September 2008 Archives

My favorite food is the humble Indian dish: Chaat. Thinking of chaat, itself reminds me of home and the venerable yogurt mix beloved across all of India. Chaat is primarily composed of potato pieces, crispy fried dough, gram bean, spices, onions, corainder (to name a few) and last but not least yogurt. It tastes spicy and savory, sweet and sour and is the mixture is just plain old delicious. While, I am supposed to write about the flavor of IST, you might inquire how chaat enters the equation. The flavor of IST, I believe, is similar to chaat. There is no one objective way to solving problems of the Information Age, and IST attempts to do so by introducing the mixture of the IST triangle (Thanks to Louise's blog for this link). Rather than solve problems by only using either a technological solution, a information-centric solution or a people sided solution why not use all three at the same time to come up with a better one. As an example, digital libraries are attempting to provide a solution to the address the infomation needs for academics. A computer science view would be to provide better ranking solutions and large databases. The IST approach would introduce subtler questions such as:

1. How do I rank the articles subjectively such that rankings are dependent on the user?
2. How can we visualize this information such that the user is able to satisfy his information need better?

I have realized for a while (ever since my Bachelor's in Electronics and Communication Engineering), that research was a logical extension to my goals. At that time, my interest was "Processor Micro architecture". However, on starting my Master's in Electrical Engineering at Penn State, I was unhappy to find that no research group on this area existed. While, this period was one of unhappiness as I was unable to work on what I had thought would be an awesome career in designing super fast microprocessors, I was fortunate to come in contact with Dr. Mitra. My interactions with him made me realize that other research areas such as "Semantic Web", "Digital Libraries" and "Search Engines" were fields that I could contribute to. While, it can be argued that I could do the same research in Computer Science, I have over the course of my past research realized that computer scientists pay little attention to the true user when designing systems. Part of this learning can be attributed to my being present within the IST building during my Master's years, surrounded by I-School converts, interactions with whom effectively constituted towards my baptism to the IST school of thought. To pursue a PhD in IST at Penn State was thus the next logical evolution step.

I would like to point out that my stay at Penn State has been a great experience and it was during this stay that I experienced the shift of Web1.0 to Web 2.0. Further, from a system perspective, I have seen hard drive densities grow from Gigabytes to Terabytes and beyond, i.e., I have understood the shift towards the information age. It is this information explosion paradigm that we, at I-schools, are attempting to conquer. The problem is beyond the scope of a reductionist approach where we divide a problem into a simpler problem (most commonly by removing the subjective that causes chaos in the traditional computer science system). Information, Technology and People are cumulatively a single continuum that must be included together when solving the problem, a goal common among I-schools. This requires a interdisciplinary approach integrating the lessons learned across various departments and schools. For example, as an electrical engineer (an applied scientist believing in a positivist world), I never understood the implications of technology. However, the inclusion of people, for example, into the mix helped me understand technology better. My recent foray into policy design for ICT infrastructure for developing countries such as India, helped me clearly visualize the implications technology has on social change, gender inequality and the economy and required an inclusion of social science into the critical thought process. In my view, I-schools will help create the next generation of scholars ready to tackle new problems that will be identified as we transition to a completely network-centric world.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." Albert Einstein.

I think this statement probably sums up why I do what I do.

Whoa, a question to which does an answer exist? Can one answer this question unbiasedly? However, I shall make an endeavor to do so.

On meeting me for the first time, it is obvious that I am an Indian. A city kid who has lived since 10 in and near one of the oldest continually inhabited cities (Delhi) in the world and was born in India's biggest metropolis (Bombay/ Mumbai). Multicultural, having lived across naval bases throughout India. Ironically, this son of a naval commander can't swim which can get tricky since I love boats (motorboats, kayaks, submarines) and ships (warships, carriers etc.) since I was old enough to walk on one which literally coincided with the time I started to walk. I love reading books and creative writing, passions instilled within me by my mother though I continually lament my inability to allocate sufficient time to these endeavors.

My first love is computers, which to this day is probably the reason why my friends can't figure out how come I always seem to have a new computer which never slows. Graphics cards, hard drives, processors and chip sets are things that I forever research. I love watching MAC and PC users showing their hate for each other with a smile on my face as "*nix Rules the Network and Servers". I hope to one day have a supercomputer in my basement, though probably, I will have to foreclose my home after the first month's electric bill.

I am talkative which seems to be my biggest flaw (The String Theory Fiasco in Dr. Giles IST 501 class is something thrown into my face forever) but it is also a reason my friends and I aren't corrupted by satellite TV. Last but not the least, discussing politics, philosophy, knowledge management and computers are things that you do not want to discuss with me especially if you are in a hurry.
 

"None of the books or photographs studied before leaving home had even slightly prepared me for such majesty. Truly this is something that does have to be seen to be believed, and that once seen must be continually yearned for when left behind, becoming as incurable a fever of the spirit as malaria is of the body." - Dervla Murphy on seeing the Himalayas.

The himalayan ("the abode of snow" from hima "snow" and ālaya "abode") mountain range are synonymous for their majestic beauty and sheer stature. I am one of the lucky few for whom it is synonymous for their education. College for me began at 1801 m (approx 7000 feet) above sea level at G. B. Pant Engineering college where I received my education in Electronics and Communication engineering.