Annual Report 2018-2019

2018-2019 | ANNUAL REPORT

JITHESHRAJ SCHOLARSHIP FOR PROMISING FRESHMEN

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

IN HONOUR AND MEMORY OF

JITHESHRAJ PERIASAMY 1996 - 2015

BTech, CSE, Class of 2017

An Extraordinary Student & A Dear Friend

MISSION STATEMENT TO NUDGE STUDENTS TOWARDS ACHIEVING CLARITY ABOUT THEIR STRENGTHS AND PASSION

OUR VISION TO BRING TOGETHER AND NURTURE A LINEAGE OF LEADERS AND CHANGE-MAKERS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY

Jitheshraj Scholarship for promising freshmen identifies and brings together students of NIT Trichy who have the curiosity to explore, the discipline to persevere and the will to make a difference. We aim to reward not the smartest of students but those who show growth mindset and a promising trajectory.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01

Overview 2018-2019 : Founder Address

06

Partners 2018-2019

02

Year 2018-2019 in Review

07

Behind the scenes: Our Team

03

Executive Summary

09

Next step: 2019-2020

05

New Initiatives

10

Hall of Fame

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

JITHESHRAJ SCHOLARSHIP FOR PROMISING FRESHMEN

OVERVIEW 2018-2019 SIVARANJANI SUBRAMANIAN FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

It is almost two years since we formally announced the Jitheshraj Scholarship for promising freshmen, a scholarship exclusively for the first year students of NIT Trichy.

What started as a tribute to Jitheshraj Periasamy, an extraordinary student who left us too early, is now growing into a coveted community of change makers and leaders of the present and future.

While 2017-2018 focussed on the intricacies of introducing the scholarship as an official initiative of NIT Trichy, 2018-2019 saw more efforts directed towards improving the overall experience for all stakeholders involved: the mentors, panelists organisers, volunteers and of course, our applicants. Forums of interaction for everyone involved in the scholarship have been created to ensure that the ideas that applicants come up with for the scholarship do not stay just on paper, but are nurtured enough to grow into impactful initiatives. Every stakeholder's journey with the scholarship now entails an on-boarding process where the standards expected are conveyed, and ends with a retrospective that gives us an honest view into what needs to be done better for the next cycle.

More importantly, this year saw organised efforts into collecting feedback from interested students who did not end up applying for the scholarship. We are studying the various factors that come into play so that the Jitheshraj scholarship, as our tagline goes, does not attract just the smartest students but those who have a growth mindset and a promising trajectory.

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has made 2018-2019 yet another successful cycle for the Jitheshraj Scholarship! We hope to have your continued support even in the years to come.

It was inspiring to see the great work [the applicants] have done in such a short time. I wish I had a similar motivation during my first year at NITT. The whole process of evaluating the applications was very unique and rewarding for me.

01

Raghavan R, Panelist 2018-2019 Software Engineer - Google B.Tech CSE Class of 2003

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

02

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

OUR NUMBERS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3X

3X

2.5X

INCREASE IN INITIAL INTEREST NUMBER

INCREASE IN NUMBER OF ALUMNI INVOLVED

INCREASE IN ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

As selection and interview panelists

Based on interactions on our Official Facebook page

Based on the number of students who joined our Prospective Applicants Forum on facebook

“I was really impressed by the detailed analysis and feedback of my essays. The applicant's forum was very responsive and helpful too."

Arpit Mohakul, Applicant 2017-2018

"The scholarship application process is incredible. Every requirement of the application tests a new aspect of the student."

Gudapati Nitish, Finalist 2017-2018

HIGHLIGHTS

63%

1:1

INCREASE IN PARTICIPATION*

GENDER RATIO AMONG FINALISTS, MENTORS AND INTERVIEW PANEL

4X

1:1

INCREASE IN FEMALE STUDENTS PARTICIPATION*

ONLINE VS ON-CAMPUS MENTORSHIP SESSIONS

*Data in comparison with the 2017-2018

03

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

OUR REACH

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Briefing held on the Alumni day of Orientation 2018-2019

Left: Lakshmi S, Mentor 2018-2019 addressing the students. Right: Freshmen 2018-2019 along with finalists 2017-2018 in the audience.

Taken on 7 August 2018

https://issuu.com/feeds.nitt/docs/august_final 04

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

INTRODUCED THIS YEAR

NEW INITIATIVES SURVEYS AND RESOURCES Gail Shen, Program Director Team4Tech - US, conducted an online brainstorming session for our mentors on how to strategise their goals.

Monthly reading list containing useful articles and videos sent to prospective applicants.

Graduate survey sent to graduating final year students to understand the needs of students better.

Pre-session surveys sent before the alumni mentorship sessions so that the mentor can tailor the session based on applicants' needs.

Mid-year review feedback forms sent to prospective applicants to understand the impact of our mentorship sessions.

Outstanding essays from last year applications uploaded on our Medium.com account for use by current applicants.

On-boarded an alumnus of the Architecture department as a mentor to encourage more participation from B Arch students.

