BS (Data Science)
Haste is often called a product of restlessness, but it is not always the case. Often, it is the very force required to embrace a stream of change, and Sivkumar P knew that. Having completed his BSc in Mathematics from Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, Sivkumar was always looking for a way to complement his mathematical prowess. Through his friends, he discovered the newly launched IIT Madras BS Degree in Data Science and Applications in 2021 and decided to enroll, seeing it as a strong complement to his degree.
The difficulties were near immediate, as managing both degrees and their differing structures took time to adapt to, and as far as freshers go, giving importance to less important things did hold him back. Coupled with the ten-odd kilometers distance to his exam center, it was often intimidating. However, with time, he got used to it and the changes it brought were far more than he could think. The organic pedagogy and structured subjects helped him understand more about data science and in the long run, expanded the range of jobs he could apply for, and even helped him connect with highly skilled and talented people in a constantly evolving world. He believes the opportunities offered by the degree are there for those with the mettle to pursue them.
Even though it was an uphill battle, it was one which was memorable.
The difficulty came in the form of Sunday night cramming for Graded Assignments, opening Collab-notebooks and frantically dissecting datasets.
In the grander scheme of things, it was a ‘good’ form of difficulty and he even experimented in different interests such as Internet of Things (IoT) or newer mathematical foundations. However, his constant need for improvement was sourced from a fear of becoming obscure or irrelevant as time went on, especially when GPT launched and was able to code better than most programmers. He found it almost mystical how a billion-parameter model could do things most humans could do, but better.
However, Paradox helped ease some of that pressure. He attended two or three times and found the experience particularly rewarding.
He did not look forward to the fanfare as most would. He was the type to dap up a random individual with “what’s up bro” and exchange stories.
This allowed him to meet intelligent and impressive people, which was more valuable to him.
He has also expanded his knowledge base from NPTEL, partaking in courses such as “Computations using C” and “Graph Neural Networks”, finding them deeply informative and the implementation-forward structure towards achievable goals made them all the more memorable and long-standing in practice.
Through his connections and the leverage provided by his two degrees, he first landed a one-year Software Engineering internship, which he later converted into a job as an AI/ML Engineer in Coimbatore.He worked there for a year, and later moved on to Nectar IT, where he currently works on facility management systems for clients in places such as Abu Dhabi, as well as IoT and people-management systems.
As such, he is looking to become an AI Architect or Solutions Architect, integrate agentic coding workflows and continue researching mathematical algorithms in his free time. From this position, he advises his juniors to make lots of friends and bolster connections, as those connections can create a chain reaction of opportunities and support. He also advises to take this Degree with haste and not dally, as delaying can become cumbersome in the long run and cause inadaptability in this ever-changing technological-sphere.
~written by Krishneal Dutta
