Sooraj Narayan

This is the page for you if you are trying to get to know about me outside of my academic experience. Several other interesting experiences I have had thus far have been shared below. Hope to keep piling on more such experiences in the future and hopefully also record some other past ones I have been too lazy to put in words yet. Also, this is as much for myself to pen down my experiences as much as it is for sharing with everyone else.

Raftar Formula Racing

Formula Student is a global design and business strategy event where students design and build formula-style racecars that compete against each other on the track and outside. It is the largest student engineering event in the world.I was involved with IIT-Madras' formula student team - Raftar Formula Racing in different capacities over the course of nearly 3 years of my undergraduate study.

My first role was as Suspensions Engineer with me responsible for manufacturing the wishbones, the rockers and the entire wheel assembly. I also handled service and maintenance of the bearings, the wheel assemblies in addition to setting the car up for optimal on-track performance. We competed in the first ever Formula Student India in January 2015, where we finished 3rd in the Design event but could not get through to the Dynamics stage affecting our overall performance and finishing 10th.

The following season I became Vehicle Dynamics Lead Engineer, heading a group of 8 in handling the overall design and integration of suspension, steering and brakes divisions. That year, I introduced a 'modular design for manufacture' ethos within the division aimed at improving serviceability as well as simplifying and accelerating the manufacturing process. Hands-on design responsibilities included conceptualizing the kinematics of the steering and suspension based on available tire testing data in order to maximize the tire performance potential. I also put a lot of the mechanics I was learning in the classroom as part of my curriculum into practice as I designed several load-bearing components including wishbones, steering wheel, steering knuckles, wheel hubs and rockers. All this effort into component design bore fruit later, during the competition, with appreciation from the International Design Judges and other competing team crew. On the track, I had devised a testing and tuning program for optimizing car performance, handling and driver feedback. I had also started my stint as driver for the team that year which undoubtedly helped me understand the design and tuning process much better. We competed in Formula Bharat in January 2016 and despite some unexpected roadblocks, we finished 3rd Overall - winning the Efficiency event and finishing 2nd in Endurance event.

The next year, I took up the role of Engineering Lead, heading the team on the technical front. Along with the Team Captain, I was leading a team of 45 odd students managing an overall budget of ~$40k. Together, we laid out the car's design goals and team objectives for the 2016-17 season with us competing in 2 events, one in India and one in Italy, for the first time ever. Throughout the design phase, I ensured the overall seamless integration of the different divisions. I carried several of my ideas from my previous Vehicle Dynamics division into other divisions and in general promoted cross-ideation throughout the team.

That year, I also had the opportunity to be the face of the team to the outside world. As part of the Outreach and Relations team, I had multiple interactions with industry, alumni, Institute offices and Deans securing sponsorship for the team. I was also the lead driver for the year making my on-track feedback an additional necessity for iterating and improving the vehicle set-up. We performed exceptionally well in both competitions that season. We finished 2nd overall, very narrowly behind the winning team, at Formula Bharat in January 2017. In the process we finished 1st in the Endurance & Efficiency and Skidpad events. At Formula Student Italy in July 2017, we finished 15th overall as the best non-European team; a remarkable achievement given our relatively limited resources. We also set the record for the highest efficiency across all global Formula Student competitions at that time.

Inter-IIT Tennis Team

Inter-IIT is the prestigious annual sports meet with IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) from across the country competing against each other. From the time I stepped on campus in my freshman year, playing in the Inter-IIT was close to the top of my to-do lists. In tennis - the sport I played, this was no mean task as I had to be among the best 4 boys among nearly 4000 on campus. The trials throughout the fall semester were quite intense but I did manage to get in the team in my sophomore year to represent IIT-Madras at the 50th Inter-IIT. After an arduous training regimen over the couple of months leading up to the meet, I traveled with the contingent to compete at IIT-Bombay in December 2014. I played the first match for our team at the competition. I do vividly remember being quite nervous at that time with the entire athletic contingent and football teams from the two universities looking on to cheer me and my opponent on the other side of the net. I eked through to the finish line in the end and we won the tie. Although we lost in the quarterfinal that year to the eventual champions, I had an amazing journey going through the whole selection and training process.

Sangam

Sangam is the association of Indian graduate students at MIT. I have been involved with the Sangam board starting in my second year at MIT, first as Vice President and then President in the next year. As part of the board, we organized events monthly to bring together the Indian diaspora on campus.

The flagship event is the annual Diwali Night to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. I attended this event in 2017, the first year I came in and witnessed amazing cultural performances and got treated to a sumptuous Indian dinner. I had volunteered on the day to help the organizing team out and that is how I came in contact with them. In the next year, I decided to become a part of the team. For Diwali Night 2018, I managed the dinner halls -- catering negotiations, finalizing the menu under the budget constraints. I also managed themed decorations for the dinner halls as well as the auditorium where the cultural events were to take place. To see the event go smoothly was satisfying. In the following year as President, I was responsible for delegation across the executive team and overseeing the seamless execution of this entire event. That year, I was involved in the cultural performances side of the event --- invitations for performances, setting up rehearsals, scheduling the cultural show and backstage management. I am immensely proud of having led the executive team of 7 to successfully organize such a large event with a footfall of ~ 600 people and a budget greater than $20k.

Among other monthly events, one other experience that stood out was piecing together a Pre-Orientation program in the summer of 2019. This event was held in India where we invited MIT's incoming graduate students from across the country for a 3-day program involving alumni panels, video conference with Deans at MIT and social outings. The event was targeted to set the students up for life at MIT and to get to know peers in the incoming class before even getting to campus. The positive feedback we received post the event made my trip to India for this worthwhile.

Overall, my biggest takeaway from my experience in Sangam is the people I managed to meet through my time in the executive committee and the really good friends I made.

Quizzing

During middle school and high school, I was very much into quizzing. It all started in 7th grade when all of us at school had to join a club, like a dramatics/arts club, and attend a weekly session. I had an opportunity to interact with teachers and senior students and learnt about school-level quizzing. Towards the end of that academic year, all of us at the quiz club were encouraged to attend the selections for a quiz that was due to take place between my school and its sister schools under the same banner. I did and got selected to be in the 3-membered middle-school team to represent our school. We trained and along with the senior-school team, traveled to the neighboring state for the competition and finished second. After this first taste, I was keen to get more of it because one - it was fun, two - I seemed to be good at it and three - it gave an opportunity to miss classes at school without any repercussions. I very vividly remember many of those experiences I had.

In 2009, along with a friend of mine, who was a fellow sports enthusiast, I managed to win the city-leg of the Deccan Chargers Sports Quiz. For the first time, I saw my face on a newspaper the next morning which was by itself a proud feat, but having won the city-leg we had also qualified for the national-leg where we faced off winners from other cities. This national event was telecasted as a weekly program across the country. This opportunity led to many of my other firsts in life - my first air travel, my first stay at a 5-star hotel, my debut television on-screen appearance. We progressed through the first two rounds in the national face-off before losing in the semi finals.

I have been featured on newspapers on other occasions as well, one of which came for winning the LIMCA Book of World Records Quiz in 2010. It was one of those days where me and my partner were on cue for almost anything that came our way. We led all through the quiz from the prelims down to the last round and deservedly ended up winners.

I have represented my school in at least a dozen national quizzes through middle school and early high school. Those were as much fun day trips with my peers as they were competitions in my recollection. I had to give quizzing up due to all other things I was involved in during my undergrad. But that was for a reason and I would be lying if I said I had too much more than just a sliver of regret I did what I did.

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