Visit to DRDO Chandipur

My day started at 5 am in the morning. I don't usually wake up so early in the morning but this was a special day. I was included in an exclusive group of 30 students, who had been invited by the college, to go on a trip to the Defence Research and Development Organization in Chandipur, Balasore, Odisha, also known as Chandipur-on-Sea.

I was ready by 6 am and left the hostel to proceed to the rendezvous. I was baffled when I learnt that a good number of our college's higher authorities and faculty would also be going with us, by another bus. We had our breakfast at a nearby food stall which had cooked the first assortment of the day. With our tummies full, we boarded the bus and our journey began. It was a sunny but breezy day so we were quite comfortable. Everyone was extremely excited and in very high spirits. An inevitable round of "Antakshari" left me embarrassed (because I don't listen to many popular songs ...haha!) but everyone else sang in chorus.

 A long ride of about 5 hours brought us to the massive gateway of DRDO. Before we could grab the opportunity to click "selfies" in front of it, we were inside the gargantuan complex. Our buses came to a halt for getting passes to enter into the ITR (Integrated Test Range) Complex. Previously it was called Interim Test Range. A large statue of a man bearing a missile on his shoulder decorated the entrance. We were taken to a building where we were ushered into a small seminar hall. A scientist lectured us on test facility, its various organisational constituents, departments and sections. We were briefed on the equipment used to track a missile during testing and the various procedures involved during a test. Plessey surveillance radar, electro-optical tracking system (mobile and fixed), S-band tracking radar (KAMA-N) (mobile), C-band tracking radar (PCMC) (fixed), telemetry band (fixed and mobile), range computer, close-circuit television system, photo processing system, meteorological system, and range safety system, etc., are a few of the equipment that we were briefed about. Then an official video of an arsenal of Indian defence missiles like Agni (I-V), BrahMos, Dhanush, Lakshya, Prithvi (I-III, Akash, Trishul, Nag, Shaurya, Astra, Nirbhay, Prahaar, Helina etc. that were tested here, was shown. Excitement was overt in the audience.

After that, we had our lunch at the DRDO guest house which stands just next to the Balasore beach under DRDO territory. Everyone quickly finished their lunch and moved to the beach to find out about the rumours they heard about it. It is such a beach that one could walk a kilometre into the water and yet the water level would only be ankle deep. Lots of photos were taken and selfies overflowed in the mobile galleries. Once we were done with it, we boarded the bus to scout the territory.

All of a sudden, a series of loud bangs made everyone jump in their seats. We were asked to relax as the sound was emanating from the Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE), a test range for non-missile munitions, where no outsiders are allowed. The massive expanse of the campus took us a solid 45 minutes to roam. Then we went to the launch complex from where the first BrahMos was fired. It was home of two launchers. One for vertical firing and another for mobile launching. It was enthralling to behold the magnificent equipment. We were told how the shed of the vertical launcher moves out to allow the launcher to orient itself for the launch. There were Electro-Optical Trackers and RADARs positioned nearby. There was a camouflaged bunker in the launch complex from where the missile launch can be directly controlled. The Indian UAV Lakshya is also sent for test flights from the same complex. Soon after, we were back on the bus and as the sun edged west, it was time for us to return.

The journey back to our college was uneventful except for a stop at a hotel where we had refreshments. Throughout the journey we discussed how amazing our visit was and we looked forward to tell our experience to friends who couldn't visit the facility. All in all, the trip was a memorable one which gave us much to think about and consider a career in research and development.

My First Job Interview

Cognizant is the first company to come to our college this placement season, for mass recruitment. The news of it's arrival created a wave of joy and tumult in the mass of final year students. It was expected to recruit a large number of students from our college. Everyone was looking forward to get recruited by it because the company has an excellent reputation and it cares about its employees. An the cherry on the cake was the promise that Cognizant made. They were going to break their last record of recruiting the largest number of graduates from a single institution.

The day started at 6 in the morning for us. We were asked to reach the auditorium by 7 am. The recruitment team of the company had set up camp there. The auditorium was occupied by our students, all dressed in formal attire and looking suave and professional. The ambiance was rather unique. Instead of the normal ruckus that such a mass makes, there was a buzz in the air. People were discussing strategies, technical concepts and revising their topics of choice. Soon, the procedure for profiling of the students were initiated. One after another, we went and submitted our resumes for the procedure. Once this was done, we were asked to proceed to another hall where we were to wait for being called to the interviews. It was a long wait for me, of about two hours. In the meantime, I located a few of my friends and engaged myself in conversation to distract my mind from conjuring up hypothetical situations that were laced with the worst case scenarios. Otherwise, I was quite calm and expected myself to deftly take control of the impending events.

After a long wait of two hours,I was finally up for the technical interview. I told myself

"You got this. Interviews have never been a hurdle for you."

*Artistic Imitation.
Not to be confused with me!

I proceeded to the hall, quite calm and confident, though it would be wrong to deny that my heart was beating faster than it normally does. I walked up to the panel where a man of about 40 years of age was sitting. He greeted me, as did I, and asked me to sit down. Then started my interview.


Interviewer:- Mr. Das, tell me about yourself.

I immediately maneuvered to tactfully manipulate him and captivate his interest. I knew that going at length about my personality at a technical interview isn't going to be any good so I was brief about my traits and virtues. Consecutively, I elaborated precisely on my experience and works. I was observing his body language so I could tell he was a bit impressed. The questions that followed were easy to answer because I already knew my works like the back of my hand.


Interviewer:- How can an electrical engineer contribute to an IT industry?

Me:- Electrical engineering and computer science is meshed in today's world. In fact, foreign institutions even have departments that are called "EECS" (Electrical engineering and Computer Sciences). IT doesn't stand too far from computer science. An electrical engineer is thus as capable in handling software as he is in handling hardware.

Interviewer:- Can you base that on any personal experience?

Me:- I have enjoyed fabricating electronic circuits and watch them work their magic. However, the more complex a task a circuit has to execute, the more difficult it is to fabricate. I therefore decided to use a micro-controller to perform the same tasks. It was hassle free, with less wires, less electronic components and smaller size. I programmed the logic and uploaded them into the chip and my works turned out to be successes.

Then he asked me a bunch of questions from electrical engineering and programming in C language. It was convenient that I knew programming, strictly speaking, on the grounds that I had experience in writing sketches for my Arduino UNO. It allowed me to be elusive yet send him the message that I am good at programming, which he couldn't verify all that well because he didn't know about Arduino sketches. I hence excused myself from elaborating on C programming.

2nd Sept 2014