User:Shilpas.2015

Shilpa Suresh

SMU email: shilpas.2015@sis.smu.edu.sg
Facebook: Shilpa Suresh
Academic Year: 3 
Degree: Information Systems
2nd Major: Analytics (Advanced Technology)
Positions held:

• HR Director for Whitehat Society (2015-16)
• Liaison Director for SICS (2015-16)
• Sponsorship Director for TEDxSingaporeManagementUniversity2016
• Technical Team - Project Everest Cambodia (2016)

Why Join TSM Silicon Valley?

What motivates you to join TSM?

Study Missions provide a great opportunity to purely study and understand how multiple facets of a Tech City amalgamate and work in a holistic way. Exploring and understanding the best and the newest in the field cannot be paralleled by anything else.

Why pick Silicon Valley?

Silicon Valley has been Tech heartland for almost as long as the technology space took shape. In a way, the spirit and innovation of the area shaped our lives as we know it today. The people who live and work here are in a sense creating the future. Understanding the spirit of the Valley and the people in it is something that no amount of technical education can replace.

Are you willing to undertake an internship?

Definitely. Doing an internship in Silicon Valley will provide me with an invaluable learning opportunity and much needed exposure to the best and the brightest in the world.

Role in the trip: Outreach or Itinerary Planning

Starting a business

What types of business interest you?

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:

• B2B AI and Machine Learning Tools to automate and improve production processes in mainly manufacturing and core engineering industries. Producing highly efficient AI manufacturing processes, when used widely will bring us one step closer to solving the world's outsourcing and labour shortage issues.
• B2C tools that make the life of the average Joe a LOT easier through intelligent automation and simplification of tasks that we would rather hire someone else to do

What plan do you have in starting a business?

I am currently a passive 'partner' at my parent's textile trading company. Ever since we started the company 5 years ago, I have helped out with tasks that suited my capabilities at the age I was at. These days, I mostly provide thoughts on major decisions and help in managing the Singapore branch.

My business ideas require better technical knowledge and experience on my part and I want to wait until I am better equipped to start a business - both skill-wise and money-wise. Building a strong-lasting business is very important to me.

Meanwhile, I'm learning and practicing ML concepts both in and out of Uni.

Past Experiences

• I interned at the UOB-SMU Asian Enterprise Institute where I undertook an IT-systems leveraged BPE project at an interior design start-up and I absolutely loved the experience. Working closely with the founders helped me a lot with understanding the demands and the exhilaration that comes with a start-up.
• I did my OCSP with an organisation that sets up social enterprises in developing nations and I worked on the prototyping and ground research phase of their project to create an e-learning platform to teach English.

What keeps you ticking?

• New, interesting (and often random) things
• Dabbling with code from research projects! I love implementing code for some cool papers like the recent StackGAN paper
• I love watching documentaries and reading about historical events, interesting countries and the paranormal. Currently watching Buzzfeed Unsolved but past topics of interest include the Wars of the Roses, Catherine the Great of Russia, the Ottomans, Isabella of France, Ethiopia, Armenia and Israel among other random, weird things.