You have to dream before your dreams can come true. — Abdul Kalam
I grew up in Visakhapatnam and had a small dream when I was a kid. In 1998, I was exposed to a computer for the first time in my life when I was 10-years-old, which marked the beginning of a dream. I dreamt about designing the next generation processors and memory that constitute the core of a computer. So I pursued my undergraduate degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT).
I would like to stress the importance of failure and how failures turn into stepping stones for success. The first time I experienced a major failure was when I failed to clear the IIT-JEE entrance exam. Like many other students, I worked hard in 11th and 12th grade having slept five hours a day and studied close to 10 hours a day. After doing all the hard work the result was disappointing. The positive out of this experience is that I discovered my ability to work hard. But working smart is extremely important. I went to VIT, keeping my dream alive. I did well in order to publish a paper in 3rd year of my Engineering.
This marked an important milestone where I came to the United States (US) for the first time to present my paper in a conference where I met professors and PhD students from top grad schools in the US. They motivated me to apply for a Masters degree in the US after finishing my undergraduate degree. The important lesson learnt is failures are good and they expose you to areas that have to be improved and eventually you will succeed. Do not get discouraged by failures. If you have never failed, you have never tried out things that you think you are not capable of doing.
The recession was at its peak when I received admissions to grad schools in 2009. Despite all the hardships I was on a mission to pursue Masters Degree at Georgia Tech. The education system in the US is very flexible; the course projects are close to ongoing work in the industry.
The environment is highly competitive and you get to interact with some of the smartest people in your area of interest and people with diverse backgrounds. Georgia Tech is one of the finest Universities in the US and is equipped with excellent labs and faculty members that conduct research of the highest standards. This enabled me to broaden my skill sets and also learn to innovate.
A device that I developed here is used for wireless heart monitoring of patients in hospitals, which gave me a chance to publish my work in the most prestigious Institute of Electrical and Electronics engineers (IEEE). The opportunities that I got here allowed me to discover my potential. It is important for you to expose yourself to diverse environments in order to realize your true potential and I succeeded in doing so by trying out new things during my grad life at Georgia Tech. I am graduating in Dec 2010 and I realized my dream of designing the next generation memory circuits for computers. I am joining Sandisk and moving to the Silicon Valley after graduating from Georgia Tech. I would like to conclude by saying “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration” – Thomas Edison. Discover your genius!
Vidyasagar Mukala
Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech
http://users.ece.gatech.edu/˜vmukala3/
