Why it’s important to Aim high

Parth Goel, a Year 11 student at Dubai College, is an avid mathematician having represented the UAE at international Olympiads. He is also a computer science enthusiast who interned at a SaaS company and completed research projects.

Passionate about technology and the future, he learnt Python and JavaScript, and developed small apps and programs. ‘‘What really helped fuel this growing passion was realising how projects could be run immediately and I could see tangible outcomes,’’ he says.

A competitive debater for over 5 years, he has won multiple awards and is now a mentor to over 40 students. He is also part of the UAE national debate team. Parth is also a talented musician having won the Young Musicians of the Gulf award for Best Plucked String Instrumentalist. He has worked on some small-scale projects in robotics with Arduino, an open-source prototyping platform, and built a model that identifies cervical fractures from houndreds of CT images.

Excerpts from an interview:

Tell us about the courses you did in Deep Learning.

This summer I took an undergraduate-level course by the University of California in San Diego which took me through the theory and practical skills behind most modern forms of deep learning. This course highlighted the vast nature of this niche field and the fast-paced evolution of emerging technologies.

What were the 3 biggest takeaways from taking such a course?

This taught me the importance of practical experience and skills. Knowing how to implement ideas in real life is arguably more important when it comes to materializing real-world impacts.

Next, the need to constantly innovate with change.

And last, on the more technical side, this course opened my eyes to the possibilities of deep learning and its wide-ranging applications.

Tell us a little about AIM. What led you to set this up?

All of this inspired me to create AIM where we are able to achieve the best of both worlds at no cost to participants.

AIM provides a platform where budding AI engineers can connect with experienced high-school mentors to learn from them side-by-side while building projects that will go on to create social impacts. Students can sign-up at www.ai-mentors.com for free! By signing up, you will have access to one-on-one mentoring and will be able to create tangible projects alongside a thriving community of developers.

How did you set this up?

We started with a lot of research into what is really needed in today’s world and how we can uniquely cater to this need.

There has been a lot of code-writing packaged with the process including writing sample code snippets for newcomers and more advanced samples as well.

3 tips for students who may want to set up a similar initiative.

Be extremely clear about what you are trying to achieve and keep it relevant and unique.

Assemble a strong and dedicated team. I found a team of 5: Byunghoon, Rushabh, Ayan, Aadi, and I to be a great fit since we all have strong complementary skillsets that promote different perspectives and ideas.

Finally, create a strong timeline and stick to it. Overly ambitious timelines, though, will be hard to follow and create frustration when they are often not met.

What is your dream career and what steps are you taking to realise it?

An entrepreneur. Creating an impact through technology is something I strive to do.

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