Helped me discover, debate and think about ways in which we can contribute to nation building.
BSP:Helped me pursue my love for writing by getting published and taking that to the next level by encouraging others to write.

10. What projects did you work on during IIT?

Model Reduction of complex networks using Balanced Truncation, with applications to Biological systems.
Estimation of the states of a control system using Kalman Filtering.
Mapping developmental problems to relevant stakeholders in Urban Slums, through an IVR based system taking Munirka drinking water and sanitation problem as a case.
Designing a tool to assess the root cause of academic dishonesty in Indian school education system – made a simple turn-based game to understand how innate desire for cheating varies with change in response of various stakeholders involved.