Distinguished Alumni Interview Series: Dr. Nitin Saxena, Professor, IIT Kanpur
Outreach Cell, IIT Kanpur brings you the 2nd edition of the Distinguished Alumni Interview Series. We interview people who have contributed exceptionally to the society after graduating from IIT Kanpur and bring their inspiring life stories to you.
This edition brings you the story of Prof. Nitin Saxena, who received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for Exceptional Academic Brilliance at the young age of 21 years in 2003.
Prof. Nitin Saxena completed his B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur in 2002. For his joint undergraduate thesis work titled Towards a Deterministic Polynomial-time Primality Test that won him the best B.Tech. Project Award in 2002. In 2007 he completed his Ph.D. under Prof. Manindra Agrawal (Dept. of CSE). In September 2006, he started his postdoctoral work at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), Amsterdam, Netherlands and continued till 2008. Prof. Saxena then joined the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, University of Bonn, Germany, as a Bonn Junior Fellow. In 2013, he returned to India and joined his alma mater, IIT Kanpur as an Associate Professor and continues to pursue his research interests. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Chennai Mathematical Institute. In 2018, Prof. Saxena was awarded the IIT Kanpur Young Faculty Research Fellowship for a period of three years. Prof. Saxena is also a recipient of numerous prestigious national and international awards.
Here are some excerpts from our conversation with Nitin Sir-
1) Your Life at IITK:
a) We usually hear many exciting stories of how the campus used to be in its early days. Can you share some of your memorable experiences at IITK?
The most memorable experiences were with the friends I made in my wings, hostels, and the batch. They came from across the country. So one of the best things is that living with them changes you a lot. Some other memories are-
- The strength of my batch had doubled from the prior ~200 to ~450. So it was a large batch (though now you've far bigger batches). That made it nearly impossible to know everyone.
- There was no internet in the hostels in my first year. The wired-internet in hostels started during my batch only. That made the rooms with a personal computer the "prime attraction" of the whole wing. Such places used to be full of wingies at all times!
- There used to be many social interactions, lots of bulla sessions, and lots of cultural activities. Though the academics were more demanding at that time-- there were more exams and more quizzes than the present time. Due to these activities, the B-Tech stay was an intensively busy time.
- A lot of what I learned was not from the curriculum itself, but more from the interactions with professors, students, and the internet. An overly-rigorous curriculum has little utility in creative endeavors
b) Are you still in contact with your friends from IITK? How did your life at IITK shape your interests and help you in deciding your career path?
- I'm in passive contact with my friends but not actively. That may say more about my asocial nature than about my batch! Also, geographically my friends spread far apart, and it gets harder to meet. But whenever we do meet, the warmth of the friendship is there!
- Even before joining IITK, my interest was in mathematical research. So joining CSE, IITK made my interests far more focused and gave me problems to solve, and a career path to track.
(Receiving Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize)
2. Your Education after IITK:
a) You, with Professor Manindra Agrawal and Mr. Neeraj Kayal, proposed the AKS primality test in 2002. So what drove your interest in research during undergraduate days?
- I had a friend who was a one-year-senior pursuing BTech in Computer Science. He was doing a BTech project (btp) in primality with Prof. Manindra Agrawal. Neeraj and I were naturally inclined to work in that area. So we started a joint btp. We worked on it for one year, with plenty of ups and downs, before solving it for good!
b) During your Ph.D. days, you were a visiting scholar at NUS and Princeton University and postdoc researcher at CWI. So how was your experience in these Universities?
The experience was quite different and enjoyable. It significantly impacted my research growth, but more on giving valuable life experiences and making great friends and contacts. You see these are three different continents, so it was great to have such geographically diverse exposure!
3. Your Career:.
a) You have done your Ph.D. and have been to various Universities as a research fellow or postdoc. What are the differences or similarities in the Indian and international research systems, and where did you enjoy your work the most?
- As is easy to guess, the university system abroad tends to be more competitive than India's. This is due to many reasons: too many great applicants for a given position; immigrants tend to work harder; frequent performance evaluations with tied incentives and disincentives; more serious impetus on doing world-class research and getting external projects.
Whereas, in India, the system allows most university faculties to restrict their profession to teaching and administration only, making the system less inventive.
- I enjoyed my stay in all the places abroad. Probably the most enjoyable was in Bonn, where I was a faculty for five years. I independently maintained a decent-sized research group and graduated some very talented students. Especially, I liked the independence and the enriched learning environment of Bonn.
b) What motivated you to choose teaching as a career path rather than a corporate job?
-I dreaded corporate jobs as long as I can remember! It was probably due to my long term interests in mathematics, and there being no space for such abstract research interests in practical jobs..
4. The Current Scenario
a) In your view, how will the current students, especially those set to enter the workforce in the coming years, be affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
- In traditional engineering, the negative effect would be tremendous in the next 1–2 years. However, in IT-based jobs, the demand should only increase, as now taking things "online" will become the de-facto standard. Now, it'll be hard for the old-fashioned blokes to oppose digitalization. It presents an excellent opportunity for our bright BTechs to start new companies and create lasting solutions.
- Even for traditional engineering, the shuffle in the global economy may create new manufacturing jobs in India.
- Apart from technology: There will also be opportunities to help people psychologically and empathetically, as moving online creates much social distance and maybe eventually a kind of depression. So, our students with interest in such problems should use this opportunity and find solutions.
5. Advice for IITK Students:
a) What do you look for in students' applications for research internships? How can a student make his/her application effective?
- Students should write the application genuinely, bringing out the interests that they have. I get many applications where dishonesty or superficiality is evident! There's no point in claiming research interests that are not yours and in which you've no experience.
- Do not artificially tailor your resume to fit a potential research advisor. Instead, do the opposite: get experience in your area, and be specific in your resume. - Use good CV typesetting examples off the internet, but don’t copy the content.
b) Please give some advice to the current students of IITK.
- It's hard to advise such a diverse set of brilliant minds. Except that they should keep their confidence and try to innovate in their chosen professions. Challenge the status quo. Do not forget IITK!
Thanks,
Nitin Saxena
July 2020
Managed by- Kaustav Sen
