Very few programs like IITM BS Degree teach the basics of AI & ML | @IITMadrasBSDegreeProgramme

Summary

Arush Agarwal, an IDM BS degree student at IIT Madras, shares his journey in the program and his victory in the Tech AI hackathon. He discusses the structured curriculum, which covers niche technologies and emphasizes the importance of understanding the math behind ML models. Arush also advises students to balance academics with extracurricular activities and to explore untapped areas in data science.

Takeaways

• 🏆 Arush Agarwal is a student of IIT Madras' IDM BS degree and a national winner of the Tech AI hackathon.
• 👨‍💻 Arush is also pursuing a BTech in Computer Science Engineering and interning as a Business Intelligence intern at Aspire.
• 🌾 His hackathon project focused on developing an AI model to increase revenue for farmers in Northern India, specifically for Paty farmers.
• 📈 Arush utilized his learnings from IIT Madras to create a solution that could convert agricultural waste into carbon credits.
• 📚 The IDM BS program provides a structured curriculum in niche technologies, including geospatial analysis and LLMs.
• 🔄 The program's flexibility allows Arush to manage it alongside his offline degree.
• 🔍 Arush suggests maintaining an active LinkedIn profile to discover opportunities and participating in competitions for learning experiences.
• 💡 He emphasizes the importance of understanding the math behind ML models for real-life applications.
• 👨‍🏫 Arush advises students to take advantage of IIT Madras' TA support and engage with teachers for guidance and opportunities.
• 🚀 His future plans include a career in data science, leveraging the resources from his degree to transition from data analytics.
• 🌟 He encourages students to participate in extracurricular activities and explore areas in data science that are yet to be fully explored.

Q & A

What is Arush Agarwal's current educational status?

Arush Agarwal is a diploma student at IIT Madras pursuing an IDM BS degree and is also doing a BTech in Computer Science Engineering offline.

Where is Arush Agarwal interning and what is his role?

Arush is interning at Aspire as a Business Intelligence Intern, where he is involved in data analytics.

What was the problem statement of the Tech AI Hackathon that Arush participated in?

The problem statement was to provide solutions to increase the revenue for farmers in Northern India and Northeastern India.

How did Arush approach the problem statement of the hackathon?

Arush specifically focused on potato farmers in Northern India and developed an AI model to help them increase their revenue.

What unique solution did Arush propose to address the issue of stubble burning by farmers?

Arush proposed converting the stubble into carbon credits, which could help farmers and align with the emerging carbon economy in India.

How has the IIT Madras program benefited Arush in his learning journey?

The IIT Madras program provided Arush with a structured curriculum in niche technologies and forced him to study regularly through monthly quizzes.

How does Arush manage his time between the IIT Madras online degree and his offline BTech degree?

Arush finds the IIT Madras degree flexible, allowing him to finish his offline college around 3:45 PM and then watch videos and submit assignments for the online degree.

How did Arush come to know about the Tech AI Hackathon?

Arush found out about the hackathon through a connection on LinkedIn who posted about the opportunity.

What advice does Arush have for others looking to participate in similar competitions?

Arush suggests maintaining a well-updated LinkedIn profile and using platforms like Unstop to find opportunities to participate in competitions.

What is Arush's approach to learning in the IIT Madras program?

Arush emphasizes the importance of understanding the math behind ML models and applying theory in real-life situations, suggesting that students should engage with TA support and participate in events and competitions.

What are Arush's future plans after completing his diploma?

Arush plans to pursue a career in data science, utilizing the resources from his degree to transition from data analytics to data engineering and eventually data science.

What is Arush's advice for students currently in the IIT Madras BS degree program?

Arush advises students to not only focus on academics and grades but also to engage in extracurricular activities and explore areas within data science that haven't been touched yet.

Outlines

00:00

🏆 Winning the Tech AI Hackathon

Arush Agarwal, a student of the IDM BS degree program at IIT Madras, shares his experience as a national winner of the Tech AI Hackathon. He discusses his project, which aimed to increase revenue for farmers in Northern India, particularly focusing on the issues faced by Patty farmers. Arush developed an AI model to address these challenges and also proposed a solution to convert stubble into carbon credits to combat pollution. He emphasizes the importance of applying what he learned during his degree program in a practical and solution-oriented manner.

