Namaste! Asish here. I graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 2023, concluding my bachelor's education in Electrical Engineering. Currently, I'm based in Bangalore as a software engineer at Citrix Systems, Inc., and my journey here has been as straight as Sir Ian McKellen.
I was raised in Bhubaneswar, a culturally rich city on the east coast of India. Growing up in an Indian household, I was highly encouraged for scholastic success. I'm thankful to my mother for prioritizing our education despite coming from a family of limited means. I am where I am because of her. While in high school, the small practice of reading and listening to great communicators of the scientific community (Brian Greene is one of my favourites!) instilled in me this curiosity for science, which was enough for that stubborn kid to have sky-high aspirations.
Forced to trace out my career trajectory years ahead of time, I have to admit, having to decide between pursuing science or engineering was intimidating for me. At IIT Kanpur, I soon realized I wasn't alone in facing such dilemmas about career prospects. Between some great professors, lifelong friendships, and endless self-discovery, those four years were transformative. As an undergrad, I enthusiastically dove into everything in tech, irrespective of their popularity or their technical hardness, with the simple goal of finding what I love. I spent a good chunk of my efforts exploring emerging domains that people only started talking about recently — Quantum Technologies and Neuromorphic Computing, gaining quality experiences from both academic as well as corporate collaborations. In my final year, I made some micro progress working on a research project on brain-inspired hardware and discovered an interesting idea in neuroscience called criticality that could be applied to this work. (More details about my experiences in my CV)
While IIT Kanpur provided a great environment for me to encounter such opportunities, its rigorous training, which I'm sure my peers would be missing by now, and my background in Electrical Engineering was the perfect playground for my curiosity. Additionally, I believe it will significantly contribute to my future prospects.
After a crazy turn of events towards the end of my final year, I was on a flight to Bangalore to begin my professional journey at a cloud computing company as a software engineer. I've had the privilege of working on two key projects during my time here at Citrix—plus I'm finally hitting my pecs properly. I have maintained a five-day post-work workout routine for the past year and a half, involving also a weekly running session, which I find quite liberating. If I find some time and energy in the evening, I try to do some technical reading. Otherwise, I fall asleep on my chair watching something. I'm still trying to revive my childhood knack for drawing.
I firmly believe that our passion, combined with a little faith in the unexpected and a bit of discipline, can lead us to great things. Each of my experiences has shaped my mindset for working towards my goals. I'm glad to have found my calling to explore fascinating areas of Science and Engineering and work on exciting technologies. I will forever be grateful to all the amazing people who have influenced me and helped me grow.
If you're interested in discussing common interests/opportunities or just want to say hi, feel free to reach out.