Surya Adluri is a TA for CS 6601: Artificial Intelligence. Keep reading to learn more about Surya!
What do you do professionally?
I am currently an on-campus master's student in computer science specializing in machine learning. Previously I worked as a data scientist with a start-up in India. I primarily worked on a flood prediction project, in which we used historical streamflow data for predicting major floods with the power of data science and machine learning.
Why do you TA for OMSCS?
Interacting, asking questions, and discussing the subject with the TAs helped me improve my perception. I want to give back what I felt was a remarkable learning experience by taking part as a TA in this incredible program. Also, I realized the impact of a TA on students' learning experience, especially in OMSCS, is very high. I've always wanted to work on impactful and meaningful tasks, and being a part of this program achieves that purpose, and it feels excellent to help many students from different parts of the world. I can tell this program successfully made a difference by making high-quality education accessible to every corner of the world, and being a small part of it feels excellent, to be honest.
What is your advice for future OMSCS students?
Enjoy the process, and I am sure if you look back, the learning experience of this program will stand out in your life. It's worth spending time doing this program, don't stress if you initially can't manage your time or get good grades. Eventually, you will become better as the course progresses, and you'll learn time management, prioritization as a by-product of this course, along with excellent knowledge about the subject. One key piece of advice is to plan well ahead and start early when the assignments/projects release. Also, interact as much as possible with the TAs or your peers; it will make your learning experience enjoyable.
What's your best study hack?
There are many productive applications/tools in the market, making it easier to manage time/materials. Some of them which I use are Todoist and Notion. I use Todoist to implement the time blocking technique, which is blocking your time in your calendar well ahead in one-hour interval blocks. So, whenever a deliverable releases, I plan well ahead and divide the work into several hour blocks, which I block in my calendar for the upcoming week or two. Todoist app provides a friendly interface to divide your projects into tasks with priorities, labels, etc., and also it integrates the tasks into your calendar. And Notion is a note-taking app that I extensively use to take notes of the materials, record my ideas, etc. This app also has unique templates to record whatever work you want. These two apps made my life manageable and stress-free, especially during my masters.