05:01

🎓 Balancing IDM BS with Offline Degree

Arush talks about his experience managing the IDM BS degree alongside his offline BTech in Computer Science Engineering. He highlights the flexibility of the IDM BS program, which allows him to complete his college work in the evening and then focus on the online degree. Arush appreciates the structured curriculum provided by IIT Madras, which covers niche technologies not readily available online. He also discusses the importance of maintaining a LinkedIn profile to discover opportunities and shares his approach to participating in competitions, emphasizing the value of learning from the experience, regardless of the outcome.

Keywords

💡IDM BS degree

The IDM (Interdisciplinary Dual Degree) BS degree is a program offered by IIT Madras. It is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in modern technological fields, particularly AI, data science, and geospatial analysis. In the video, Arush explains that the degree offers a structured curriculum that helps students gain knowledge in niche technologies not widely available online.

💡AI Hackathon

An AI Hackathon is a competitive event where participants are tasked with solving real-world problems using artificial intelligence. Arush mentions his participation in the Tech AI Hackathon organized by People Tech Group, where he worked on increasing the revenue for paddy farmers in Northern India through AI-based solutions.

💡Data Analytics

Data Analytics refers to the process of examining, cleaning, and modeling data to discover useful information. Arush mentions that he is currently working as a Business Intelligence Intern at Aspire, where he applies the skills he learned in the IIT Madras BS degree to analyze data, a key aspect of his learning journey.

💡Paddy Farmers

Paddy farmers are farmers who grow rice, which is a staple crop in India. In the video, Arush discusses how his AI model aimed to increase the revenue of paddy farmers in Northern India by addressing their specific challenges, such as stubble burning, and offering innovative solutions like converting stubble into carbon credits.

💡Geospatial Analysis

Geospatial Analysis involves analyzing data that is associated with specific locations. Arush highlights this as one of the niche technologies he is learning through the IIT Madras BS degree, noting that the structured curriculum provides insights into advanced fields that are not easily accessible through free online resources.

💡Carbon Credits

Carbon credits are permits that allow a company or individual to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. Arush incorporated a solution into his hackathon project where stubble from paddy farming could be converted into carbon credits, thus reducing pollution and providing an additional source of revenue for farmers.

💡Structured Curriculum

A structured curriculum is a well-organized educational program that follows a clear sequence of topics. Arush emphasizes that the IIT Madras BS degree offers such a curriculum, allowing students to learn technologies in a methodical way, starting from the basics and advancing to more complex concepts, such as machine learning.

💡Machine Learning (ML)

Machine Learning (ML) is a branch of artificial intelligence focused on building systems that can learn from and make decisions based on data. Arush points out that the IIT Madras program teaches the mathematical foundations of ML before jumping into coding, highlighting the importance of understanding the theory behind ML models.

💡Unstop

Unstop is a platform that hosts various competitions, hackathons, and opportunities for students and professionals. Arush mentions that the Tech AI Hackathon was listed on Unstop, which helped him find and register for the event. He advises students to use platforms like Unstop to discover and participate in competitions.

💡Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities refer to activities outside the standard academic curriculum, such as clubs, societies, or competitions. Arush stresses the importance of getting involved in extracurriculars, as they help build confidence, enhance communication skills, and provide opportunities for learning beyond academics. He encourages students not to focus solely on grades but to explore various interests.

Highlights

Arush Agarwal, a student of IDM BS degree, is a national winner of the Tech AI hackathon.

Arush is also pursuing a BTech in Computer Science Engineering offline.

He is interning at Aspire as a Business Intelligence Intern, focusing on data analytics.

Arush developed an AI model to increase revenue for farmers in Northern India.

The Tech AI hackathon was hosted by People Tech Group, an MNC based in the USA.

The problem statement was to provide solutions to increase farmers' revenue in Northern India.

