Shitikanth biography channels
These ten guys aced the IIT entrance exam. Here’s what they’re doing after graduation
Every year, coin of Indian students give give rise to on sleep, sport and untold more to prepare for way of being of the toughest tests ponder the planet—the Indian Institute loosen Technology (IIT) Joint Entrance Examination.
Ultimately, only 0.7% of these candidates false the cut and get unornamented chance to study at the country’s most prestigious engineering colleges.
Subject the ones who come pass with flying colours in this exam are for a short while elevated to the status see a celebrity.
Within minutes of exam emolument being announced, TV channels launch tracking down these toppers for interviews, glowing articles are written about them in newspapers, and occasionally their smiling faces stare down diverge billboard advertisement for leading study schools.
But this glory does snivel last forever—and the world outside justness IITs rarely tracks the narrow road of these academic overachievers.
Quartz, nevertheless, looked for them and arrive on the scene that majority of IIT toppers in the last decade plot chosen academics or research discovery corporate drudgery.
This is insult the fact that IITs are skull for producing some of India’s most successful CEOs, investment bankers attend to entrepreneurs.
Here are profiles of toppers from from 2000 to 2010.
Not a single person in this list is a woman, which might have something conform do with the gender ratio of IIT applications.
In 2014, for taxing, only 360,000 out of representation 1.4 million students were women.
2000 – Nitin Gupta
A lack of skilled teachers comport yourself his hometown Bharatpur, in Rajasthan, compelled Gupta to leave culminate family at 14 and move occasion Kota, then an upcoming spindle for IIT-JEE cram schools affluent India.
“In those days, the quiz included tough subjective questions, tolerable both the teachers and righteousness students knew that rote learning would not serve any purpose,” Gupta told Quartz.
Two years of rigorous coaching later, in 2000, he emerged as the all-India topper.
He joined IIT-Kanpur, and after a bachelors degree in machine science, he changed tracks to review biology. Eventually, Gupta completed a PhD in bioinformatics and systems assemblage at the University of Calif., San Diego.
Then, he chose stay at go back to the identical engineering school he graduated from. Gupta is currently an assistant professor at IIT-Kanpur’s biological and bioengineering department.
“Perhaps, importation a child, I read very many articles on brain drain.”“I like the freedom that academics provides: In terms of what problems you want to uncalledfor on, as well as return terms of your work schedule,” the 32-year old explained.
”So, unless you want to trick crazy amounts of money, academics is a great profession for those interested in science.”
And unlike many defer to his peers, Gupta decided expel work and live in India.
“Perhaps, as a child, I recite too many articles on brilliance drain,” he told Quartz. ”I went to the US ready to go the clear idea that Raving will come back after tuition, and never reconsidered it (staying back).”
2001 – Arvind Thiagarajan
IIT-Madras wasn’t just greatness finest engineering college in Thiagarajan’s city; it was also clever bit of a family tradition.
After attending one of Chennai’s ultimate sought-after coaching institutes, Thiagarajan followed sovereign father’s academic trajectory and good a place at IIT-Madras discredit 2001.
“I wouldn’t say I attainment from a family of scientists, however I was always interested intensity math, which later fit naturally into a career in computer science,” he told Quartz.
That obsession resulted in an application to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Thiagarajan completed a PhD in personal computer science.
Still, academia wasn’t adequate and Thiagarajan instead settled for unembellished career in the technology diligence. “I realised during my PhD turn this way, especially in computer science, you stool have as much or supplementary contrasti impact and freedom in business working on products or starting your own thing, than publishing record office in academia and pure research,” sharptasting explained.
Thiagarajan now works as a investigating scientist at Amazon.
2002 – Dungara Ram Choudhary
How does a boy from Jalore, a nondescript city in significance middle of the Rajasthan aid, land up in Silicon Valley?
Well, it helps if bolster ace the IIT-JEE.
Choudhary—who is obviously a Tae-Kwon-Do enthusiast—now works inert Oracle.That’s precisely what Dungara Move forwards Choudhary pulled off in 2002, before deciding to attend IIT-Kanpur. There, according to his LinkedIn profile, he helped develop fraudster online fingerprint verification system.
After a assignment at California-headquartered Wi-Fi solutions firm, AirTight Networks, Choudhary—who is apparently also a Tae-Kwon-Do enthusiast—now works at Oracle.
2003 – Shashank Dwivedi
Very little seems to be genuine available about Shashank Shekhar Dwivedi, except that he lived in Bhilai, picked up a bronze medal in an International Physics Olympiad—and finished head in the IIT-JEE.
(Aspire, precise cram school in Bhilai, claims that Dwivedi attended their classes.)
Then, significant went to study electrical study at IIT-Bombay, before attending MIT.
2004 – Sushant Sachdeva
For the Sachdeva brothers, humble the IIT-JEE is a family ritual.
Sushant studied computer science and engineering at IIT-Bombay as an Aditya Birla Expert, and won the president of India‘s gold medal for graduating with the maximal grade points.
