Sonali Batra — Interview #1
An alumnus of Georgia Institute of Technology, Sonali is the CTO at Operation Asha, a non-profit organization that prevents Tuberculosis and treats patients in India and Cambodia. They have treated more than 70,000 patients since their inception in 2006. According to CSIS, they are 32 times more cost-effective than other organizations working in the same domain. Sonali has 5 publications to her credit and has given talks and presentations at numerous international conferences.
It was inspiring listening to Sonali talk about how she overcame the challenges she faced. Here’s what she had to say about her journey in Computer Science!
WWC-D: Hi! Please tell us a little about yourself and your work.
SB: I received my Masters degree in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Before that I did my undergrad from IGDTUW (previously known as IGIT) in New Delhi. After Georgia Tech, I went on to receive a second masters from SUNY Buffalo in Buffalo, NY. During my college years I interned at many organisations like IBM, IBM Research and VMWare. I got an opportunity to work abroad in Ireland at Software Research Institute in Athlone while I was at Georgia Tech. I was also Research Assistant with Professor Nick Feamster at Georgia Tech where I did research on Phishing attacks. I have 5 publications to my credit and have given talks and presentations at many international conferences. I was also a Teaching Assistant at Buffalo for 3 years in which I taught many computer science courses to undergrads and masters students.I am currently working as the CTO of Operation ASHA — a non profit that aims to eradicate tuberculosis worldwide.
WWC-D: How has your experience been as the CTO of Operation Asha?
SB: It has been a wonderful experience so far. What I like about working at Operation ASHA is the huge impact you make in terms of saving lives and improving the quality of life of thousands of disadvantaged people through a single decision. I also like the variety in the work I do on a daily basis — be it project management, android programming, technical grant writing, giving talks and presentations, networking and also supervising field visits.
WWC-D: What are the major challenges you have faced in your journey in technology?
SB: Not having much exposure to coding in my undergrad, it was tough diving into the deep end at Georgia Tech. The assignments there all involved extensive programming and assumed that we had a good programming background. It was a major challenge to keep afloat. Another challenge was to choose the right role for myself when I moved back to India after almost a decade of being in the US. There were multiple opportunities for someone of my background like software development, software testing, teaching CS at a university and project management. Finding out which role would be the best fit was a major challenge.
WWC-D: How have you overcome those challenges?
SB: I overcame my challenges at Georgia Tech by not giving up and persevering. By having confidence in myself and my abilities and by putting in a lot of hard work. By being proactive and always on the lookout for opportunities. I was also very lucky that I had wonderful friends and family who motivated me beyond measure and were always there for me. Regarding my challenges in choosing the right role for myself — I tried out a couple of roles and through the process of introspection finally arrived at my destination. I am also grateful for a lot of family support during that tough period
WWC-D: What message would you like to give to budding technologists?
SB: Never give up and have plenty of patience and courage. Aim for the sky and never underestimate your abilities. Always be on the lookout for good opportunities. It will never work the first time so you’ve just got to keep trying (this applies to life as well as to coding). Be disciplined. Also, nothing worth having comes easy.
