misc
To Students
I keep getting e-mails asking me if I can guide students in their projects. So, here is a writeup:
- I work Monday-Friday at office and I conduct free ("free as in freedom") GNU/Linux workshops during weekends. On my return to India, one of my primary objectives was to take Free Software to every nook and corner of India. So, I may not have all the time to guide individual students on projects. But, I can guide you on finding resources on learning with Free Software.
- In all my GNU/Linux workshops on careers, I have emphasized that students take up a big project every semester (if possible, even from first year). Not just attempt for your first project in your final year. Everybody's first project need not necessarily be a success. If everybody's first project in the final year is a success, then there is something fishy about it.
- In the US, when you take a course, you will be doing 80% practical work. Exceptions are theoretical courses. Unfortunately in India, a majority of institutions spend 80% of their students' time in classrooms, with theory, and that too is spoon-fed. The system doesn't make you think/analyze or tease your brain cells. It may or may not be possible to change the educational system. But, you should change yourself to meet the requirements of the industry. It is essential that you do lot of practical projects, atleast one big project every semester, to really put your theory into practice. Throw your marks in the trash. They really don't tell me if you can solve problems.
- In US universities, you will get direct industry exposure because some of the industry projects are given to students to work on. I couldn't find this in a majority of institutions in India.
- It is very important for students to learn to work independently. Nobody is going to spoon-feed you in the industry. Hence, it is important for you to learn to use your brain cells, and think on your own.
- There are lot of ways you can get help from the FLOSS community in your FLOSS project work: GLUG mailing lists, software projects, mailing lists, IRC, forums, etc. Check my presentation on "Free Software for Engineers" in the downloads section.
- If a company wants to do some projects at your institution, they will always have a risk assessment. Whether the students are capable of doing the project? As I said earlier, your marks are not worth anything. Unless, you do practical projects, which is what you will be doing in the industry, there is no way to convince the industry folks what you really are capable of. So, start doing projects from your 1st or 2nd year onwards. Setup a FLOSS lab. Then invite the FLOSS companies to your place. After you've proved yourselves, you can ask companies for placements.
- Students often ask me, "You say that marks are not important in India because quality of education is very low in India in a majority of institutions, but, you are a University Rank #3 holder. How is it?". Ok, here is my answer - "Evaluators expect good presentation, neat answers in most of the "theory" papers. Engineering education (or others too) in India doesn't teach students to think, or does it test if students have understood the concepts or learnt the basics. 1. If you ask my college friends, they will tell you that I don't study before the exams. 2. I don't mug-up answers. 3. I understand the concepts/basics and present it in a nice manner, and, my handwriting is good. A majority of students, that I have seen, who score above 80% mug-things up. I am an exception."
Hope this helps,
If you feel I can add anything more to the above list, or anything that you want me to write on, do e-mail me at shaks at shakthimaan dot com.