BS (Electronic Systems)
When Aditya Prakash Gupta first started thinking about his future, he didn’t have everything figured out. Like many students, he was exploring different paths, trying to understand what would suit him best. That’s when he came across the IIT Madras BS Degree in Electronic Systems, a program that gave him the chance to learn, explore, and discover his interests at his own pace.
At the beginning, his decision wasn’t driven by a deep interest in Electronics. What attracted him was something simple – the chance to experience IIT Madras’s campus life through lab sessions.
But once he started the program, things began to shift. Working through different lab components like Digital Systems, Circuits, and Signals gave him a more hands-on understanding of how things actually work.
For the first time, he wasn’t just studying to clear exams, he was beginning to understand what he genuinely enjoyed learning. Gradually, things that once felt difficult started becoming clearer.
One of the biggest changes for him was in how he expressed himself – he used to hesitate while talking to others, but gradually, he became more comfortable sharing his thoughts. Through interactions with peers, professors, and while working as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for course Introduction to C Programming, he started opening up. Today, he believes that the ability to clearly express what you know is just as important as the knowledge itself.
His learning went beyond just coursework, as he stepped into research early and started working on projects across different institutes. At IIIT Bangalore, he worked on designing a RISC-V CPU. At IIT Bombay, he explored real-time systems and worked on FPGA based implementations. Later, at IIT Mandi, he joined CIR Robotics Lab and dived deeper into firmware and control systems. Each experience added a new layer to his understanding and gave him the confidence to try harder problems without feeling lost.
Back on campus, his role as a Teaching Assistant brought a different kind of learning. Helping other students, managing responsibilities, and staying consistent with his own academics taught him discipline.
He admits he’s still figuring out time management, but he has learned one important thing – priorities matter. For him, staying focused on academics has always come first.
What makes the program stand out for Aditya is the way learning actually happens. The lab sessions, especially, have been a turning point.
Working with real hardware, building circuits, and testing ideas hands-on gave him a level of clarity that theory alone never could. It made learning feel real.
Outside academics, he also stepped a little out of his comfort zone. During Paradox 2024, he was part of Prerna, a talk session where he helped organize and engage with the event, and also participated in a badminton competition, reaching the finals. These experiences gave him a chance to explore a different side of himself, one he hadn’t really paid attention to before.
Today, Aditya is more certain about his path than he has ever been. He is preparing for GATE on his own, building on the strong foundation the BS degree has already given him, and revisiting his subjects through practice and problem-solving. Alongside this, he is exploring Control Systems and looking at opportunities to work with research labs in the future. But more than having a fixed plan, he now has something more valuable – a direction.
Looking back at his journey, one thing stands out clearly – this program is not easy. It demands effort, consistency, and patience. But if you are willing to put in the work, it can open doors you didn’t even know existed.
– written by Pushpanjali
