May 23, 2014

Success story : Ashish Verma (PD at IDC-IITB and CPDM-IISc)



Ashish Verma (PD at IDC-IITB and CPDM-IISc)

Hello,

         I am Ashish, I am just about to graduate with a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Noida. I have lived here my whole life but now it’s a sudden change in it, a new city and new opportunities, got selected for MDes in Product Design and Engineering at IISc Bangalore.

        Frankly speaking I never thought of becoming a designer, I was preparing for GATE essentially I should be talking about CEED, but I don’t have much cause I had the bare minimum preparation for it. But yes I was sincere in my preparation for GATE , I was devout in giving the best of me in whatever was coming my way, guess sincerity and hard work are the only two paths for success and I gave CEED, got a pretty good rank, and into both the design schools. 

         I came to know about CEED at the end of July 2013 searched the wits out for information about this exam in the internet and the bible was at a single place the whole time, TeaCupBlog. I filled up the application form without delay and looked up into this site, every bit of information, tips about preparing, and all the resources required for CEED. A big thanks to Prasanna sir for helping out thousands of aspirants all around India, the way he is helping people is praiseworthy.

       I have been sketching my whole life, since childhood and even now I cant stop scribbling stuff with my charcoal and graphite pencils. I don’t know any design software’s, why start something you cannot finish, so with full trust I have mastered my skills with pencils. You have to be creative, visualize a scenario, have a picture of it in your head, be as perfect as you can, pour it out of your mind, be your hands be the medium, and see the wonder you have created, nothing is perfect but with persistent dedication you will be a nano distance from equaling that mark.

       Now I have some tips which I implemented about preparing for CEED, DAT’S and Interviews:

  1. Have a basic knowledge and general awareness about the recent headlines, you can consult Manorama online or even the quarterly/yearly books that are available
  2. Speed is a big constraint in this exam, draw fast, don’t use scale, protractors, compass and stuff. Rely on basic hand sketching, it doesn’t have to be perfect, you just have to be creative.
  3. Chill out, relax and enjoy the paper, it’s a full 3 hour roller-coaster ride.
  4. DAT’s at IIT and IISc are very different, for IDC you need to have good knowledge about materials, manufacturing processes, design synthesis, sustenance of your design, and good working hands
  5. IDC has a material test also(for PD only), don’t be all fancy on your work, try creating something useful out of the given materials, use them economically.
  6. Interview panel is very friendly, have good communication skills, your portfolio is important here, a basic engineering knowledge, and don’t fake anything just be yourself.
  7. Whereas at IISc, the written test was in 2 parts this year each for 1.5 hours. In the 1st paper there were questions on aptitude and then there were engineering questions on thermodynamics, trusses, bending moment diagram, network analysis, functions maxima/minima, fluid mechanics, kinematics, probability and chemical constituents, we had to attempt 5 out of 11. The next paper was purely design based, you need to have latest information on technological advancements, frisk info on materials, redrawing an object from an image, design issues in common things, re-designing them. Just observe things around you more often you’ll be able to counter questions based on your acquired experience or get close to solving them.
  8. The interview was a tough one, they test your approach to basic engineering questions, they’ll be according to your background architecture/engineering, your interest in joining this course, again communication skills, confidence. btw, they were barely interested in my portfolio here.

At last I would like to take the opportunity to thank Prasanna Gadkari sir again, Trivikram Annamalai sir, Karthika Ramanujam ma'm, and Bhavik Grover. Because of you people mostly I was able to achieve this feat.

Feel free to drop your queries at - ashish.pablo@gmail.com
Or connect with me on facebook - www.facebook.com/ashish.verma.7771 

All the Best. Keep Designing.
        

11 comments:

Unknown said...

can you showcase some of your portfolio works? is it necessary to have software based designs and 3d models in our portfolio at the time of interview? or paper based work is sufficient?

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi Sheetal,
I am replying on behalf of Ashish
You dont need to show any digital work during your interview. You can present your hand drawn sketches, physical models and mock-ups of your ideas during the interview. In MDes selection interview, the faculty wants to know how well can you think about a problem and how do you propose the solution to it. Some people choose to show this solution in digital form, and some prefer to represent them on paper. Both are equally good

After your CEED exam, you will get plenty of time to prepare portfolio, So right now, you can concentrate on the exam. After the exam, we will help you make a nice portfolio :)

Further, you can get in touch with Ashish on the Facebook link he has provided

All the best

Unknown said...

thank you sir, that was such a relief!

Mustafa said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I want to know how is the entrance paper for phd program

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

hi Saurabh,
No idea about entrance paper for PhD, though if you tell me what institute you are applying for, i will ask around and try to find out for you :)

Unknown said...

Hi Prasanna,
Do students who join Phd after completing get placed at some company after their course? I have no idea what do students do after completing Phd other than joining as professors in some institute...whats the case at IISc?
Btw, I am talking about students who were selected through GATE for Phd at CPDM.
Thanks.

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi Jishnu,
I know several people who got placed after completing PhD from IISc.
For example, have a look at profile of Gauri https://www.linkedin.com/in/gauri-ranadive-549b76b
You can initiate a dialog with her if needed.

Unknown said...

Thanks Prasanna..

Unknown said...

Hello Prasanna Sir,
I am from Architecture +CS Background so what works can I show to the interview panel at IISC ?

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hello G.Hassan,
For IISc, you need to learn the basics of engg of all the stuff you've put in your portfolio. For example, why you chose a particular material, what are its manufacturing processes, and what are its kinematics. If needed, be prepared to draw free-body diagram of any component presented to you!
I dont know your complete skill set to guide you, can you please email me?

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