My first semester at IIT Kanpur (so far)

A mid-semester look back at orientation, B. Cyber, Hall life, clubs, Takneek and Udghosh.

I'm home for my midsem break which started right after Udghosh. First semester isn't over, this is just a week off in the middle of it.

Four months since I got here and I'm still figuring out where everything is.

Getting here

I'm Shubham Shrivastav, cybersecurity undergrad in B. Cyber at IIT Kanpur. Our batch got the opportunity to meet Professor Manindra Agrawal, and that feels like the beginning of all this.

B. Cyber is a new undergraduate program run by IIT Kanpur's Wadhwani School of AI and Intelligent Systems. The first two years are coursework on campus, and the next two are internships, mostly with selected government organisations. Admission is not through JEE Advanced. Shortlisting is based on JEE Main scores and evidence of prior work in cybersecurity, followed by a test and an in-person hackathon at IITK. The test covers cryptography, web security, API security, network security, reverse engineering, and OSINT.

More about the program here: https://iitk.ac.in/wsais/b-cyber.php

Orientation

Orientation was late July. Auditorium talks, club stalls, random projects on display. A few weeks later there was DJ Night on campus. By end of August I'd moved into my Hall. New faces, new rooms, trying not to get lost on the way to class.

Hall life

Hall life has been the best part. I met people I'd only known online before coming here, and I got to meet Pankaj, Rajwant, and Sachin Sir at the OAT. Got closer with seniors and Hallmates, celebrated a few birthdays, and the Hall actually started feeling like home.

Classes

The first semester is not only cybersecurity. Introduction to Electronics and Fundamentals of Computing covers C programming. Fundamentals of Data Engineering starts with Python at an advanced level, then moves to libraries like NumPy, Pandas and Tkinter. Practical Ethics rounds it out. The Malware Analysis lab was postponed to the next semester. From there the specialization ramps up, with Applied Cryptography, Data Structures and Algorithms, Computer Organization, and a Digital Forensics lab.

Stuff outside class

It’s not all about academics, either. I also attended random club events, participated in Takneek, the inter-hall competition, and joined the Antaragni F1 Prefest before the main cultural fest.

Then Udghosh hit right before the break. IITK's sports fest, campus was buzzing. Good way to close out the first half of the semester before heading home.

What's next

Back home for the break now but looking forward to getting back to campus. First semester's still going and there's more to come.

Curious about B. Cyber or life at IITK? I'll be posting a blog about it soon.