Internship at Scurid

As an IIoT tech startup in the software space, people are the biggest asset. To celebrate the contributions of our first intern, we asked Shreya Jadhav about her work experience with the Scurid team. Over the past year, Shreya has helped us to build our first MVP, which resulted in our first ever Closed Beta release and in the acquisition of our first customer.

Q: Hi Shreya! How are you doing!? How is it today in Tokyo? Are classes for today over?

Shreya: Hey ! I’m doing well, just finished my 3rd year of university and I’m super excited about that. It’s extremely humid in Tokyo right now…..but the rainy season is going to arrive soon! Yep...yep my classes for this year finished a few days ago actually, only one last laboratory presentation left tomorrow.

Q: Any interesting news around your university?

Shreya: Hmmm, I think the most interesting news I’ve heard recently is that my university wants to make all the classes in person from the next semester! I’m sure excited to see everyone if that’s going to happen, but I’ve got a feeling we’ll still have a few hybrid classes. My university is trying to vaccinate everyone this summer, so fingers crossed!

Q: As I understand, the topic of your thesis ties closely with Scurid’s product roadmap?

Shreya: Something that I am working on is my thesis! It ties in with the main feature we have planned for next year. I’ve been reading a LOT of papers on the topic recently, and am hoping to come up with my own blueprint soon!

Q: Is this what you thought you would be working on today when you first joined Scurid? If so, then happy for both of us!! If not, what were your expectations?

Shreya: Hmmmm, I think it’s a yes and no answer. Initially, I was working on the application frontend, website, and also learning a bit about robotics. I still do the first two tasks but I got to incorporate some research in big data analysis as well, which is a topic I’m really interested in! So yeah, I’m not doing everything I initially thought I’d be working on, but it worked out for the better!

Q: Actually, how come you got interested in Scurid in the first place?

Shreya: I was applying to a few startups last year and I came across Scurid. I didn’t think much of it while applying, but when I had my interview with Sushant, I got intrigued! It was especially amazing how Sushant had implemented most of the backend logic entirely on his own. I also think Scurid’s product is a very important one, especially right now with the increased emphasis on protecting personal data.

Q: And how long have you been with Scurid?

Shreya: I’ve been with Scurid for almost a year and one month!

Q: Is it still fun?

Shreya: Oh yeah definitely. I’ve come across a couple bugs on the platform application that I still laugh about with Sushant. I also enjoyed implementing the website designs with you :D

Q: If you could name one thing that sealed the deal for you about Scurid, what would that be?

Shreya: It was definitely the free drinks lol. Kidding, I actually rarely expense any drinks. But when I first joined Scurid I was very new to the field of blockchain and digital identities (I still am haha). But Sushant always tried his best to explain everything to me no matter how many times I asked him. He even made it a priority to make sure I was learning on the way. So yeah I think the “team” sealed the deal for me.

Q: And…..are there absolutely no bad days you can think of? Well, of course, other than the times when you feel like crap :P

Shreya: Hmmmm. I don’t think there have been bad days because of Scurid? We had a few workload heavy weeks last October where we were trying to push our first MVP, but I found it quite fun. Recently I have been having a few health issues brought on by quarantine and frustration overall that I’ve found a bit annoying, so I asked the team if I could reduce my work hours and they were completely supportive!

Q: It must be hard juggling both — university and work at Scurid. How do you manage that?

Shreya: Hahaha I used to get asked this question quite a bit, especially during the finals week. I think I handle some weeks better than others honestly. I also have designated times of the week when I try to do certain tasks. For example, I use our weekly standup on Saturday as a sort of deadline to complete my work, and I usually do Scurid related tasks from Thursday to Saturday. The rest of the week I either procrastinate or stress out about university.

Q: Are many of your other fellow students doing similar internships?

Shreya: I’m gonna be honest with you, since the pandemic I don’t think I’ve interacted with more than 5–7 people from my major. So I’m not entirely sure? Within my close friends group most of us have interned at a few places so far. I find it really cool because most of us are working in very different fields, so it’s interesting to learn about what they do. A bonus is that we never run out of things to talk about!

Q: What’s the most exciting part of where Scurid is now?

Shreya: I think the most exciting part now is that we have a product ready, so I get to improve on what I’ve implemented before, or add more features! Looking back at my previous code is always a delight lol, especially since I was entirely new to Flutter when I joined. I also feel like I understand a lot more about the inner workings of Scurid compared to before, which is always great.

Q: What else would you like to take part in at Scurid?

Shreya: I dunno, I’m quite happy with the responsibilities I’m given right now! Maybe in the future it would be nice to take part in pitching our idea to investors, or to contribute more to the blog posts!

Q: How is your week coming up? Any plans for a vacation?

Shreya: Yes! I’m planning to go backpacking across Japan for most of September :D I’m super excited but also a bit overwhelmed since this is the longest trip I’ve ever planned.