A student from India about the International Student Project Marathon

New participants are joining the International Student Project Marathon of SPbPU. One of them is Kritisha Panda from India. Kritisha is studying at the School of Engineering and Technology of Amity University Kolkata and plans to enter the Master’s degree program of Polytechnic University. And now, along with young scientists from the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications (IE&T) Kritisha is participating in a project dedicated to the research of new generations of 5G and 6G mobile communications. Read about the benefits of Russian education and Marathon project activities in our interview.

— Krithisha, what attracts you to Russian education?

— The Russian education system is known all over the world. All my life I’ve admired the way Russian universities teach and the quality of knowledge your students receive. That’s why I planned to get my Master’s degree in Russia and not in other countries. I researched many universities before choosing SPbPU.

— So you did a lot of research in choosing a university?

— You could say so. I studied websites in detail, I searched for information about programs, academic disciplines, scholarships, student life, and extracurricular activities. It took me about two years.

— I’d love to know what helped Polytechnic University become a leader in your research?

— When I was looking at your website, I found a virtual tour of the campus. And I thought — how beautiful it is! I liked that it has a lot of greenery, I love nature. Then I found the educational areas that I was interested in. And when I looked more closely at the website, I saw that student life at Polytechnic is full of events — you have the International Polytechnic Week, various cultural events, sports, and competitions. And I decided that I want to study here.

— And what else was important for you when choosing the university?

— Basically, I considered the universities that are located in popular tourist cities. This is because more people speak English in such places. I realized that choosing an institution of higher education in another city can be a problem for me because so far I do not speak Russian. In the end, I chose from among 10-15 Russian universities.

— As far as we know, you are still studying at a university in India, but you are already actively interacting with our young scientists. How did it all begin?

— It all started when I decided to take part in the International Polytechnic Week. This way I was able to learn more about opportunities for SPbPU students, in particular about the International Student Project Marathon. I was interested in the format, so I contacted the coordinator directly.

— Tell me, what did you like most about the idea of the Marathon?

— The fact that people from different countries can participate, and it’s a great opportunity to learn more about each other. I would even say that such events are of great benefit for the development of strong international relations between different countries.

— Do you remember your first impressions of participating in the International Student Project Marathon?

— When I met and started communicating with my team, I realized what wonderful people they were and that it would be a pleasure to work with them. And so it turned out: together with me in the team were IE&T student Alexander ZHILA Alexander ZHILA, our supervisors Assistant Professor Anna OVSYANNIKOVA, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of IE&T Sergey ZAVYALOV. We did not have any difficulties in the process of work and I hope very much that when I will enter the master’s program at SPbPU, we will continue to communicate.

— What is the project you are working on?

— Our project is related to research on new generations of 5G and 6G mobile communications. Today, it is quite a pressing issue to increase data transfer speeds in conditions where the range of frequencies available for use is limited. In other words, it can be called an increase in spectral efficiency. During the project, by solving the optimization problem, I obtained spectral-efficient waveforms that provide minimal impact on communication systems operating in adjacent frequency bands. I also analyzed the effect of the accuracy of the representation of such signals on their performance, which will be useful in the future for the creation of a prototype modem of spectrally efficient signals. I presented my results in November at the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications Science Week conference.

— Congratulations on your first presentation to a Russian audience! Are there more articles from your team planned?

— Of course! We are actively working on articles for the Moscow DSPA conference that will be held in March-April.

— What are the prospects for your project? What are the immediate plans?

— We plan to consider other variants of the optimization criteria and to compare the results. The project itself is of a fundamental research nature. Its results may find application in mobile communication systems of the following generations (5-6G)

— How often are you in touch with the team?

— Almost every day. We have a great relationship! We communicate by e-mail or via messengers, we discuss all sorts of things. For example, what and how we can improve our work and what we need to do to do this. If something isn’t working out for me, I can always write to Alex and ask for his advice. I like the clarity and depth of our project. I have always strived for knowledge, and when I started working with Anna and Alex, I was amazed at how deeply they know their subject matter. I learned a lot during that time.

— What are your expectations of the Marathon? Would you recommend it to other students to participate?

— It’s a great experience. This is the first time I have interacted with an international team at such a high level. We have wonderful research work that is clearly structured despite distance and distance communication. My participation in the marathon only strengthened my desire to apply to SPbPU. And, of course, I recommend everyone to try the format of the International Student Project Marathon. I have already told all my friends about it!

Prepared by the SPbPU International Office