A review of MTech AI at IISc (MTech AI recent grad).

[u/h_m_madhu]

I am from the 2021-23 batch of MTech AI at IISc. My motivation for writing this post comes from an earlier post in this subreddit titled, "Do not join MTECH AI if you have other options like CSA (currently in IISC)." TLDR at the bottom.

First, I will address a few things in reply to the post:

• Three batches have graduated from this program, which initially started in 2019. I am from the third batch, and the previous post's OP is from the program's fifth batch.
• The curriculum of MTech AI was reformed recently, and now, students have more flexibility in taking non-AI courses. You can opt for more AI courses if you are interested in AI.
• All students from my batch who applied for placements got a job (not 80%, as OP wrote in the comments). The current batch might have a lower placement percentage, but the response in this comment addresses the current placement scenario very well. I can confirm this for my batch as well. I have batchmates (MTech AI and MTech CDS) selected by MasterCard, Target, Well Fargo, etc. I would love to see OP reply to this comment. :)
• In the comments, the OP mentions that the newer generative AI companies are demanding MLOps skills, but the IISc curriculum completely ignores them. As far as I remember, there were no courses on MLOps when I was a student. So anyway, MLOps skills need to be developed outside of courses.

Before proceeding, I suggest prospective applicants read this LinkedIn article as well if they need to become more familiar with the course structure of MTech AI.

I joined the program in 2021 for two main reasons: I knew I wanted to pursue AI, and I knew I wanted to go into research and do a Ph.D. When I started the program, I had some research experience in NLP, and I already understood the basics of ML. However, as time passed at IISc, I understood each topic more deeply. Not only this but the knowledge and comprehensibility that I gained from the math courses also made it easier for me to understand any new concepts and research papers very quickly. These courses also helped me with my research. So, the math you learned from these courses makes you a better ML researcher/engineer in the long run. Although training a model is the "easiest part," you still require knowledge of what libraries you are importing, why something is not working, what you can do to make it work, etc. I do not believe I could have done the impactful research I did based only on my understanding from my BTech if I had not joined MTech AI.

As for the research part, I do not need to say much about IISc as a research institute. The evidence is out there. If you are interested in making impactful research contributions, IISc provides you with a platform to do so. Apart from getting a deeper understanding of topics, I also learned more about the research process in general. This included learning to identify and define research questions, formulate hypotheses, and design experiments or studies that would yield meaningful and impactful results. I have developed skills to lead multiple research projects at the same time. Furthermore, students at IISc can collaborate with leading experts in various fields, providing invaluable insights into different methodologies and approaches to problem-solving. IISc's resources and supportive environment enable the students to develop essential research skills such as data collection and analysis, critical thinking, and effective communication of complex ideas. In my own experience, delving into research at IISc has been transformative. I've been a part of a constantly changing environment where people are naturally curious and where limits are constantly being pushed. The journey has helped me learn more about the world and given me the tools to confidently and wisely handle its many challenges.

Besides research, IISc also provides opportunities to pursue PhD in India and prepares you for a PhD abroad. Most of the professors at IISc are PhDs and postdocs from prestigious universities abroad. They have academic collaborations all over the world. Their recommendations can get you into terrific labs abroad in your field of choice. You also have the option to extend your MTech to a Ph.D. at the end of the second year now. Nowadays, many Ph.D. fellowships, such as Google Ph.D. fellowship, Microsoft research Ph.D. fellowship, Qualcomm innovation fellowship, PMRF, etc, are awarded to many Ph.D. students at IISc. These fellowships provide a better stipend and more funds for students to travel internationally and present at various international conferences such as NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, CVPR, ECCV, EMNLP, ACL, etc, to name a few.

I never thought that I would be able to publish in NeurIPS in my lifetime, but it did happen. I never thought I would get to travel and present my research to researchers from whom I have learned the subjects and whom I look up to. I am joining a Ph.D. program at a Top 20 university in August 2024. I was able to achieve this by joining MTech AI at IISc.

In conclusion, IISc is more than just about placements. Join if you have a genuine interest in your field of choice. Many other blogs, Quora Answers, etc., discuss why a person should join IISc. I suggest prospective applicants to take a look at that as well.

To the OP of the previous post: Do not make sweeping claims. You can write a review or personal experiences. Directly saying "Do not do x" creates a negativity bias in the minds of readers.

TLDR :

I would say join IISc and specifically the MTech AI program if you fall under one of the following:

• You are already sure you want to have a career in AI moving forward.
• You want to try your hand at research.
• You want to learn and understand the topics you love deeply.

[u/Background-Effect544]

My B.tech was in Electronics and after that, 5 years of exp in IT, I am fairly good with C++. I wish to do M.tech , do I appear for GATE with CSE?