Arush chose to focus on the specific issue of paty farmers in Northern India.

IIT Madras provides a structured curriculum in niche technologies.

IIT Madras offers content not widely available on the internet, such as geospatial analysis and LLMs.

The IDM BS degree is flexible, allowing students to watch videos and submit assignments at their convenience.

Arush suggests maintaining a well-updated LinkedIn profile to discover opportunities.

He discovered the hackathon opportunity through a connection on LinkedIn.

Arush's approach to the hackathon involved extensive research on the pain points of paty farmers.

He proposed converting stubble into carbon credits to address pollution caused by burning stubble.

IIT Madras starts from the basics in their ML and AI programs, teaching computational thinking and math behind ML.

Arush emphasizes the importance of understanding the math behind ML models for real-life applications.

He advises students to participate in activities and competitions to learn from others, even if they don't win.

Arush plans to pursue a career in data science, utilizing the resources of the IDM BS degree.

He suggests that students should not focus solely on academics and grades but also engage in extracurricular activities.

Arush recommends attending tutorial and revision sessions provided by TAs for better understanding and grades.

He is part of Kazara house, which allows him to meet and network with people in Delhi NCR.

Transcripts

hello everyone today we have with us

arush agraval who is a student of IDM BS

degree and he recently was a national

winner of terch AI hackathon today we'll

have a conversation with him and get to

know his journey of I MBS degree give a

brief introduction about yourself hi

everyone I am arush Agarwal I am a

diploma student here at I IIT MBS degree

program I'm also doing a btech in

computer science engineering offline I'm

currently interning at aspire as a

business intelligence intern so doing a

lot of data analytic stuff from what

I've learned at I Madras uh I recently

participated in a terch AI hackathon

which bavi shared with you guys so I'll

give you a brief about the hackathon so

uh that haathon was hosted by the people

Tech Group which is a MNC based in

United States of America so one the

problem statement that they gave us was

that uh we had to give solutions to

increase the revenue for farmers in

Northern India and Northeastern India

okay so I took specifically paty farmers

in Northern India for it and developed

an AI model to help them increase their

revenue that is amazing to hear arush

that you are actually implementing what

you learning and you know trying to make

it more Hands-On and solution based how

has the Journey of itm BS been so far so

good so basically a lot of content is

already available on the internet you

can just go around have do as many many

courses as you want for free and do many

YouTube videos but they don't really

help a lot until unless you are truly

regular with it and truly devoted to it

right what what the IIT madas program

held me in was that it give me a

structured curriculum in very Niche

Technologies so a lot of technologies

that I learn over here are actually not

totally available on the internet so for

example I'm learning geospatial analysis

I'm learning llms so not a lot of

content is available as of yet even if

there is it's just some sponsored videos

from XYZ companies yeah in that sense

IIT madas has helped me a lot also they

given me a structure to study so we have

our quizzes every month so you are

actually forced to study stuff yeah so

that definitely helps how is the

experience for you of managing it MBS

with your offline degree yeah so it

madas degree is very flexible so there's

no specific timelines that you have to

watch a class at this particular time

itself I finish up with my college at

around 3: 4 in the evening and then I

come back home watch the videos submit

the assignments every week and ready for

the quiz so it's totally flexible on how

you want to learn you can skip some

parts if you want but totally against it

you should learn it totally yeah how did

you first of all come to know about the

opportunity and when you came to know

about that how was your approach towards

going through the process or the Journey

of it what I suggest to everyone is that

maintain your LinkedIn profile very well

so what happens is that one of my

connections actually posted this

opportunity that uh their company is

hosting XYZ hackathon and people should

participate in it so I got to know about

this hackathon specifically from

LinkedIn okay uh another thing that

another platform that people can use is

unstop I saw that this competition was

also listed on unstop where we had to

register for it so it has a lot of

opportunities and people regardless of

their colleges or degrees can

participate in various of

competitions uh regarding my Approach

for it uh

so uh my first step was to analyze the

problem statement well and so it was on

increasing revenue for farmers in

Northern India specifically Patty

Farmers so I did a lot of research

around what are their pain points what

