u/Connect_Plastic_2406

Date: 14th Feb(Best Valentine so far!!!)
Venue: Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels

This was my second interview of this season after Bangalore, so quite nervous and obviously sitting for my dream college, experience was surreal!

After doc verification, panels were announced and we were called for AWT round.
I have practised 7-8 AWTs beforehand, so i was quite ready with the format and framework and have read about logical fallacies(must read for AWT) to counter and support the argument. We got time of 20 mins to think and write.

Topic: Some case study on Gig Economy and concerns of workers.

Then I waited for my turn and that wait for 60 odd minutes was the longest hour i have spent in my life. Meanwhile I kept on revising the notes I have made about IIMA(alumni, startups, meaning of logo, establishment and its history).

Then the moment came "____, please come in".

There were two male professors sitting inside, both of them in late 40s or early 50s.

P1: what is meaning of your name ?
Me: Told in detail, explaining both the root words.
P1: So how is it related to you ?
Me: Related it to my personal experiences in line with the meaning of it. Also told the popular mahabharat tale related to King _____(breadcrumb).
P1: Then why was Bharat(India) named after Bharata?
Me: Explained the mythological significance.

P1: Ok, Tell me about yourself ?
Me: Prepared answer here.
P1: During your time at NIT Hamirpur, what were the places you used to visit & hangouot in Himachal.
Me: Told about Dharamshala and Bir.
P1: what about late evenings or birthday parties?
Me: There are few restaurants and bars near to college, like Belgium cafe, Chopra residency and HHH.
P1: What was the first thing you observed when you enter Chopra residency?
Me: I started explaining the layout of Chopra for different floors, but interrupted.
P1: No, No, what is the first thing you observe before entering Chopra.
Me: Parking and reception.
P1: No, there are beer brewing machines placed outside the main gate.
Me: No sir, in our time there were no such machines, they might have removed them.
P1: When i visited there are two big machines there.
(during this discussion both panelists were laughing and the environment was pretty chill, calmness before the storm ? Maybe yes)
P2: So you dont drink beer ?

Me: No sir
P2: Why? Any cultural reason or family pressure?
Me: No sir. It will affect my athletic performance and my game as well. And i have observed this in my close circles as well.
P2: explain what is this EDM and why you have made this ?(my major project mentioned in TMAY)
Me: Started explaining my major project with structure being: objectives, mechanism(IoT, Arduino and motors) and results(MRR and surface roughness).
P2: Assume we dont know anything about EDM or machining, explain that way and use the paper to explain.
Me: Drew the diagram of conventional EDM and then explained in detail about current flow, spark gap and MRR.
P2: how does the electrons flow and what is the role of dielectric fluid ?
Me: Explained
P2: Ok, so why you have made this, as this is already available in market.
Me: Gave two reasons: first one is cost effective becuase of relative motion being provided by workpiece and second reason is our department only having Z-direction machining setup, so enhanced it for X and Y direction.
P2(unsatisfied): So the results are better than conventional EDM ?
Me: We have achieved the MRR of 0.01 gm/min and Surface roughness of 10um(micrometer), but not at par with conventional EDM machines available in market.
P2: what is the point of making, when the results are not significant. ?
Me: Sir results are significant considering the amount of money and time we have put, and it can be improved with setup enhancement and high precision stepper motors.

(both unsatisfied, but laughing with sarcasm)

P1: what is the difference between chinaman and googly ?
Me: Explained
P1: (started asking in depth about googly) why the offspin is called googly, it's upto the bowler which bowl he wants to bowl. What is offspin and legspin?
Me: told them difference with hand gestures and if any legspinner bowls offspin to surprise the batsman then its googly.
P1: why dont we call that delivery an offspin, instead of googly?
Me: Because it meant to suprise the batsman and googly word means "surprise"
(P1 seemed satisfied)
P1: Name two chinaman bowlers.
Me: Kuldeep and Shamsi.
P1: what is the science principle behind Seam bowling?
Me: Explained bernolli's principle and how it forces bowl to move in air.
P1: Explain it with diagram.
Me: Made three cases: Swing with new ball(with seam position tilted), conventional swing(one side shiny and other rough), reverse swing and explained all three cases with bernolli's principle.
P1: any other application of bernolli's principle.
Me: upthrust in airplane due to design, creating pressure differences on top and bottom of airplane.
P1: make diagram and then explain.
Me: started making diagram, interrupted

P2:(laughingly) i thought my drawing is bad only, but there are other people as well with bad drawing.
Me: Completed diagram and explained. (a bit of followup questions, i dont remember those)
P2: how do trains steer at curves and not loose contact with rails ?

Me: due to coning of wheels
P2: make diagram and then explain

Me: tried to make diagram but couldn't make the accurate one with front view(they asked for front view).
P2: made the correct diagram of wheel profile and explained himself.
P2: why do not we fall off while taking sharp turns on plain roads ?
Me: we incline our vehicle to counter the centrifugal force experienced while turning.
P2: make diagram.
Me: (blunder here) started countering the centripetal force, instead of reaction force on vehicle, so messed up in diagram.
P2: no worries, thank you for your time.
Me: Thank you so much sir.

Overall it was mix of both, chill and stress interview. I was surprised that not even a single question on work experience. They tried to test me on depth of concepts and almost every question was asked to be answered with diagram. I ended up filling two A4 pages with diagrams only.

Verdict: Converted

Feel free to ask anything