Erudite Talks with Alumni-Article 6

Vindhyawasini Prasad(2017-BTech-Civil), PhD student @ University of Illinois (UIUC)

Introduction

• Tell us briefly about yourself.

I am Vindhyawasini Prasad, a graduate of the 2013–17 batch in the Civil Engineering Department. I am currently enrolled as a Ph.D. student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). My current research is focused on the hydraulics of vegetated channels. I am looking at different scales of turbulence and its effect on sediment transport in natural streams. Before joining UIUC in 2019, I graduated with an MS degree in Civil Engineering at Clemson University. My research at Clemson was focused on the seismic reliability of gas distribution networks, which is significantly different from my current research.

• Tell us about the University you got enrolled in for further studies.

UIUC is located a couple of hours south of Chicago, in twin towns Urbana-Champaign. UIUC has been the land of innovations and cutting edge research for decades. The Water Resources Engineering and Sciences (WRES) group, which encompasses research groups in Environmental Hydraulics and Sediment Transport, Groundwater Transport, Large Scale Hydrologic Processes, and Water Resources Systems, has been a world leader in education and research for more than half a century. I was at Clemson University for my MS earlier.

The decision to go for Further Studies

• When did you realize that this is what you wanted to do?

I was constantly thinking about it over my third year, but I wasn’t sure until my internship at IIT Guwahati with Prof. Bimlesh Kumar in the summer of 2016. I worked closely with one of his Ph.D. students on a project that involved interesting experimental setup and equally intriguing analytical aspects. This internship gave me very modest exposure to academic research.

• Your motivation for giving higher studies more importance than securing a job through placements?

I felt that research experience in areas associated with water resources engineering could be more enriching for me in the long run compared to a job right away. For some reason, I never had any interest in a typical nine-to-five corporate job. If not in academic research, then probably I would have chosen social entrepreneurship as my career path.

• Things you finally ended up doing to land yourself at a university for further studies?

I did not do anything different from what pretty much everyone does, other than publishing a conference paper during my internship. When I look back, I feel that I took a long time in making the final decision about graduate school applications. Had I done it, say a month earlier, my application could have been much better. That’s why I suggest that students should have the final decision latest by the beginning of your last year.

• Driving factors for the location and the University you chose?

Research project aligned with my interest was the main factor while choosing the university. I was applying to Ph.D. programs in water resources engineering and got one offer from Michigan State University quite early. Later, the professor that I was supposed to work with decided to go on a sabbatical that year. So, I had to start looking for other opportunities around mid-March that was very late for applications. I was fortunate to find one such option at Clemson University. A funded project there for my entire MS program was the most significant factor. Obviously, the project there seemed pretty aligned with my research-interests. As far as my current university’s choice is considered, the main factors are the reputation and quality of research in WRES group at UIUC and my interest in experimental hydraulics.

Experience

• The contrast between IIT Roorkee and your University?
• So many. I will start with coursework — Courses — I feel that, on average, the course instructors in my current university put a lot of effort into keeping the courses organized. As a result, the assignment becomes more engaging and students are able to learn more while solving them. There are major differences in the grading system as well. I feel that the grading system is designed so that it encourages students and gives better feedback for the student’s academic development. Teaching assistant hours instead of fixed tutorial classes can be a game-changer at IITR.
• Research — I can’t comment much on research as I couldn’t get enough research experience back at IITR. I can certainly comment on the research culture here in the USA. Ph.D. students take a more significant role in their projects. So far, I have got the opportunity to work with two different professors — one during my master’s and the other one is my current advisor. Both of them have given me a lot of freedom in my research. This has helped me explore many things on my own and has bolstered my confidence in growing as an independent researcher. I also believe that the universities here have more resources available to them, but that’s not the major bottleneck in the majority of the departments.

Concluding Paragraphs

• Key Takeaways

Do not be a part of a rat race of any sort. Discuss your plans with your seniors, alumni and professors as much as possible. It really helped me. Look at the big picture before you decide your career path. Think about how you would like to see yourself, say 20–30 years from now.

• Future plans

I want to do academic research, along with teaching in the future. If things go as planned, I will try to join one of the IITs as a faculty member. Fingers crossed!

• Advice to the campus Junta

A couple of pieces of advice. First one regarding managing your time while you are on campus. Your first two years should be used for comprehensive exploration and elimination. Use the first two years to try as many things as you can, obviously maintaining a decent academic record. By the beginning of the third year, you should have a broad but certain-ish idea about what you want to pursue and then dedicate the third year to improving your profile in that direction. The first semester of your final will most probably go in procedural things (exams, applications and other things). You can use the final semester to further polishing your profile, making new connections, or having some fun (finally!).

LinkedIn ID:-https://www.linkedin.com/in/vindhya-prasad/