Working at SDSLabs (10)
The Initial Launch
Being a non-coder during my school days, I had never expected to be a part of one of the most technical groups of the campus. It was in July 2014, when I was first introduced to SDSLabs via their famous JEE listing. It was then that I knew it would be awesome working in this group. I got in SDSLabs in January 2015, after an interview that lasted half an hour at 3 in the morning (Yes, in the morning!) during the campus recruitments that year. I never thought I’d get selected considering the fact that I accepted in my interview that I had no prior experience in development. And this is one misconception everyone needs to get over. To be in SDSLabs, you only need to be eager to learn.
The First Few Days
After all the glamour and appreciation faded away, came the time to start developing and learning. January was filled with tonnes of lectures on web development. I remember in particular a lecture on php that took 6 long hours to finish, after a 9-5 schedule of classes that day. But it was always fun. It was the first time that I was interacting with seniors with such freedom and it was a wonderful experience altogether. All this was followed by picking up our own projects and start working on some real life applications.
The Technology
Right after joining SDSLabs I was introduced to technologies like git, node, scala, jquery, laravel, lumen, three.js and many more. These opened up an entirely new world of technology for me, being a complete newbie in these things. I shifted to Ubuntu, one of the best OS you could have. I learned game development, creative arts, design as well as web development along my journey.
Srishti
In March arrived Srishti, the cultural festival of the Hobbies Club. I took up a project on 3-D projection mapping called “Kakashi” and remember missing all my classes and sleeping in lab for 3 consecutive days at that time. It was the most interesting time I had in lab. The project involved shooting all of the lab members singing “Animals” by Maroon 5, and projecting them on 3-D face maps for an exotic virtual feel. We demoed the google cardboard, made games on the Leap motion device and had a lot of fun along the way. That was the most exciting time I had that semester.
The Trip
Exactly one week before the mid terms, we planned to go to Rishikesh for the Epic Lab Trip. I have to say it was the best time I had in IITR by far. Late night bonfire and Mafia was followed by Rafting in the morning. The interaction level boosted and we all became a part of a family after this trip.
The People
At SDSLabs, I got to meet some of the most creative minds at IITR. The level of interaction is immense and you get to meet people working on every field in Computer Science and Technology. The Kandoi sessions, teasing Sopan, body tips from Aditya, GSoC tips from vampire, the Aps and Divij Chicken Chapos and the Palai Gyan have all made the journey more and more special along the way. Lab has been the most interesting time that I had at IITR and I can’t imagine my life at IITR without these people.
The Farewell
Bidding seniors off good bye is always hard but is fun too. We made sdslabs.co/farewell in half an hour, made individual invitation cards and made the whole experience memorable.
Recruitment
SDSLabs will be recruiting in January. If you want to be a part of Lab you can find further details here. And remember you only need to be eager to learn to get into lab.
“Stay hungry, Stay Foolish!”