Lakshmi Manoharan, Mentor 2018-2019, addressing prospective applicants on September 20, 2018

05

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

WELCOME

OUR NEW PARTNER

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW - ASCEND OUR CAREER DEVELOPMENT PARTNER

HBR Ascend has provided a HBR 10-Must Read Book Box set worth 150 USD to our scholar as well as a free subscription of their online magazine for 6 months for all interested students at NIT Trichy.

“This is an ambitious initiative that I was glad to be a part of! Being a ‘mentor’ gave me a sense of increased responsibility. It’s nice (and scary at the same time) to know that people want to learn from your experience!”

06

Vrindaa Somjit, Mentor 2017-2018 PhD Candidate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology B.Tech MME Class of 2016

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

BEHIND THE SCENES

TEAM 2018-2019 FACULTY

Dr. N Anantharaman

Mr. R Gururaj

Dr. M Venkata Kirthiga

Professor Dept. of Chemical Engg.

Lecturer in English Dept. of Humanities

Associate Professor Dept. of EEE

FACULTY ADVISOR

SELECTION PANELIST

INTERVIEW PANELIST

MENTORS

Cibi Pranav

Lakshmi Manoharan

Lakshmi S

Sudharshan Suresh

PhD Candidate at Machine Learning Faculty - Srishti Institute of Graduate Student of Georgia Tech Engineer LinkedIn Art, Design and Technology Robotics - Carnegie Mellon LET'S CONTINUE TO PAVE THE WAY FOR THE FUTURE GENERATIONS. CIVIL - 2015

07

CSE - 2016

ARCHITECTURE - 2014

ICE - 2017

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

BEHIND THE SCENES

TEAM 2018-2019 ALUMNI PANELISTS

Akshay Vidwans

Anne Thomas

Arun Devadas

Marketing Manager Ecolab - Houston, US

Customer Care Manager Schneider Electric, Australia

Associate Partner McKinsey & Co - London, UK

MECHANICAL - 2009

EEE - 2007

ICE - 2007

Bhuvanaa Shreeram

Laveesh Bansal

Maheswaran R

Founder & CEO Plan2Prosper, Mumbai

Senior Software Engineer Microsoft Corp - Seattle, US

Product Manager Walmart, Bangalore

MANAGEMENT - 2002

ICE - 2006

CSE - 2008

LET'S CONTINUE TO PAVE THE WAY FOR THE FUTURE GENERATIONS. Dr. Raghavan R

08

Rajaraman P

Vivek Sridhar

Software Engineer Google - Sunnyvale, US

CTO Reach - San Francisco, US

CEO Shiroi Energy - Chennai

CSE - 2003

CSE - 2003

MME - 2009

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

NEXT STEP

2019 - 2020 Based on the statistics we have collected over the last two application cycles, focus for 2019-2020 will be towards improvement in quality, inclusion and network interaction.

Given that the application timeline spans across almost a year, it is imperative to engage with students throughout the year. Along with the mentorship sessions that are held every two months, we will also leverage our existing community of finalists and scholars on campus for their insights. Also, special efforts will be made to encourage students from the departments of Architecture, Production and Chemical Engineering through the faculty and alumni we take onboard.

There have been suggestions to continue alumni engagement even after their role as a mentor/panelist with the scholarship. Strategies are being discussed to leverage media such as LinkedIn, WhatsApp and other avenues to foster a lifelong community.

Furthermore, efforts are being directed towards providing more incentives for our finalists and scholars. We are currently seeking partnerships for internship/research opportunities as well as for other unique experiences that can nurture the inherent skills and drive that is evident in the scholarship finalists.

09

Interview Panelists 2018-2019 at A12 hall. Left to right: Dr. Venkata Kirthiga, Bhuvanaa Shreeram, Maheswaran R, Vivek Sridhar

INITIATIVES UNDER CONSIDERATION Mid-year checkpoint where applicants submit essay drafts for review by mentors 'Application Clinic' sessions organised by finalists from yesteryears.

2018-2019 ANNUAL REPORT

HALL OF FAME

SCHOLARS & FINALISTS 2017 - 2018

Swedha S

Darshan Maru

ECE Student Societies: Feeds, Balls by Picasso, Festember Social Responsibility SCHOLAR

Kishore V

MME Student Societies: Coordinator of Corporate Relations: E-Cell FINALIST

Manu Aatitya

CSE Winner of the Smart India Hackathon organised by the MHRD Student Societies: Spider FINALIST

ECE Overall Academic Topper among freshmen, 2017-2018 Student Societies: Spider FINALIST

MECHANICAL ENGG. Winner of S J Chainulu Award for securing dept. first rank Student Societies: RMI FINALIST

Shiwang Singh

10

Himanshi Gupta

CIVIL Winner of Avery Dennison Invention Scholarship Student Societies: Spider FINALIST

Gudapati Nitish

MECHANICAL ENGG. 3rd place in SangamHealthCare of Pragyan 2019 Student Societies: RMI FINALIST

Srinivas R

CIVIL Student Societies: Athletics Team of NITT, Content Team of Festember and Moments FINALIST

"3 words that come to your mind to describe the Jitheshraj scholarship"

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION! Special thanks to Mr. Periasamy & Dr. Rukmini Periasamy Mrs. Vani, Manager, RECAL Shrinivas Padmaputra Sriram Sridharan Pixelbug NIT Trichy

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