“Strong determination towards your aspirations and building strategic contacts along the way would help you realize any objectives in your life.”




 

Jivesh Govil

He is a 2002 NSIT passout. With his heart set on research, he graduated from NSIT with more than 15 publications to his name! Here he tells us what it takes to be the sun among the stars.

1. Please describe in brief your career path leading to your present position?


I graduated with a President Gold Medal from Sr. Secondary School in 2002, after which I joined NSIT in Electronics and Communication Engineering. During my studies at NSIT, I did internships at MTNL, INSAT Network Operations, Bharti Telesoft, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. Right after graduating with my BE in 2006, I joined University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA in Electrical Engineering with major in Communication Networks. I did my internship in AT&T and Infosys at St. Louis, Missouri during summer 2007. I finally joined Cisco, San Jose, CA as IT Analyst in World Wide Sales Architecture & Engineering in Jan 2008. In March 2009, I moved as Business Analyst in World Wide Sales Commerce.


2. What embarked your interest towards career in research?

I had a strong technical bent and always possessed a perspective to develop solutions. My keen desire to go into details and invent new ideas that transform the future led to my interest in research as my career. My parents were also a strong supporting factor who wanted me sharpen my analytical mind.



3. What is it like working in your area of research and what are the future prospects in this direction?


My area of research is in Wireless Communications but I do not work in that field for bread and butter today. I pursue my research in the personal time that I get off from work. Wireless Communications is an ever evolving field just like veterans say Electronics is evergreen. Fourth Generation Networks and MIMO technologies will change the way we communicate in the coming decades. These are strong research areas and imagination to pursue in this direction.


4. How has been/was your experience at graduate school?

My graduate school experience was one of the most memorable experiences in life. The first two months are the hardest in life when one moves to completely new world where one has to setup a new house, cook own meals, manage the household activities, study hard to succeed, and bear with international student challenges. It took me almost 6-10 months to get adjusted to this new environment. My best experience was in my last semester when I was completely adjusted in US; I not only studied hard with four courses but also engaged in sports activities, social initiatives, and looked for a job.

5. Factor(s) you consider that influenced your admission into graduate school and how supportive had N.S.I.T. been in helping you achieve your target.

Factors that helped me get into a top graduate school in US were my strong academic background; evidences to support my technical focus like research papers, participation in conferences, seminars; international accolades in papers, Olympiads, etc.; and extra-curricular/social activities demonstrating well-rounded personality. I have immense respect for my undergrad institution N.S.I.T. that made my career successful. In order to further my interest in communications, NSIT sponsored my special course in Digital Communication Networks at MIT, Cambridge, MA. In addition, senior faculty members in ECE provided me focused direction, immense guidance, and constant motivation to fulfill my dreams. Prof. R. Senani, Prof. B. Kumar, Asst. Prof. H. Parthasarthy, Asst. Prof. S. Sengar, Asst. Prof. J. Jena deserve a special mention here for supporting my dreams. I have reached this place with marvelous support from faculty.


6. What are the emerging fields of research that students should explore?

Recently, bio-technology, IT-Biotech, and green initiatives have been discovered to have huge scope for

research and have garnered support from national governments. As far as communications is concerned, wireless as I mentioned before is ever green with scope in next generation networks, fourth generation networks, and MIMO communications.


7. Please describe a typical day at work and what do you do when you are not at work?

Since I am a senior business analyst at Cisco, my work day primarily goes in meetings with Sales Subject Matter Experts and various stakeholders in trying to understand how the business processes currently work. I then analyze the missing gaps or breakpoints and provide recommendations for optimization and collaboration in the sales business processes. My key role is to provide IT solutions and Business Process Recommendations in liaison with Business Teams in collaboration with Cross-functional teams via documenting business requirement, preparing workflow diagrams and process flow charts, and socializing findings with stakeholders.


8. Opportunities you would suggest to students interested in MS/Research?

I would say that look hard for international internships and hence forth international recommendations. It really makes difference since international experience and diversity is highly valued abroad. If one can catch hold of some IIT guy, one should extract all places they know where they accept international students abroad. Many universities and companies worldwide look for international students.


9. Some books/movies/music that have inspired you and would recommend?

Read philosophical books that purify your mind. When I was in N.S.I.T., I used to watch two movies per year: one on the last day of final exams for each semester. Good music that calms your mind is enough to keep you focused on your work.


10. Please feel free to provide any additional information here.

My advice to N.S.I.T. students is to realize that they have a strong potential which many don’t realize. Be cognizant of your capabilities and make sure when you face interviews you bring the point that how your capabilities support position needs.