March 23, 2011
School of Engineering, Amritapuri
Nikhil Krishnan, final-year student of B.Tech. (ECE) at Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri ranked fourth in the nation in the recently conducted GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) exam for admission to M.Tech. programs.
Nearly 1.4 lakh students wrote the exam this year. With a GPA of 9.84, this helps Nikhil move closer to his goal of completing an M.E. in telecommunications from the Indian Institute of Sciences.
Why telecommunications?
“Communication and signal processing are my favorite subjects,” he shared. “Telecommunication is actually an application area of signal processing. I am excited by the research opportunities that this area offers.”
Currently working on his final-year project titled Fractal Image Compression, Nikhil is experimenting with a relatively newer kind of compression technique that allows for better compression ratios as well as reduced compression times.
While Nikhil’s remarkable achievement exemplifies the high quality of education that Amrita offers, it also stands as powerful testimony to the kind of the mentoring and encouragement all students receive from their teachers. Many of Nikhil’s classmates also qualified, all with high percentile scores.
For many of these students, Br. Karthi B., Assistant Professor at the Amritapuri campus, provided guidance, clear instructions, practical strictness and many words of inspiration; according to the students these were key to the success they attained.
To inspire their juniors to aspire to the same heights, Nikhil had a few words of advice.
“Thorough study of each subject and meticulous note taking always helps. Continuous revision of notes adds value. I have a sheet in which I write the most important formulae for every subject. A comprehensive review of question papers from previous years is also important.”
“For writing the GATE exam, one should have extensive knowledge in all subjects studied since the first semester,” he added. “Don’t confine yourself to a particular subject, strive to achieve a good balance.”
Prior to the exam, Nikhil focused on core subjects including electrical circuit theory, control systems, communication, digital signal processing, digital design, mathematics and electromagnetic theory.
“Nikhil is one of the best students I have taught; his success is not surprising to me,” shared Br. Rajesh Kannan, another one of Nikhil’s teachers.
Dr. K. Sankaran, Principal of the Amrita School of Engineering at Amritapuri, put forth similar views. “Nikhil’s is a student with a very good track record. His success does not astonish me.”
“Nikhil is extremely dedicated and is somebody who knows his priorities. But then so are most of the other students,” stated Br. Karthi, who was delighted at his students’ success.
