2021T2 VirtualTSM/Participant Information/Shurti Thirunaukrarasu
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About Shurti Thirunaukrarasu
SMU email: shurtit.2017@sis.smu.edu.sg
Linkedin:LinkedIn
Academic Year: 4
Degree: Bachelor of Science (Information Systems)
Major: Digital Business Solutioning
Why Virtual TSM?
- What motivates you to join TSM?.
1. I believe TSM provides a good platform to test run ideas and this opportunity will allow me to test the feasibility of ideas that I may have.
2. It would be a stepping stone for me to pursue my technopreneurial dreams.
3. I would like to meet like minded individuals, to learn from and network with since a key part of entrepreneurship is networking.
4. Such experiences are where most of the learning takes places and I would want to be exposed to this opportunity to pick up as many skills and learning points as possible from the team, companies and prof before I graduate.
5. The cultural exposure and different way of looking at a business and IT problem is something I am intrigued by as well since the program is based in another country (virtually).
- Where would you like to visit virtually?
I would like to visit Canada. Canada has been picking up in recent years in terms of technopreneurship. As a culturally diverse country with a growing tech talent pool and a good access to venture capital, it makes quite a hospitable environment for start-ups. I have observed the increase in Canadian tech-based companies thriving well and especially contributing to the stock market. I therefore believe there are plenty of learning opportunities, especially with Toronto and Quebec doing very well in the ICT sector.
Starting a business
- What types of business interest you?
1. Fitness or food related businesses where I can incorporate technology. I believe that entrepreneurs help solve a lot of problems and I have always wanted to contribute to the improvement of people’s health and wellbeing.
2. Consulting based business with the focus on business process improvements are also interesting to me as digital transformation has become a key part of many companies in today’s age.
However, I am open to any exposure as I would love to gather knowledge and experience from as many businesses/industries as possible and am thus not fixated on a specific business.
- What plan do you have in starting a business?
The idea that I had in mind was in the fitness sector. Fitness has and will always be a huge part of my life. I have personally underwent a rather unhealthy way of losing weight previously and realized that many have the perception that eating less = losing weight. I wanted to share what I learnt with others in the sense that it is more so on what you intake and in what quantity. I had plans of developing a technological solution that is able to analyse, based on a body scan, what the person lacks in. For instance, upon detecting a lack in iron, the solution should recommend the person to eat more iron-based food and/or provide recipes from online sites. At the same time, the solution should be able to make updated recommendations to the user as the user changes fitness goals or if the user’s internal nutritional balance changes. This would in a way require a bit of artificial intelligence to create neural links to understand the best recommendations the app can provide the user with.
To realise my dreams I have started out with the following:
- Attended many networking events (in and out of SMU)
- Participated in business pitching and case competitions
- Interned at a firm that handles multiple clients and embraces technology
- Learnt how to invest, to analyse different companies and strategies they take up in a volatile environment
Past Experiences
- Business Technology Analyst at Accenture (Jun 2020 – Aug 2020)
- Application Software Engineer at Accenture (May 2019 – Jul 2019)
- Designed Thinking 1.0 certified by Gnowbe (Jun 2019)
- User-Centric Interface Design for Mobile Devices certified by Gnowbe (Jun 2019)
- SMU Real Business (Entrepreneur Club) President (May 2018 – Jun 2019)
- Clinched 3rd prize in SMU Real Business Weekend 2018 (Business pitching competition) (Feb 2018)
- Represented SMU & SG in Asian Student Venture Forum (Business pitching competition) (Dec 2017 – Apr 2018)
- Developed an RPA solution with UiPath and machine learning capabilities for PSA (Jan 2020 – Oct 2020)
- Participant of Future-X Hackathon & GCOO Case Competition (June 2019 – Aug 2019)
- Developed marketing strategies for Love, Bonito & SunPlay (Sept 2016 – Mar 2017)
What keeps you ticking?
The passion to keep learning, expanding my horizons and not having any regrets. I look forward to new experiences and challenges always. And lastly, having fun throughout the learning process!