is happening what are the after effects

of this paty farming so in New Delhi

specifically where I'm situated there's

a problem wherein the farmers burn the

stubble which causes a lot of pollution

so in my Approach I also added a

solution for that stubble yeah where in

that stubble could be converted into

carbon credits so carbon economy is

coming up very soon in India so that

would help them a lot so that way I

approach the situation that is really

great to hear arush for the itm BS

degree how has the journey been till

first of all whatever ml Ai and data

science programs I have seen online uh

maybe there might might be boot camps

there might be courses they are do not

teach everything from the beginning so

what I madas has provided us that they

start from the very Basics they teach

you computational thinking they teach

you the math and stats behind ml uh I'm

I think I have been in the degree for

more than an year and I still haven't

started coding ml models yet I'm just

learning the math behind it okay so I

think that's a very important part in

learning ml because anybody can code ml

models since a lot of new Frameworks are

coming up and Frameworks are getting

easier day by day right understand the

math behind it and the intuition Behind

These models is more necessary to apply

them in real life right don't just learn

theory try to apply that theory wherever

you can uh IIT Madras has a good ta

support so talk to the T they might be

more knowledgeable and they may help you

in getting events like this they will

also help you in making ml models as

such and participating in competitions

another think if you're doing an offline

degree definitely go to your teachers

they actually help a lot and this

competition was probably more successful

because I had support from my teachers

in offline degree in IAT Madras case you

can definitely talk to the TS they'll

surely provide you the equal level of

support that I got from my offline

degree right uh furthermore what I can

say just just participate in whatever

activity you can because even if you

don't win you'll get to learn from

others presentations other models so

that definitely helps of course of

course it's very true like either you

win or you learn uh you are at the

diploma level so uh what are your plans

ahead okay my plans ahead is to just get

into data science as a career okay uh

right now uh my job profile is in data

analytics so a big leap ahead uh there's

data engineering to cross there's data

science to get into so we'll be

definitely utilizing the resources of

this degree to get into that area for

the past one year two years I've been

seeing that it's only for Masters and

PhD this year specifically I saw that

even Sony and Bosch for that matter have

opened up their openings for bachelor's

students as well yes so going ahead

opportunities are definitely going to

increase and as the AI is coming up you

are the ones who will be building the

AIS as data scientist so that definitely

helps absolutely very very true it is of

course a very booming field and in the

coming time it will definitely be on the

rise so of course it is worth uh you

know learning uh data science Ai and uh

such related skills of course for the

students who are currently in the BS

degree do you have any suggestions on

how to go through the courses okay so

very honestly I have not been a very

great student of IIT madas okay so since

I'm too involved in other things so my

grades have not been too great but one

thing I could suggest is that definitely

go through the tutorial sessions that

the TS provide yeah and the revision

sessions those definitely help you get

good marks in the quizzes and the end

term examinations okay and submit

assignments on time those are the things

that get to the marks at itms we have a

lot of societies we have clubs we have

our offline Fest that is paradx so were

you a part of any of these uh I'm part

of the kazara house where uh I get to

meet a lot of people in and around Delhi

NCR so they Club people around you into

groups so have I have had good

conversations with the people there the

heads of the house so all good there

haven't had a chance to visit Paradox

yet okay but definitely we visiting next

year when I get my diploma be any

suggestion that you would like to give

to the uh students watching this

video okay so my only suggestion is that

just don't go towards academics and

grades yeah get into a lot of other

things so I've been a part of a lot of

extracurricular activities which has

helped me gain the confidence to

probably talk to you as well today of

course so this all does not come only

from academics you have to talk to a lot

of people participate in activities yeah

so if you just go towards Road learning

you're going to end up nowhere of course

so definitely try a lot of things

explore maybe explore Parts in data

science as well which haven't been

touched yet yeah so that's my only

suggestion so thank you so much arush

and we wish you more success in the

future and a very H Learning Journey

thanks a lot barabi thanks a lot for the

opportunity very grateful to talk to my

peers