BS (Electronics Science)
Sometimes, the opportunity you’re searching for doesn’t arrive in an examination hall. It arrives in your inbox. Sayantan De had cleared JEE Main but narrowly missed qualifying for JEE Advanced. Like countless engineering aspirants across the country, he accepted the outcome and moved forward, enrolling in the Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering programme at Jadavpur University. Then came an email from IIT Madras, introducing the BS Degree in Electronic Systems. What first appeared to be another opportunity soon became the second half of his engineering education.
Sayantan, currently, is pursuing both degrees simultaneously, balancing his third year at JU alongside the Diploma-level of the BS Degree. It is a routine that demands discipline more than brilliance. His college day often stretches until five in the evening; only then does another academic journey begin. Lectures, assignments, programming exercises quietly occupy the hours that most students reserve for rest. Yet ask him what has made the greatest difference, and he does not speak first of grades or qualifications. He speaks of the ES labs.
For Sayantan, the on-campus labs have been the defining experience of this Degree. Concepts that once lived only inside textbooks gradually took shape through Embedded C Programming, Design Laboratories, and hands-on circuit building.
“The labs are the game changers,” he says. “Everything you study throughout the year suddenly comes alive.”
The knowledge he acquires through the BS Degree consistently complements his offline one, often introducing and reinforcing concepts well before they appear in his formal engineering curriculum.
Inspired by the programme’s hands-on learning environment, Sayantan has continued building wherever he could. He recently completed a month-long internship at ‘India Space Week’, assembling a quadcopter from scratch while exploring advanced drone technology and design using SOLIDWORKS. His project, ‘ClimaCore: Dual-brain IoT Weather Station’, won Hackster’s ‘Invent the Future with Arduino UNO R4 and App Lab’ challenge. The recognition reflects his growing interest in embedded systems and intelligent electronics.
Beyond academia, he has actively contributed to the vibrant BS Degree Students’ Community, winning first place with his Sundarbans House team in ‘Back 2 Bachpan’ while finishing as a finalist in ‘Circuitx’ – two events which took place back in Paradox in ‘Saavan’, 2025. Collectively, these experiences have helped him discover engineering not merely as a technical discipline, but as a collaborative and creative endeavour.
Through it all, one lesson has remained constant.
“This degree requires self-discipline,” Sayantan reflects. “No one is going to remind you every day. You have to keep showing up.”
For him, they represent the true spirit of the programme. He speaks with particular admiration for the faculty and the laboratory infrastructure, crediting both for making the experience as immersive as it is rewarding.
After completing both degrees, Sayantan hopes to pursue higher studies through GATE. But perhaps the most remarkable part of his journey is not where he hopes to go next, but how he arrived here. An unsuccessful attempt did not close the door to IITs. It simply led him to another entrance, one that transformed an aspiring engineer into a more capable one.
~written by Shambhavi Shekhar
