A Brief Interview with the Technical Secretary
Written on September 1st , 2019 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}Can you please share your manifesto with us? What is your action plan as the next TC?
So my aim and objective as the next Technical Secretary will be to improve the dormant technical culture on campus and help talented people with a technical inclination to achieve their full potential. To this end, I plan on streamlining and formalizing the ‘Technical Mentorship’ program in coordination with SU's ‘Student Mentorship Program’; provide support to teams and individuals in the form of funding; clearing administrative hurdles and providing other resources; hold regular technical competitions and hackathons; get mentorship from Alumni and teams from foreign universities, etc.
Do you intend to make the SU portal? If yes, what are the features we can expect in it?
Yes, I do and with the help of the previous Technical Secretary, we plan on launching it very soon. We also intend on launching an improved Student Union App to go with it. Other than the usual features on the portal, this year's SUC is thinking of adding an SOS button on the app to address safety concerns. We are also exploring the idea of launching a BPHC Chatbot that would provide information about campus events, professor room numbers and more.
Note: Promises of building a Student Union portal have been on the books for around two years now, never coming to fruition. Last year's General Secretary and President both proposed various ideas for online portals that never manifested. Also, with SWD and SmartCampus apps already existing, the added utility of another portal, app or website seems to be unclear.
How do you plan on boosting technical culture on campus other than ATMOS and Tech Week?
We plan on holding competitions and workshops throughout the year as part of the BPHC Tech Challenge (BTC). Efforts will be taken to bring a Hackathon culture on campus with at least one Hackathon being held every semester. A major problem with the culture on campus is the lack of early stage skill development which will be addressed by a variation of the Peer Learning Program as a part of SU's Buddy Program.
Will you be spearheading the LAN radio initiative?
The LAN Radio initiative [1] will be carried forward to the next semester. A coordinator will be appointed to oversee the day-to-day operations. As a previous member of the Committee, it is something that's important to me and I hope to see it achieve its potential. I will definitely try to ensure this comes to fruition.
How do you plan to increase the participation from ATMOS 2018?
We are going to do this by supplementing our workshops and competitions with new events targeting a different set of audience. For example, events like Wall Street's Business Case Challenge and Nexus (a gaming tournament organised by the eSports Club) will help us in targeting different niches. Substantial prize money has been allocated and the respective assocs are hard at work to make it a success. Another idea we're trying to improve from last time is to increase participation from schools.
The ‘Tech Week’ is not able to fulfill its purpose to improvise the tech culture on campus. How do you plan to improvise quality and participation?
I think the biggest thing hindering Tech Week is the lack of year round focus on tech which will be addressed by competitions and workshops in the BTC. Skills learnt during the BTC can be used by the students in Tech Week, increasing the competitiveness and quality of the events.
There might be many who applied for this post. What according to you made you eligible to apply for the post and made you stand out among your peers?
While I cannot divulge as to who else applied and why I was selected, the Selection Committee[2] gives substantial weightage to technical expertise and managerial skills. The committee felt I had both and hence I was selected, I guess.
The ATMOS theme has been launched around a month ago. How was the theme arrived at, and was there any separate team that was involved in coming up with that? Was the response matched up to your expectations?
So the theme is generally decided by consulting with departments that work heavily with fest themes like DePP, DOTA, Arts n Deco etc. So far, the response has been good. We hope to carry this momentum forward and make ATMOS 19 the biggest ATMOS ever.
References
- LAN Radio was envisioned as an on-campus radio, that would deliver content over the intranet. The idea of this can be traced back to last year when inductions for the LAN Radio committee were announced in January 2019. While no further progress seem to have taken place after this, then General Secretary Suraj Thotakura said that a "total fund of Rs 2.4L of equipment was brought from the administration under this project" and that "a studio room is also being built". (link to interview).
- The Technical Secretary is "selected by a Council comprising of the outgoing President, the outgoing General Secretary and the outgoing Technical Secretary. Each member of the Council shall get one vote." (Student Union Constitution Section XVI - 6).
Poster: The image in the poster was taken as a part of a neon photoshoot organised by the photography club on campus, in the run up to ATMOS 2017