Shreya Makkar - Purdue University

Hii! I’m Shreya Makkar, a fourth year undergraduate in Chemical Engineering. Throughout my journey at IITB I developed an interest for core chemical concepts and their applications in numerous domains. This made me pursue research right from my second year which progressed towards finding a research internship in my third year summer. I interned under Professor Doraiswami Ramkrishna (Prof. Ramki for short) at Purdue University.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have been selected had it not been for the seniors that did an internship under Prof. Ramki before me. Jyotirmoy Roy and Akshat Zalte had interned under him in 2021 and 2022 respectively and their work and discipline encouraged Prof. Ramki to consider me as an intern in his group. Research has always been fascinating for me. The way we take a problem and try to make a story out of it is a diligent, tiring but a very inspiring process. You get to spend time building your knowledge first by reviewing what other people have already done and then try to build up on their stories, or make a new one altogether. The process is long and one has to be patient, which I learned this summer. In July 2022, I started making a database of all the professors I’d like to work under and in August I emailed them asking if they would be interested in offering me a summer internship. I’m sure there are multiple ‘Apping guides’ out there by our beloved seniors which will tell you how to navigate this process, so I’ll jump straight to the disappointments I came across. Half of the professors I emailed didn’t reply, the ones which did mostly said something along the lines of ‘We do not have enough funding for international students’. There were opportunities for online internships but I knew that wasn’t the experience I was looking for. I remained patient and kept emailing more professors. Then after a reminder email in mid September, Prof. Ramki replied saying that he would like to have a discussion. That was SUCH a relief! In our discussion he asked me about my projects and explained what his group does. After that I talked to Sana, a Ph.D. student in his group who explained what my project in summer would be.

The reading for the project started way before summer. I thought it would be a good idea to start early so that I could use the two months in summer efficiently. My project dealt with cybernetic modeling. It is a technique for modeling biological systems, using control variables and objectives. For example, when we get a mosquito bite, some part of our skin gets inflamed. Now, what triggered the inflammation? Production of some species would have to be increased more than its nominal amount, which species is that? What is the objective of this controlled process? These are some of the questions cybernetic modeling addresses, mathematically.

My work involved heavy usage of MATLAB for coding the problem and application of theoretical knowledge. I had to fit time series data in the model so that I could see a switch in the system from pro inflammatory response to anti inflammatory response. It was challenging to tune the parameters so as to get the desired response and then expand the model to include the effects of multiple metabolites.

The work was needless to say, tiring and exhausting, frustrating at times. Unlike a corporate internship, there are no fixed hours in which you work. I was free to do my work from anywhere so sometimes I would go to the department and most of the times the cafes on the campus. Sana used to be available for any doubts or hiccups I faced, both academic and non academic. We used to meet regularly to discuss the progress and then have baklava on our way back to our apartments. Simulations take a bunch of trial and error, intelligent guesses on what the graphs are showing to draw inferences from it. That’s why Sana encouraged me to read a lot during my internship to gather as much context I can. Since I was not acquainted with biology that much it was a bit of a speedbump learning Immunobiology. But that helped me understand the math more since now I knew what to expect and look for errors. Sana and Prof. Ramki also taught me how to be patient with research, and that building something meaningful takes time.

The university has a huge campus and there is much to explore. But, the downside of a summer internship in a university is that most of the people (undergraduates especially) are home and the campus is almost empty. Thus, it used to get lonely sometimes, trying to socialize with empty buildings. It also made me aware of my individuality, making me more independent in the process. Going from living in dual occupancy in H15 to having a single room in an apartment of 4 people was certainly a jolt. I would spend my day sitting on the floor of my housemate’s room because I had separation anxiety from not having a roommate. All four of us would make special lunch on Saturdays and invite people over. This sense of community was certainly soothing.

Towards the end of the internship I had to give a final presentation on the work I had done. I know that I am not good at public speaking and making presentations. But Sana helped me a lot in that through her constructive criticism and taking mocks before the final thing. Working is just one aspect of research, one has to be able to present it in a convincing way so that your conclusions are believable.

Apart from working on the weekdays, I explored a bunch of cities nearby. I attended a Boygenius concert in Chicago, stayed in a cute BnB in Cincinnati, saw live jazz music in Indianapolis and went for a wine tasting in Bloomington. All in all, it was a very enriching experience. One just has to be patient and trust the process both during the apping and the actual internship. I have omitted the boring logistics in this blog but you can reach out to me anytime to know about it. I’m available for any other queries related to university internships too!