Ishani Chatterjee - ECE PhD Student of the Month - December 2021
Ishani Chatterjee successfully defended her dissertation defense on December 1, 2021. She worked under the guidance of Professor Mengchu Zhou, Distinguished Professor. Her research is in Natural Language Processing, Big Data, Optimization Models, and Data Analytics. Her research topic directly relates to the Sentiment Analysis of customer reviews focusing on online retail stores like Amazon. She has published papers in journals such as IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, Entropy, etc., and a reviewer of technical papers for WF-IOT 2021, IEEE Access 2020. She completed her MS in Computer Engineering from NJIT in 2017. As a student leader she served as the treasurer of NJIT’s Graduate Student Association (GSA) for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.
What attracted you to NJIT?
I was accepted for the master’s program in Computer Engineering at NJIT. I had acceptance letters from other schools too, but what caught my attention was that NJIT had a solid research environment. After my orientation, I recall looking up the list of the faculties, and I was amazed by their achievements and accomplishments. That is when I decided I would like to pursue my doctoral studies here.
What do you think would be an impactful move in your research area?
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is no longer just the future. It’s already here, and it’s essential to understand how NLP is being applied in various industries and how it’s shaping our future. With the increasing amount of data generated every day, NLP will become more critical to make sense of the data and use it in many other applications. Chances are, you’ve already been using some of the most powerful NLP applications but are not yet aware of that, like Google Translate, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant. NLP has changed the way we interact with computers, and it’ll continue to do so in the future. These AI technologies will be the underlying force for transformation from data-driven to intelligence-driven initiatives as they shape and improve communication technology in the years to come.
If you have been a Teaching Assistant, please describe your teaching experience.
I was fortunate enough to have served as a Teaching Assistant and occasionally substitute lecturers for several undergraduate and graduate-level courses. I was a TA for Professor Durgamadhab Misra, Professor Ratna Raj, and Professor Mohammed Feknous. They taught me how to interact with students and make them comfortable but at the same time how to put my point firmly. Ms. Teri Bass ushed me out of my comfort zone to teach classes which played an important role in my personality development. One of my favorite TA duties included ECE 291, Electrical Engineering Lab. My responsibilities included designing course materials, conducting laboratory sessions, grading exam papers, and interacting and guiding students as a course instructor and mentor. Professor Marek Sosnowski had been confident enough to give us all the liberty to conduct the class as we liked. I was honored that student considered me an approachable person and asked me for help in professional and personal issues.
What is the most mesmerizing moment(s) during your time at NJIT?
I have spent more than 6 years of my life at NJIT. When I left my home, I came directly here for my master’s. So, it’s like my home away from home. The first on-campus job I got was a graduate assistantship in Dean of Students and Campus Life. Everyone there, especially Dean Marybeth Boger, Dean Sharon Morgan, Ms. Shyron Edwards, and Ms. Shakera Rodger, was welcoming. They taught me how to be confident, carry myself, and to be a top rated professional. They also introduced me to the new traditions such as Thanksgiving in USA and their importance in having a professional and personal balance. Then I got involved with GSA, and Dr. Sotirios Ziavras and Ms. Clarisa Gonzalez helped me wherever I needed from them. They appreciated my work a lot which motivated me to improve myself constantly. They were and are my support system always. I am fond of so many memories and people that it isn’t easy to point out one especially. NJIT has been an excellent experience.
Where do you hope to see yourself in five years?
The acceleration in the advancement of data driven AI is advancing at a pace which was not imaginable 5 years ago. With this rapid change it is very hard to predict how the next 5 years will look like. I just hope I play a significant role in the evolution of these data driven advancements.
Offer a tip and share some experience on how to do a good job on public speaking.
There was a time when I used to have my heart racing like a train anytime I used to have my presentations. Professor Mengchu Zhao and Professor Durgamadhab Misra helped me understand why this used to happen. It was really the fear of being wrong or judged by my fellow colleagues. Every time I was about to speak, I had this fear in the back of my head that what if I make a mistake. With the help of my professors, I realized that even if I stutter or make a mistake in front of a live crowd it really was okay. Mistakes are a part of life, and we must embrace and learn from them. If you go with the thought that you are really having a conversation rather than a speech it will slowly start feeling like you are talking to your own family and friends, and no one will ever judge you.