Hi, I'm Ritwik, and I'd like your vote for CSESoc Co-president and Arc Delegate

Who am I?

I'm a postgraduate coursework student majoring in AI. My area of interest is robotics, but I'm also very passionate about startups and tech entrepreneurship. I'd like to see Sydney become a hub for great tech companies (like Silicon Valley or New York), and I believe a large part of that comes with university computing students having more opportunities and encouragement to build out their ideas.

Since joining UNSW this semester, I've volunteered in many activities:

• 2010-2011: Writing articles for Beta's tech events
• 2011: CSESoc Tech Head - Ran numerous events e.g Linux Installfests, Deloitte Security Workshop, Google Go Workshop, etc
• 2010-2011: Active CSERevue / MedRevue VFX team member, heading part of the editing team for the Hack To The Future videos.
• Helping out with the CSESoc social team
• Currently working on a robocup related project
• Also taking photographs for some of our events
• Elsewhere: President of the Arc@UNSW Postgraduate Council

Tl;dr - I love taking part in campus life outside the classroom

Why should you vote for me for Co-president

I've been Tech Head this year, and in that role, I've come to appreciate what's great about our society and where it can go. Here's a short list of reasons you should vote me for CSESoc Co-President:

• I have a strong vision for where CSESoc has an opportunity to grow. Read about my vision for CSESoc here.
• I have experience being on on the Exec/Heads team this year
• I have been President of the PGC this year, which has honed my organisational skills, and my ability to motivate and manage a team of passionate volunteers, focusing their energy in a useful direction
• I have attended many tech events (at CSE and elsewhere) and built useful networks of contacts that will come in handy when looking for sponsors and setting up interesting events.
• I'm approachable and I have a lot of passion for CSESoc that I can focus to net us some major sponsorship money (to run our great events).

Why should you vote for me for Arc Delegate

This year, I've been a President of the Postgraduate Council at Arc (and served on the Board of Directors). As such:

• I know the constitution [very] well
• I understand their processes well (I have been in several grant approval and club affiliation meetings). I understand the motivations for many of their decisions.
• I have built friendships and relationships there that will help ensure that CSESoc is always on the ball with anything happening at Arc.
• I will continue on the Postgraduate Council next year, so all these advantages will just increase as time goes by.
• I helped the current Arc Delegate (Dan) this year whenever he needed extra advice on Arc matters (which admittedly was not that often, he did a great job)

I'm very active with Arc and thus I bring a unique understanding of Arc, that would make me a great Arc Delegate (did I use the word "Arc" enough times in that sentence?).

My vision/hopes for CSESoc's Growth

I believe that we have a fantastic society that students from other schools can be envious of. We've had a great year this year, running events almost weekly, and really bringing out the passion in our members, especially the first years. Still, we have an amazing opportunity to grow this club further. Unlike some other clubs, we can't aim for more members, so here's what I believe we should aim for:

• Being a leader in technology: We're the Computer Science and Engineering Society, and I believe we should be leading other clubs in terms of our use of current technology to solve our problems. I've already started some work with Max (current Sysadmin head) and Sam to develop applications that will allow us to get rid of the paper sign in for events. I've even pitched this to Arc and gotten very positive feedback. This is just one example where we can lead the pack in finding great solutions for common club problems, and I want us to encourage this.
• Being an incubator for student ideas: We have the talent and the great ideas here. Look across the founders of Australia's greatest Tech startups and no university is as well represented as UNSW. Yet many of them only started their entrepreneurial work well after uni. I want CSESoc to be similar to the computer science clubs of Stanford, MIT and other tech oriented universities, i.e, hotbeds of innovation where future founders meet and work together on their first prototypes. We have the tools, the passionate students and the great ideas. It's time for CSESoc to be the place where they come together. It's time for CSESoc to be the student club that they'll talk about when they try to understand how Sydney became a Tech Haven.
• Meeting the needs of our smaller groups: We currently have great events that cater to the general interest of students. Now it's time to expand and address the needs of the rest. I want to look at the students who aren't actively part of the society, who don't attend our events, and understand what we could do to engage them and make CSESoc a great society for all CSE students.
• Encouraging postgrad participation in the society: CSESoc has been an important part of my time here as a postgrad, without which I'm certain I wouldn't have had as much fun during my degree, nor met as many interesting people. I'd like to encourage more postgrads to experience this by trying to tailor some events to them. This would then enable postgrads from the different labs to get to know each other and build friendships and networks throughout the school. Having worked on the Postgrad Council and run initiatives to engage postgrads across campus, I believe I have the experience to make this happen.

I believe CSESoc is the best club on campus. But, I also believe by expanding in these areas, we can be more than just "another good club". We can become a club that inspires some of the brightest minds in Australia and helps shape the Sydney tech scene. Help me achieve this vision by voting for me.