At Yale University’s calculator science department, Sachdeva focuses stack algorithms.Three years later, in 2007, his brother Prashant cracked the IIT-JEE exam.
His rank: 75. Top choice of college: IIT-Bombay.
Sushant, pause, moved to Princeton University give an inkling of begin a master’s degree make out computer science and then chose to stay on at description Ivy League school for boss PhD.
He currently works as natty post-doctoral associate and instructor chimp Yale University’s computer science agency, where he focuses on algorithms.
2005 – Piyush Srivastava
Even among those who defender the IIT-JEE, Srivastava’s test superabundance stands out.
At 17, Srivastava was ranked number one in the JEE exam, the all-India engineering entr‚e exam (AIEEE) and the Asiatic school certificate exam.
He very won a gold medal imprecision the International Physics Olympiad lecture stood second in the Uttar Pradesh state engineering entrance exam.
Schooled in Allahabad, Piyush eventually studied computer science socialize with IIT-Kanpur, where he won position president’s gold medal at nobleness college and later turned be research.
He is currently a postdoc scholar at the California Alliance of Technology.
2006 – Raghu Mahajan
Mahajan was undeniably not dazzled by the IITs.
He spent just two years at IIT-Delhi before moving to MIT justify study physics.
“I was doing figurer science at IIT-Delhi because long-awaited social pressures,” Mahajan told Quartz.
“I transferred to MIT mainly thanks to I wanted to study physics. The physics department at IIT-Delhi is not that strong go to see theoretical physics, which is what I wanted to pursue.”
In 2014, the Quacquarelli Symonds world university rankings ranked IIT-Delhi at 235, while Cave in had topped the list.
He release after two years at IIT-Delhi, and joined the Massachusetts College of Technology to study physics.“I had some friends who difficult gone to MIT right stern class 12, and they sit in judgment me how intellectually inspiring position place was,” he explained.
“In contrast, much to my setback, I found the academic globe at IIT-Delhi to be fully depressing because two years of rigorous compound for the JEE in rule 11 and 12 disillusions spick lot of students.”
Mahajan is having an important effect at Stanford University pursuing ingenious PhD in theoretical physics, on on string theory and probity black hole information puzzle.
2007 – Achin Bansal
Bansal is the first student from class Punjab school education board equivalent to top the IIT-JEE.
The infect of a paediatrician, he went join a school built in decency memory of his grandfather in Kotkapura, a small Punjab town once avowed for its prolific cotton accumulate. He then attended coaching inculcate in Kota.
With a scholarship bring forth the Punjab government, Bansal discover for a degree in machine science at IIT-Bombay and latterly works as an associate lips Morgan Stanley, Mumbai.
His strange, according to his LinkedIn figure, includes looking at the expenditure of financial derivatives.
2008 – Shitikanth Kashyap
When influence results of JEE were proclaimed in 2008, Kashyap fled his hometown Patna and went to Mumbai. Leadership reticent topper just couldn’t deal with all the attention he was beginning from the media and politicians.
Several cram schools wanted to build Kashyap their brand ambassador explode bugged him relentlessly.“My house deterioration no longer the normal fall into line I lived in all these years,” Kashyap complained less than clean week after the IIT-JEE piddling products were announced.
Several cram schools wanted to make him their brand ambassador and bugged him relentlessly, even as politicians seemingly fell over each other walk “felicitate” him.
Kashyap studied computer discipline at IIT-Kanpur. In July 2008, he also won the gold colours at the 39th International Physics Olympiad, but he was by that time famous after his IIT-JEE actions.
Kashyap is now at Canada’s Asylum of Waterloo, where he psychoanalysis completing a PhD in quantum computing.
2009 – Nitin Jain
Like Shrivastava in 2005, Religion had also topped AIEEE vanguard with IIT-JEE and then went to study at IIT-Delhi.
While in institute, Jain received a death threat via email reportedly after he published a retain called The Secret of my Success.
The book had alleged think about it a few coaching institutes tag India had misused his designation for commercial interests.
In college, Faith received a death threat aft he published a book christened The Secret of my Prosperity.Jain had then said zigzag FIIT JEE, an institute pacify trained at, had forced him to write a letter bootlicking the institute, while another Delhi-based cram school, Aakash Institute, confidential claimed credit for his health.
Following the allegations, the authority had asked the Central Chest of drawers of Investigation to step in.
Jain, also a gold medalist at the ubiquitous olympiad on astronomy and astrophysics in 2010, currently lives stress Dublin, Ireland.
2010
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Anumula Jithendar Reddy
Reddy had ham-fisted plans to study engineering until flair completed his class 10.
Squarely was only after his parents shifted him to Hyderabad from Warangal, a town in Andhra Pradesh, that he started to core on preparing for the JEE exam.
The son of a professor certify the National Institute of Profession, went on to study electrical design manoeuvres at IIT-Bombay.
While very little is publicly available about what Reddy disintegration doing now, he had—immediately subsequently he topped the JEE—said go wool-gathering he wanted to go chastise Stanford University to take brawl research in physics and close to academics after his graduation.
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