Artwork by Rashi Jain
From conversation on:
Sep 20, 2022
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The talks about computer science as a discipline that’s absolutely hot in trend are all-pervasive. Of course, for the right reasons, for the most part, the field spans across the major pillars of our everyday life and forms an inescapable basis of our present society. We deep dive with Prof. Debayan Gupta, Assistant Professor at Ashoka University currently, on these ideas that span across a vast arena, as do his interests. In this conversation where Prof. Gupta eloquently puts across the brilliance and beauty of the discipline, in context with the wider world and personal understanding thereof, the insights make for a compelling case to ask newer questions in the contemporary world to make sense of this changing playground. We talk about the ideas of computer science that derive from mathematics, and core logic at heart, flowing into beautiful applications such as encryption, cryptography, and digital (well, almost real) privacy. Sit back and immerse yourself in the ideas that are almost reminiscent of the words by Bill Watterson, “To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed and I think you’ll be happier for the troubleâ€, in the playfully put the context of the 21st-century world experienced from behind the screens.
Research, by definition, is (about) stepping into the dark, combined with the ability to accept numerous failures... To me real research is about doing something, knowing that everything can fail, everything can fall apart - but having the guts to say that I will step into the dark - everything could fail, I can handle that... But if it doesn't - man am I going to end up with something amazing!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Prof. Debayan Gupta Assistant Professor, Ashoka University, Sonipat.
Dr. Debayan Gupta completed his Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from St. Xavier’s College Calcutta, following which, he went on to Yale University and completed his Ph.D. in computer science, working with Prof. Joan Feigenbaum. He has held an extraordinary faculty position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and currently is an Assistant Professor at the Ashoka University, while also being a visiting professor and research associate at MIT. An expert in the fascinatingly vast field of computer science, Dr. Debayan Gupta works on multifarious problems that attack real-world applications, and primary research interests include secure computation, cryptography, and privacy. His interests span equally far and wide in a diverse arena including number theory, complexity theory, robotics, and machine learning, spanning up to World War ideas, carpentry, economics, and more, which he eloquently brings together in his conversations, putting in context in the larger picture and a deeply moving, personal understanding, alike. The veins of his academic work can also be interpreted as inspirations from these ambitious alleyways of crazy ideas, that also find expressions and engagements in forms of his involvement with numerous start-ups, and advisory roles for multiple companies that deal with adapting to the modern world of digital exposition and cyber-risks.