Research, Thesis and the Master’s Degree

Whew…thesis almost over! just got to finish writing the thesis now…done with all the coding and simulations.

1.5 years of effort which actually followed the 80/20 principle as far as work was concerned… i could manage to do only 20% of the work in the first 80% of the time and I did the real work (80%) in just 20% of the remaining time. I guess that reaffirms it as a universal principle now. So let’s see how and why that happened.

Research in the field of networking, and more specifically in the field of wireless networking…and even more specifically in the area of wireless ad hoc networks is really a very promising and booming in terms of the amount of money and innovations done. So how did that become the reason ? Well…simply put, something that is touched by so many people is bound to divert you in all possible directions. Looking for an unexplored area when 9/10th of the area is already explored and beaten to death, understanding that itself takes so much time, that by the end of it you are too exhausted to think anything new.

I must have read a zillion research articles, journals, papers etc just to find out that ‘it’s already done’. Not until 80% of the time was over that I could see the some light at the other end of the tunnel. Finally shooting in the dark seemed to have paid off. But again, adviser has to be convinced that its credible enough area to be able to publish a paper in. Another problem!! then try and read up a zillion other papers around that idea. Now what? Adviser and I cook up a ‘novel’ scheme (which is apparently scheme #1 for him while I think it’s the final scheme) and I am to code it. I am all high and I already see myself in the graduation ceremony, accepting my degree from the dean. I code it in a week!!. I even code all the scripts around it so that i can automate the simulation process, and I can leave the simulation overnight and come back in the morning and take the results. (I have no help whatsoever. I have to do it on my own. Thank God I have the programming experience from working for 2 years before I thought of doing masters.)

The graphs look awesome to me, but adviser has a different point of view and a different idea. Another round of 3 hour meetings to cook up new idea. I try as much as possible to implement it by modifying the old code. I introduce a million ‘wild hacks’ and flags in the code……This goes on and on during that 20% of the remaining time….the code is getting messier and messier…and I am getting lost in my own code. I suddenly forget to disable the flag and I get really weird results. I panic. I think the problem is somewhere else. I try to change that. I mess it up more. Oh..no..I forgot to take the backup… but thank God i still remember where I changed it. I change it back to the old code. (you see..we do not have CVS set up as yet..we are too busy with research…as it’s always research with a deadline for us)

A lot of iterations and messups later we have something that definitely looks like a ‘novel’ protocol. The results have improved a lot. Comparative analysis show that ‘we are much better than them”. I can now see two things… a research paper(s) with my name and the dean handing me the degree. Wow..I love it. Finally coding work is over. I am so excited to write the thesis book. Adviser shows the first appreciation. I feel great!. Adviser: “We have a new post-doc coming and I want you to handover everything you have done to him. Before that I want to see all the documentation on the code and the simulation HowTo” Man..!!! i didn’t see that coming! When will I write my thesis?? How will I be able to start my new job. Documentation and handover will take time. I need to write it in the form of my thesis…not as a ReadMe file so that someone can use it. I could have done that later. I was so excited to start writing my thesis book For the next week I try to manage both. I get threatening mails. Well, I don’t have much of a choice, do i? I am trying my best to do 3 things at a time. collect results, handover and write my thesis. Happy that i am going to be done in a month, but the phase is bad!

Suddenly I seem to be enjoying this pain. Maybe its because subconsciously I know i am done and I have really done some good work. Something changes my outlook. Looking back I see that I have actually amazed myself by doing so much work in so less time. I feel great! I have tested my own limits and I survived. That gives a huge boost of inspiration to work harder and push myself even more. I learned a hell lot more in my thesis research than I did with all the courses, collectively. I feel more confident about the subject. I feel like I know so much about. I want to show off. …( maybe I’ll save that for the thesis defense )

Well, wrapping it up, here is what I learned from the “Research” experience. — “Always focus” “Converge, don’t diverge”. (maybe that can be the epigraph in my thesis book)

It also left me with an unanswered question
“as a masters student (and not a phd) should I go for a completely unexplored area (which might result in me putting in an effort and time equivalent to a phd research but still get a masters degree) or to look for a tiny unexplored portion of a large explored area (which might result in me putting in lesser effort because of help and literature already available, but still might take equally long, or even longer, to find that tiny area)”

Whatever might be the answer, I am really happy I chose to take up the thesis option and not the comprehensive exam option, to get my masters degree. I wouldn’t have had this sense of satisfaction of being a Masters if I had gone in for the latter. The latter itself makes so sense. It’s like repeating Bachelors from Pune University all over again.

Signing off with another comic strip that i am a huge fan of, the PHD comics.

Siddharth Khimsara